Sugru

[Matt Morris]

Hi all,

I posted a link to a product called Sugru over at the Freelance Sound Mixers group on Facebook. It went down quite well so thought some of you guys might find it useful. It's a mouldable silicone solution that comes in little packs. Dries solid with a little bit of flexibility to it. It's very useful for fixing / fabricating cables and generally fixing stuff. Their website is http://sugru.com/

Sounds like I work for them doesn't it? I don't, just thought it might help someone out.

[Mirror]

Looks like interesting stuff. I want some.

[chrisnewton]

thanks for the link Matt.

[macruth]

bought some,

very cool stuff,

works as advertised, cures to a flexible waterproof silicone material in 24 hours,

my personal experience was that it's slightly more difficult to work with than might be imagined from the marketing materials,

"wetter and oilier" for lack of better terms than modeling clay which is how it might appear,

still, pretty amazing stuff,

mac

[Derek H]

Why would one use this instead of standard silicone "caulk" from a hardware store?

[soundslikejustin]

Cause it's colourful! haha. Also, this stuff is apparently more along the lines of a putty or dough out of the packet, and can be moulded with your hands. Silicon caulk is more liquid-y.

[Matt Morris]

Why would one use this instead of standard silicone "caulk" from a hardware store?

It's a lot more durable than caulk, I'm referring to 'decorator's caulk' that we have in the UK if that's what you mean. Sugru cures solid and very tough but retains flexibility.

[Geoff Tirrell]

Cause it's colourful! haha. Also, this stuff is apparently more along the lines of a putty or dough out of the packet, and can be moulded with your hands. Silicon caulk is more liquid-y.

If this is the same is what we call painters caulk here in the states it is not a silicon base but a vinyl base which makes it still slightly flexible but for all intensive purposes nothing like silicon or rubber.

This looks like cool stuff since silicon can be hard to work with in its liquid form out of the tube. Can anybody who has worked with it say what the quantity in a unit of this stuff is like. and is it resealable or are you stuck using the whole package once you open it.

[macruth]

http://sugru.com/about

[pverrando]

Also like 100% silicone from a tube, if you don't use it by the expiration date, it will not cure. Don't get more than you need.

[Derek H]

It does look like a nice way to make really excellent strain reliefs on cables.

[soundtrane]

and repair the plastic webbing on windshields!

i have some on order, although all my windshields are fine, except one sennheiser - no broken webbing, but the entire thing has almost collapsed, given way from the edges that are inside the plastic frame. i can see some kind of hot glue that has been used, and i have removed most of the remnants. now the question is - whether to remake this with hot glue (glue gun) or with sugru maybe...

-vin

[Randy Hall]

I've purchased Sugru as well, and it does work pretty much as advertised. Unless you keep a small dish of water handy to wet your fingers and you wipe the Sugru down as you work it, you should expect that whatever you craft with it will bear your fingerprints.

I've done quick and dirty earplugs that work reasonably well. I've seen people make "in-ear monitors" with varying success by using earbuds and sugru to seal them in. Stuff makes your ears itch and burn a little while it does its 30 minute cure (though you really should man up and stick it out for 60 minutes to let the stuff dry out more and firm up).

Sugru makes really effective strain relief on cables, though unless you're OCD or seriously anal, the end result will look very, um, organic.

[soundslikejustin]

I used Sugru to make a Kortwich-style low profile XLR recently. A cable from a G3 was busted, so I tested my method out on it just in case anything went wrong. It works perfectly, and is very small. I could have made the Sugru a bit thinner on top, and it would have been that little bit shorter.

By accident, I got some Sugru stuck in a little bit of the Neutrik logo that is etched into the connector, so I kept going with it - I think it looks kind of cool.

[bendybones]

I used Sugru to make a Kortwich-style low profile XLR recently.

Is the whole back of that XLR all Sugru? Or just the strain relief where the cable exits?

[soundslikejustin]

Is the whole back of that XLR all Sugru? Or just the strain relief where the cable exits?

It's all Sugru. There is heat shrink around where the cable exits, but the rest of the black stuff is Sugru.

