Author Topic: Keyboard Case Painting Tips  (Read 305671 times)

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Offline Yzeets

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #100 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 13:36:07 »
you should make a how to video with what you do step by step!

Offline Tarzan

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #101 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 13:36:37 »
You should offer case painting as a service.

Seriously.

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #102 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 13:38:46 »
You should offer case painting as a service.

I am, sort of... already painted 2 people's keyboards, and 2 more coming soonish.  But I can't make it into a mass-production type deal.  It's a hobby, and I have to do it outside (paint fumes are not exactly healthy).  Sometimes it rains, sometimes it's too hot.  I also want to make sure people are happy with the results, which means I take time to paint, polish, etc.
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Offline Xenderwind

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #103 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 14:32:27 »
How much $ would you say is needed to get the stuff to paint a case?  Like I know a can of paint is at least ~$5 and then there's the sand paper (and it seems like I need multiple different grits), but im not sure about all the other things like the polishing/rubbing compounds,primer, and clearcoat.  Seems like this all adds up to a decent amount, which means I may just try and go for an acrylic case since I don't plan on painting that much.
GON NS 87 62g clears, QFR 62g clears, Pure 65g blues, HHKB Pro II

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #104 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 14:36:54 »
Well if you don't want to get fancy, just paint is all you need. 

If you want to get fancy stuff, different sandpaper is around $5 a package from automotive stores (that's per each roughness level).  Rubbing compound and polish are around $10 per bottle.  I use them with large cotton balls for small surfaces like keyboard covers (can get those at a pharmacy).   Paint can be cheap and less cheap.  Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch / UltraCover and Stops Rust lines are around $4-6 at Home Depot.  Universal line is more like $8.  Fancier metal flake paints are more like $10-13 a can.

If you just do paint and don't plan to polish, go with flat or satin finishes--not gloss.  Same for clear coat: satin or flat.

It's still cheaper to paint than to buy an acrylic case, even with all the added costs.  Plus I'm not sure about those acrylic cases--I feel like they scratch easily, especially the gloss finishes.  Fine swirls and such from cleaning over time.  I'd love for someone to comment on that though.
« Last Edit: Thu, 25 July 2013, 14:41:05 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Batmann

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #105 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 15:09:40 »
That's some really useful content here. I didn't know you could expect such good results with paint in can and car detailing techniques.
I have an IMSTO poker case that I'll paint that way (due to blemishes on the anodizing)
Powder coating is too expensive here in France
Keep up the good work!


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Offline Xenderwind

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #106 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 15:16:10 »
Well if you don't want to get fancy, just paint is all you need. 

If you want to get fancy stuff, different sandpaper is around $5 a package from automotive stores (that's per each roughness level).  Rubbing compound and polish are around $10 per bottle.  I use them with large cotton balls for small surfaces like keyboard covers (can get those at a pharmacy).   Paint can be cheap and less cheap.  Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch / UltraCover and Stops Rust lines are around $4-6 at Home Depot.  Universal line is more like $8.  Fancier metal flake paints are more like $10-13 a can.

If you just do paint and don't plan to polish, go with flat or satin finishes--not gloss.  Same for clear coat: satin or flat.

It's still cheaper to paint than to buy an acrylic case, even with all the added costs.  Plus I'm not sure about those acrylic cases--I feel like they scratch easily, especially the gloss finishes.  Fine swirls and such from cleaning over time.  I'd love for someone to comment on that though.

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it.  I didn't even consider how easily those acrylic cases can be scratched.  I really want an aluminum case since those reds look so nice, but they're also really expensive and I don't think I've seen any for QFR.  I'll have to look into paints to see if there is something I like.  Not sure if I like how metal flake looks kind of...sparkly? but I think it would look much better than just plain gloss red.
GON NS 87 62g clears, QFR 62g clears, Pure 65g blues, HHKB Pro II

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #107 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 15:16:30 »
I have an IMSTO poker case that I'll paint that way (due to blemishes on the anodizing)
Powder coating is too expensive here in France

If you're going to paint aluminum, you should do some reading about it.  I believe you need a base coat of some sort: a primer for bare metal.  I know there are also semi-transparent paints that work to look like anodizing that can go over bare metal.  For example, DupliColor MetalCast.   MetalCast paints are semi-transparent (I have 4 of them), and you keep misting them on to get desired color intensity.  From what I've read on auto forums when reading about paint, they can be very durable.  They may need a top clear coat.  If you want to do non-transparent enamel, you will still need a primer.  And I'm not sure if it's okay to spray over the anodized coat or if you need to sand it off to bare metal first.

