Hi! I've been a member here for quite a while now but am generally a lurker. This will definitely be an exercise in sharing a bit more.
I have been interested in trying to make some of my own keycaps for a while, but never took the leap. A couple weeks ago I managed to get a :~$ynth and finally decided to go for it! I rounded up the basic supplies and read as many of the other maker threads as I could find. Booper, ETF, JT_Key, Zazie, Binge, Epic, ImpendingDoom, all these threads and videos we're invaluable!
I also want to state that I have zero skill in sculpting. I know because the abominations I create with clay and play-doh during playtime with my kids have no place going on a keycap. I am going to be sticking with blanks, which I think have plenty of room for creative colors and effects anyway.
This tool has made this craft so much more accessible. You can cast a clean stem perfectly every time. I'll be using this to create "template" keys for future molds. Kudos to Binge for all of his hard work on this tool!
Here's all of the basic supplies I started off with. I picked these up based on recommendations from the various threads and from what I saw in videos. I know that I'll end up with different materials as I want to do different things, but these have worked great so far.
Here's my second go at creating the top-side of a silicone mold. I'll come to regret using that double-shot F12 key... There's a bit of putty between the :~$ynth and the legos so that silicone does not flow beneath it. I plugged up the sprue holes with cotton swap sticks.
I do not have any tooling for degassing my materials, we'll just hope no bubbles appear in critical places.
My first attemp at this mold was not successful, it's the one off to the side. I hadn't plugged up the sprue holes properly and it just didn't come out very clean.
This attempt came out nice!
I then took the keycap off of the :~$ynth, put the tool back into the mold, filled it with resin, and put the stem form in. Be sure to tap, pat, and tilt the mold to be sure you get it in all the right places and allow any bubbles to work out.
I don't have a pressure pot yet, so I'll have to live with any bubbles that remain.
First keycap! Lots of bubbles, but the shape is perfect!
The stem fitting is perfect. Not loose, not too snug, just right.
I forgot to take a picture of the next step where I made a silicone mold of this template. The basic idea is that you put this blank back into the top-side silicone mode, glue on your sprues, and make a silicone mold of the keycap bottom. I'll get a picture of this next time. You can see the bottom mold in the next photo though..
I start making more caps. Here's where the F12m comes back to bite me. If you look closely you'll see that the F12 doubleshot legend comes through. :-| I don't actually have any Cherry profile blanks to make that top mold from. I'm probably going to see if I can trade some of these starter caps for a few blanks, or in exchange for making a few customs from the new molds. We'll see!
Here are some clear casts where I was trying different strategies to minimize bubbles. I'm going to have to get a vaccuum and pressure setup to get this perfect, but I can live with the results for now. I'm also trying to get hide the recess that the :~$ynth has for a maker's mark on the bottom of the cap. I don't want to use that recess, but it's hard to make it disappear from the molds.
Here are a couple of my favorites! The pink-gold and dirty gold have a wonderful shimmer that's hard to capture in a photo. The clear cast on the left shows my struggle in getting rid of that maker's mark recess next to the stem, the lumpy rectanlge stands out next to the otherwise smooth interior.
I made these two for my Hyper Fuse board. The purple one has a gnarly bubble that isn't visible here. I'll redo that one soon.
That's all I have for now!
My next steps are to acquire some proper blanks that I can use for top-side molds. I want to be able to make molds for the ESC/FN keys at least. Then I can focus on making multiple molds so that I can up my throughput. I am also ready to start experimenting with multiple shots now that I have a grasp of the process.
Thanks for listening! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions! I'll try to keep this up to date and active. :-)
