damorgue's concept caps - Currently looking for ideas

[damorgue]

damorgue's concept caps
This is where it started. Feel free to post any ideas you might have for a keycap design. Any and all ideas are welcome but try to avoid copyrighted trademarks. Below are some of my custom key caps, some of which don't have images uploaded yet. I have mounts for Cherry MX, and the upper part of a 2 part buckling spring cap, but Topre and Alps are still a bit loose and need a bit more work. I don't have a Topre or Alps profile, so those are have all been made with Cherry profile so far.


Zip It!





Guy Fawkes




Ripster






Me Gusta




World Wide Web




Steampunk Typ-o




Castle




Cracked




Y U NO




Snitch



GH 7 year aniversary cap, doubleshot metal



Melted



Deformed



Comedy/Drama



Leaf



Scales



Screw



Beast



Nessie



Fossile



Trinity



Voronoi



Fingerprint



Chess set



Shield



Lady Liberty



Further randomness and old assorted images

[damorgue]

Reserved

[SpAmRaY]

These are really interesting!

I think a Y U NO cap would be cool!

[CPTBadAss]

Maybe a layered cap with two different metals?

[damorgue]

Maybe a layered cap with two different metals?

Well, my attempts at doubleshot metal have been a bit unreliable. I do have an idea for how to improve that process though. Instead of shooting liquid onto a solid, I could place two solids on each other and braze them together.

I think I have worked out blackened patina and will check heat patina.

Edit: Heat patina and to blacken seems quite easy. Heat patina looks quite neat as it changes colour a bit depending on the angle at which you view it and the angle of the lights.

[HPE1000]

That web one tho 

[damorgue]

Ok, I definitely need better camera gear to photograph heat patina. Freaking impossible to photograph with my current crappy camera.

[HPE1000]

Looks really nice 

[damorgue]

Looks really nice 

I poked at it with a dirty fork with left some marks, and I probably should have cleaned it better with isopropanol or something to get rid of fingerprints and grease because.

[infiniti]

Nice work damorgue!

I look forward to seeing pictures of the chess set keycaps!

[dustinhxc]

whoa, that castle is a rad idea man. stoked to see more! 

[CPTBadAss]

Maybe a layered cap with two different metals?

Well, my attempts at doubleshot metal have been a bit unreliable. I do have an idea for how to improve that process though. Instead of shooting liquid onto a solid, I could place two solids on each other and braze them together.

I think I have worked out blackened patina and will check heat patina.

Edit: Heat patina and to blacken seems quite easy. Heat patina looks quite neat as it changes colour a bit depending on the angle at which you view it and the angle of the lights.

Ha that's actually a really cool idea. I never thought of that...

What about heat treatments? I wonder if annealing or quenching a cap would yield a cool result.

Edit: Also this would be really cool.



Spinning blades on top of a keycaps

[IvanIvanovich]

That is some really nice looking stuff... but personally I would not use many of them. I wouldn't ever put any caps on keyboard that don't have a more or less normal cylindrical top on them. While others look cool, as a 60% user there is not any key like scroll lock for me where they can sit as a decoration without ever really needing to touch them. I don't like keys that are all lumpy/pokey in my finger. More like zip it, world wide web and cracked would be good. Plain Cherry blank keys would be of much interest to me of course, a small selection like WASD and Esc replacement probably sufficient for me.
If you could make doubleshot like hammer and sickle in Cherry I would definitely take that. Or just in relief/or very very slight raised would also be OK.
I've also had for awhile idea of making something that is very low, top only without sides and the switch stem would come through being visible on the top and be exactly flush with the key top surface. For those a whole set though... but to make it easier maybe have it all be home row like and just have all the needed sizes.

[damorgue]

That is some really nice looking stuff... but personally I would not use many of them. I wouldn't ever put any caps on keyboard that don't have a more or less normal cylindrical top on them. While others look cool, as a 60% user there is not any key like scroll lock for me where they can sit as a decoration without ever really needing to touch them. I don't like keys that are all lumpy/pokey in my finger. More like zip it, world wide web and cracked would be good. Plain Cherry blank keys would be of much interest to me of course, a small selection like WASD and Esc replacement probably sufficient for me.
If you could make doubleshot like hammer and sickle in Cherry I would definitely take that. Or just in relief/or very very slight raised would also be OK.