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/metalCast/

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it.  I didn't even consider how easily those acrylic cases can be scratched.  I really want an aluminum case since those reds look so nice, but they're also really expensive and I don't think I've seen any for QFR.  I'll have to look into paints to see if there is something I like.  Not sure if I like how metal flake looks kind of...sparkly? but I think it would look much better than just plain gloss red.

I don't know how easily they scratch--it's something I'd like to know about myself.  It's my guess that they scratch easily, at least in terms of fine scratches you can see against the light.  Just based on acrylic I've used.  But maybe there are different grades of acrylic, and the ones used for those cases are really nice and scratch-proof.
« Last Edit: Thu, 25 July 2013, 15:22:25 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Xenderwind

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #108 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 15:19:39 »
Oh I don't plan on painting aluminum, I just meant I really like the way they look.  If I paint anything it will just be a QFR top cover.

edit: also thinking about it...I really hated the gloss black on my das, I don't think I'd want a case like that again.  I guess that means acrylic is out.
GON NS 87 62g clears, QFR 62g clears, Pure 65g blues, HHKB Pro II

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #109 on: Thu, 25 July 2013, 15:20:28 »
Oh I don't plan on painting aluminum, I just meant I really like the way they look.  If I paint anything it will just be a QFR top cover.

Yeah, I was replying to Batmann as you posted your reply at the same time :)  Fixed to include quotes and reply to you as well.
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Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #110 on: Tue, 30 July 2013, 19:29:36 »
Good stuff!!



Clear, goes on in a smooth fine mist.  Using that on everything now, under paint.  Here is a Filco plate--normally powder-coated matte black--sanded down to bare steel, coated with the Adhesion Promoter, and followed with DupliColor Metal Cast in Red



It's been a few days after spraying, and the finish is very hard.
« Last Edit: Tue, 30 July 2013, 19:31:07 by Photoelectric »
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Offline unnatural

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #111 on: Wed, 31 July 2013, 23:45:30 »
Just finished exam week and finally got to painting my case, choose white gloss.

Took the picture with my potato cam so the blemishes are harder to see. I wish I had the skills you do  :(

Thank you so much for the detailed guide.

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #112 on: Thu, 01 August 2013, 08:04:47 »
Cool geometric design!  The case paint came out very nicely.
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Offline elton5354

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #113 on: Thu, 01 August 2013, 08:08:14 »
How many layers do you put on your plate? The paint makes the plate look kind of bulgy.

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #114 on: Thu, 01 August 2013, 08:34:01 »
The paint layer is extremely thin.  What you think of is bulgy is optical illusion, because the paint is semi-transparent, so you see the steel underneath.  In some cases it came out brushed-like from sanding, and in other areas (particularly the thin parts between the switch holes), the steel surface is sanded in more random directions a bit, as the black powder coating was difficult to get off those areas neatly.  It also felt like the surface was not perfectly smooth before it was powder coated--almost slightly porous.  I tried to make it look "brushed", but it was not an easy feat to do that neatly.  Anyway, the new paint coat is thinner than the old powder coat, and it's slick to touch.

Before the paint:



Anyway, this would work better with more thorough sanding along the same direction, or on clean metal that's not been painted / sanded before.  I don't have any fancy sanding tools though.
« Last Edit: Thu, 01 August 2013, 08:36:58 by Photoelectric »
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Offline elton5354

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #115 on: Thu, 01 August 2013, 08:41:20 »
Thanks for the explanation.  Would it be easier/better to sand it with a Dremel?

Offline Tarzan

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #116 on: Thu, 01 August 2013, 08:48:02 »
Thanks for the explanation.  Would it be easier/better to sand it with a Dremel?

