Alternative to compression spring

thingiverse

I live in very small town. No nearby store sells springs of different size. When i order online they are usually highly expensive especially when some custom size spring is needed. I tried making springs by filament and printing but nothing worked. So i used a simple solution for compression springs. <h4> Silicon compression spring </h4> But silicon is expensive right? So i used silicon sealant. Just cure it with liquid dish washing soap and knead it for few minutes. When it becomes doughy dont wait but put it in the mold (for springs just make a block and make hole of your desired cylinder size in your CAD software, the cylinder hole should not cut through base). Just let it dry for few minutes and your custom made silicon spring is ready. For different elasticity use different variants of silicon or to soften the spring just make cylinder at center of the hole. (so when you apply silicon it will make a hole in center of your spring). I have posted an example of simple model by which i made 8mmx20mm springs (three springs at a time.) I use same method to make silicon mold for soaps by 3d printing. Hope that you find this method useful. Thank you for reading.