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SORBOTHANE - what is it, where do you get it from?

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:45 am
by aidanjm2004
Folks here seem to be a fan of this material for its vibration absorbing properties. Where do you get it, is it expensive, & what actually is it?

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:57 am
by frankgehry

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:58 am
by Ralf Hutter
This has been talked about dozens of times at SPCR. A simple search for "sorbothane" should work wonders.

Googling, or going to sorbothane.com will get you lots of answers as well.

Availability seems to be an issue these days, however. :(

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:22 pm
by Mr_Smartepants
I found some sorbothane hemispheres here
I haven't ordered from them yet but my brother lives only a few miles from this guys shop.

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2005 7:15 am
by Mr Flibble
I bought some from here. Free pnp (to the UK), and it arrived pretty quickly, though I haven't fitted it yet.

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2005 11:39 pm
by Longbow
Mr Flibble wrote:I bought some from here. Free pnp (to the UK), and it arrived pretty quickly, though I haven't fitted it yet.
Hi Flibble, thanks for the link. Any comment on the product? What's the approx thickness of the sheet? Pictures would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:02 am
by Straker
sorbothane's hard to describe or show in a picture, especially the softest kinds - picture a sheet of fresh, shiny black licorice. :P
it's really sticky yet leaves no residue, and almost as soft as (used) chewing gum, yet goes back to its old shape once pressure's taken off of it.
edit: that is, it's sticky yet leaves no residue even without any adhesive; can't comment on the adhesive-backed kind or the thickness of the specific sheet at that link.

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:36 am
by sthayashi
One thing that could be said about it. Trying to cut sorbothane feels almost like trying to cut a marshmellow. And if you don't cut it all the way through, it will look almost like you didn't make a cut to begin with. It's that sticky

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 7:11 am
by Longbow
Mr Flibble wrote:I bought some from here. Free pnp (to the UK), and it arrived pretty quickly, though I haven't fitted it yet.
the link seems chaned to this:
http://store.securehosting.com/stores/s ... emcode=381

any feedback much appreciated!

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 7:21 am
by m0002a
Keep in mind that there are many different variations of sorbothane, each with its own density. So what you may find for sale somewhere could be a bit different than used by someone in this forum.

Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:16 pm
by Mr Flibble
Longbow wrote:
Mr Flibble wrote:I bought some from here. Free pnp (to the UK), and it arrived pretty quickly, though I haven't fitted it yet.
the link seems chaned to this:
http://store.securehosting.com/stores/s ... emcode=381

any feedback much appreciated!
Now they did that just to spite me :evil:

That stuff is just over 4mm thick, and it feels pretty firm - it does squish between fingertips, but requires a reasonable amount of pressure - enough to break an egg. I can't say I've felt other sorbothane foams though.

I won't be installing it for a little while (planning to use it around my optical drives and inside the silentmaxx HD enclosure which will itself be suspended), since I'm just too busy with rowing and medical school at the moment. Perhaps the bank holiday weekend will give me a little more time.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 5:43 pm
by Lubb
Sorbothane is naturally tacky and sticks to stuff. Keep this in mind if you are wanting to install hard drives or any other hardware into a "drawer"-type arrangement. If you pack sorbothane around the hard drives and slide them in, six months or a year later you might have a very tough time getting them back out.
~

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 6:45 pm
by Longbow
i've tried to order two pieces of sorbothane from mcmaster yesterday, 8514K51 and 8514K55, but they havn't get back to me yet.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:00 pm
by sthayashi
Longbow wrote:i've tried to order two pieces of sorbothane from mcmaster yesterday, 8514K51 and 8514K55, but they havn't get back to me yet.

http://www.mcmaster.com/
Have you tried to order them, or have you actually ordered them?

And if in your location, you mean New Zealand, you're going to have a bitch of a shipping bill.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:55 pm
by Longbow
sthayashi wrote:Have you tried to order them, or have you actually ordered them?

And if in your location, you mean New Zealand, you're going to have a bitch of a shipping bill.
nice try :)

i actually ordered 2 sheets, and advised to use USPS airmail as delivery method. i'm not sure if it has went through or they'll use USPS, since my credit card hasn't been charged, and they havn't got back to me on shipping charges. i did receive an automatic email to confirm the order is made.

