Materials for Making Keycaps

I’ve been watching the L2K tutorials on Youtube to learn to cast keycaps.

While the tutorials are fantastic, I had to watch several times to compile a list of materials. I’m starting from scratch so I needed to acquire everything.

For the Two-Part Silicone Mold

• Lego bricks and base plate (a small kit with many bricks works great, you don’t need all the bricks to be 2×8)
• Mold Star 30 (silicone)
• Mann 200 or Smooth On Universal Release (mold release)
• L2K adapters (to secure your master keycap to the mold box)

For the Resin Keys

• Polyurethane resin (I accidentally got epoxy resin, but it turned out great because they have similar properties and you don’t need a respirator)
• Resin dye (any solid/mica dye or a liquid dye)
• Mold release (see above)
• Sand paper (to polish the keycap bottom)
• Pressure pot (I don’t have one but the videos strongly recommend this)

General supplies

• Graduated syringes (you’ll need to mix 1:1 ratios for silicone and resin; catheter tips are better than Luer locks or needles)
• Disposable containers (I’m using plastic egg cartons and other household plastic refuse)
• Stirrers (any small stick will work)

Update: see the ZButt wiki for other recommended tools and suppliers