The Great Escape

“I absolutely struggle with escapism,” said Doom.

Doom’s candor was surprising; I got him to agree to an interview on the half-true premise that I’d ask him about his materials and techniques. But when I started to ask him personal questions (e.g. “What are your greatest personal shortcomings?”) he answered sincerely and without reservation.  

I’ll admit, my curiosity went beyond a desire to talk shop. Doom is an intriguing character, and two posts make that clear. The first recounted a multi-day video game binge session involving Doom and his buddies. They pushed all else aside and and tore through Gears of War, and along the way forewent sleep and hygiene, and even developed an in-group vocabulary. His post exudes both dysfunction and a magical camaraderie, which I think sums up our hobby community pretty well. It also highlights an inherent trait of any hobbyist: escapism.

The second post: an encounter with Binge at Keycon 2015, where Binge gave a talk on casting. After, Doom and Binge spent hours trading stories and tips. Binge—who, by the way, many casters will cite as their greatest influence—opined on the importance of sharing knowledge within the community. Doom was rapid prototyping at the time, and Binge gave Doom a prototype BroBot.

The BBv1 prototype that Binge gave to Doom.

Their exchange and Doom’s reaction (found in the Bro Caps Therapy thread) always stuck with me.

As I stared at him in disbelief, [Binge] said: “You are now in the exciting time of rapid prototyping. This is from when Bro was doing some rapid prototyping. You can see it has some obvious defects, because hey, everyone’s got to start somewhere.”

I am so glad I can say I am a part of this community.

I am so glad that I had a real form of Bro Caps Therapy.

Luckily for the keyboard community, this formative experience convinced Doom to continue casting. Not long after, he rolled out a striking series of caps that cemented his name and distinctive aesthetic. 

He’s proven to be a master of resin. His more recent work with marbling effects show that he’s in a league of his own when it comes to color effects.

While most casters are skittish about talking shop, Doom is warm and open to all inquiries. He may be an inherently open person, but I can’t help but think that his experience at Keycon 2015 fostered this part of him. Either way, I wanted to know more about him and his hobby.

The Odd Hobby

If you cast, you know that it’s at least an odd hobby. Your significant other will probably laugh at it/you. Tell a coworker that you cast keycaps, and at best you’ll get a polite but skeptical nod in return. It’s also a strange a strange hobby for someone looking to unwind. It’s time-consuming, expensive, dangerous, and hard to master.

It’s also frustrating, at least in part because silicone and polyurethane resin are unforgiving. Sometimes air pockets in the resin create voids,

sometimes impurities or an imprecise mix ratio create a sticky, never-curing, impossible-to-clean sticky substance that can ruin your mold,

or sometimes the degassing process doesn’t go so well.

The point is, even top casters like Doom have failures, lots of failures:

 

The Great Escape

Doom’s job as a stagehand often requires several consecutive 15-hour workdays with an ever-shifting schedule. “This leads to lots of stress and uncertainty. I already have had problems with stress and depression when I was in school, so I have learned some ways to help me cope with it.” And Doom has structured his life to help ward off procrastination and escapism. “By design, my workshop is in the basement, and I usually stay up on the second floor. So when I am feeling lazy or down in the dumps I have to walk up two flights of stairs to work. Getting up every hour to actually do something really throws a wrench in my urge to procrastinate.”

The stairs leading to the basement casting studio

Doom lives above an antique shop.

But then why  take on such a frustrating hobby? Doom describes casting as having had a “phenomenal” effect on his life. “Nothing feels better than looking at something and thinking ‘Wow, I can’t believe I made that!'” he explains. I agree, but I feel like there’s more to the story.

I prod him again about the value of an escapist hobby. “You need to have something to be excited about” he says.

This statement illuminates something I knew about Doom. Early in 2015, Doom lost a close friend to cancer. He met the late friend’s widower one night at a diner. Both Doom and the widower were deeply depressed. For a long time, they ate in silence and made even more depressing small talk. Doom asked the widower if he had any hobbies. His eyes lifted a bit, “Gunsmithing, actually. I’m trying to figure out how to cast resin parts for my projects.” Doom grew excited and showed the widower pictures of his casts. The widower perked up, and the two whiled away the night talking about their hobby. I like to think that in that diner—even if just for a moment—the widower finally had something to be excited about.

Doom’s workbench

pressure chamber: shrinks the bubbles in the resin down to microscopic level, making them effectively invisible; necessary for making translucent caps

vacuum chamber: removes air from silicone or resin

resin: most artisan caps are made of urethane plastic; they start in a two-part liquid compound which cures upon mixing (cure time varies by type of resin); most artisans will use several different types of resin to achieve different effects; different resin formulations vary tremendously in cure time, color, transparency, and hardness

silicone:  most common mold material is RTV silicone; almost nothing sticks to silicone (except silicone)

dyes: colors the resin

mold release: used mostly to prevent liquid silicone from sticking to hard silicone (necessary for making two-part silicone molds); sometimes used to keep resin from taking a bite out of your silicone

molds: pour resin in here, and out comes a cap!

mold box: holds the liquid silicone while it is hardening into a mold

syringes: usually, mixed/dyed resin is poured out of a syringe because it’s more precise and somewhat reduces bubbles

petroleum jelly: form of mold release

gloves: all of these chemicals, especially resin, will give you a horrible rash so protection is necessary for skin, eyes, and breathing

Cast Magic powder: creates different visual effects on cast caps; similar to Alumilite Alumidust

sonicator: see below; Doom used to degas his resin with ultrasonic waves