Author Topic: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.  (Read 88188 times)

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Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #100 on: Sat, 29 March 2014, 12:46:40 »
Any new designs in the work? Love the textures and colors you're coming up with, by the way :D

Yes several actually! My free time has been pretty sparse lately so I haven't been able to really get a fully productive day in. Hopefully this Tuesday I'll have a full day off from work and can really hammer some stuff out.
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline RESPRiT

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #101 on: Sat, 29 March 2014, 12:49:10 »
Any new designs in the work? Love the textures and colors you're coming up with, by the way :D

Yes several actually! My free time has been pretty sparse lately so I haven't been able to really get a fully productive day in. Hopefully this Tuesday I'll have a full day off from work and can really hammer some stuff out.

With all this new stuff, do you think we'll see a sale sometime soon ;D
;)

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #102 on: Sat, 29 March 2014, 13:12:39 »
Any new designs in the work? Love the textures and colors you're coming up with, by the way :D

Yes several actually! My free time has been pretty sparse lately so I haven't been able to really get a fully productive day in. Hopefully this Tuesday I'll have a full day off from work and can really hammer some stuff out.

With all this new stuff, do you think we'll see a sale sometime soon ;D

Yep! Definitely soon- earlier in this thread I said this week but its looking like probably next week sometime.
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline Vibex

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #103 on: Sat, 29 March 2014, 13:15:30 »
Oh Dodgy, did my response to your PM go through? I was having trouble with GeekHack deleting some of my posts and PM's earlier this week.

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #104 on: Sat, 29 March 2014, 15:57:23 »
Oh Dodgy, did my response to your PM go through? I was having trouble with GeekHack deleting some of my posts and PM's earlier this week.

Yup gotcha, responded.
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline pr0ximity

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #105 on: Sun, 30 March 2014, 09:59:51 »
(Attachment Link)

Edit: Damnit- rotating now...

Wow, dibs on those.
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Offline Vibex

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #106 on: Tue, 01 April 2014, 15:49:10 »
Artisan forum just went up, so when you start your sale, you should probably move this thread their (or just start a new thread).

Offline Anarchist

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #107 on: Tue, 01 April 2014, 16:25:51 »
I don't know much about this type of thing but they looked like they turned out really well.  If you're selling/giving a few away I'd definitely throw one on an escape key or something. 

Offline Vibex

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #108 on: Tue, 01 April 2014, 16:39:19 »
I don't know much about this type of thing but they looked like they turned out really well.  If you're selling/giving a few away I'd definitely throw one on an escape key or something.
He said a sale should be coming this week, so keep your eyes peeled for it! :D

Offline sockit2me

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #109 on: Wed, 02 April 2014, 13:57:32 »
really well done! Totally see great progress and it makes me real influenced to try making my own

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #110 on: Fri, 04 April 2014, 12:42:15 »
Hi guys,
Know I've been quiet lately, been very tied down by work. Rest assured, I'm still keeping busy in the small windows to work I have right now. As for the sale, I'm still working very hard to make sure that I have everything up and available by this Sunday evening at the latest. Mostly I've been cleaning up my casts, sanding edges and doing polishing, QC, etc... Also waiting on some nice packaging to come in the mail. I'm mostly done casting this round of caps, free time has been spent working on new designs and molds to be previewed very soon.
Anyway, these are new, they're a soft pale green with a tiny bit of sparkly dust in them. They have a nice, calm colorfulness to them in person.
59869-0
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline pr0ximity

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #111 on: Fri, 04 April 2014, 12:56:18 »
Hi guys,
Know I've been quiet lately, been very tied down by work. Rest assured, I'm still keeping busy in the small windows to work I have right now. As for the sale, I'm still working very hard to make sure that I have everything up and available by this Sunday evening at the latest. Mostly I've been cleaning up my casts, sanding edges and doing polishing, QC, etc... Also waiting on some nice packaging to come in the mail. I'm mostly done casting this round of caps, free time has been spent working on new designs and molds to be previewed very soon.
Anyway, these are new, they're a soft pale green with a tiny bit of sparkly dust in them. They have a nice, calm colorfulness to them in person.
(Attachment Link)

They've got a very "relaxed" style to them, love the pale color + sparkles.

