Our coated housings came back from the FR5 tooling trial with a faint cloudy patch instead of the original jaw lines; softer pads sound promising, but I can't choose from two photos taken under different lights.
I'd check release too. We tried a soft contact that looked lovely on the part, then had to wait for the part to peel off it. The operator was not impressed.
How are you judging appearance in production? A patch you can find under a bench lamp might not be a customer reject. Someone has to settle that before the pad contest continues.
We once rejected a batch for a rub our customer reference actually allowed. Put their acceptable sample beside yours, if you have one; it saves a surprisingly awkward conversation later
Ella, it was tack on ours. A different pad material released better with the same shape. I wouldn't rule out Toby's softer option just because ours was sticky.
We've got a customer sample with light contact marks allowed, and our finish inspector says the cloudy patch is worse; keeping the original contact for now while the toolmaker looks at its jaw lines.