Neck seal attempts, changes and advice welcome ( pic heavy)

[garydavis8]

So as Im on the wait list for an ATA bucket and kit I thought I'd have a look at some of the things I can work on instead of climbing the walls waiting for the day I get that email to pay for my brown box

 

One of the first things I wanted to look at was the neck seal, I've seen some great ones here and will probably buy one in the future but most seem to be all textile where in the movies they appear more rubbery at the top, so I thought why not have a look at what I can do.

 

I started with some material( old black jogging bottoms) and some rubber string that I have from another project

 

Cant upload photos for some reason so heres a link to photobucket

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I thought to see if I could sew them together but too small and fragile so I put material behind them and sewed them to it ( to be taken off later) then I put on a layer of latex to keep the plastic effect.

 

Heres where I made my first mistake my latex was too thick and lumpy, make sure there are no lumps and if necessary add water to the mix, a little at a time, too much and its useless.

 

So rather than abandon the project I cut off the material at the back glued some to the side that looked bad and then latexed the new front side, a few coats later and I was pleased with it. Trying it on I noticed it was a bit just, a bit of advice do it longer and then cut to size.

 

I made the attachment to connect the back ( the version in the photo was just a test to fix, I will make a neater, larger version a bit later) now I had to do the rest.

 

Here I cheated a bit( ok a lot) I took an old t shirt and cut it to size then added velcro, I haven't decided if to cut it at the back to make it easier to put on with velcro and such. Also by attaching it to the rubber part by velcro it's easy to remove and wash later on.

 

So there we are, before I do any final changes I thought I ask here for advice, if it will be acceptable( after being tidied and finished) I thought for the back attachment on the rubber piece that I could do it in black elastic but I don't know if that's accepted in the 501( yes I need to look at the photo guide again )

 

Ps if the photo link doesn't work Ill try again but if anyone can tell me how to put photos directly on it would be appreciated ( tried on my phone and my ipad)

Edited January 26, 2022 by gmrhodes13
link not working removed

[justjoseph63[Staff]]

Looks pretty darn good at this point, Gary, nice work!  I like the look of the "rubber" neck seal as well, but it would probably get a bit uncomfortable here in FL. with 90 degree heat!   I had trouble posting on here as well, until I learned that you have to have Google Chrome. (Thank you, Tony)!  If you have that, click on the small icon above that looks like a Polaroid, (Image), then, in your Photobucket, click on the Direct option, cut, then paste it to the URL in the Image box.  You might want to play around with the image size as well.  Hope this helps, and best of luck on your neck-seal/TK build!

[garydavis8]

Thanks Joseph Ill try googlechrome, I think for comfort it wong be too bad as there is material on the back. I'd be more worried about the latex melting in the heat or becoming sticky. In the past for fixed models Ive dealt with this by doing a last coat mix of pvc/latex and water which protects it a bit more, but I worry that if I get the mix wrong it may be too rigid and unconfortable.

[SofusSnake]

Looking good! I really admire all the know-how and craftsmanship of the people here, this looks like it can hold its own against more professional/mass produced stuff, too.
Latex has a tendency to melt or become "sticky" or tacky when heated, like Gary said, but some types of natural rubbers/latex also will also "rot" after a while, becoming less solid and perhaps even crack or crumble, depending on usage (for instance, skin contact, sweat, areas with a lot of movement, etc.) I would be extremely careful after each use to check on wear and tear and, perhaps look into preserving it with some sort of coating, like Gary said.