What is a rubber extrusion and how does it differ from rubber molding?

The big difference is that uncured rubber is pushed through a die into an extruder. An extruder is a machine (that costs around $100,000) that applies shear forces to a raw ingredient (like rubber) to make it into a final product. The extruder pushes the material through a barrel with a screw.

The concept of extrusion is the same as squeezing toothpaste through a tube—you take material and push it through a container, as shown in the sketch.

The extruded product is vulcanized (cured) in a heated pressure vessel. Products made this way include window, door, valve and gate seals, tubing, pads, bumpers and channels. Rubber items like rectangles, squares or any type of odd shape have probably been through an extrusion process.

Other Uses for Extrusion

While we use it for rubber, it won’t surprise you to know that the extrusion process is used to create many types of products. Plastics, metal fabrication and even food use the extrusion process. Instant food and snacks like cereal are manufactured using extrusion. Pastas, some baby food, premade cookie dough and semi-moist pet food are also made with the extrusion process.

About Good Year Rubber

Goodyear Rubber specializes in producing extruded rubber products of all materials, profiles and sizes. Our work includes short runs to long, continuous cure production. In addition to extrusion, if needed, we provide complete tooling design and material formulation services.

Goodyear Rubber is a world class custom rubber manufacturer based in Southern California. We mix, mold, extrude, calender and cover. No matter what your rubber needs are, Goodyear has you covered.

We are ISO 9001:2008 certified and ROHS compliant. Contact us at (909) 987-1774 or custserv@goodyearrubber.com for more information on how we can help you.