“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: