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Connected: A tale of obsession over cables

David discusses why he started Kool Keys, and what making high end cables entails: the costs, equipment, trials and tribulations of being obsessed with making the perfect cable.

David Gregory
Published December 10, 2024
This post is part of the KBD.NEWS Advent Calendar 2024 series.

Intro

For those who don’t know me, I’m David, better known as Kool Keys. I’ve been a mechanical keyboard enthusiast for many years (with quite a few user names and various accounts). I’ve drifted away from the hobby a couple of time, but always return and I think by now I realise that so long as the hobby exists, I will be part of it.

My interest started as a result of having to do a great deal of writing for my job, and while learning to touch type I started to appreciate the differences between keyboards a great deal more. At the time there was only commercially produced stuff, and vintage stuff around, so when the first custom boards from Korea started to be noticed over in the west, and the hobby began in earnest I was already hooked.

Pic: Laser

Laser

The thing that attracted me most, apart from striving for typing excellence, was the levels of customisation the hobby brought. Not just with the boards themselves, but keycaps, desk mats and the ephemera of add-ons that saw the whole desk environment become part of the hobby that has since transformed the way I saw my workspace.

Why Cables?

Part of this obsession with aesthetic matching and theming was custom cables: There was nothing worse than plugging your beautiful custom keyboard in with a cheap plastic cable, so when custom cables started to become a thing, I started making my own. One of my other hobbies is Amateur Radio, so making all manner of cables, from audio cables to transmission feedlines was already something I was adept at, so this was a natural progression.

The lack of cables that exactly matched custom keycap sets was something that always annoyed me however, particularly the high end cables using Cerakote, so I began developing custom Cerakote formulas every time I bought a new custom keycap set. Once my collection started to build, I realised that I could, having repeatable mix formulas, produce these for other people as well, so Kool Keys was born. I suppose I’m late to the party when it comes to custom cables, as they’ve been around almost as long as the hobby, but our USP is an ever expanding range of colour matched Cerakoted cables – something that’s incredibly rare.

Pic:

Custom cables were something inevitable in this hobby really. If memory serves, I think Pexon PCs here in the UK was, if not the first, certainly amongst the first to put a GX16 connector in the middle of a USB lead, and coil it to create something more unique and different, and “premium”. It wasn’t long before people started experimenting with different connectors, none of which are designed for this purpose, or, if we’re honest, even required, but neither is a OLED screen with Bongo Cat on it, but that’s the beauty of this hobby.

In the beginning, options were limited, and methods for customisation were fairly limited as well; you had paracord sleeving in various colours, then Techflex PET sleeving; Connectors were painted, or sometimes powder coated, and of course heat shrink dominated everything.

Cerakote changed everything. Not just for me and other cable makers, but for keyboards as well. Few things can be called a wonder-product, but for me, Cerakote is just that. A thin film Ceramic coating that is, when applied correctly, less than 1mil (0.02mm) thick, that’s tough and scratch resistant is just an ideal product for coating small items like a connector or plugs – things that are handled often. It’s this product that started me on the quest to make the ultimate colour matched cables for my collection of custom keyboards, keycaps and mats, as none of the ones I could buy were a true colour match.

Pic: Hammerhead

Hammerhead

So I set out to make a matching cable for GMK Laser… in Cerakote. Perhaps this was the craziest place to start, as even the brightest colours available in Cerakote were nowhere near as bright as that neon red in GMK Laser. I had no idea how to do it, but as is often the best way, I just got on with it, and started experimenting with a range of pigments and additives and after weeks of work, developed a formula using Cerakote that exactly matched that vibrant red.

If I can match that, then I can match anything, and so far, there’s been remarkably few sets I’ve failed to match, including some equally as vivid such as Hammerhead and Dracula (that one uses 5 custom neon colours).

Pic: Dracula

Dracula

Then next came experiments in dyeing sleeving. Dyeing plastic is nothing new either, but again, so few people are doing it regularly with custom keycap colours that it’s still a pretty unique service. I developed a process using acid dyes, rather than using Rit Dye More, which is the usual DIY method for dying plastic, and more in keeping with a professional grade product where longevity is required. We also started the discount offer that allows customers to send in spare keycaps for formulation of new Cerakote formulas to receive a massive 50% discount as a reward which has allowed me to develop cables for sets I don’t personally own.

Pic:

One of the most popular services I offer is “Design Your Own”. Like most cable makers you can choose your own specification to create something unique and personal to you using the entire range of Cerakote colours and MDPC-X and Techflex sleeving. This has resulted in some amazingly beautiful cables being made over the years. Some of which are now in-stock options.

There’s more to this than meets the eye

So what happens when you design a cable and place the order? Well… many things, some of which may not be apparent to most people who think I just solder some connectors onto some sleeved cable. For those of a geeky disposition that are interested in processes, here’s what happens. Feel free to skip this paragraph is you’re not ready to geek out. 😀

Pic:

  • Connectors are selected and inspected for quality and perfect operation, and then these are disassembled, and each part blasted with 120 grit aluminum oxide at 80psi to remove the factory coatings. This is an essential step to allow Cerakote to bond to the surface correctly. This is quite labour intensive, and as an example, each Lemo style connector set breaks down into 5 separate parts that require individual blasting, as certain parts require more aggressive blasting than others for fitment reasons.

  • Each blasted connector component is placed in an acetone bath and agitated to ensure that no contaminants are present – again, something that can be detrimental to the Cerakote bonding process.

  • Once clean, the connector parts are placed on custom made racks that allow each individual part to be individually removed, sprayed, and placed back in the rack.

