So I took some of my materials for molding and casting buttons and cast a transparent fascia... I haven't decided if I like it or not... any comments?

Hmmm... Not really, maybe if it were a different color of transparent, or the buttons were a different color.. But I think things look better if there's some contrast between buttons and fascia.

A line from Douglas Adams involving "a black spaceship with a black control panel with black buttons that light up with black lights" seems to be coming to mind right now.

good idea.... lemme slap my blue lens and buttons in... I'll post some different color options

A very good concept, though. I have the wooden fascia, and it looks good, but the translucent has some neat possibilities.... Didn't you accidently make a set of buttons that were marbled / swirled? That could look very interesting: white and red marbled with red buttons and lens... Or perhaps, based on the empeg case mod with the plexiglass, a clear cover, clear lens (DarkStorm) and clear fascia - The Visible Empeg!!!

I am a bit surprised the backlighting doesn't show at all.

I agree with Yn0t. It's a bit too much. But I DO like the quality of the work though. How did you make such an exact copy of the fascia ? I thought only CruzThz received a copy of the CAD file necesarry to make those fascias.
And if this is a fascia that is just copied by hand without the CAD files, I'm really impressed !

This makes me wonder however : whatever happened to that idea of aluminum fascias? I know CruzThz had a hard time producing them and that they would probably never be produced, but I thought he was trying to cut a deal with some shop.
I'd ask him, but it's been ages since I've seen him around here on the boards.

Greetings!

Actually, he is around. He just posted that he might be making some more wooden fascia, and has materials on order.

Ah! Good to know he hasn't left the community!

But is there any news on the aluminum fascia's? 'Cause that's the ones I'm interested in. Since there's no wood in my car's interior a wooden fascia probably wouldn't look good in it.

Ah the dream of the iPeg is becoming a reality! Get the clear lexan lid for the top, and you'll be all set!

Actually, I think it looks cool. My only problem with having an alternate fascia (and this is my same complaint about the wooden and metal ones) is that the handle doesn't match the fascia any more. Don't know if you could get away with molding a plastic handle or not.

Archeon
Well... I didn't copy it by hand... when you make a mold it's an exact replica (the mold for this wasn't very good.. IE the rough edges, I plan on making a better mold soon). The reason it's not all that transparent is because I mixed A LOT of dye in with the plastic....

Tony
as far as the handle goes... working on that... I made a mold of that too right now I'm trying to figure out exactly how to cast a piece of metal inside (for support).

With Green Buttons and Lens

With blue buttons and lens

Wow, those both look pretty cool. Does the fascia tend to light up in the dark?

not so much.... I put a little too much dye in the mix... I'll cast another tonight with a little less coloring and see how it goes... perhaps I'll try making a blue one.

Hmm. Maybe he should wire some LEDs to the 'Ring Of Lights' pads on the motherboard, and embed them in the back of the fascia..

Lopan, this is pretty cool. It definately needs the contrast of the different colors. I'm not sure how many people would want this though...

Theres a "ring of lights" pad on the motherboard? Cool....

This is cool stuff. Is there any chance you can post what moulding kit/materials etc. you used so others (me?) can have a try please?

In reply to:

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I'm not sure how many people would want this though...

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I didn't really do it to start trying to sell these things or anything... In art school I got into molding and casting things I'd sculpted, then went into the tech field. So basically when I got my empeg and realized I could utilize those skills again... I started ordering plastics and dove in. I'm doing it more for fun than anything. I guess if there were a demand I might look at selling them... at least make the money back on my materials...

No problemo! These guys have everything you need and you can order online. I'm using Oomo 25 fast setting slicone for molds and ClearFlex 325 (I think) fast setting plastic for the castings. You can get the dye there as well, the site itself is kind of a pain to navigate and you might have to dig a bit for the dye's but it's all there somewhere.

Word of advice... even though it doesn't smell... be in a well ventilated area and use rubber gloves...

What is ring-o-lights technology? ??

Calvin

umm... I was curious about that too... what is the ring of lights?

See here

how much $??

huh?

I'd have to get a good mold first before I'd consider selling these, I'd feel bad sending out fascia's in the state the one in the pic is in.... this was primarily a test...

Hi lopan,

looking at your pics, i wonder you have 4 leds in your knob? Brians kit has only 3 if i looked right. How did you do it???

cheers,

Theres a lot of info on this post, including pictures and ideas on making your own 4 LED volume board.

Here's another try, this time with blue....

So as I'm pondering the possibility's here... I'll think out loud... when I ordered my supply's I picked up some nickel silver powder along with some bronze powder... with these powders you can cold cast (in which you mix the powder in with your plastic) which produces a metallic (yet really plastic) finish or you can coat the mold prior to casting with it which produces a kinda metalic powder coat... neither look all that great. HOWEVER! I know there is a process in which you can use powders like this for electroplating (kinda sorta like chrome plating) but I haven't got a clue how to do it. I know you probably need a powder coat... and some chemicals... and electricity... but really thats about all I know... Does anyone here have any knowledge of chrome or electroplating (I kinda doubt chrome plating would be in the picture being that the equipment costs A LOT plus you have to get the EPA envolved and all that) but electroplating seems feasable and might look really cool.... any ideas?

I did some electroplating when I worked at a Jewelry store. It was a pretty simple process, but it involved some very caustic chemicals.

Then again, we were plating on metal, dunno how it's done for plastic.

Hey, have you done any experiments with making the buttons a milky white or gray color to diffuse the light more? Brian said his experiments in that area were not successful.