i've had some good experience with siliconacoustics.com, they accept paypal for international orders, and their international express shipping charge is not too bad. but pity they don't carry everything acoustic wise.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:28 pm
by Tibors
If you look around these forums you can see the mcmaster has a "strange" shipping policy. If you don't explicitly ask how much it is, you only know when the final creditcard bill arrives. Plus they tend to ignore your shipping preference. So don't be amazed to receive the sorbotane via UPS within two days for a fee several times the price of the sorbothane itself.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:37 pm
by DGK
I dont think mcmaster ships with anyone besides UPS. They don't have USPS as a option on their website as far as I can tell, I never bothered to send them an email and ask though. UPS is very pricey for shipping from the US from what I have heard. In the US they are actually pretty good, I just ordered a bunch of fittings, foam and hose and the shipping was only 10 bucks.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:11 am
by aidanjm2004
m0002a wrote:Keep in mind that there are many different variations of sorbothane, each with its own density. So what you may find for sale somewhere could be a bit different than used by someone in this forum.
The only sorbothane I've seen locally is contained in shock absorption liners/ insoles for running shoes. I suspect the sorbothane in these products is a bit more stiff than the sorbothane people are using with their hard drives.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 7:11 am
by Mr Flibble
Typical to form (seeing as I just bought some), I stumbled across some sorbothane yesterday after rowing. Someone's made it into a seat pad (to cover the seat in the rowing boat so that your bum gets a comfier ride), then the owner had forgotten about it and left it in a puddle... I'm not sure that sorbothane is the ideal substance for this since there shouldn't be much/any vibration in the boat.

Still, another possible source if you can't buy it by the sheet.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 1:31 pm
by Longbow
got an email from mcmaster :D

"Your order will ship via USPS airmail. Shipping charges will appear on the invoice sent with your order."

how lovely.

Sorbothane has a spec called something like OO Durometer, the lower the softer. the softest U can get on mcmaster is 40.

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 1:16 am
by Straker
Mr Flibble wrote:I'm not sure that sorbothane is the ideal substance for this since there shouldn't be much/any vibration in the boat.
The Sorbothane in that (and Dr. Scholl's insoles, and tons of other stuff) is different, it's like chopped up and mixed with foam rubber, or just used as an insert in some other type of foam. It's not just for vibration, it distributes shock really well and has perfect memory too. Years and years ago there were TV demos of people putting sheets of it on their hands and then hitting their hands with a hammer and such.

Also, yeah, McMaster is rather braindead wrt to shipping. I got a "should be around $10" quote on shipping including brokerage and everything, and the morons sent 3 separate packages, total was like $50 on an equal amount of products.

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 1:49 am
by Webfire
Sounds good Longbow.
Please report how it worked and how much they charged you. Perhaps I will order some too.

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 4:38 am
by egghat
If anyone has a source in Europe (even better in Germany) it would be very nice to post it here.

Bye egghat.

Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 6:43 am
by Webfire
Have a look here:

That's the only thing I found in Germany. But I don't know if it's soft enough.

Moderator Edit: Oversized URL

Posted: Tue May 03, 2005 1:07 pm
by Longbow
Webfire wrote:Sounds good Longbow.
Please report how it worked and how much they charged you. Perhaps I will order some too.
was charged US$18.92 in total. US$11.89 for the 2 sheets, thus US$7 for the postage. not too bad ugh?

waiting for the package...

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 10:21 am
by ultraboy
Longbow wrote:was charged US$18.92 in total. US$11.89 for the 2 sheets, thus US$7 for the postage. not too bad ugh?

waiting for the package...
Sound good..I'll order some too.

Thanks for the info. :)

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 1:06 pm
by Longbow
ultraboy wrote:
Longbow wrote:was charged US$18.92 in total. US$11.89 for the 2 sheets, thus US$7 for the postage. not too bad ugh?

waiting for the package...
Sound good..I'll order some too.

Thanks for the info. :)
cheers, oh maybe U should wait till i get it...

Posted: Wed May 04, 2005 6:18 pm
by ultraboy
Longbow wrote:cheers, oh maybe U should wait till i get it...
Already ordered last night..2x8514K55 (actual part number is now 8514K115 - probably a non-branded), plus some length of u-shape trim 8510K11. :)

Now, it's the most boring/frustrating part of on-line order...wait...wait...wait...

Posted: Fri May 06, 2005 1:25 am
by Longbow
ok, got mine.

the changes, if any, very marginal. there is still a bit of humming sound and i guess it's not from the HD.

i also put some 4mm sheet under the PSU, as well as between the rear mounting plate and the the PSU. and some of the 4mm between the zalman 7700 and the nexus 120mm fan.

1 metre away i can't really tell if there's any difference.

waiting for my AcoustiPack deluxe...

Re: McMaster-Carr

Posted: Mon May 23, 2005 5:16 am
by StarfishChris
I emailed Sorbothane and they have confirmed that it is the 'ultra-soft polyurethane' McMaster sells. They don't agree with it but see the logic (McMaster wants you to buy from McMaster, not for the brands it has) but the important thing is it's not changed.