Looking forward to the sale! Take your time, these things seem to get better with age  :thumb:
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Offline Vibex

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #112 on: Fri, 04 April 2014, 13:12:50 »
Hi guys,
Know I've been quiet lately, been very tied down by work. Rest assured, I'm still keeping busy in the small windows to work I have right now. As for the sale, I'm still working very hard to make sure that I have everything up and available by this Sunday evening at the latest. Mostly I've been cleaning up my casts, sanding edges and doing polishing, QC, etc... Also waiting on some nice packaging to come in the mail. I'm mostly done casting this round of caps, free time has been spent working on new designs and molds to be previewed very soon.
Anyway, these are new, they're a soft pale green with a tiny bit of sparkly dust in them. They have a nice, calm colorfulness to them in person.
(Attachment Link)
Are the little dots sparkles or bubbles? Either way they look nice.

Offline Rewind

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #113 on: Fri, 04 April 2014, 13:14:48 »
Amazing caps!  :)

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #114 on: Fri, 04 April 2014, 14:43:34 »
Hi guys,
Know I've been quiet lately, been very tied down by work. Rest assured, I'm still keeping busy in the small windows to work I have right now. As for the sale, I'm still working very hard to make sure that I have everything up and available by this Sunday evening at the latest. Mostly I've been cleaning up my casts, sanding edges and doing polishing, QC, etc... Also waiting on some nice packaging to come in the mail. I'm mostly done casting this round of caps, free time has been spent working on new designs and molds to be previewed very soon.
Anyway, these are new, they're a soft pale green with a tiny bit of sparkly dust in them. They have a nice, calm colorfulness to them in person.
(Attachment Link)
Are the little dots sparkles or bubbles? Either way they look nice.
The dots in the walls are the caps are possibly very small bubbles, most of my caps have a pretty high chance of those being present in some amount, until my pressure pot arrives, then we'll be %100 bubble free. In due time.
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline Vibex

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #115 on: Fri, 04 April 2014, 14:50:02 »
Hi guys,
Know I've been quiet lately, been very tied down by work. Rest assured, I'm still keeping busy in the small windows to work I have right now. As for the sale, I'm still working very hard to make sure that I have everything up and available by this Sunday evening at the latest. Mostly I've been cleaning up my casts, sanding edges and doing polishing, QC, etc... Also waiting on some nice packaging to come in the mail. I'm mostly done casting this round of caps, free time has been spent working on new designs and molds to be previewed very soon.
Anyway, these are new, they're a soft pale green with a tiny bit of sparkly dust in them. They have a nice, calm colorfulness to them in person.
(Attachment Link)
Are the little dots sparkles or bubbles? Either way they look nice.
The dots in the walls are the caps are possibly very small bubbles, most of my caps have a pretty high chance of those being present in some amount, until my pressure pot arrives, then we'll be %100 bubble free. In due time.
I think I've said this before, but I don't really think the bubbles in the trans caps are really that big of a deal. I think they actually look pretty cool, so I'm not complaining. :p

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #116 on: Fri, 04 April 2014, 14:57:24 »
Hi guys,
Know I've been quiet lately, been very tied down by work. Rest assured, I'm still keeping busy in the small windows to work I have right now. As for the sale, I'm still working very hard to make sure that I have everything up and available by this Sunday evening at the latest. Mostly I've been cleaning up my casts, sanding edges and doing polishing, QC, etc... Also waiting on some nice packaging to come in the mail. I'm mostly done casting this round of caps, free time has been spent working on new designs and molds to be previewed very soon.
Anyway, these are new, they're a soft pale green with a tiny bit of sparkly dust in them. They have a nice, calm colorfulness to them in person.
(Attachment Link)
Are the little dots sparkles or bubbles? Either way they look nice.
The dots in the walls are the caps are possibly very small bubbles, most of my caps have a pretty high chance of those being present in some amount, until my pressure pot arrives, then we'll be %100 bubble free. In due time.
I think I've said this before, but I don't really think the bubbles in the trans caps are really that big of a deal. I think they actually look pretty cool, so I'm not complaining. :p
I try to be fair when selecting what's going to acceptable to sell and what isn't. Nothing I sell will have large bubbles behind the face of the cap or small bubbles at the surface that would ruin the aesthetic of the cap. Some very tiny bubbles in the walls I think are acceptable within reason, so long as the wall of the cap isn't a big mess- Except for my fizzy style caps, where it's an intentional design choice. I hope that those who do eventually get my caps understand that this is an at home, done by hand thing, and I do my best to make them as perfect as I can given my limitations. I'll also say that I have new equipment heading my way very soon, which should drastically improve the quality of my casts. I wish I could say the same about free time, it's still up in the air when I'll get more of that.
I'll I would also like to say that these aren't perfect casts, very few of them are, but I make sure that the face of the cap is without any imperfections and that I would be happy to receive each one if I were a paying customer.
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline HipsterPunks

