Rubber Extrusion Services

Custom Gasket Mfg. is a leading supplier of high-quality custom rubber extrusions and extruded rubber products for a wide range of industries and applications worldwide. 

The rubber extrusion process is often combined with additional post-cure procedures including splicing, vulcanizing, steam curing, continuous curing, cutting to length, and lathe cutting.

Custom Rubber Extrusions

We specialize in custom rubber extrusions in all rubber compounds and elastomers. Our company’s reputation for excellence has been built on our ability to provide our valued customers with the most effective manufacturing solutions to meet their most stringent requirements. Custom Gasket Mfg. is committed to consistently providing precision custom rubber extrusions and extruded rubber products to meet all of your blueprint and tolerance specifications.

Rubber extrusion designs must take application-related factors into consideration. While standard dies exist for many different products, more complex applications may require the fabrication of a new die that incorporates any unique design requirements. Material choice is also critical to the design and how it will perform in its intended application.

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Custom Rubber Extrusions & Profiles

Rubber Extrusion Process

The rubber extrusion process involves forcing a rubber compound or mixed elastomer under pressure through a die that has the shape of the end product. The process starts with feeding material into an extruder, where heat and pressure are applied to aid the material’s travel through the die. Depending upon the material used, the heat and pressure will expand the end product’s size.

Rubber extrusion provides a variety of benefits not found in other manufacturing processes, such as:

  • A wider variety of available shapes
  • Cost-efficient production
  • Lightweight products with high flexibility
  • Limited production waste

Rubber Vulcanization

Vulcanization is a biochemical process for curing rubber that improves its durability. During the vulcanization process, rubber in its natural harvested state is combined with sulfur and subjected to pressure and heat, which improves the properties of the rubber and generates a usable material for manufacturing.

The vulcanization process makes natural rubber much more suitable for a wider range of applications. To shrink the product that comes out of the extruder to the appropriate size, Custom Gasket Mfg. uses a variety of vulcanization techniques, such as:

. Steam Curing

Steam curing is mainly used for smaller batches and when the material being used contains non-black compounds. Curing with steam rather than with chemical cures is advantageous because it is considered a safer way to vulcanize rubber. Through steam curing, materials have significant wear performance properties, especially when using bonding in future installations.

. Continuous Curing

Continuous curing is used on larger quantities or larger physical sizes of products. This technique uses microwaves or salt bath processes to gradually cure the rubber. Continuous curing is a low-energy technique because only a small amount of energy is applied over time. This process also ensures a greater consistency of the profile of the end product.

. Cutting-To-Length

Cutting-to-length is used to cut material away to achieve the desired shape of the end product for close tolerances. Lathes, high-speed cutters, and rotating cutters are used on longer runs and larger physical sizes of products. Other cutters can be used on long continuous runs and guillotine cutters are used on long-length and larger cross-sections.

Splicing

Splicing is used as a more cost-effective way to produce an endless loop product with an extruded profile or other products with complex corners because it requires no expensive custom tooling or dies.

The process starts by utilizing our other methods of production to make the components of the final product. These components are cured using one of our curing techniques and cut, if needed, for final assembly. Depending on the desired shape of the final product, the materials can be spliced using cold bonding or splice molding.

Hot Splicing / Vulcanizing

Custom Gasket Mfg. uses the hot splicing/vulcanizing process to facilitate a chemical connection between the ends of a rubber extrusion, creating a full and connected seal that improves the strength of gaskets and enhances their resistances to weather and other environmental factors.

Rubber Lathe Cutting

The lathe cutting process involves extruding a tube of rubber, cutting it to a specified length, and sliding it on to a mandrel. The part is then grinded at high speed on the outside diameter (OD) using a lathe. Custom Gasket Mfg. uses advanced grinding and lathing machinery to ensure that the OD of the tube matches the customer’s specified tolerances.

Washers and gaskets requiring precision or high-precision tolerances are ideal for lathe cutting. Most rubber materials available today are compatible with the lathe cutting process. The benefits offered by lathe cutting include substantially reduced material waste, no tooling costs, improved sealing surface, and no hour glassing from die cuts.

