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Despite the clever marketing (and it is quite clever), hand-formed room-set silicone has been used in the building trades for almost a decade--mostly for long-r

Despite the clever marketing (and it is quite clever), hand-formed room-set silicone has been used in the building trades for almost a decade--mostly for long-run ductwork dampening and high-service-interval electrical junction box seals. It's precisely analogous to when cyanoacrylate adhesive compounds were re-marketed as Krazy Glue.

iamelgringo 17y ago
Do you know where I can get some? I've googled for "Hand formed room set silicone" to no avail. Any other names/brands it could be under?
- olefoo 17y ago
  http://www.dowcorning.com/applications/search/products/Details.aspx?prod=01595717&type=PROD http://www.dowcorning.com/applications/search/products/Detai... """ Dow Corning® 795 Silicone Building Sealant is a one-part, cold-applied, non-sagging silicone material that cures to a medium modulus silicone rubber upon exposure to atmospheric moisture. """ Don't know the exact details of Sugru's formulation. But per the data sheet this stuff sets up to be a relatively stiff non-tacky surface in three hours and comes in a variety of colors. You can buy variants at your local home improvement store. It's usually sold as silicone caulk.
camccann 17y ago
Merely "clever" doesn't seem quite strong enough. Taking something already well-known and useful in some specialized context, thinking of a way it would be useful for some non-specialized target market, and then successfully marketing it to that demographic is a very elegant move, and potentially quite lucrative if successful! In fact, if I was going to critique this at all, I'd question the choice of marketing. They're targeting younger, geeky DIY-type internet people well, which is not a bad market at all to be sure, but there's definite potential for something like this in going for older, less tech-oriented demographics (I bet I could get my mother interested, for instance). But I suspect they've already thought about that sort of thing--sounds like they can't keep up with the current demand as it is, so reaching new markets is probably not a priority!
- olefoo 17y ago
  It does mean there's room for an existing manufacturer who has production capacity to start selling existing products into the market segment they just pioneered. Someone could play Microsoft to their Macintosh and produce a cheaper and cheesier version with greater availability.
- jrockway 17y ago
  there's definite potential for something like this in going for older, less tech-oriented demographics (I bet I could get my mother interested, for instance) That is not the demographic that orders random puttys from the UK in anticipation of perhaps needing it someday. To be successful in that demographic, it needs to be marked through traditional means, and it needs to be available at the store. That is expensive and difficult. Making a website and some Youtube videos is much easier, and less likely to be a financial problem if there is no interest.
keenerd 17y ago
> hand-formed room-set silicone My cheap knockoff version: Two part epoxy cut with sawdust. Not so good at high temperatures, but much stronger.
- mhb 17y ago
  If you're going that route, might as well use epoxy putty. And why is Sugru better than epoxy putty?
- jrockway 17y ago
  Is that flexible after it cures, though? My bet is not; it's what you use to repair a cracked engine block. Sugru is for fixing stuff like your flip flops. Different use cases.
gjm11 17y ago
Hearing that makes me more likely to buy some -- less chance of spectacular unpredicted failure modes if it's been in use for ages.

iamelgringo 17y ago

Do you know where I can get some? I've googled for "Hand formed room set silicone" to no avail. Any other names/brands it could be under?

olefoo 17y ago
http://www.dowcorning.com/applications/search/products/Details.aspx?prod=01595717&type=PROD http://www.dowcorning.com/applications/search/products/Detai... """ Dow Corning® 795 Silicone Building Sealant is a one-part, cold-applied, non-sagging silicone material that cures to a medium modulus silicone rubber upon exposure to atmospheric moisture. """ Don't know the exact details of Sugru's formulation. But per the data sheet this stuff sets up to be a relatively stiff non-tacky surface in three hours and comes in a variety of colors. You can buy variants at your local home improvement store. It's usually sold as silicone caulk.

camccann 17y ago

Merely "clever" doesn't seem quite strong enough. Taking something already well-known and useful in some specialized context, thinking of a way it would be useful for some non-specialized target market, and then successfully marketing it to that demographic is a very elegant move, and potentially quite lucrative if successful! In fact, if I was going to critique this at all, I'd question the choice of marketing. They're targeting younger, geeky DIY-type internet people well, which is not a bad market at all to be sure, but there's definite potential for something like this in going for older, less tech-oriented demographics (I bet I could get my mother interested, for instance). But I suspect they've already thought about that sort of thing--sounds like they can't keep up with the current demand as it is, so reaching new markets is probably not a priority!

olefoo 17y ago
It does mean there's room for an existing manufacturer who has production capacity to start selling existing products into the market segment they just pioneered. Someone could play Microsoft to their Macintosh and produce a cheaper and cheesier version with greater availability.
jrockway 17y ago
there's definite potential for something like this in going for older, less tech-oriented demographics (I bet I could get my mother interested, for instance) That is not the demographic that orders random puttys from the UK in anticipation of perhaps needing it someday. To be successful in that demographic, it needs to be marked through traditional means, and it needs to be available at the store. That is expensive and difficult. Making a website and some Youtube videos is much easier, and less likely to be a financial problem if there is no interest.

keenerd 17y ago

> hand-formed room-set silicone My cheap knockoff version: Two part epoxy cut with sawdust. Not so good at high temperatures, but much stronger.

mhb 17y ago
If you're going that route, might as well use epoxy putty. And why is Sugru better than epoxy putty?
jrockway 17y ago
Is that flexible after it cures, though? My bet is not; it's what you use to repair a cracked engine block. Sugru is for fixing stuff like your flip flops. Different use cases.

gjm11 17y ago

Hearing that makes me more likely to buy some -- less chance of spectacular unpredicted failure modes if it's been in use for ages.