[Toy Robot]

Well done.

[soundslikejustin]

Well done.

Thanks!

[Vincent R.]

Looks great! About strain relief; the stuff takes care of that as well or did you use something like a small tie wrap before the hole? I assume you drilled a small hole.

[soundslikejustin]

Looks great! About strain relief; the stuff takes care of that as well or did you use something like a small tie wrap before the hole? I assume you drilled a small hole.

The cable was originally held in place with a blob of epoxy. It's not actually a drilled hole, it's a notch cut into the side of the connector that the cable lies down into. There are a few layers of glue-lined heat shrink on both sides of the notch to make the cable fatter than the notch and prevent movement back and forth, as well as the epoxy. All this turned out to be really just to hold it in place - the Sugru is jammed in there tight. I've done a couple more since, with drilled holes instead and that works too. If you mess up really bad, the Sugru can be pulled out and cleaned off the connector for a somewhat easy re-use.

[James Louis]

Have a little remaining from your open pack? Put a dot on the corners of your HD25-1II headphones in order to keep the cables to each ear inside the trench (there's always that odd chance having the head braces open will pinch and cut into the cable when you close them.)

 

I also use sugru to water seal my pelican case after installing a clamp to the outside, ceiling PVC pipe for my boom, marking the gain dials on my return, offering a tactile pip for feeling out a connection, contouring a cheap pistol grip...

 

I don't think talent would subject themselves to an hour to set for a custom mold, although that does sound worthwhile for me. There's a chart for mixing matching color tone. If I could envision how this could open up the mounting options for my lavs, I'd be a genius. Thing is, while needing a day to set, I'm not sure why I'd reach for it in my kit to address a wardrobe color choice. Might be great on an elaborate sound stage, in pre-production, where every mic is planted in order to blend the mics in...

[SeeKai]

I used Sugru to make a Kortwich-style low profile XLR recently. A cable from a G3 was busted, so I tested my method out on it just in case anything went wrong. It works perfectly, and is very small. I could have made the Sugru a bit thinner on top, and it would have been that little bit shorter.

By accident, I got some Sugru stuck in a little bit of the Neutrik logo that is etched into the connector, so I kept going with it - I think it looks kind of cool.

photo1.jpg

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Wow!  I've been working with sugru on 2 failed and one successful attempts at low profile XLRs.  I'll post pictures later if I'm feeling brave but the finish on yours looks excellent.

For anyone reading who hasn't used it, achieving this smooth a finish with sugru is extremely difficult.

Excellent craftsmanship sir!

[bendybones]

For anyone reading who hasn't used it, achieving this smooth a finish with sugru is extremely difficult.

 

-have you tried using soapy water on your hands when rubbing the sugru to surface to create a smith finish?

[SeeKai]

 

-have you tried using soapy water on your hands when rubbing the sugru to surface to create a smith finish?

 

 

Yes sir!

This has improved my results but some light fingerprints still remain, I'll show some later (complete with residual epoxy on the connector shell).  It's still very hard to get a smooth dome shaped finish like in Justin's pics.  

I should maybe point out that the company behind sugru have printed a great FAQ full of tips like the soapy water one on their website.  Results (imho) still come down to the skill of the user.

Thanks for the tip!

S.

 

[soundslikejustin]

Wow!  I've been working with sugru on 2 failed and one successful attempts at low profile XLRs.  I'll post pictures later if I'm feeling brave but the finish on yours looks excellent.

For anyone reading who hasn't used it, achieving this smooth a finish with sugru is extremely difficult.

Excellent craftsmanship sir!

Thanks a lot. To get this finish I actually used straight liquid soap on my fingers, right at the end - warning - this removes the sugru (it breaks down some of the oils in the product) so you have to use it sparingly. I shaped it with dry fingers, then fined with soapy fingers, then the final "polish" (not really but I can't think of the right word) was with liquid soap. Now I've started using epoxy caps (made a mould for XLR Male, Female and TA5), and using Sugru or Terrostat as a glue to hold the epoxy cap in. I'd post pictures but I'm overseas.