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #117 on: Fri, 04 April 2014, 15:03:53 »
looking forward to my dodgy cap  :thumb:
sell out and eat ass

Offline berserkfan

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #118 on: Fri, 04 April 2014, 15:08:04 »
big round of applause!

At the rate you're going, you will be a vendor before long! Welcome to geekhack!

(ps I think you have great promise. Maybe in 6 months people won't be talking about Click Clacks or Brobots, but Dodgy Doggies or something.)
Most of the modding can be done on your own once you break through the psychological barriers.

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #119 on: Mon, 07 April 2014, 00:20:46 »
Hey all,
Been having network problems all weekend, sale will go up tomorrow morning, links will be posted in new reply and on original post.

Thank you everybody for all the kind words, as always they are much appreciated.
Catch you all tomorrow!
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline RESPRiT

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #120 on: Mon, 07 April 2014, 03:25:09 »
Hey all,
Been having network problems all weekend, sale will go up tomorrow morning, links will be posted in new reply and on original post.

Thank you everybody for all the kind words, as always they are much appreciated.
Catch you all tomorrow!

Any chance you can give a time? :D
;)

Offline Vibex

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #121 on: Mon, 07 April 2014, 06:01:43 »
Hey all,
Been having network problems all weekend, sale will go up tomorrow morning, links will be posted in new reply and on original post.

Thank you everybody for all the kind words, as always they are much appreciated.
Catch you all tomorrow!
I'll be in class all morning.  :( oh well a, hope other people can get some nice caps. i'ii just wait for the next sale.

Offline Dodgy

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Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #123 on: Fri, 11 April 2014, 12:00:27 »
Update: So the sale has been going pretty well, (there's quite a bit still available!). Vibex posted a review of my caps which I thought was overall quite positive, and very fair. He pointed out some things about my caps that need improving that I couldn't agree more with. These are things that I'm going to be focusing on as much as possible in the next set of tests and changes. My pressure pot should be here in the next few days which is extremely exciting, and I have some new designs being done up that will be getting molds in the next few days.

The next short while will mostly be dedicated to new designs, improving current designs (cap wall thickness) and improving cast results overall. So expect some cool stuff to be popping up here soon!

Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who's been supportive of what I'm doing, whether it be by buying caps or just posting in here. It's all greatly appreciated, and means a lot- so thank you!
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline Binge

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #124 on: Fri, 11 April 2014, 15:42:52 »
spoken like a true crafter, keep it up :)  Don't hesitate to ask for help figuring out a problem.
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Offline abandoner

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #125 on: Sat, 12 April 2014, 00:07:43 »
Can't wait for my caps on Tuesday! Did the little palettes make it into the packaging?

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #126 on: Sat, 12 April 2014, 00:18:05 »
Can't wait for my caps on Tuesday! Did the little palettes make it into the packaging?

No sorry! That was a big disappointment for me- unfortunately, the boxes that I planned on shipping in arrived too late and I wasn't able to package as originally planned. They'll be in sometime soon, but unfortunately not yet. Sorry!
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline exitfire401

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #127 on: Sat, 12 April 2014, 00:19:54 »
Update: So the sale has been going pretty well, (there's quite a bit still available!). Vibex posted a review of my caps which I thought was overall quite positive, and very fair. He pointed out some things about my caps that need improving that I couldn't agree more with. These are things that I'm going to be focusing on as much as possible in the next set of tests and changes. My pressure pot should be here in the next few days which is extremely exciting, and I have some new designs being done up that will be getting molds in the next few days.

The next short while will mostly be dedicated to new designs, improving current designs (cap wall thickness) and improving cast results overall. So expect some cool stuff to be popping up here soon!

Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who's been supportive of what I'm doing, whether it be by buying caps or just posting in here. It's all greatly appreciated, and means a lot- so thank you!

Glad to help. Mine made it today, however, my complex's leasing office was closed, so I can't get my caps until morning. Glad to help a new crafter with some cool designs out =D
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Offline abandoner

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #128 on: Sat, 12 April 2014, 00:27:56 »
Can't wait for my caps on Tuesday! Did the little palettes make it into the packaging?

No sorry! That was a big disappointment for me- unfortunately, the boxes that I planned on shipping in arrived too late and I wasn't able to package as originally planned. They'll be in sometime soon, but unfortunately not yet. Sorry!
No problem! I will be buying from you in the future so I have more to look forward to now. :p

Offline Vibex

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #129 on: Sat, 12 April 2014, 14:21:24 »
Update: So the sale has been going pretty well, (there's quite a bit still available!). Vibex posted a review of my caps which I thought was overall quite positive, and very fair. He pointed out some things about my caps that need improving that I couldn't agree more with. These are things that I'm going to be focusing on as much as possible in the next set of tests and changes. My pressure pot should be here in the next few days which is extremely exciting, and I have some new designs being done up that will be getting molds in the next few days.

The next short while will mostly be dedicated to new designs, improving current designs (cap wall thickness) and improving cast results overall. So expect some cool stuff to be popping up here soon!

Lastly, I'd like to thank everyone who's been supportive of what I'm doing, whether it be by buying caps or just posting in here. It's all greatly appreciated, and means a lot- so thank you!
Just saw this now. If anyone is interested in the review, here it is. Can't wait to see what you coem out with next.

Offline pr0ximity

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #130 on: Tue, 15 April 2014, 22:29:50 »
Just got my triplet of Misters in the mail and on my board, they look awesome:



Really glad I picked up the group, although I wish I had some backlighting to really show them off. If the light hits them the right way they look perfect!
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Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #131 on: Thu, 17 April 2014, 11:56:38 »
Pressure pot came last night, very excited to see how my next casts turn out using it. And, to add to that excitement:
61275-0

Thicker walls, and a topre stem for blanks and the goyle! The mister is getting thicker walls tonight, and I'll have to figure out if I can get a topre stem sorted out for him too, that one might be tricky.

Also, a look at a new design, this one went to exitfire, who was the lucky winner of the raffle from my sale thread, this is his photo:
« Last Edit: Thu, 17 April 2014, 12:03:23 by Dodgy »
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline RESPRiT

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #132 on: Fri, 18 April 2014, 02:05:16 »
Pressure pot came last night, very excited to see how my next casts turn out using it. And, to add to that excitement:
(Attachment Link)

Thicker walls, and a topre stem for blanks and the goyle! The mister is getting thicker walls tonight, and I'll have to figure out if I can get a topre stem sorted out for him too, that one might be tricky.

Also, a look at a new design, this one went to exitfire, who was the lucky winner of the raffle from my sale thread, this is his photo:
Show Image


Hell yeah! Love the cleanness and I'm super hype for Topre!
;)

Offline Vibex

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #133 on: Fri, 18 April 2014, 07:50:27 »
Pressure pot came last night, very excited to see how my next casts turn out using it. And, to add to that excitement:
(Attachment Link)

Thicker walls, and a topre stem for blanks and the goyle! The mister is getting thicker walls tonight, and I'll have to figure out if I can get a topre stem sorted out for him too, that one might be tricky.

Also, a look at a new design, this one went to exitfire, who was the lucky winner of the raffle from my sale thread, this is his photo:
Show Image

Those thick walls look much nicer. That new design looks quite nice too. :D

Offline mkawa

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #134 on: Fri, 18 April 2014, 09:57:46 »
i just want to say that i feel incredibly honored to have been able to help dodgy in this endeavor. these are great looking caps, and i know they're just going to keep getting better :). keep up the great work!
« Last Edit: Wed, 23 April 2014, 23:13:27 by mkawa »

to all the brilliant friends who have left us, and all the students who climb on their shoulders.

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #135 on: Wed, 23 April 2014, 23:11:50 »
Thank you all for your support!

