[Ehsan]

Hey all! I found a great little video by MegaWhat.TV in 2009 that shows exactly how ACS make their custom silicone products.
After buying their custom silicone sleeves for my TF10vi's when they were significantly cheaper, and subsequently loosing my left side sleeve, I have decided to replace it myself. I'm going to start with simple earplugs to improve my sleep, then custom sleeves, then finally, full concha triple driver IEMs!
 
But I need your help! Some of these things in the video I do not know enough about to finish the job!
 
If you can answer any of these questions, I would be very grateful:
 
1. What brand/product is the 2 part soft-silicone mix used in the squirt-gun when filling the mould Andy made? (It's Dreve Biopor AB 40)
2. What type of drill is the one used to make a hole in the sleeve?
 
I caught a glimpse of the silicone mix Andy used for making the moulds themselves and it led me to their supplier for the moulding solution : Bracon Limited
After going through their product catalogues, which are a mess, I realised by the other machinery in the room that this dental company seemingly provides all their fabrication products including the recyclable silicone machine.
 
Have a look at the video DIYers, and tell me what you think!

 
 
UPDATE: Found the solution used for making the moulds. It is called "Gemini 21" and is listed on page 10 of this PDF. This is the only Gemini product that is Opaque when set, so it wasn't hard to identify!
 
UPDATE 2: The fancy injector gun is a Zhermack D2. They aren't cheap at all lol. Pretty sure I am on the right track with this dental supplies company!
 
UPDATE 3: Interest in whether I should consider a full-concha mould over a half-concha mould led me to the "ACS Custom" website for IEMs. In the specifications there, I found that the silicone used for the construction of the final earpiece is 40 shore. I am keeping my eye out now for additive cured clear 40 shore silicone Zhermack D2 cartridges. Will update again when I know more.
 
UPDATE 4: I looked into things a bit further, found a company called Dreve who makes the Biopor range of otology products and checked the video, where you can clearly see the ones on the shelf match the packaging of the Biopor range. Now all I need to know about is the drill! Pretty sure that is the easy part.

 

[Ehsan]

I have e-mailed Brecon Limited about the coloured soft silicone cartridges for the Zhermack D2 extruder. Waiting on their reply.
 
As it seems, all of this equipment is expensive, but it would permit someone to make quite a few custom silicone products.

 

[Ehsan]

OK this was pretty pro. After finding out about the 40 shore silicone being used in ACS's products, I looked around on Zhermack's site, where I found a section dedicated to ear-mould making which was targeted to an industry called Otology, which is the science of aural anatomy.
 
This led me to search a bit harder, where I found a company called Dreve who make a product called Biopor, which is available in 40 shore and multiple colours.
 
Once I saw the container, I flicked through the video and found the part where it shows the shelf with the D2 cartridges on it and compared them to the images of Dreve's Biopor range and I can confirm that it is definitely those.
 
I'll add an update to the original post.

 

[Ehsan]

Found another video offering a little more detail on the latter part of the process.
 
The lab featured in this video uses only products made by Dreve, including the Biopor products.
 
The machine he places the mould in is a pressure pot, as you can see no heat is applied as Biopor cures at room temperature. The pressure pot is used to eliminate bubbles from the mould and castings.It's more important to do if you want use a transparent or translucent silicone mix.
 

 

[Cryok95]

No idea why no one else is contributing but here goes,
 
1. Yes it's probably the dreve bipolar.
2. You basically need to use a ball burr of an appropriate diameter. The machine you see in the video is a micromotor.

 

[Ehsan]

Very nice Cryok65! I admit the lack of responses had me confused too, I guess I thought other people wanted to know about this stuff lol.

Thank you for explaining about the micromotor and the correct drill bit

 

[Cryok95]

My pleasure.

A decent micromotor will cost at least $100 or more. Another alternative is a dremel tool.
If you are getting the bipolar from dreve, they do sell the ball burr's and most other materials you may need so you may want to pick it up at the same time.

 

[Ehsan]

What benefit does a micromotor provide over a dremel?

 

[Cryok95]

I think a micromotor may have better speed control, suitable for finer detailing and such. It's lighter than a dremel and should be easier to handle.
It's nice to be able to control the motor with a foot pedal as well. It has a powerbox so you'll need to have a desk.

A dremel is more versatile, with many drill bits widely available. Can be used anywhere with a power socket.