Currently, Alumilite is very popular in fountain pen making because you can add dyes/particles/objects to the resin and create some amazing sheen and color.
Has…anyone thought about making a joystick case made entirely of Alumilite casting?
I definitely know this stuff can be used to make balltops. But I’m curious on how far Alumilite casting can go. Could you make a custom shaft made entirely of the resin? Dust washers? Entire arcade stick cases?
I’ve bought a starter kit from Smooth-on, with selling similar products from Aluminite. (Haven’t messing up with it yet)
Those thing aren’t cheap, so casting a full stick case will be damn expensive.
Also sticks are using injected ABS plastic and it’s cheap and robust, not sure if resin will be as hard as this (I know Smooth-On have a specific super hard resin but also pricey)
But other stuff (stands for PCB, specific small layout for home/start/button, etc.) should be good.
I can definitely see price being an issue. But B15 joysticks are damn expensive as well.
If they can achieve a certain beauty I’m sure it would be a worthy project to try.
I’m wondering if you could just cast over a piece of wooden black painted MDF. Have the solid block of MDF the inner shell, and have the Alumilite resin cure as the outer shell.
The Alumilite would be on the outside showing off its color/sheen/sparkles, and the MDF would provide tensile strength from the inside, and at the same time save $$ from using less Alumilite resin.