First attempt of silicon molding knobs

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Majestic12

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
590
Location
Germany
Today I tried out if I can make a silicone mold of one of those expensive Stockli / EMI knobs to make some casts out of resin.

It turned out to be more easy than I thought, I only need to try out different pigments to colour the 2K resin.

On the left there's the original knob that I used to make the mold, the grey knob on the left is the first cast I made out of  2K polyester resin.

2w6z6he.jpg
 
Upacesky said:
Really nice looking knobs!
I bet it's only half the work to make them look good, but they still need a way to put them on the pots' shaft, isn't it?

Yes, the holes for the shaft and the locking screws have to be drilled afterwards, but I've already marked the center holes in the resin, so it's quite easy to do.
 
I've made some more knobs today, even a few that are very rare or expensive to get (the big round "Fairchild" knob or the bigger sized pointer knob)

I've made brass inserts for all the knobs because the resin seems to be a bit too soft to use a thread cutter. I also need to work a bit on the filling of the pointer cavities, all I have is some acrylic colour which doesn't come out too great at the moment

n5j5du.jpg
 
Majestic12 said:
dirtyhanfri said:
Amazing... How do you get the molds done?  3D printing?

No, I make them with the original knobs and silicone.

It's great idea.Now i'm working on my custom knobs.3D design and printing from Shapeways.Cheaper than buying original knobs and able to making your own custom knobs.

Your method is great,too.But...What do you think about drilling hole for shaft?Even simple mistake can kill knob.Can't turn circular.I just wonder.

Again great job!
 
I also need to work a bit on the filling of the pointer cavities,

I had success doing infilling just like that with one of these

http://www.123inkt.nl/Edding-780-glanslak-marker-wit-4-780049-i24838-t76522.html?gclid=CKfsx426jsoCFaMSwwod2OQJpw

The nib on the one I bought was actually bigger than the one in the link. I suspect the smaller the nib, the better
 
ForthMonkey said:
Your method is great,too.But...What do you think about drilling hole for shaft?Even simple mistake can kill knob.Can't turn circular.I just wonder.

Again great job!

This time you make the mould out of normal resin instead of the soft silicon to "nest" the re-produced knob in.
 
Majestic12 said:
I also need to work a bit on the filling of the pointer cavities, all I have is some acrylic colour which doesn't come out too great at the moment

Go to the next "Apotheke" and get a needle with a quite huge hole, a 10ml "spritze" and some revell emaille color of your taste.
Ive done that way to fill the DOHC 16V from my MK2 Scirocco Air Bridge. Give them a day or 2 to dry and youre good to go

Greets
 
Majestic12 said:
... I only need to try out different pigments to colour the 2K resin....

If you can't achive 100% of the original color, try something completely different:
The method shown in this video could look very nice with those knobs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBVU3FNt-s


...markus :)
 
rob_gould said:
I had success doing infilling just like that with one of these

http://www.123inkt.nl/Edding-780-glanslak-marker-wit-4-780049-i24838-t76522.html?gclid=CKfsx426jsoCFaMSwwod2OQJpw

The nib on the one I bought was actually bigger than the one in the link. I suspect the smaller the nib, the better

does this hold the same way ink would do?
 
Majestic12 said:
I've made some more knobs today, even a few that are very rare or expensive to get (the big round "Fairchild" knob or the bigger sized pointer knob)

I've made brass inserts for all the knobs because the resin seems to be a bit too soft to use a thread cutter. I also need to work a bit on the filling of the pointer cavities, all I have is some acrylic colour which doesn't come out too great at the moment

n5j5du.jpg



have you looked into making a two part mold? I was looking into this before and seems like the way to go
 
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