Yes, it is always a tradeoff with more elaborate designs. I made a decision on how bumped to make the faces for instance. They are not like a sphere but rather a face which is flat and embossed on the top. Designs like the Castle is way over the top and fairly unusable as a key. The chess set has not been modeled but there is the choice to make a large model, or just emboss it on the top which would be far less intrusive.

I've also had for awhile idea of making something that is very low, top only without sides and the switch stem would come through being visible on the top and be exactly flush with the key top surface.

Could you elaborate that idea a bit? I don't think I got it. it made me think of these steam-punk-looking keys

which is a great idea and very easy to do, but not sure if that was what you were thinking of.

For those a whole set though... but to make it easier maybe have it all be home row like and just have all the needed sizes.

The advantage of this is that it is easy to make several different varieties.

[damorgue]

Spinning blades on top of a keycaps

Sadly not really able to print a reliable ball bearing though 

Stationary blades?  Turbine-cap^tm

[IvanIvanovich]

Yes actually very much like those old typewriter key, but a square top like that one's shift key... very minimalist but much more modern looking. From the top you could see the switch stem so it would look kind of like [ + ]
Ideally they would be basically symmetric so can work well on either horizontal or vertical key. All same kind of profile to make even strangest custom layout possible. I was thinking it would make the number of unique key shapes very much smaller that way so it would be easier to produce. Just need the basics 1x1, 1x1.25, 1x1.5, 1x1.75, 1x2, 1x2.25, 1x2.75, and any spacebar size needed 3x - whatever.

[Neebio]

Sounds like Ivan wants something like this:

[damorgue]

I think I got the concept. You want to see the stem. Below is one which roughly matches the height and angle of Cherry MX:


If I understood you right though, you want it to be flush with the top of the MX stem. That is impossible as it will interfere with the switch housing. If you take a switch and try and press it down, you will notice that the stem goes completely into the switch housing and the top of the stem is flush with the housing.

[Neebio]

Way to just blow my MS Paint Isometric drawing out of the water with that render damorgue :/

It is unfortunate that it would prevent the switch from fully depressing... it is a neat idea for a cap.  The obvious solution would be to make it taller and not have the stem flush with the top, but that sort of ruins the idea a bit... Could be solved by casting the caps in a clear resin though, at least then you see the stem and switch

[damorgue]

You could probably glue a sticker on the top, or emboss the legend and you would end up with something quite steampunk looking.

[damorgue]

Better pictures added. I will soon be having a fundraiser to finance some projects of mine where I will sell stuff like these. Care to buy a prototype or want a particular idea made?

[The_Beast]

Wow! I really like the web one

[IvanIvanovich]

Hmn... I guess I didn't think it though as much... but it being flush could still work as long as it still can actuate... convert MX into short throw.

You could probably glue a sticker on the top, or emboss the legend and you would end up with something quite steampunk looking.

Show Image

That looks fantastic... almost exactly like I imagined it in my head.

[Krogenar]

You could probably glue a sticker on the top, or emboss the legend and you would end up with something quite steampunk looking.

Show Image

Or, if the surface were flat, you could hand paint the keycaps. The little lip there on the edge would make a background color easy to paint, and then a calligraphic legend could be done by hand.

EDIT: Also, would it be possible to change that shape from a rounded corner square to something more like what is shown here?

Notice that funky, vintage shape? Think you do something that like onto a black material?

[damorgue]

Sky blue:


Fitting is great, so I will probably sell off a few prototypes soon and make some more.

[damorgue]

Some new tests and pictures with bad lightning and terrible camera. I will take some better pictures on Monday when I'll have a softbox and a better camera.

Guy Fawkes


World Wide Web

[damorgue]

New favourite:

[Halverson]

New favourite:

Show Image

Me too! Those web caps are just cool as can be!

[StylinGreymon]

Web cap is crazy-cool.

[dorkvader]

I was just talking about this in another thread.
Here's an idea:
I think a La Liberté éclairant le monde (statue of liberty) keycap would be excellent.

[damorgue]

I think a La Liberté éclairant le monde (statue of liberty) keycap would be excellent.

Added to the list.

Any idea of how to do it without making it very tall? It would be hard to use that key cap, and it will sort of lean depending on the angle you have your keyboard at which might make it look a bit weird.

[rlnation]

The World Wide Web keycap is pretty cool and I would def buy it (after I switch my LEDs). Perhaps more abstract keys similar to that?

[nameistaken1]

I gotta agree with everyone else, the WWW cap is sweet.

