Custom rubber, built to perform.
Compounds and components, developed and made under one roof in Christchurch since 1989. Formulated to the failure mode each part has to beat.
A note on the company
We are not a rubber company. We are a precision materials engineering firm that has chosen rubber as its medium.
Every component we make solves a problem other materials cannot. Saltwater destroys steel. UV destroys plastic. Vibration cracks ceramic. Heat warps polymer. Rubber, engineered correctly, endures all of it.
Since 1989 we have run an in-house chemistry team, an on-site testing lab, and mechanical engineers on the production floor. The work begins with a problem from the field and ends with a component cycled to specification before it ever ships.
Premier MDR / cure curve, batch logged to certificate
Extruded profile / continuous run, cut to length
Proven where steel corrodes and plastic cracks.
Elastic mooring systems, floating infrastructure, and UV-stable components built for the ocean.
Learn moreFrom the rolling mill, by hand.
Every batch begins the same way it has since 1989, hand mixed on the rolling mill through technique and skill.
We don't just make parts. We solve problems.
Custom-built for every application.
Whether you need a single prototype or a six-figure annual run, RDL formulates, moulds and tests every part on the same Christchurch floor.
What happens on the floor before a part ships.
Five disciplines, one continuous line. The lab informs the mill. The mill informs the engineer. The engineer informs the chemist. Nothing is outsourced.
On the floor / cure, mill, calender, press
- 01In-house chemistry
Industrial chemist on site. Compounds formulated, tested and refined to meet specification, not pulled from a generic stockbook.
- 02On-site testing lab
Tensile, hardness, compression set, tear resistance and heat aging measured in the on-site lab using established ISO test methods. Results logged for the compounds we test.
- 03Engineers on the floor
Mechanical engineers work alongside the mill, the calender, the press, the extrusion line and the moulding department. Design intent and production reality stay in the same room.
- 04Prototype to production
From a single test specimen to a fully-tooled production run, with one team accountable end-to-end.
- 05Design partnership
We work upstream of the part, with your engineers, on the problem, before any compound is chosen.
FS-118 / Marlborough Sounds, NZ
Marine Flex elastic mooring system
Engineered elastomeric mooring line developed to absorb wave cycles without the snatch loading of conventional chain and rope. Field-deployed across recreational and commercial moorings.
Let's engineer something that lasts.
Bring the problem: the environment, the load, the cycle. We specify the compound, prototype the part and prove it on the bench before it ships.