I've been pretty quiet lately, but I've been busy! Right now I'm very busy doing a few things:

-Redesigning my molds- mostly for pressure casting, but also for larger scale production and more consistent results.
-Thickening cap walls- This is a must, and it's going really well
-Topre stemmed caps- Coming along nicely
-New Cap designs

At the moment though, I'm working almost 13 hours days 7 days a week- so time is pretty scarce, I'll try and get something exciting up here soon.
Thanks again all  :thumb:
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline Vibex

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #136 on: Thu, 24 April 2014, 06:00:34 »
Thank you all for your support!

I've been pretty quiet lately, but I've been busy! Right now I'm very busy doing a few things:

-Redesigning my molds- mostly for pressure casting, but also for larger scale production and more consistent results.
-Thickening cap walls- This is a must, and it's going really well
-Topre stemmed caps- Coming along nicely
-New Cap designs

At the moment though, I'm working almost 13 hours days 7 days a week- so time is pretty scarce, I'll try and get something exciting up here soon.
Thanks again all  :thumb:
Take your time, you don't want to wear your self out. I am excited for what you do next though. ;)

Offline futurebird

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #137 on: Thu, 24 April 2014, 11:55:51 »
Those results are stunning.

Offline exitfire401

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #138 on: Thu, 01 May 2014, 06:00:24 »
Thank you all for your support!

I've been pretty quiet lately, but I've been busy! Right now I'm very busy doing a few things:

-Redesigning my molds- mostly for pressure casting, but also for larger scale production and more consistent results.
-Thickening cap walls- This is a must, and it's going really well
-Topre stemmed caps- Coming along nicely
-New Cap designs

At the moment though, I'm working almost 13 hours days 7 days a week- so time is pretty scarce, I'll try and get something exciting up here soon.
Thanks again all  :thumb:

Sounds good! and like everyone else is saying, don't kill yourself haha. SLEEP.
Boards: Kingsaver Complicated Blue Alps |Sprit 60% Transparent MX Clears in Gateron housings with 62g gold Sprit springs lubed and RGB color shifting LEDs | Ducky Shine Zone MX Black with Blue LEDs | Realforce 10AE Variable Silenced

B/S/T thread: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=55351.0

Past projects: KBT Race 2 L.E.
Past Boards: Ducky Shine 2 | KBT Pure | LZ Aluminum Skin| HHKB | Realforce 23u |

Offline feizor

  • Posts: 690
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #139 on: Thu, 01 May 2014, 06:38:02 »
Thank you all for your support!

I've been pretty quiet lately, but I've been busy! Right now I'm very busy doing a few things:

-Redesigning my molds- mostly for pressure casting, but also for larger scale production and more consistent results.
-Thickening cap walls- This is a must, and it's going really well
-Topre stemmed caps- Coming along nicely
-New Cap designs

At the moment though, I'm working almost 13 hours days 7 days a week- so time is pretty scarce, I'll try and get something exciting up here soon.
Thanks again all  :thumb:

Take it easy and keep up the good work mate!

Offline Dodgy

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #140 on: Sat, 10 May 2014, 11:32:35 »
Been playing with the pressure pot, trying to find that sweet spot
64265-0
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
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Offline mkawa

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #141 on: Sat, 10 May 2014, 21:41:54 »
that looks a bit like your resin is significantly offgassing during the cure. degassing at the beginning of the cure often won't help in these kinds of situations, because the gas doesn't form until during the cure reaction. higher pressures might make the bubbles small enough that they don't form on the outer skin of the cast, but it looks like your pressures might already be pretty high as it is, from the isometric look of the bubble distribution.

an advanced technique that i've seen used for very volatile thermosets is alternation between pressure and vacuum. the basic idea is simple, but in practice it's quite tricky to pull off. basically, you are pressure casting, so you set your pressure as necessary, and then periodically (the time intervals you will just have to guess-and-check over multiple casts) you apply vacuum, attempting to coalesce the bubbles that have formed and evacuate them from the mold. you then quickly bring the mold up to pressure again.

note that this is especially tricky because, as the cast cures, it gets increasingly viscous (until eventually it becomes a solid), and hence more difficult to move bubbles around in. however, when you apply vacuum to the mold, the casting material may want to come out the mold as well, depending on viscosity at the time of alternation and the way the sprues are set up in the mold. so this is definitely an "everything else has failed" sort of technique.

one thing to check before you go screwing around with your workflow is to see what the bulk cured material looks like; cut the casts open, don't just observe the surface. if your bubbles are all at the surface, for example, then it may be that there's some weird nucleation on your mold surfaces or just not enough pressure early on in the cure. if the material is uniformly bubbled, then it may very well be the scenario i described above. you may also want to map out your casting material's cure schedule. run partial cures to increasingly longer timings and observe how viscous the material at each stage in the cure. as it reaches full cure, you'll also be able to see where and how the bubbles start to develop, as if you had a window into your mold.

to all the brilliant friends who have left us, and all the students who climb on their shoulders.

