🛠️ Casting Silicone (2020)

Supplies delivered: March 3, 2020

I’ll try my best to keep these posts to the point and to not go crazy with the details. At the end of 2020 I stumbled in to some remote contract work. This job required the use of a keyboard, and a lot of typing. Instead of spending time and money on future RSI surgeries, I decided to get an urklenomic keyboard. The problem with the keyboard I bought (aside from the price tag) was that my wrists would go numb after four hours. Not as urklenomic as I’d like. The thin sponge wrist rests sold by the company did not help. That’s why I made these.

The silicone is too soft. I used Ecoflex 00-10 from Smooth-On (commonly used to make shoe insoles), and mixed in some sparkly black mica powder. After about a year the silicone began to flake away from the surface of the wrist rests. Still easier to clean than any other option on the market. Version #2 will be a medium durometer silicone, and the shape of the wrist rests will be less half a fudge brownie and more of a full keyboard sized shape. The plan is to carve the shape (or master) out of walnut. When casting silicone with silicone it’s best to use a durometer that’s squishier than the mold. Otherwise they’ll fuse together. And no, I have no intention of making anything other than tax deductible office products. Maybe fishing lures. Though I’d use a biodegradable plastisol instead of silicone for lures.