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.

I'm still around, just very busy. My wife and I recently started our own Art business (the reason I originally purchased my CNC Mill) and I work Full-Time at Microsoft so my free time is next to nothing. I've been waiting to get several fasica orders before I went ahead and purchased more supplies and set back up the shop. I now have about 7 orders and most of the supplies have arrived (some wood is back ordered) so I will begin fabricating more custom wood fascia's next week. I'm not giving anyone a timeline for completion as I just can't guarantee anything. I'm no longer making the maple burl fascia's as the wood is very soft and difficult to work with. Each one took me at least 4 hours and $25+ in supplies so it's not worth my time. For the next batch I will be cutting approx 10-15 fascia's (using 4 different woods) and then people can just choose what they want from a series of photographs. Again, the fascia's are $100 + shipping.

Rob

So what kind of chemicals are involved? Basically from what I've gathered you kind of have a metal finish by having a powder coat of metal on your plastic to electroplate.... I think you just put it in your chemicals and fry away???? Would the materials be costly?

as far as the milky buttons not yet.... I'm still trying to get perfectly clear buttons.... I'm getting agitated about that too . Every set I cast has tiny bubbles, not due to air in the mold but due to a chemical reaction that occurs due to moisture in the silicone (or so the guy at smoothon tells me), it's not really that noticable until you look closely but it's annoying the crap outta me. I've tried baking the molds... storing them with silica gel... everything I can think of to reduce moisture to no avail, does anyone know what Brian is using to cast his buttons?

That is way cool looking! As long as you are creating new fascias, have you worked with creating a new design, or manipulating the existing one, that will overcome the top left corner issue of the original?

-Mike

overcome the top left corner issue of the original

Ahem.

I am using Smooth-On products as well. I've used both the OOMOO and Mold Max products for the molds. For the plastic I'm using Smoothcast 325 Colormatch, which is amber in color with no pigments added. I have not baked my molds and haven't had a problem with bubbles.

More and more subtle..... I had read that, and am holding off on it. It doesn't bother me too much. But new fascia designs even in plastic, such as this would be very cool. This is kind of the hope I was getting at.

-Mike

Wow.... we're using the exact same thing! Maybe it's just because I do this in my basement where it's more damp than the rest of my house? Do you live in a dry area? Sometimes northern VA can be humid... I've made 4 or 5 different molds so far and I get the same results each time.... arrrgh....

How are you making your molds? Pouring or brushing? I poured my molds.... perhaps it has something to do with the density of the silicone itself?

>>overcome the top left corner issue of the original

>Ahem.

Excuse him, he meant top left corner FLAW...

It's been pretty dry up until lately. I'm in Nebraska and it gets humid in the summer so I'll have to see then. I pour my molds, but I do vacuum degas them before pouring.

I was going to try pressure casting... but perhaps I'll give vacuum degassing a try, how does one go about vacuum degassing?

Can I get everything I need at a hardware store?

I only vacuum degass the silicon before pouring over the model. I tried it with the plastic casting and didn't get good results. To do it you have to have a vacuum pump and suitable chamber.

oh... just on the silicone... hmmm... I have good molds... so I don't think degassing my silicone would do anything for me. I guess my next step is to cut the humidity level, if that doesn't work I'll try pressure casting.

I was thinking about knob illumination, and thought about that neon rope lighting that you can take and throw everywhere in your car. I have only seen 12V, so I don't know what problems we would encounter, but we would only need like 1.5" - 2" to make a loop that would make the whole knob illuminated, and would give the diffused look better than 3 or 4 LED's would do. Any thoughts?

-Mike

According to their FAQ, those neon cables run off of a high voltage AC driver. Although I don't see this pictured at their web site, I assume it is some sort of a power converter module, like a "box" of some kind.

In order for the rope stuff to illuminate the buttons in your car, this "box" would need to be integrated into the interior of the empeg unit itself, and somehow this sounds to me like a bad idea all around. RF noise issues, thermal issues, magnetic field issues, etc.

You're right. I didn't see that. Looking at other sites, these "drivers" also creat a high pitched hum. Which is somthing I'm sure we wouldn't want. Too bad. Would have been a nice effect.

unless you can build something that would dock with the unit itsself? just an idea

Oh yes, this is what i'm waiting for, too. A time ago i saw this design in a thread about anodized alu-fascias, which CruzThs wanted to make, but he went over to wood, which is not my taste (although excellent work!!!).
This design is more techie, but i think, the original buttons and knob would do it. It would be easier to use the backlit kit from Brian.
Anyone interested? I'm sure, someone will make them if enough of us want them...

Well... I ordered a electroless chroming kit today... I'll be experimenting with chrome plating fascia's. I'll post pictures of the results when I get finished