Custom Extruded Rubber Profiles

Custom Gasket Mfg. offers extruded rubber profiles and products in a comprehensive range of lengths, shapes, and sizes. Some of our most popular standard profiles include:

  • D-strip (solid & hollow)
  • L-strip
  • P-strip
  • T-shape
  • C-channel
  • E-channel
  • H-channel
  • U-channel
  • U-channel (including bulb)
  • Circular channel

Rubber Extrusion Materials/Compounds

Custom Gasket Mfg. has an extensive selection of rubber compounds to choose from. We offer custom-shaped profiles in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, durometers, and colors. The most common (solid and sponge) rubber compounds we use include:

. Chloroprene, Neoprene® (CR): contributes to high water, flame, and weather resistance.

. Ethylene-Propylene (EPDM): exhibits weather and ozone resistant properties.

. Nitrile, Buna-N (NBR): is an excellent choice for gaskets due to superior oil resistance.

. Hydrogenated Nitrile (HNBR): features improved oil, chemical and high-temp resistance.

. Silicone (VMQ): is chemically inert and does not react to biological fluids, classifying it among the FDA’s certified non-reactive elastomers.

. Butyl (IIR): presents low airflow permeability characteristics.

. Styrene-Butadiene (SBR): offers good abrasion resistance at a low cost, making it a great general-purpose rubber.

. Fluorocarbon (FKM, Viton®): serves well in the food service and healthcare industries due to superior heat, chemical and weathering resistance.

. Hypalon® (CSM): provides high-level ozone, UV, weathering, and chemical resistances.

. Natural Rubber (NR): demonstrate high-level tear and abrasion resistance along with dynamic flex fatigue characteristics.

. Polyurethane (AU, EU): exhibits excellent tensile strength, tear and abrasion resistances, and resists oxidation, ozone, aliphatic solvents, and petroleum based fuels and oils.

. Fluorosilicone (FVMQ): is mechanically and physically similar to silicones, but features added chemical resistance to dilute acids and alkalines as well as non-polar fluids (petroleum oils, hydrocarbon fuels, diester, silicone oils).

. Epichlorohydrin (ECO): is similar to nitrile rubber, but with better heat and ozone resistances and improved low temperature flexibility. In addition, ECO features low gas permeability, excellent weather resistance, good compression set, and resistances to heat and mineral oils, hydrogen peroxides, and alkalis.

. Santoprene®: offers a good compression and tension set, aging performance, and chemical resistance combined with lightweight, low-density flexibility.

. FDA Approved Rubber: is non-toxic, non-allergenic, resistant to mold and water, odorless and tasteless, and features a long service life at a variety of temperature extremes.

. Color compounds: impact a rubber’s resistance to aging under the influence of light. White, yellow, and green are protective while blue accelerates aging.

Custom Gasket Mfg. has the ability to custom formulate compounds for your specific applications. Custom color compounding is available upon request.

Please visit our gasket materials page for more information on our extensive selection of materials.

Extruded Rubber Products

Extruded rubber products are common in myriad industrial and commercial products used every day.

Industrial Applications of Extruded Rubber Profiles

Extruded rubber products serve an expansive range of purposes, such as moisture control, climate control, insulation, parts connection, floor safety, and waterproofing for a variety of industries. Extruded rubber products are used widely in industries such as:

  • Aerospace
  • Appliances
  • Automotive
  • Electronics
  • Filtration
  • Flooring
  • Food processing
  • Industrial cleaning
  • Lighting
  • Marine
  • Power generation
  • Pumps and valves
  • Sports and recreation
  • Transportation


Some specific examples of extruded rubber products include:

  • Trim, weather-stripping, seals
  • Floor matting
  • Grommets, gaskets, connectors
  • Tubing and hoses
  • Rollers, sheets and rods
  • Vibration and noise reduction

Why Custom Gasket?

Custom Gasket Mfg. has earned a reputation for providing high-quality, reliable custom extruded rubber products designed to meet or exceed application requirements. Our expertise in providing rubber extrusion solutions to multiple industries provides us with a broad range of knowledge that we apply to every new project. We maintain an inventory of premium materials to choose from, ensuring that we can provide the ideal material for your needs.

All products are manufactured in accordance with the highest available industry standards to ensure the utmost quality and longevity. Our rubber extrusions offer a wide choice of available shapes, cost-effective production options, and limited production waste. Our team is eager to use our expertise to provide custom rubber extrusion products that meet or exceed the expectations of our customers.

For more information on our custom rubber extrusion services or to speak with one of our knowledgeable professionals, please feel free to Contact Us or complete our online Request For Quote form.

Call 800-985-6750 or email your inquiry to sales@customgasketmfg.com.