Seems a new tech and haven’t looked much at whats commercially available but hoping someone here could print for me or has a good lead.
Is this the same as flexible filament?
When I checked a few years back it was not possible as it doesn’t melt
I need to check the new techs
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I don’t think silicone is considered a thermoplastic compound so I don’t think it would be especially compatible with 3D printing.
It’s pretty rare here in usa but seems all over china. Good for molds. Can skip a step making the mold
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i personally don’t know about 3d printing a silicone mold ans skipping a step to make the negative
if you were to printit, any imperfections, ie layer lines, seams, etc, will show up in the part you intend to make out of the mold
not to say it probably can’t be sanded/fixed after you take the part out, but from how i see it you’re just redirecting the step you intend to skip
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printing the part then making a silicone mold from it is extra time n bucks vs just printing the mold.
Probably easier/safer to smoothen doing the longer two-step process but haven’t tried. Likely couldn’t sand the silicone but could add a thin layer painted on
yeah i think this could be nice for prototypes perhaps but like @poastoast said i think the surface quality of the mold would not yield very nice parts right off the printer. I wonder if these surface imperfections might also making removing parts from the mold harder.
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I wonder if the process has little to nothing to do with fdm style printing. Maybe closer to a SLA style print? Have never seen, but damn that’s interesting. Sex toy collections would be off the hizzy!
Lithography printing a mold for making silicone parts could work - ive messed with some formlabs resin prints and the clarity/resolution is great. Could definitely make a smooth part that way.
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But that’s a lot of parts right? Those resin printers don’t exactly have a big print volume…
Some do, the ones i worked with were middle ground between more residential and professional printers and they had a decent print volume - probably enough to make a wheel hub or something like that. On the professional/commercial side there’s absolutely larger volume lithography printers available.
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Yeah I agree, I often make quick molds with a formlabs, at 25microns layer height you can barely see the lines, on a dome for example you’ll only notice the 2 last layers. That’s one part I can show, PU casted out of a 3D printed mold without any finishing on the mold other than chemical release agent. The files resolution is more visible than the layer lines 
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I already seen this:
edit: Henkel also makes some SLA printable silicone that is a bit cheaper LOCTITE 3D 5015 - Henkel Adhesives
I’ve seen someone fdm print part, then pour on it sla resin and uv light it, it gaves you an even better finish than both of the technic
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sanded and silicone do not go in the same sentence.
sanded as in sanding the part that comes out of the mold