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

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

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aidanjm2004
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SORBOTHANE - what is it, where do you get it from?

Post by aidanjm2004 » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:45 am

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?

frankgehry
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Post by frankgehry » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:57 am


Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:58 am

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. :(

Mr_Smartepants
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Post by Mr_Smartepants » Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:22 pm

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.

Mr Flibble
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Post by Mr Flibble » Sun Apr 24, 2005 7:15 am

I bought some from here. Free pnp (to the UK), and it arrived pretty quickly, though I haven't fitted it yet.

Longbow
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Post by Longbow » Sun Apr 24, 2005 11:39 pm

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!

Straker
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Post by Straker » Mon Apr 25, 2005 2:02 am

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.

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Mon Apr 25, 2005 4:36 am

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

Longbow
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Post by Longbow » Mon Apr 25, 2005 7:11 am

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!

m0002a
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Post by m0002a » Mon Apr 25, 2005 7:21 am

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.

Mr Flibble
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Post by Mr Flibble » Mon Apr 25, 2005 1:16 pm

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.

Lubb
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Post by Lubb » Wed Apr 27, 2005 5:43 pm

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.
~

Longbow
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Post by Longbow » Wed Apr 27, 2005 6:45 pm

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/

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Post by sthayashi » Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:00 pm

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.

Longbow
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Post by Longbow » Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:55 pm

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.

Tibors
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Post by Tibors » Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:28 pm

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.

DGK
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Post by DGK » Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:37 pm

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.

aidanjm2004
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Post by aidanjm2004 » Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:11 am

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.

Mr Flibble
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Post by Mr Flibble » Thu Apr 28, 2005 7:11 am

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.

Longbow
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Post by Longbow » Thu Apr 28, 2005 1:31 pm

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.

Straker
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Post by Straker » Fri Apr 29, 2005 1:16 am

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.

Webfire
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Post by Webfire » Fri Apr 29, 2005 1:49 am

Sounds good Longbow.
Please report how it worked and how much they charged you. Perhaps I will order some too.

egghat
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Post by egghat » Fri Apr 29, 2005 4:38 am

If anyone has a source in Europe (even better in Germany) it would be very nice to post it here.

Bye egghat.

Webfire
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Post by Webfire » Fri Apr 29, 2005 6:43 am

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

Longbow
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Post by Longbow » Tue May 03, 2005 1:07 pm

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...

ultraboy
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Post by ultraboy » Wed May 04, 2005 10:21 am

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. :)

Longbow
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Post by Longbow » Wed May 04, 2005 1:06 pm

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...

ultraboy
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Post by ultraboy » Wed May 04, 2005 6:18 pm

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...

Longbow
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Post by Longbow » Fri May 06, 2005 1:25 am

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...

StarfishChris
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Re: McMaster-Carr

Post by StarfishChris » Mon May 23, 2005 5:16 am

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.

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