Offline Dodgy

  • * Maker
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  • Posts: 170
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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #142 on: Sun, 11 May 2014, 00:17:23 »
that looks a bit like your resin is significantly offgassing during the cure. degassing at the beginning of the cure often won't help in these kinds of situations, because the gas doesn't form until during the cure reaction. higher pressures might make the bubbles small enough that they don't form on the outer skin of the cast, but it looks like your pressures might already be pretty high as it is, from the isometric look of the bubble distribution.

an advanced technique that i've seen used for very volatile thermosets is alternation between pressure and vacuum. the basic idea is simple, but in practice it's quite tricky to pull off. basically, you are pressure casting, so you set your pressure as necessary, and then periodically (the time intervals you will just have to guess-and-check over multiple casts) you apply vacuum, attempting to coalesce the bubbles that have formed and evacuate them from the mold. you then quickly bring the mold up to pressure again.

note that this is especially tricky because, as the cast cures, it gets increasingly viscous (until eventually it becomes a solid), and hence more difficult to move bubbles around in. however, when you apply vacuum to the mold, the casting material may want to come out the mold as well, depending on viscosity at the time of alternation and the way the sprues are set up in the mold. so this is definitely an "everything else has failed" sort of technique.

one thing to check before you go screwing around with your workflow is to see what the bulk cured material looks like; cut the casts open, don't just observe the surface. if your bubbles are all at the surface, for example, then it may be that there's some weird nucleation on your mold surfaces or just not enough pressure early on in the cure. if the material is uniformly bubbled, then it may very well be the scenario i described above. you may also want to map out your casting material's cure schedule. run partial cures to increasingly longer timings and observe how viscous the material at each stage in the cure. as it reaches full cure, you'll also be able to see where and how the bubbles start to develop, as if you had a window into your mold.

Thanks for the tips MKAWA, but the surface of these is not actually bubbles, but sediment from a powder I'm using. My camera is just a disaster and can't really capture the detail of the finish on these. They actually look like they've been misted with spraypaint, or something like that.
The issue that I'm running into while pressure casting is the mold buckling where there are the tiniest bubbles at the edges of the mold, which deforms the cast. I've read about it, and I've tried degassing my RTV, which I think I might need to change to something else (Damnit, I have so much left..) because I don't think I can degass it much further. Either that, or I'm just putting too much pressure on during the cast.
This is where the fun is for me though, the experimentation and the discovery- but I'm certainly looking forward to my first "perfect" cast.

Half day of work tomorrow, very excited to keep going.
« Last Edit: Sun, 11 May 2014, 00:21:37 by Dodgy »
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline Vibex

  • Posts: 926
  • Location: Cambridge, MA
  • Love y'all
Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #143 on: Sun, 11 May 2014, 06:42:31 »
Been playing with the pressure pot, trying to find that sweet spot
(Attachment Link)
Glad to see your still working on caps. ;D
Those guys kind of look like they are made of sponge. Are they bubbles or just an effect you put on top of it. EDIT: I really should read other posts before I post.

Offline Dodgy

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  • Location: NYC
  • I specialize in bird law.
Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #144 on: Sun, 11 May 2014, 08:25:17 »
Been playing with the pressure pot, trying to find that sweet spot
(Attachment Link)
Glad to see your still working on caps. ;D
Those guys kind of look like they are made of sponge. Are they bubbles or just an effect you put on top of it. EDIT: I really should read other posts before I post.