I think it would depend on what Dremel you're using.  The one I have takes pretty small sanding discs, you'd be all day going over the surface of a keyboard plate.

If you have one of those oscillating sanders (I think Dremel makes one...) with a sanding surface about the size of a business card, that might work well to sand the flat areas. 

FWIW, I sanded the steel plates I got from Beast's buy, by hand.  The sharp edges destroyed the sandpaper quickly, but I used a small block of wood to get a flat surface, and the end result looks pretty nice.  I'm torn between leaving them as glossy stainless steel, or painting them, all these pictures make me want to experiment with some custom colors.   :-\

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #117 on: Thu, 01 August 2013, 08:58:56 »
Perhaps.  But when I tried to sand the whole plate horizontally with a sanding block, I was not getting enough of the powder coat off those thin areas between the switches.  It came off easily from the edge areas, but in the "middles" I had to go with small pieces of 200-grit sandpaper and sand longitudinally along the direction of those "bars".  It was a messy job, as it was ruining my brushed appearance, so I was trying to not sand too much, and after all was finished, I brushed everything from left-to-right again.  Nonetheless, despite a lot of sanding, I feel that some areas of the original surface still contain fine amounts of powdercoating, as the original surface was not 100% smooth, and perhaps sandblasted-like, so some powder coating was wedged in quite firmly between small particles of steel.  You can see those areas are darker (in part due to fine remnants of powder coating that was not visible to naked eye in most lighting, and in part because of the "grain" of the surface being more sandblasted-like).

I painted this plate as a test, because of the discussion of options in the Universal Plate thread.  Those plates are bare brushed steel to start with, so they won't have the issues I had with having to remove the powder coat first.  The end result might not be as nice as anodizing, but it's much cheaper :)
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Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #118 on: Tue, 13 August 2013, 12:17:55 »
I decided to give some craft paints a try: like Tamiya and Testors.  They come in many fun colors, and I found a place that sold them for <$5 a can. 

The Tamiya I got is an acrylic lacquer in a pink pearl color (TS-59).  It goes on reasonably smoothly.  The Testors paints I got are oil enamels, and I would not recommend them at all.  The spray pressure is high and they go on too runny.  Not easy to control for thin coats if you want to layer thinly to avoid dark results.   "Turquoise Metallic" Testors was so bad that it bubbled and ran like crazy.  Completely uneven finish.  I don't know what happened to that can, other than it was normal temperature, and the other two cans (Testors "Bright Aqua Pearl"  and Tamiya "Light Red Pearl") went on fairly smoothly.  "Bright Aqua Pearl" was definitely not very bright but a rather dark greenish blue after a couple of coats (at the pressure the paint comes out of the can). 

Personal recommendation: avoid Testors paints.  I've read that Tamiya sprays more smoothly, and that seems to be the case in my sample painting yesterday.  And of course you get tiny amounts (only 3oz) per can.  So maybe 1 TKL cover.  Also note that Tamiya paint is acrylic, so you can't spray it over oil enamel.  But you can coat it with a clear oil enamel top coat.

« Last Edit: Tue, 13 August 2013, 12:39:26 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Tarzan

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #119 on: Tue, 13 August 2013, 12:22:24 »
I just wanted to say thanks so much for all your tips and advice!  It was a lot of work, and I definitely know some aspects I'd do differently, but it was also very satisfying to mod a keyboard case to exactly the color/design I wanted.

31525-0
31527-1

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #120 on: Tue, 13 August 2013, 12:28:38 »
I just wanted to say thanks so much for all your tips and advice!  It was a lot of work, and I definitely know some aspects I'd do differently, but it was also very satisfying to mod a keyboard case to exactly the color/design I wanted.

:thumb:  Just noticed you have non-standard caps too (Deck keyboard?)  Will look cool with the military set!
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Offline Tarzan

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #121 on: Tue, 13 August 2013, 12:56:41 »
I just wanted to say thanks so much for all your tips and advice!  It was a lot of work, and I definitely know some aspects I'd do differently, but it was also very satisfying to mod a keyboard case to exactly the color/design I wanted.

:thumb:  Just noticed you have non-standard caps too (Deck keyboard?)  Will look cool with the military set!

