Gaskets, Seals & Bushings
Flexible parts are where TPU earns its place: the bushing that kills a rattle, the grommet that saves a cable, the pad that takes the buzz out of a machine. What a printed flexible part is not is a moulded seal — and that difference matters enough to put it first rather than in the small print.
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Get a gaskets, seals & bushings estimate
Upload your file or describe the part. We review printability before confirming anything.
Common uses
- Dust and splash seals for cabinets, enclosures and lids
- Anti-vibration pads, feet and isolator mounts for machines, pumps and fans
- Bushings and sleeves for low-speed, low-load pivots
- Cable grommets, edge protectors and strain reliefs
- Bump stops, buffers and end caps
- Odd-shaped gaskets for non-pressure covers, hatches and panels
An FDM gasket is not a moulded seal
This is the part to read before you order. A moulded seal is a solid, homogeneous piece of rubber with a durometer, a compression set figure, a temperature window and a chemical compatibility chart behind it, all established by testing. A printed part in TPU is a stack of extruded lines welded to one another, and however tightly we pack it, those layer boundaries are a path — it is porous along them and it can weep. It has no pressure rating and no chemical rating, because we cannot give it one: making that kind of claim is a lab's job, not a printer's. So the list of noes is short and firm. No hydraulics. No pneumatics. No gas. No potable water. No pressure vessels. No seal where a leak is dangerous or expensive. What a printed flexible part is genuinely good at is keeping dust and splash out of an enclosure, damping vibration, protecting a cable through a panel, taking up the slack in a worn pivot, and being the exact odd shape that nobody sells. Where you need a real seal, buy a real seal — O-rings and cord stock are cheap and available in every size on earth — and let us print the housing that holds it instead.
Hardness, squash and how to specify one
TPU comes in shore hardness grades: 95A is the common workhorse, softer grades exist and behave more like rubber but print with more difficulty, harder ones behave more like a stiff plastic. So tell us what the part has to do rather than which filament to use. How much compression should it see? What temperature, at its worst? What does it touch — oils, solvents, sanitiser, sunlight? Does it need to grip, or slide? One property worth knowing about up front: printed TPU takes a compression set. Squash it for a year and it stays squashed; it will not spring back the way rubber does. That is fine if you plan for it — the part costs very little and you own the file, so replacing it is a reprint rather than a hunt. Design matters too: a gasket wants a groove or a defined squeeze to work against, because a flat printed gasket clamped by bolts will simply extrude out sideways and stop sealing anything.
Bushings and anti-vibration parts
This is where printed flexible parts do their best work. A bushing in TPU or nylon is a good answer for a low-speed, low-load, oscillating pivot — a linkage, a hinge, a pedal, a worn hole in a bracket. It is a sacrificial wear part by design: cheap, replaceable, and quieter than the metal-on-metal it replaces. It is not a bearing. At real speed or real load it will heat up from friction and TPU does not need much heat to give up, so anything spinning fast wants a proper bushing in PTFE, bronze or oilite. Anti-vibration parts are the other good use: geometry and durometer do the work, and a set of printed pads or feet under a compressor, a pump or a noisy cabinet is a genuinely effective fix for very little money. The limit is the same as everywhere else on this page — not engine mounts, not anything carrying a dynamic load where a failure has a consequence beyond a rattle coming back.
How it works
Send your file or describe the part
Upload an STL, OBJ, 3MF or STEP file, or tell us what you need with photos and a few measurements.
Get a guide price
When we can read the geometry we estimate from it straight away — material, print time, supports and quantity all priced openly.
We check printability, then confirm
A person reviews orientation, wall thickness and supports, flags anything that will not print well, and confirms your final quote before any work starts.
Gaskets, Seals & Bushings — example prices
Worked examples on real models from our print library, priced by the same calculator that estimates your own part. Sizes span small to large so you can see how cost moves with the part.
| Example part | Size | PLA | PETG | ABS / ASA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M4 Washer | 12 × 12 × 2 mm | £0.09 – £0.12 | £0.10 – £0.13 | £0.11 – £0.14 |
| M6 Washer | 18 × 18 × 3 mm | £0.27 – £0.34 | £0.28 – £0.36 | £0.32 – £0.41 |
| Wing Nut M8 | 46 × 18 × 10 mm | £1.21 – £1.54 | £1.28 – £1.63 | £1.43 – £1.83 |
| Control Knob (large) | 45 × 45 × 20 mm | £7.89 – £10.08 | £8.25 – £10.55 | £9.02 – £11.52 |
Guide prices for a single unit, calculated from the measured geometry of each example model — not fixed quotes. Small parts land at or near the £0 minimum order, and per-unit prices fall with quantity. Your price depends on your own part, its material and its printability. How pricing works.
Example models for gaskets, seals & bushings
Open-source designs from our print library that show the kind of part this service suits. View any of them for a full material and quantity price breakdown.
Cable Comb (10-way)
Coaster (large)
Control Knob (large)
Cable Comb (6-way)
These are open-source example designs (CC0) we publish to show what the process suits and what it costs — not a record of past jobs. Prices shown are examples in PLA.
Gaskets, Seals & Bushings — FAQ
Can you print a gasket for a hydraulic or pneumatic fitting, or a water system?+
No. Hydraulics, pneumatics, gas, pressure vessels and potable water are all out. A printed part is porous along its layer lines and has no pressure or chemical rating we could stand behind. Buy the O-ring; we will print the housing it sits in.
Will a printed TPU gasket keep water out?+
Splash and dust, yes — a lid seal on an outdoor cabinet is a fine use. Sustained pressure or immersion, no. The layer boundaries are a path and the part will weep given time and pressure. If wet ingress is a safety or a cost problem, this is not the part for it.
How hard is the TPU, and can I choose?+
95A is the usual grade; softer and harder options exist. Rather than picking a number, tell us what the part does — how much it has to squash, what it touches, how hot it gets, whether it needs grip. We will recommend a grade and say plainly if what you want is outside what printed TPU does well.
Can a printed bushing replace a bearing?+
For a slow, lightly loaded, oscillating pivot, yes — as a cheap sacrificial wear part that is quieter than what it replaced. For anything spinning at speed or under load, no: friction heat is what finishes it, and TPU does not tolerate much. That job wants PTFE, bronze or oilite.
How much does gaskets, seals & bushings cost?+
There is no fixed per-item rate — price comes from how much plastic the part uses, how long it takes to print, how much support and finishing it needs, and how many you want. The example table above shows what real parts of this kind work out at. Upload your file for a guide price on your own part.
How long does it take?+
It depends on the size of the part, the queue and the material. Tell us your deadline when you enquire and we will tell you honestly whether it is achievable before you commit.
Can I order one of the models from your library?+
Yes. Every model in our print library is a design you can have printed — pick one, choose a material and quantity, and the example price on its page is your starting point. You can also download the file and take it elsewhere; they are all CC0.
Are my files kept private?+
Yes. Uploaded files go to private storage, are never made public, and are only used to quote and produce your job.
Worth reading first
Practical guides that help you get a better part and a more accurate quote.
What Is TPU (Flexible Filament)?
TPU is printable rubber. It bends, grips, seals and absorbs shock — and it behaves nothing like PLA, which is the whole point and the whole difficulty.
Nylon and Carbon Fibre Parts
The engineering end of FDM. Nylon is tough and wear-resistant; carbon fibre makes it stiff and stable. Both are harder work — here is when that pays off.
How to Copy a Part Without CAD
No file, no drawing, just a broken part and a pair of calipers. That is a perfectly normal starting point — here is how the process actually works.
Other services
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Upload your file or describe the part. We review printability before confirming anything.