Making 2 part molds and resin keycaps: a video primer

[AuthenticDanger]

As part of the on-going initiative of the Artisan Alliance to provide helpful resources to both makers and collectors within the artisan community, we set out to make a complete guide outlining how to cast artisan keycaps in the modern era. This video not only teaches you the entire process of casting a keycap, but also includes experiential knowledge such as troubleshooting common issues and outlining how to choose your materials. We hope this extra information allows you to start experimenting with the casting process and discovering your own art as opposed to just following a recipe. If you’re already casting or just curious about an artful side of the mechanical keyboard hobby, we hope this video will give you tangible insight into how to make high quality artisan keycaps.

Additionally this video showcases L2K adapters, which replace imprecise and time consuming techniques to provide higher quality molds with less effort. To learn more about L2Ks beyond what this video covers, you can check out this discussion thread.

Checkout the video on YouTube.


If you have any questions about the casting process, go ahead and drop them in this thread! If you have techniques or insights you’d like to share that weren’t already covered, I encourage you to add your voice to the conversation so we can help spread quality casting knowledge throughout the community.

[Hisui]

So I was looking at pressure pots on amazon and Im feeling a little lost. Ive never used a pressure pot, let alone knew what they were untill recently. Also most of them say they are for spray paint. What pot do you guys recommend and how do I know what size pot I need? 

[DiodeHead]

here you go, this video is from another forum member:

as you can see you don't need that much pressure and if you're tool inclined you could make your own for small batches if you're making only a couple of keycaps at a time that's a good solution.

I hope it helps

[dodung.breakwood]

can be replaced by vacuum machine

[DiodeHead]

No, I don't think they're interchangeable, they're used in different situations, vacuum is used to degas a material before pouring, pressure pot is used to squish down the resing into the mold.

If you look for a video on degasing resin you see what a mess it is and you don't want that kind of mess while curing a part.

[sinusoid]

I can confirm what DiodeHead said. 

I had a setup running that mixed the resin in vacuum, pulled to 75 torr (about 0.1 bar), poured into the mold, and depressurized into ambient. The resin had very good quality, but it always produced undershots.

[Lucien Midnight]

Just wondering when we can expect follow-up videos? Would love to see alternate techniques, alternate materials, etc.

Also, really interested in casting without a pressure pot / vacuum chamber. Would be great to see some solutions to that via more viscous materials, coating before pouring, etc.

[Hisui]

here you go, this video is from another forum member:

as you can see you don't need that much pressure and if you're tool inclined you could make your own for small batches if you're making only a couple of keycaps at a time that's a good solution.

I hope it helps

this is awesome! thank you! you wouldnt happen to know his geekhack name would you? He says that he'd link to the base but he didnt.

[DiodeHead]

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=96010.0

he started this post some time ago, there you can find his user name.

[MorriganTheGlitterQueen]

Hello!
Can I ask you a suggestion about which pigments should I use to add to my resin?
I started casting keycaps and I'm approaching molding, but I don't know how to choose good quality colors!

Thanks!

[desipalen]

here you go, this video is from another forum member:

Ooh! Thanks for the link!