Yep, I got a Deck 105-key set from Berserkfan, figured I'd try them out on the CM "V" version.  I gotta say, I love typing on them, even with the all-one-profile layout.  Don't have the right modifer/space bar or macro caps, those are still the CM caps.

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #122 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 12:49:43 »
Custom color mixing experiment:

Got a small "spray gun" set by Preval at HomeDepot (just an empty jar with replaceable aerosol can attachments at the top) intending to mix the perfect shade of pearl aqua, because I just haven't been able to find any existing shades that worked.  So this is sort of an intense light blue--cyan mixed with sparkly gold paint and with white pearl paint.  The intent was to give it more green, lighten it up, and end up with a pearly sheen finish:



The photo doesn't really do it justice, as it's a lot more shimmery under sunlight.  Going to spray my spare Filco Camo cover with it today :)
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Offline do_Og@n

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #123 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 12:54:49 »
Who here agrees that we should all pitch in to buy Photoelectric a nice airbruch kit? Could you imagine the work photoelectric could do for us?

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush-Multi-purpose-Professional-Airbrushing/dp/B006FQCBZK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376502833&sr=8-2&keywords=airbrush+kit

Offline Tarzan

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #124 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 12:57:39 »
Who here agrees that we should all pitch in to buy Photoelectric a nice airbruch kit? Could you imagine the work photoelectric could do for us?

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush-Multi-purpose-Professional-Airbrushing/dp/B006FQCBZK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376502833&sr=8-2&keywords=airbrush+kit

I'm in.  Huge appreciation expressed for all of Photoelectric's tips and methods, in this thread and others.  Is an airbrush kit the most useful?  Perhaps a small-ish HVLP gun?

Either way I'd most happily chip in for some equipment!

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #125 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 12:59:01 »
Thanks guys--I'm glad to share my experiences, as I think it's fun to make stuff, and if the results look good--even better!  I don't have a garage, so I can't really use fancy equipment requiring external power.  I have to just set up outside of my building.  Thank you for the sentiment though <3
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Offline Tarzan

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #126 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 13:06:42 »
Thanks guys--I'm glad to share my experiences, as I think it's fun to make stuff, and if the results look good--even better!  I don't have a garage, so I can't really use fancy equipment requiring external power.  I have to just set up outside of my building.  Thank you for the sentiment though <3

That's even more impressive, to know you paint these cases so beautifully, and no garage?!  How about we chip in and rent you a garage/storage space?  Selfishly speaking, of course, so you have a place to work over the winter... 

 :p  :p  :p

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #127 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 13:56:14 »
Ok, well, I'm not going to call the Preval system "crap", but I will say that I wasn't sure if I could actually finish my cover.  So the problem is that once you insert the aerosol sprayer can, you can't tilt the whole thing by more than 45 degrees from vertical.  Because there's an opening where the can connects to the jar below, and paint can splash out.  The aerosol needs that hole for intake air.  In my case, I tried to keep it as vertical as possible, but the paint was still splashing out from below like crazy.  My hands were all blue, and this is what the sprayer is like now:



BUT it did spray very smoothly when the paint actually came out.  So I finished the cover with some effort.  I'll probably use another aerosol sprayer in the future for this, although... this is very messy business, and I can't say that I like it.  But it's the only way for me to mix a custom color at the moment.

Now on to the cover--I'm very happy with how it came out!!  It's drying at the moment, and I am considering adding an iridescent clear gloss over it.  The result is very much like slightly aqua sky blue with a gold and white pearl sheen, depending on angle.  Almost looks like anodized sky blue aluminum from some angles.  I'll have to take better photos outside when it's all finished.




I was going to take a photo of my blue hands... but you don't need to see that :)  Suffice to say, I need to get a stronger cleaner than alcohol and nail polish remover :)

P.S.: For that cover so far: 
* Base: DupliColor Adhesion Promoter, Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Aqua (light aqua)
* Top:  multiple layers of my pearl aqua concoction
* Clear coat: undecided!  Probably DupliColor Effex.
« Last Edit: Wed, 14 August 2013, 16:39:16 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Thimplum

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #128 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 14:06:12 »
HCL :cool:
TP4 FOR ADMIN 2013

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #129 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 15:18:03 »
Mini update: tried on the cover loosely.  The clear coat I'll use in a day or two is above.



