Hey everyone!
I’m very close to a sale, but I realized that I wanted a higher-quality packaging than what I had originally planned. I refuse to cut corners with this project, and I realized that I could do better in the packaging department for you guys. I paired up with one of my design buddies and ordered some custom materials that should be pretty awesome and unique. I’m not going to rush things out of excitement, but I’m very close to being finished with keycap production and packaging assembly will begin once I get all of the materials. I want to have everything ready prior to the sale, so you guys can get your keys as fast as possible.
In the meantime, I thought I would give you guys a couple of quick updates on what's been going on in the forge!
Air CompressorI got a new California Air Tools air compressor. I can't even tell you guys how excited I am about this new addition to the shop. I typically cast 5-6 hours a day, and sometimes 10+ on weekends. My old compressor was driving me insane, and making all my neighbors want to kill me. Before I get into that, let me give you a little history.
My first air compressor was a small Harbor Freight hotdog compressor. Words cannot express how much I hated that piece of junk. It was the worst item I've ever purchased from that store. It was ridiculously loud, had a ton of vibration, and leaked air like crazy. I returned it after a day of use. My second compressor was a little better: a small HDX pancake compressor from Home Depot. It was a definite upgrade over the HF compressor, but it was still quite loud and the tank wasn't big enough for my new CA Technologies pressure pot. Then I stumbled upon California Air Tools at a convention, and I realized that I had to have one. I ordered the 5510se model, and it's amazing. For the first time in my life, I don't mind my air compressor running. Go take a look at some videos on youtube and you'll see the sound difference. It sounds more like a refrigerator than an air compressor.
You see, I live in a condo, and my neighbors don't take kindly to extremely loud noises coming from my garage for hours every single day. I would have to shut my garage door every time I needed to pressurize my pot, which was just another loud noise that I was making. I also probably look like I'm making meth in my garage in the middle of the night when people see me wearing my mask and mixing fluids together, so I was just waiting for the police to show up with dogs or something.
I placed it under my work table, and it's dramatically increased my productivity by having a quiet and constant source of compressed air. It also lets me have a normal conversation with people and hear myself think when I need to. I'm casting much more now because I no longer dread the noise of pressurizing my pot.
Pressure PotRight now I’m using the C.A. Technologies Resin Casting Pot, which I got from Finish Systems. They had resin casting in mind with this model, as the feed tube that is present on most paint pots has been removed. I recommend buying this model simply because using a paint tank for pressure casting often voids the warranty, since it’s not being used for it’s intended purpose. With this pot you don’t have that issue. Pressure gauge is included, and the only addition that I had to make was a ball valve and male connector, as well as a small cap on the other side. I'll most likely put a bigger ball valve on the intake and release, but for now it works.
So far, I’ve been extremely satisfied with this pot.The large wingnuts are easy to turn by hand, and they’re so smooth when tightening. In fact, I can spin them and they glide down the thread all the way to the bottom. The lid design means no more grinding bolts directly into the lid, which means less worrying that I'm going to blow myself up at any given moment in time.
PRO TIP: I put a square silicone mat on the inside bottom of the pressure pot. It catches any spilled resin or silicone and makes cleanup easy. I like having nice, clean, happy equipment.
After many hours of casting in this pot, I thought I would let you know that this pot is really suited best for quicker setting materials. These pots tend to have a slow air leak of 5-7 psi an hour, so you’ll need to have the pot hooked up to your air compressor in order to leave resin in there for 6+ hours. At first, I was concerned about the slow leak. I called and spoke with reps from Finish Systems and CA Tech, and they each let me know that a slow leak like that is normal, and to hook it up to the air compressor to keep a constant PSI over many hours. Leaving my air compressor hooked up kind of made me nervous, so I switched to a much faster-curing resin and silicone, and the leak doesn’t really matter anymore. Just a disclaimer for you up-and-coming casters. It’s a terrific pot, and I would still recommend it to anyone. I'll most likely replace the gasket on the lid for less air leakage in the future, but for right now it's really not a concern.
For the new guys, you pretty much NEED a pressure pot and air compressor. It’s an important piece of equipment if you want to have bubble-free casts. If you pair it with a vacuum chamber and pump, you’ll almost never see a bubble again. Without a pressure pot, your keycaps will be riddled with small holes and you’ll go to backbreaking lengths trying to get them out (like vibrating curing molds on the washing machine). Get the pressure pot, and then get a vacuum setup later if you can’t afford it up front.
Vacuum Chamber/PumpAs a beginner, it was hard for me to understand what exactly I needed to be looking for in these two items, as I had never worked with them before. Basically you need one so you can pull as much air out of the resin or silicone as possible before pouring. If you can only afford one setup, I recommend getting a pressure pot first and then a vacuum setup later for best results.
I really saw the bubbles being pulled out when I switched to a viscous transparent silicone, where you can see loads of bubbles after mixing the two parts together. After vacuuming, they were pretty much all gone and it poured very smooth.
People told me that I needed a pump that pulled at least 30 inches of mercury, and that was about it. I did a ton of research, and finally stumbled upon Best Value Vacs. I was really skeptical at first, simply because of the bright orange color and ugly graphics. I mean I was looking for a vacuum system, not a toy. I ended up grabbing a small 1.5 gallon chamber and a 5cfm single-stage vacuum pump after talking with their reps to find what worked for my setup. When I opened the box, I was really surprised at the quality of the chamber and the helpful instructions. There’s a lot of ways that you can do the vacuum setup, but I have no regrets about buying a quality chamber and pump. The chamber is really small, but it’s perfect for my needs and I’m able to pull down vacuum very quickly.
PRO TIP: My vacuum chamber is stainless steel, so I poured a layer of silicone onto the inside bottom and let it cure. Like the pressure pot, it just keeps spills from getting stuck to the metal and makes cleanup easy. I can peel it out and pour more in there if it gets too dirty.
You don’t absolutely NEED a vacuum chamber, but you’ll get much more consistent results if you have one. It really helps get the initial bubbles out before putting everything under pressure. It’s worth noting that if you only have a vacuum chamber and
not a pressure pot, you will still get bubbles, especially if your sculpts are rough or have jagged edges. I tested this several times and I almost always got bubbles when only using a vacuum chamber.
Congrats to the guys that made it all the way though this boring post! I'm happy to answer any questions about the equipment, and any feedback is appreciated (as always).
I should have some more updates for you guys soon, once I get all the packaging materials together and finalize the upcoming sale details. There will be some pre-sales photos coming soon that should give you all a good idea of the colors that will be offered in this sale. Also, I'll let you guys in on a little secret: for this first sale, users will only be allowed to win a single Saber. You'll be able to enter the raffles for any of the colors and switches, but you'll only be able to win a single key. I want this to be as fun as possible for everyone, so I'm brainstorming ways to keep the sale extra-exciting. Stay tuned everyone!
