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Vintage threads from the first ten years

Re: Alt. knobs

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9/23/1999 6:35 PM
Adrian	Re: Alt. knobs Great, R.G.! Another F****ing great idea. I guess the dogs will hafta wait for their walk, the leaves'll go unraked, (wonder if the art store gots that molding stuff), I'll just call in sick! ;-> Pictographic knobs (jet Airplane, kung-fu action figure, sheep) Sheeee-it!

9/23/1999 6:52 PM

quote:
"(wonder if the art store gots that molding stuff)"

Probably. Ask for "Fima" or "Sculpy" in art stores. I've never seen Milliput in a crafts store, but it could happen.

Fima and Sculpy bake to a solid plastic, Milliput is more solid-rigid.

They're expensive, but knobs are a noble use.

9/24/1999 8:32 AM
Mike Burgundy	Is it Fima or Fimo? Anyway, my only objection to this was the knobs not being kick-proff, but when you mentioned Fim* I remembered this stuff actually gets plastic-like qualities, and is available in every possible coulour, even fluorescent. DIY lives!

9/24/1999 2:51 PM

Probably Fimo. Yes, the stuff really is a modelling-clay like stuff that comes in many colors, and when it's cured by baking becomes a dense plastic material. There are whole newsgroups devoted to artsy-craftsy stuff with Sculpy and Fim*.

Milliput is different. It's like an epoxy-clay. You knead equal parts of two clays together, press it into the mold, and it self-cures. It's about as hard as porcelain, but can be drilled, sanded, etc. and holds paint well.

I keep wanting to make a FX box that looks like the horned skull in Spinal Tap.

9/24/1999 3:29 PM
nic	My girlfriend does this with resin casting and all that sculpty jazz. I hope to have some very cool knobs in the future! nic

9/24/1999 3:38 PM

I just asked her. You can use Urethane resin you can get it from Polytek (online somewhere). The final product looks really great. Unfortunately, it is not cheap. And you have to have the facilities (vacuum) evacuate the little bubbles that will form.
I am sure it is possible to get the hang of by trial and error. Maybe, I can smuggle a little more info outta her. I don't know if she is as willing as I am to share tech knowledge.

nic

9/28/1999 1:04 PM
paul perry	I have never done this, but I think you can carefully put the casting setup in a bucket with a rope on the handle and carefully swing it around to use centrifugal force to get the bubbles out. An embedded sparrow skull wd make a great heavy metal 'chickenbeak' knob

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