Also added gold + green flakes to the mix and will do another coat after sanding.  Then follow with clear.

« Last Edit: Wed, 14 August 2013, 16:09:26 by Photoelectric »
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Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #130 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 19:40:45 »
You make this look so good and so easy!

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #131 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 19:42:56 »
Haha, it's because you don't see all the in-between parts.  I just take photos once I finish a stage and clean up.  My hand still have a lot of cyan on them.  If I'd known, I'd have worn gloves =/
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Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #132 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 19:48:27 »
Haha, it's because you don't see all the in-between parts.  I just take photos once I finish a stage and clean up.  My hand still have a lot of cyan on them.  If I'd known, I'd have worn gloves =/

Just tell people your a really big smurfs fan.

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #133 on: Wed, 14 August 2013, 19:57:44 »
Bad quality but

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Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #134 on: Thu, 15 August 2013, 15:09:19 »
Finished.  Didn't come out as smoothly as I had hoped, but I've definitely learned a lot about not adding larger flakes to a paint mix in the future! :)  After iridescent clear coat and a LOT of polishing, it did finally get very smooth and shiny.



« Last Edit: Thu, 10 October 2013, 01:22:51 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #135 on: Tue, 20 August 2013, 14:08:16 »
I have received 6 QFR cases that have been previously painted with something nasty.  My guess is Krylon Fusion, which if true, confirms my strong dislike of that whole line.  Under the clear coat, the paint is soft and I can scrape it off with my nail.  It's kind of rubbery and is a nightmare to sand off, even with my normally very strong standby 3M 200-grit sandpaper.

Enter Easy-Off Oven Cleaner (Original).  It's not as harsh as some other paint strippers, as I'm trying to not damage the plastic of the covers.  Here's a comparison photo of 3 covers: the top cover is the originally painted one, the middle has been sanded for a good while with 200-grit sandpaper, and the third has been sprayed with Easy-Off twice and left to soak and then scrubbed with sandpaper.



Significantly less work with Easy-Off though still not as nice to remove as oil enamel.  And the worst is that I don't know if I can safely spray over any remnants of that paint, but I'll do a test soon.

I know there's also paint stripper for plastics, and I'll look into that as well, as I still have 4 covers to go :)
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Offline Badwrench

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #136 on: Tue, 20 August 2013, 17:58:49 »
From the sound of it, I would guess that they were primed with something that didn't play nice with the color coat.  I have had a similar reaction when going between model and automotive paints. 

You are doing it right with the oven cleaner.  Unfortunately, the only good way to remove gummy paint is with good old elbow grease and heavy grit sandpaper. 
wut. i'd buy a ****ty IBM board for that green V2

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #137 on: Tue, 20 August 2013, 18:02:43 »
Yeah that could be.  It could be 2 things based on where I got these from--I don't have the answer.  1. acrylic paint (Montana Gold) or 2. Krylon Fusion.  I'm betting it's Krylon Fusion, because I've had a similar reaction in the past when I stupidly painted some plastic computer parts with it.  I didn't use a primer, and the paint went over bare ABS plastic.  The paint didn't quite dry fully, because when I put oil enamel over it a few weeks later and tried to sand it off a couple days later (you can put oil enamel over oil enamel and over acrylic) I found the same goopy sticky mess.  It's a big reason why I hate Krylon Fusion.  Another reason is that all the Krylon paints I've tried have been really uneven, streaky, smelled bad, and the results were subpar.

But anyway, without Easy-Off, the middle cover is what you get after a LOT of elbow grease and high quality 200-grit 3M sandpaper.  The bottom one is black thanks to Easy-Off.
« Last Edit: Tue, 20 August 2013, 18:04:47 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #138 on: Wed, 21 August 2013, 19:38:20 »
Learned that the paint is indeed Krylon!
-----
To continue my logo removal saga, here's a full-sized Filco Ninja cover with the logo removed, showing that it has 2 openings behind the logo that you can stick a tiny screwdriver into and push the logo out (the logo is again a metal badge, fixed to the case with glue)



And nowadays I put drawer liner into all keyboards I open :D  Filco ping?  What ping? :D

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Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #139 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:08:02 »
I thought some of you might find this interesting, so I'm posting some "before" photos :)  Namely of DupliColor MetalCast system (base coat + top coats).