Definitely still working, just a bit less often. Mostly, I'm trying to come up with some new designs- which is tricky when you don't really have enough time to let the creative juices start to come out.
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline mkawa

  •  No Marketplace Access
  • Posts: 6562
  • (ツ)@@@. crankypants
Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #145 on: Sun, 11 May 2014, 09:11:52 »
that looks a bit like your resin is significantly offgassing during the cure. degassing at the beginning of the cure often won't help in these kinds of situations, because the gas doesn't form until during the cure reaction. higher pressures might make the bubbles small enough that they don't form on the outer skin of the cast, but it looks like your pressures might already be pretty high as it is, from the isometric look of the bubble distribution.

an advanced technique that i've seen used for very volatile thermosets is alternation between pressure and vacuum. the basic idea is simple, but in practice it's quite tricky to pull off. basically, you are pressure casting, so you set your pressure as necessary, and then periodically (the time intervals you will just have to guess-and-check over multiple casts) you apply vacuum, attempting to coalesce the bubbles that have formed and evacuate them from the mold. you then quickly bring the mold up to pressure again.

note that this is especially tricky because, as the cast cures, it gets increasingly viscous (until eventually it becomes a solid), and hence more difficult to move bubbles around in. however, when you apply vacuum to the mold, the casting material may want to come out the mold as well, depending on viscosity at the time of alternation and the way the sprues are set up in the mold. so this is definitely an "everything else has failed" sort of technique.

one thing to check before you go screwing around with your workflow is to see what the bulk cured material looks like; cut the casts open, don't just observe the surface. if your bubbles are all at the surface, for example, then it may be that there's some weird nucleation on your mold surfaces or just not enough pressure early on in the cure. if the material is uniformly bubbled, then it may very well be the scenario i described above. you may also want to map out your casting material's cure schedule. run partial cures to increasingly longer timings and observe how viscous the material at each stage in the cure. as it reaches full cure, you'll also be able to see where and how the bubbles start to develop, as if you had a window into your mold.

Thanks for the tips MKAWA, but the surface of these is not actually bubbles, but sediment from a powder I'm using. My camera is just a disaster and can't really capture the detail of the finish on these. They actually look like they've been misted with spraypaint, or something like that.
The issue that I'm running into while pressure casting is the mold buckling where there are the tiniest bubbles at the edges of the mold, which deforms the cast. I've read about it, and I've tried degassing my RTV, which I think I might need to change to something else (Damnit, I have so much left..) because I don't think I can degass it much further. Either that, or I'm just putting too much pressure on during the cast.
This is where the fun is for me though, the experimentation and the discovery- but I'm certainly looking forward to my first "perfect" cast.

Half day of work tomorrow, very excited to keep going.
yah, the problem with RTV is that it's an o2 cure. that's why typical RTVs are typically not recommended for use in layers thicker than 1-4mm. typically, as the skin cures, it becomes oxygen impermeable enough that the material further in the bead does not fully cure. go with tin or platinum cure silicone and ditch the RTV. molds have the longest cure times and require the highest deformation-before-break to survive a large number of casting cycles, so it's worth getting the right material.

also, if that's intentional sediment and not bubbling, then your pressures look like they're just about right, as you're getting near perfect distribution of sediment. awesome!

to all the brilliant friends who have left us, and all the students who climb on their shoulders.

Offline Dodgy

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  • Posts: 170
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  • I specialize in bird law.
Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #146 on: Mon, 12 May 2014, 11:41:06 »
Yes!
64483-0
Hi, what's your favorite color?
I'm making keycaps, take a look if you give a damn.
Sale Thread

Offline exitfire401

  • * Global Moderator
  • Posts: 2969
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Boards: Kingsaver Complicated Blue Alps |Sprit 60% Transparent MX Clears in Gateron housings with 62g gold Sprit springs lubed and RGB color shifting LEDs | Ducky Shine Zone MX Black with Blue LEDs | Realforce 10AE Variable Silenced

B/S/T thread: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=55351.0

Past projects: KBT Race 2 L.E.
Past Boards: Ducky Shine 2 | KBT Pure | LZ Aluminum Skin| HHKB | Realforce 23u |

Offline feizor

  • Posts: 690
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #148 on: Mon, 12 May 2014, 11:45:31 »
Looking good!

Offline MythicalWagyu

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Re: Going to give making caps a shot. Interest check and preview.
« Reply #149 on: Mon, 12 May 2014, 16:18:55 »
Yes!
(Attachment Link)
Cool man, looks like you are making good progress!
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