  • If a colour matched cable is required, then the Cerakote is mixed to my custom formulas using accurate scales calibrated to 0.01gram accuracy, catalyst added to determine the desired finish, and then filtered according to Cerakote specifications.

Pic:

  • Using a Harder & Steenback artist’s airbrush, each connector is expertly Cerakoted, then left in a clean environment for 30 minutes to “flash out” – a process where excess solvents in the Cerakote evaporate off. Some custom colours also require a base colour coat, so this is sometimes repeated twice. For those who are really geeky, the airbrush I use most is a Harder & Steenbeck Colani, with a 0.4mm needle and nozzle, and I apply at 12psi.

  • The connectors then go into a tightly temperature controlled oven that was hand built by myself specifically for the job, and to accommodate my racks, at 120C for two hours. These temps are sometimes varied depending on the Cerakote type used, and the required finish. Experience has taught me that the recommended Cerakote temps are not always the best for every Cerakote type and colour.

  • After curing, the connectors are inspected for quality, and if satisfactory, set aside for assembly. At this stage things like the alignment dots and registration marks are added.

Pic: Stainless red black

Stainless red black

  • Next, the sleeving is measured, cut, and then where required, custom dyed using my custom formulated acid dyes. If dying is required, this is a two hour process. If dyed, the sleeving is air dried before assembly.

  • The cable (always USB compliant and LSZH jacketed) is sleeved to the customer’s requirements. This is usually using German made MDPC-X (shout out to Nils at MDPC-X for making the best sleeving in the world), but I also still use the time-honoured tradition of paracord and techflex if a customer demands it, but MDPC-X is my go to choice.

  • Once sleeved, the ends are welded to the cable jacket using a hot knife to bond the sleeving at each end to keep it tight, and then the ends of the cable are stripped, tinned and prepared for fitment.

Pic: Brass

Brass

  • The cable is soldered (using old school leaded solder) to the terminals of the connectors, and then sealed in silicon insulating material.

  • Type C connectors are fitted, and then inserted into the CNC housings, and injected with a strong, two part epoxy resin to form a solid state connector that will stand the test of time.

  • The entire cable, once assembled is tested using a USB cable tester. Boxed and ready to be sent to the customer. All my cables are end to end shielded to maintain the USB certification of the cable used. At this point, all screw threads are threadlocked using Loctite 271… a thread locking agent so strong that you’d need 10 minutes with a blow torch to disassemble them.

The total time varies from order to order, but on average, including curing, blasting, dyeing and assembly times, there’s probably 5 to 6 hours work going into each cable. Fortunately, some of these can be done in batches, such as the in-stock cable ranges: Curing 10 connectors takes the same amount of time as curing one for example, but the bespoke orders using the “Design Your Own” feature can often take this time on each individual cable. Each cable comes with a limited life-time warranty (see website for details) as a consequence of such obsessive build quality details. This is something no other cable maker offers.

Looking forwards

Paying a lot of money for a cable is still something that’s fairly contentious when there are so many cheaper cables available at various online market places. Despite being a hobby where high quality, low volume items are still something sought after – even today when budget options in all aspects of the hobby are now commonplace, the humble cable is often overlooked, and the thought of paying more than $50 for a cable seems excessive to most. I suppose it actually is, but then again, so is paying $500 for a keyboard when you stop and think about it: The hobby is, and always has been about choice, and there will always be those who want high quality, low volume, and handmade items, especially those who are as obsessed with aesthetics of the desk top as I am.

Pic: Antiquity

Antiquity

I hope highlighting the complexity of making an artisan cable, with absolutely no compromise explains this cost. The rise in popularity of wireless is also something that makes people question the whole idea of an expensive cable as well: The fact is, many high end boards aren’t wireless and probably won’t ever be, and many people still want the reliability of a cable, and the longevity of a board that doesn’t rely on batteries. The reality is, as a one man operation making hand made products, I’m not, and never have been seeking to expand beyond what I’m currently doing – I don’t think I could cope with the extra demand. There’s a fairly long waiting list for some of my products already, so there’s a finite limit to what I can do. I’m here to offer a unique service for those who don’t mind paying the extra to complete their dream set-up, and for something that very few others are doing to the same extent.

There’s always space in this hobby for the artisan and bespoke product maker, so I just plan to carry on with my obsession to do things with Cerakote that Cerakote themselves never thought possible. I’m considering expanding into a wider Cerakote application service outside of the keyboard hobby at some point, but that’s a plan for another day. Right now, I’m having far too much fun 😀.

For those who’ve never heard of me, there’s the one-time introductory KBDNEWS discount code right here on KBDNews in the store section.

I typed this on a Smith & Rune Iron 165, with 67g Tangerines, and Durock V2 stabs. It’s a few years old now, and it could do with better stabilisers as much better options are available these days, but as a work horse, it’s just fine, and a nice board to type on. Currently it has Novelkeys Cherry Sand caps on it.

David Gregory (56)

Handlekool-keys
LocationBlackpool – United Kingdom
OccupationDIY Cable Maker
Joined (the hobby)Full time, around 2016, but have been a keyboard enthusiast, on and off for 20+ years, even before I even knew this was a hobby.
NicheColour matched Cerakoted mechanical keyboard cables.
Fav. switchCherry MX Black Hyperglides and Tangerines.
Fav. keycap profileCherry and KAT.
Other hobbiesAmateur Radio, Photography, Simulation games.
Linksinstagram.com/kool__keys, koolkeys.net
Do you like this post? Share, donate, subscribe, tip me off!

Published on Tue 10th Dec 2024. Featured in KBD #181.


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