I hope this is the correct place to post this as this is to do with keycaps, but more DIY is involved so i'l post here
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in this post, I'm going to basically give an overview of how I made my own keycaps, and also what went wrong (pretty much everything). also, i do not recommend trying this method as i do not use proper casting material etc. In the future, i will invest in some better materials and attempt to properly make keycaps with my own designs and shapes. i really think it will be fun to try to make some cool designs like hollow keycaps. I think the main reason i was discouraged to do this is because my blank MX set has not arrived which i have spares to use as donors but i decided to do this as a test to see what would happen to an alps esc key.
to begin with - the silicone mold was the first thing i needed to make. traditionally, people use 2 part casting silicone. this is the way to go compared to how i did it. to make my own 'pour-able' silicone, i took: 2 parts silicone caulking, 2 parts white spirits (turps, mineral spirits etc.) and 1 part cornflour (same as cornstarch in this application). the silicone is the base ingredient, the cornflour acts as a drying agent to absorb any moisture and the spirits are used to make it runny. i mixed up my concoction that produced an awful smell and began pouring it into my mold. the mold i made was simply lego bricks on a lego base, because, who doesn't love lego
. i put the keycap, top facing up into the lego 'building'. i poured the silicone and let it set overnight. it actually turned out pretty good considering it was my first try.
after i pulled the mold, i flipped it over, build the lego in the corresponding share and began to pour the 2nd part of the mold. i knew no matter how thin i made it, the silicone would not flow into the stem mounting hole. to do this, i used a little bag and cut a slit at the corner and piped it in. this worked great but did not fully fill the inside. once the 2nd part set, i ripped it apart and pulled the keycap. first impressions were that it had worked, and i was right.
finally was the resin casting. i cut a pouring hole into the side of the mold. i found the easiest way to fill it was to pour the resin into the small holes e.g. the mounting hole and near the sides to get an even coat. after, i poured the resin and let it set. after a day, i pulled the resin and got the finished product:
my mistakes:
-do not use excess spirits, it significantly shrinks the mold i.e. 2nd picture. this caused 2 of the walls to be very thick, and 2 to be very thin.
-use a better mold shape (mine did not seat correctly when i flipped it over, this is also because of rapid shrinking)
-most importantly - do not use epoxy resin. I used epoxy resin and guess what - 5 days later, it is still soft. in places it is sturdy but 2 of the sides can be bent. this was probably a mold defect as 2 sides are thinner. i will invest in some proper casting resin - if i can find some anywhere...
apart from that, i also tried casting the bottom of a bullet casing. it turned out great and the resin has set. is very detailed but now i look at the mold and notice it has shrunk a lot.
sorry if i rambled on a bit, i like to be thorough about my project write-ups
-Aran