The reason I find this paint so curious is that the semi-transparent top coats that add color to the base coat (silver or just bare primed metal) look like complete crap while they dry and before polishing.  They look milky, messy, and scary :)  So I'll leave you with a "before" photo of purple with some layers of blue for an ultraviolet effect:





Pretty, isn't it? ;)  I don't think you can even tell that there's metallic silver underneath.

"After" photos to follow in a day or two :D
« Last Edit: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:10:19 by Photoelectric »
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Offline mashby

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #140 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:15:52 »
Throw some gold flake in there and you might have JDPurple!  :eek:

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #141 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:17:49 »
I thought some of you might find this interesting, so I'm posting some "before" photos :)  Namely of DupliColor MetalCast system (base coat + top coats).

The reason I find this paint so curious is that the semi-transparent top coats that add color to the base coat (silver or just bare primed metal) look like complete crap while they dry and before polishing.  They look milky, messy, and scary :)  So I'll leave you with a "before" photo of purple with some layers of blue for an ultraviolet effect:

Show Image


Show Image


Pretty, isn't it? ;)  I don't think you can even tell that there's metallic silver underneath.

"After" photos to follow in a day or two :D

must show jdcarpe!!

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #142 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:20:22 »
No gold flake was requested :)  But I can see the resemblance now.  It will be more transparent after drying and polishing though.
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Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #143 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:25:52 »
photo are you sure you don't want to become the resident geekhack painter?? :eek:

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #144 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:30:51 »
I can do a case with a good interval in between, but I'm currently doing a LOT, which I just can't handle regularly.  It's not just the painting, but the prep that is time consuming.  I like plastic cases that have no coating on them--they are easy: sand to smooth, clean, paint.  Covers like the QFR ones have coating on them that takes time to remove.  Also I prefer to paint outside so I don't breathe in the paint fumes too much, so basically until it gets into high 50s outside.  If I had a garage, things would be easier.

And finally I'm always paranoid about doing stuff for others because I can't guarantee perfect results (and I have a certain OCD about things being as perfect as possible).  There are factors like dust and quality of rattle cans which are very frustrating to me.  I have to improvise a lot.  If I had a fancy spray gun and a clean workspace, I'd be more willing to do custom requests.  For now, it's an occasional deal.
« Last Edit: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:34:27 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Techno Trousers

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #145 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:40:46 »
Somebody get that man a workshop and some good equipment, stat!

Offline do_Og@n

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #146 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:46:40 »
Somebody get that man a workshop and some good equipment, stat!

We just need someone to make Photoelectric a collapsible, wind proof workshop and then the rest of us could pitch in to get her a spray gun. Does anybody close to photoelectric have wood working tools and some white sheets?

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #147 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 12:48:29 »
It's just not worth it, sadly. I live in a city, and have to spray outside my apartment building.  Work / storage spaces are not cheap around here.  It's just how it is.  Perhaps in the future if I move to a different place eventually.  I love cities, but they do have some limitations :)
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Offline Sent

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #148 on: Thu, 22 August 2013, 14:05:10 »
That purple sure looks tasty. Definitely going to have to type on this board for a day or two before giving it to my friend. Lol.

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Painted my Keyboard :D
« Reply #149 on: Fri, 23 August 2013, 14:06:06 »
Welp, my "after" photo plan fell through, because when I started sanding the cover lightly late in the evening, I realized it was looking rather dark in dim lighting and contacted the person who sent me the keyboard with some potato shots to ask if they wanted a lighter color instead.  They said yes, so I've redone the cover in a lighter PlastiKote burgundy metal flake acrylic lacquer (first time using an acrylic lacquer on a cover!)

Here's a potato shot of what it was beginning to look like (and this was in bright kitchen light):



And since I promised photos, here's a glamor shot of the repainted cover drying (and it doesn't smell like roses!)



« Last Edit: Fri, 23 August 2013, 14:10:49 by Photoelectric »
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