How to mould precise rubber parts with Sugru

Sugru user Carson created this fantastic project, showing how he moulded a precise new strain relief for his cable using a 3D printed mould.

"A clumsy seat-mate on an airplane broke the audio plug on my earphones when he was trying to get out of his seat. I was able to remove the existing over-moulded strain relief and resolder the connections, but I was left without a strain relief. I used some heat shrink tubing for a while, but was unsatisfied with the appearance."

Here's how he did it:

1) I used 3D CAD software to model up the strain relief geometry for the audio plug. 2) Using the original CAD as reference, I then created CAD for a 2-sided mould for the part.

3) I printed the mold parts out in a 3D printer (polyjet). 4) Needed some mold-release chemicals to allow the parts to come out of the mold, like greasing a cupcake tin. Didn't have any mold-release handy so I used olive oil. 5) Mold the Sugru around the bare audio plug by hand, while properly aligninge plug into the mold. 6) Close the mold with a C-Clamp and remove excess squeezed out of the mold. 7) 30hrs later, Done! Open the mold and enjoy the new overmolded strain relief I created!"

This is the most precise part we've seen someone make with sugru so far, and we're looking forward to sharing with our friends at Makerbot and the Thingiverse community.

Super inspiring!