What's going on with Smooth-On?
Vince Collura
Director, Photography & Add-On Services at Matterport | Real Estate Media & PropTech Innovator
I use *a lot* of smooth-on products in my Special Effects work. Dragon Skin, Oomoo, Slacker, Smooth-Cast, that new foaming silicone. You name it, chances are - I've used it.
They've gotten so much right. Consistent, SECURE, easy packaging. 1:1 mix ratio as often as possible. Clean MDS sheets. The stuff just works.
I've all but grown up on it! From their little wound kits, to GALLONS at a time. I've been loyal to the brand.
Hell, I even used their smooth-cast resins to make large molds that can take a beating when I was working on a production last summer that had me and a small army working out of a makeup trailer. MY MOLDS BOUNCED instead of cracked every time I dropped them.
Lately though, I have had some stuff go down. Soft / Slow cures. Inconsistent reaction to deadener. Silicone leaching fluids. Whats going on with Smooth-On?
My latest project was a set of breast prosthetics for a friend. I had a bunch of 1/4 - 1/3 full containers of Dragon Skin FX-Pro. I meticulously metered out the same percentage of deadener, part a and part b, but then got DRASTICALLY different results. The first pour was great. Consistency that I was hoping for. The second seemed to cure to a goey, gel like consistency. At 33% deadener. The third pour was fine, but a tad bit softer than the first. All 3 sets of silicone have been sitting on my shelf for a little while. They were not intermingled. It just makes no sense. What's going on with Smooth-On?
I would love to know other peoples experience as of late. I am not abandoning the brand outright, but I am starting to rely on others.
Caption: Willow had great movement with her Dragon Skin FX-Pro encapsulated silicone piece that had 50% deadener. Ran off 3 pieces. All seemed to work great. 2015.
Independent Researcher for Patent Track Technologies at Sulcata Research Inc.
3 年I have had very poor service from Smooth-on in regards to product quality, usage and application assistance in the Chicago region. I develop new high volume applications that push the limits on materials and processes, such as creating consistent thin wall sock molds for a high volume vacuum extraction processes. During development I need specifics such as the rheology of materials under mixing turbulence, recommended torturous path mixing exchanges, temperature acceleration curves... the last thing I need is a "Materials Specialist" reading me a data sheet. In one application I am making a tilted spin cast frame for a thin shell high durometer silicone equipment cover. Normally I wouldn't build such a frame, but its operation is intrinsically tied to the rheology and material properties of... xxx? What is "xxx"? That is the problem. I need to design the frame and control system and software to accommodate whatever material is best suited for this application. To do this I need to know what products to try first to get the best advantage of time and material. I would even settle for educated guesses, but during a recent meeting with a Reynold "Material specialist" I found myself answering more of my own questions than he did... and that is sad. If anything, I need to know "what not to do". Often that is the best advice you can get in new development situations. "That isn't the way it is traditionally done"... is not the "default" acceptable answer to everything Reynolds is not familiar with. Lackluster interests is also an issue. I am currently working with LVMH as a contractor designing prosthetics for department stores in Europe. They also want to use my vacuum frame design ideas to reduce labor so they can pull other high volume designs back to Europe and the US to eliminate counterfeiting. So this is a contract with a $200 billion dollar company and I can't even get any inkling of interest out of Reynolds or Smooth-on. Russel Dean Leatherman Sulcata Research Inc. www.sulcataresearch.com I am a consultant for new product designs and have 29 US patents involving mechanical, electrical, bio-med, and computer engineering.
Director Smooth-On Digital Agency & E-Commerce | Digital Marketing, E-Commerce
7 年I would always recommend submitting a ticket to us as well, as this gives you a tracking ID we can use to track the ticket and I can use to help further if need be. https://www.smooth-on.com/support/ticket/add/agree/
Director Smooth-On Digital Agency & E-Commerce | Digital Marketing, E-Commerce
7 年Also, for Chuck Overcash, Jerry Accomando and Bridgette Mongeon, I'd like to look into any issues you are having independently, because each of you have your own specific processing requirements. Again, you can always reach out to me directly.
Director Smooth-On Digital Agency & E-Commerce | Digital Marketing, E-Commerce
7 年Hi all, I am the Web Marketing manager and a support tech at Smooth-On. I would be happy to help diagnose any problems you are having using our materials. I can be contacted via Facebook Messenger, or via email at [email protected]
Design, prototyping and fabrication.
7 年I've been having trouble with their resins recently. Really inconsistent with curing and shrinking. Gallons from last year work better than the new stuff. I'm curious if the stock in Burbank got overheated from this super hot summer.