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Kale’s Keycaps

-Kale Macken

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What have I learned?

Throughout this semester I have learned many things such as how to use the vacuum chamber, pour two part molds, work with silicone, work with epoxy resin, and use a blow torch. This semester I have learned so much while still having a lot of fun coming up with new ideas with my keycaps or other projects to start on even if I did not have enough time to bring those ideas to reality.

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My process when making keycaps

  1. Put gloves on
  2. Grab a small cup and some syringes
  3. Pour resin and hardener into the cup using the syringes to measure the exact amount
  4. Mix the resin and add colors or flakes
  5. Pour the resin into the two part mold
  6. On the top part of the mold grab a needle and push the resin into the + shape of the mold so there is no deformation
  7. Grab a blow torch and lightly tap the trigger and aim the torch at the mold to get rid of the bubbles
  8. Put the two part mold together and let it sit for 24-48 hours or longer if you want.
  9. Once it is fully dried you now have a resin keycap

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My process when making the two part mold

  1. Grab clay and cardboard make an outline of how I want the frame mold to look using the clay as the base and the cardboard as the walls
  2. When I found the shape I want I hot glued in the walls to make sure no silicone got out and I put clay in the keycaps (so they would not move) then put the keycaps onto the clay base
  3. I then measured the amount of silicone I would need to fill it up to the correct amount and then I grabbed the silicone and the hardener and poured it into a big measuring cup so it would be a precise measurement and started mixing
  4. Once there was no more white in the silicone I then put it into a vacuum chamber so all of the air bubbles would be sucked out and would not ruin the mold
  5. Once it was done with the vacuum chamber I poured the silicone into the mold frame
  6. After about 2 days when the silicone dried I took off the clay base and used a rubber to rubber release to make sure the silicone I pour on top of
  7. it does not stick and then after that I used the same silicone making process to pour silicone where the clay base just was to make the top.
  8. After another 2 days you can take everything apart and then you have your two part mold

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Obstacles I have faced

I have faced many obstacles when making keycaps. Some of those obstacles include not mixing the resin and hardener well enough so the keycap would be all flimsy, especially for the bigger resin pours, and so the next time I would pour resin I would make sure to mix it thurley. Another obstacle that I have faced is having air bubbles in the final result which would make holes in the keycaps so when I researched how to prevent it I found that heat would make the bubbles rise and pop so I would use a blow torch and lightly tap the trigger and aim at the keycaps which would then get rid of the bubbles. Another obstacle that I have faced would be pouring to much color into the resin mix which would then result in not hardening so the next time I used color I would normally use about 2-3 drops which would result in a really nice looking mix. Finally my last obstacle that I have faced would be the + shape on the bottom not forming properly which would result in the keycap as useless and so the way I worked around it was when pouring the resin into the top part of the mold I would break parts of a popsicle stick so it was like a needle and push the resin into the mold with it so it would form properly.

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What I have completed

I have made an assortment of resin keycaps of many colors and combinations along with giving some to my friends. I have made my own silicone mold and figured out that I could make a two part mold using rubber to rubber release so the silicone would not stick to each other.

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Thank

You