Home made Sugru type fixative.

[studmuffin]

The bottom plastic dash trim near the steering wheel on my Defender( the bit where you hang your drinks mug ) had broken leaving the screw in place and the trim unsupported so I decided to use black Sugru to fix it. I have bought it ready made in the past and it aint cheap so I decided to knock up my own version, after SimonR mentioned it some time ago.

I mixed 1 volume of black silicon sealer to approx. 2 volumes of cornflour.

Its a real messy sod to mix, as it sticks like mustard to a blanket!! --- but eventually adding a little flour at a time I ended up with a ball resembling Sugru which I could roll between my hands without it sticking.

It works!!

You need to apply straight away and any you have leftover will not keep.

Anybody got a better empirical measure for the ratio required rather than my hit and miss method??

Barry

[simonr]

I've made this before - and agree it works pretty well!

To keep it, put it in a zip-seal plastic bag. If you cut the corner off and re-seal it with one of those freezer clips, you can extrude out what you need.

To get it to keep for a really long time - stick it in the freezer!

Si

[simonr]

More info here: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Your-Own-Sugru-Substitute/

Si

[reb78]

Does it set hard, or remain flexible?

[studmuffin]

Does it set hard, or remain flexible?

It sets pretty quickly and flexible Richard but is feels quite rugged, similar to the rubberised cases used to protect mobile phones and cameras. I am told it can withstand pretty high temperatures.

Barry

[Superpants]

I've done it too, but used talcum powder rather than cornflour so there is no chance of mould growth that may be possible with the cornflour.

[reb78]

Interesting.

I'm currently replacing the body cappings on the 110 and this got me wondering about using this stuff to fill the gap between the capping and the upper side panels, as the seals seem somewhat inadequate.

The tip about talc is interesting too. Why doesn't that mould?

[Superpants]

The talc is not organic so isn't likely to give anything for mould to grow on. It's widely used as a filler in plastics already. The parts I made using it about 3 of 4 years ago have remained sound.

[miketomcat]

Interesting.

I'm currently replacing the body cappings on the 110 and this got me wondering about using this stuff to fill the gap between the capping and the upper side panels, as the seals seem somewhat inadequate.

The tip about talc is interesting too. Why doesn't that mould?

I wouldn't use it if you ever want to paint any where near it paint and silicone really don't get along.

Mike

[reb78]

I was thinking of it to fill that thin gap between the top panels and the body capping. If it was neatly applied into the gap, it wouldn't touch any of the vertical panels that you might want to paint.