[WIP] Keycap making in Poland

tobsn

18 Mar 2017, 00:52

Moved to Poland a while ago, things are a bit more complicated here, especially if you don't speak the language. I asked about materials etc. in r/resincasting but got no answers. I got frustrated and just started doing things on my own... here is my progress so far:

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08.10.2016

Bought: Results:
  • cut a piece of square plastic from a thick plastic sheet; added normal tape at the bottom of keycap; put keycap in center of lego form on top of plastic; added little molding clay balls on top of plastic square inside lego mold; mixed 100ml of silicon with 5ml of catalyst (measured via the syringe) in plastic cup with chop stick; poured silicon into lego form; lots of bubbles came up after a while; mixed too much silicon, had half left; 20 minutes later the keycap was swimming on top of the silicon; pushed it back down; probably ruined that one; pushed it hard down 10 minutes later hoping it will stick to the plastic square at the bottom;
  • got frustrated with possibly waiting 12 hours and having a bad result; created a second lego form; mixed 50ml silicon (still ~15ml too much); used molding clay at bottom of lego form; to make it as even as possible i cut another square from the plastic and made a plunger from lego to evenly spread out the clay; added little balls to the clay; put some clay into keycap and stuck it on top of clay carefully poured silicon into lego form; less bubbles; keycap didn't swim up...
In Pictures:
  • Spoiler:
    Image
  • Spoiler:
    Image
Research: Next steps:
  • check silicon tomorrow
  • order resin
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09.10.2016

Results:
  • Removed lego around silicon mold and ripped of overhanging material from the lego bricks; first one that had the floating keycap came out slightly better than expected; probably isn't usable but i'll still try later on; waiting for second mold to harden out because it still seems sticky on the top
In Pictures:
  • Spoiler:
    Image
  • added more pictures from tonight, second mold set and i poured the other side on both:
  • Spoiler:
    Image
Bought:
  • (99zl) found another classic lego pieces set for a reduced price, thought why not...
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10.10.2016

Results:
  • Other silicon half is still curing (room temperature is very low)
  • As you might seen in the pictures from last night, I forgot to put in anything to allow me to pour resin into the molds later... well... it's about learning isn't it *facepalm
  • I also forgot to put anything in between the two molds to make them easier separate... that might be bad, but we'll see when it's cured
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10.10.2016 part 2

Results:
  • silicon still hasn't cured 24 hours later, I assume I put not enough catalyst in it or didn't mix properly... no idea what to do... going to wait till tomorrow and hope it might still cure completely
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21.11.2016

Bought:
  • (114zl) Smooth-On 326
  • (178zl) Smooth-On So-Strong Color Tints Samples
  • (86zl) mold Release Spray
  • (200zl) Pigments Holograpic/Thermo/Photo/Glow in the dark from aliexpress (11.11 sales :D)
Results:
  • The silicon mentioned in my last post never completely cured, I assume it was not enough catalysator
Research:
  • need to find out how much pigments i can use in one resin mix... probably tiny amounts cause they say 0.5-1% of resin - no idea how to measure that
Next steps:
  • Going to make new molds tonight and see how it goes
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29.11.2016

Bought:
  • (80zl) 0,01g precision weigh
Results:
  • first attempt with Smooth-On 326 turned out a bit ****ed up apprently it's because of the gas build up while the resin is curing:
    Spoiler:
    Image
  • was told to use pools to have gas replaced with new resin - so I did build pools:
    Spoiler:
    Image
  • second attempt went a bit better but more bubbles but still a solid smooth surface:
    Spoiler:
    Image
  • smooth-on universal mold release applied to mold helped A LOT to get the cap and overflow off and especially the stem out of the mold!
Research:
  • have to figure out where to buy release spray for silicion on silicon - the universal mold release from smooth-on did the opposite on silicon on silicon and fused both sides together
Next steps:
  • get vacuum chamber for bubbles or other type of smooth on 300 series that doesnt need degassing
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27.01.2017

Bought:
  • (~800zl) Vacuum chamber and pump
  • (~80zl) MANN 205 Silicon mold release spray (silicon on silicon)
  • (~200zl) various pigments (thermochromatic, glow in the dark, photochromatic, holograpic)
Results:
  • things are getting a bit more clean - still need pressure pot though (first image is - thermochromatic, glow in the dark, holographic pigment, and clean white):
  • went with the punches and created a overly bubble one with a solid surface:
Spoiler:
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Research:
  • Need to figure out how to embed trademark into keycap :P
  • Want to create a solid mold negative to get a more high quality version + own makers mark
Next steps:
  • Order pressure chamber
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18.03.2017

Bought: Results:
  • Moved into new apartment with spare room for workshop - setting everything up still...
  • Moved WIP to Deskthority
Research:
  • Mold form and master creation via CAD/CAM
  • Found Alumilite distributor in the Netherlands: http://hardcorecraft.se
  • Trying to find good resin dye that doesn't cost your first born
Next steps:
  • Set up workspace
  • Buy shelfs
  • Going to order some test resin from above distributor: clear, water clear, clear slow
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Footnotes

I will keep this updated as I go along... any hints or tips would be greatly appreciated, especially about:
  • molding clay, any specific products or which "type"?
Thanks! :)

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nnc-tlb

24 Mar 2017, 01:32

great infos, keep (b)logging

User avatar
Dan

24 Mar 2017, 02:02

Nice, i'll bookmark this thread for future reference. :) I was thinking for some time to try and sculpt a few keycaps, followed by painting, since this is what attracts me most, but i'm still in the process of gathering info about the materials needed and techniques used for keycaps.

About the molding clay, i've read Super Sculpey Firm is good for small details, but don't take my word for it... I've even seen wax used for key sculpting.

tobsn

24 Mar 2017, 15:29

Dan wrote: About the molding clay, i've read Super Sculpey Firm is good for small details, but don't take my word for it... I've even seen wax used for key sculpting.
I see a lot of people use cx5s to pull editable masters from their 3D prints - I think I'm going to try this and see how it goes since my sculpting skills are probably not on par haha. I have some green stuff here as well and was told to mix it with apoxie brand to make it more sturdy, apparently that's what the miniature (games workshop stuff) people do. Going to see once my workspace is set up in the new apt :)

hypkx
Chasing the Dream

05 Apr 2017, 13:20

Nice thread, many useful information.

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