Varying fluoroelastomer cure across the roller to maximize fuser roller life

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• a receptor to receive an electrostatic latent image;
• at least one charging component for uniformly charging the receptor;
• at least one imaging component to form a latent image on the receptor;
• at least one development component for converting the latent image to a visible image on the receptor;
• a transfer component for transferring the visible image onto a media;
• and
• a fuser member for fusing the visible image onto the media, wherein the fuser member comprises:
• a substrate having a first edge and a second edge;
• and
• a continuous fluoroelastomer layer disposed over a surface of the substrate, the continuous fluoroelastomer layer comprising a first region having a first crosslink density and at least a second region having a second crosslink density, wherein the first region is disposed at an interior portion relative to the first and second edges of the substrate and the at least second region is disposed proximate to the first region, and wherein the second crosslink density is lower than the first crosslink density.