Keyboard Builders' Digest / Tips & Tricks
Homemade keycaps
Some elegant homemade low-pro keycaps – posted by hide-key.
Published September 16, 2022
While hide-key has been posting his cute 30% boards on Reddit for some time, like this ortholinear one in the photo above dubbed [original keyboard #010], I was reluctant to feature these projects because the files are not public and there is not much info available about them.
[Original keyboard #010] Challenge to make a keyboard using RP2040. I used Kailh Choc V1 for the key switch and aimed for thinness. As for the firmware, RP2040 was officially merged into QMK, so I used it. Like the previous post, I ordered the bottom plate with sheet metal along with the PCB order – hide-key.
Nevertheless, I liked the custom caps on his latest board, and he shared some insights how he came up with those.
The author used two models as a reference:
- Stem part: https://github.com/ogatatsu/Kailh-Low-Profile-Keycap
- Top part: https://grabcad.com/library/kailh-low-profile-keycaps-1
I combined the above two types of data by modeling them in Fusion360. After that, I printed it out with a 3D printer for stereolithography. For the character part, I carved my favorite font by modeling and poured paint into the carving.
And if you wonder what's his favorite fonts are:
A long-time favorite of mine is "Eurostile Extended", which was used in a game development series where I was an art director. Recently, I also like the font "Morganite" (used here), and the keycap of the keyboard I posted this time is "Reem Kufi".
According to hide-key, stereolithography resin is surprisingly fragile for a stem of this size, so when inserting it into the switch, it will break if you apply a strange force.
The steps of the paint job were: surfacer ➡ base color ➡ pouring into the carved part ➡ matte clear.
The base color is lacquer type, and the pouring into the carved part is enamel type. Use diluted enamel paint, and wipe off excess enamel paint with enamel solvent.
Published on Fri 16th Sep 2022. Featured in KBD #95 (source).
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