A way 4 manufactures to protect silicone from metal joints??

[rubherkitty]

I have a cheap silicone doll that I need to make a skeleton for. The doll just had plastic tubes for the bones with no joints. This allowed the ends of the bones to easily poke through the silicone. The silicone was rather poor quality too.

My plan is the slice the back of the doll open to remove any remaining plastic bones then make a new steel tube skeleton and install. The silicone will then be glued shut. The doll will be dressed in a cloth body suit of some sort and then the cloth coated with quality Smooth-On dragon skin silicone to make a tougher outer skin. The doll is a midsize so the added silicone will not hurt.

I've been thinking of a way to protect the silicone from the metal joints and have come up with this idea. Using a nylon sleeve over the joint and secure the ends of the sleeve w/a pinch clamp.

[mi6c]

Imho
The nylon sleeve will likely work but I do not consider the clamps necessary or a good idea.
If you feel a need to initially fixate the nylon some sewing thread should be good enough and once you have poured some silicon over the setup it will flow through the mesh and around the steel and fix it good enough.
Also, the clamps would have to create a really strong force over the steel bone as the nylon is both thin and slippery.
Good fortune with your project.

[rubherkitty]

Thanks
Yes, the clamps are probably not needed. Might be best to have some slip in the nylon sleeve anyway for when the joint bends. Otherwise the sleeve would need to be fixed w/t joint at full bend.
String or rubber O rings would probably hold it in place good enough for the silicone pour.
If the joint needed to be repaired you would also have to cut the clamps or nylon.

Dolls that have enough foam around the joints might not need the sleeves. I know some dolls have silicone poured right into the joints.