With this Instructable, I intend to show you how to make your USB Thumb Drive into any shape you wish!
I've been collecting USB drives since they started getting cheap. Every one of them still works, but unfortunately, the cases that hold them never hold up. I carry one on my keychain for a couple of months and the frame breaks off. I've seen Some others put their thumb drives into Altoids tins, but what benifit has that other than the initial Wow! factor...
I decided that I was going to cast my thumb drive into my own thumb! Unfortunately, I'd never done any type of plastics casting. Perhaps this was fortunate because I didn't know it couldn't be done! I just thought about it for a couple of weeks. Finally I decided I was going to try it. Worst that would happen is I might destroy a couple of old, obsolete thumb drives...
After a little time at the local Hobby store and discussions with the cute little salesgirl, I decided on the supplies I needed. A little experimenting and I got the technique down.
I've been collecting USB drives since they started getting cheap. Every one of them still works, but unfortunately, the cases that hold them never hold up. I carry one on my keychain for a couple of months and the frame breaks off. I've seen Some others put their thumb drives into Altoids tins, but what benifit has that other than the initial Wow! factor...
I decided that I was going to cast my thumb drive into my own thumb! Unfortunately, I'd never done any type of plastics casting. Perhaps this was fortunate because I didn't know it couldn't be done! I just thought about it for a couple of weeks. Finally I decided I was going to try it. Worst that would happen is I might destroy a couple of old, obsolete thumb drives...
After a little time at the local Hobby store and discussions with the cute little salesgirl, I decided on the supplies I needed. A little experimenting and I got the technique down.
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Signing UpStep 1: Supplies
First I needed casting material. I could have used plaster or latex. Plaster would produce a very porous and hard mold and would likely only give me one casting. Liquid latex would give me a nice, permanent mold but would take way too much time and work by building the casting in layers. Besides, the latex would very much irritate my thumb.
What I finally decided on was a product called "instaMOLD" made by Activa Products, Inc. ($10.50US), a water based compound that would firm up in minutes and would be reusable a few times. The problem is, would it work with plastics? What kind of plastic should I use?
Searching the plastic compounds at the hobby store proved fruitless. All of them would harden too hard for what I wanted or were way too expensive. Finally it occurred to me that most of them were some form of epoxy. Why not use regular epoxy? Studying the different epoxies that were available I concluded that the longer setting epoxy would produce the more flexible result, so 12 or 30 minute epoxy would probably be my best choices. Besides, I'd want to color the epoxy before pouring it in the mold and less that 12 minutes would probably be pushing it. This time, I'm working with the 12 Minute Epoxy ($9.95US).
Lastly, I needed color... Flesh is actually kind of easy to mix. Just Pink and Yellow. Having no idea how well they would work I bought 2 bottles of Delta brand Candle & Soap Colors for $13.99US each. Note that because the colors are water-based, they will have an adverse reaction to the epoxy mixture. The epoxy won't firm up quite as hard as it would have, so we must use as little color as will produce the desired result. For my first color experiment, I used 6 drops of pink, 12 drops of yellow and a teaspoon each resin and hardener. The result was still too pink (need more yellow) and was a little too soft (actually eerily close to real skin & muscle!). I've decided that I will be using 6 drops of pink and 18 drops of yellow for the full casting (about 3 tablespoons of epoxy mix). We'll see how well it works by the end of this instructable! :)
Oh yea! We still need the USB drives don't we? Well, I've currently got two without cases and a few more that can easily become case-less. That should be enough to start with...
Finally, we need a few small dixie cups, stirring sticks and measuring spoons. The dixie cups I used were the perfect size to cast my thumb and mix the epoxy. Disposable containers always make a project like this easier. Less cleanup!
What I finally decided on was a product called "instaMOLD" made by Activa Products, Inc. ($10.50US), a water based compound that would firm up in minutes and would be reusable a few times. The problem is, would it work with plastics? What kind of plastic should I use?
Searching the plastic compounds at the hobby store proved fruitless. All of them would harden too hard for what I wanted or were way too expensive. Finally it occurred to me that most of them were some form of epoxy. Why not use regular epoxy? Studying the different epoxies that were available I concluded that the longer setting epoxy would produce the more flexible result, so 12 or 30 minute epoxy would probably be my best choices. Besides, I'd want to color the epoxy before pouring it in the mold and less that 12 minutes would probably be pushing it. This time, I'm working with the 12 Minute Epoxy ($9.95US).
Lastly, I needed color... Flesh is actually kind of easy to mix. Just Pink and Yellow. Having no idea how well they would work I bought 2 bottles of Delta brand Candle & Soap Colors for $13.99US each. Note that because the colors are water-based, they will have an adverse reaction to the epoxy mixture. The epoxy won't firm up quite as hard as it would have, so we must use as little color as will produce the desired result. For my first color experiment, I used 6 drops of pink, 12 drops of yellow and a teaspoon each resin and hardener. The result was still too pink (need more yellow) and was a little too soft (actually eerily close to real skin & muscle!). I've decided that I will be using 6 drops of pink and 18 drops of yellow for the full casting (about 3 tablespoons of epoxy mix). We'll see how well it works by the end of this instructable! :)
Oh yea! We still need the USB drives don't we? Well, I've currently got two without cases and a few more that can easily become case-less. That should be enough to start with...
Finally, we need a few small dixie cups, stirring sticks and measuring spoons. The dixie cups I used were the perfect size to cast my thumb and mix the epoxy. Disposable containers always make a project like this easier. Less cleanup!
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Oh my god! The thumb drives you made looks like the real thrumb. I remember I bought a similar plastic thrumb drive from hkcolordigital and give it as a birhtday gift for my friend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acVc6H7wYbA
Comments on them are welcome _
Considering the time and expense in moulding your thumb, it might be easier...
Not that i am prying!! at all....
gawd, a real thumb drive....... luv it!