I really like non-solid caps - if that makes sense. Caps that have spaces/gaps/holes in them - especially with LEDs.

[damorgue]

Thanks

Feel free to present ideas or sketches if you have something particular in mind.

[rlnation]

Caps that have spaces/gaps/holes in them - especially with LEDs.

Yes agreed, anything that highlights the key with LED with the gaps/holes

i.e. Look at the intro to Game of Thrones

00:00 to 00:07

In a key cap form, it could be like a dome of bands.

[damorgue]

Yup, I have had i3oilermaker has already presented what I believe you are getting at rination. Sort of like the "birds nest arena" in china:


I also want to make some better voronoi cells:


I already made a web cap which has a bit more spider-y looking web, with a center pole and rings with concave sides extending outwards much like the stereotypical spider web.

Keep them ideas coming.

[i3oilermaker]

Was that your idea?

[damorgue]

Was that your idea?

Edited
already 'had that idea' vs. 'received that idea'. Badly worded. Thanks i3oilermaker , credit added

[HotKillerZzz]

How about the hat from harry potter?

[damorgue]

How about the hat from harry potter?

Show Image

Could you sketch how you want it to be placed? because of the larger flat base, I can't enlarge it to make it into a cap, so it will sort of have to be placed on top of a regular one, which will make it quite small and pointy.

[HotKillerZzz]

How about the hat from harry potter?

Show Image

Could you sketch how you want it to be placed? because of the larger flat base, I can't enlarge it to make it into a cap, so it will sort of have to be placed on top of a regular one, which will make it quite small and pointy.

Ok, I will try to make a sketch, will send it in a few hours, out now. I'm quite a big fan of Harry potter, if I'm able to see a Harry potter keycap , it will be awesome to me

 :thumb:

[damorgue]

Maybe a layered cap with two different metals?

Well, my attempts at doubleshot metal have been a bit unreliable. I do have an idea for how to improve that process though. Instead of shooting liquid onto a solid, I could place two solids on each other and braze them together.

I think I have worked out blackened patina and will check heat patina.

Edit: Heat patina and to blacken seems quite easy. Heat patina looks quite neat as it changes colour a bit depending on the angle at which you view it and the angle of the lights.

Ha that's actually a really cool idea. I never thought of that...

What about heat treatments? I wonder if annealing or quenching a cap would yield a cool result.

Heat treatments were successful and I can create various patinas. I personally don't really like them as they stick out a bit too much for my taste.

I have however unfortunately given up my experiments with double-shooting and tripple-shooting metals as the results are inconsistent.

[Fat2Mad]

Here my idea:

The Eye of Providence.
Illuminati style.

Since keycaps have a (almost) trapezial prism form, it would be cool to add a layer of transparent plastic on a flat key and add a pyramid with the Eye of providence on top. The backlight could be used to make the eye or the pyramide or just the space in between glowing.

Of couse that would be a bottom that you better not hit to hard. Au.


And since you have some memes: Here is one... d i c k butt.


Other ideas:
A Tooth (simple, heh?)
Heroes of the storm logo. (I like the HolyOOPS Dota key, but recently enjoy HotS pretty much.) Other Logos could be GoT related (eg. Stark wolf)
Pacman Ghosts.
Ghostbuster Sign.
Custom Fingerprint structure.

[damorgue]

Here my idea:

The Eye of Providence.
Illuminati style.

Since keycaps have a (almost) trapezial prism form, it would be cool to add a layer of transparent plastic on a flat key and add a pyramid with the Eye of providence on top. The backlight could be used to make the eye or the pyramide or just the space in between glowing.

Of couse that would be a bottom that you better not hit to hard. Au.

Interesting. The cap sides aren't that slanted though, so the pyramid will be very tall unless I stray away from the regular key cap shapes. Or place the pyramid on top. Or simply place the eye logo on the top surface. Lots of possibilities at least.

And since you have some memes: Here is one... d i c k butt.

Also a possibility, although not personally as(s) interested in making it though.

Other ideas:
A Tooth (simple, heh?)

Something like this?

Heroes of the storm logo. (I like the HolyOOPS Dota key, but recently enjoy HotS pretty much.) Other Logos could be GoT related (eg. Stark wolf)
Pacman Ghosts.
Ghostbuster Sign.

I am a bit hesitant to use copyrighted materials, at least straight copies. I have sort of walked the edge there and it would probably be safest to just avoid trademarked stuff entirely. I honestly don't know how much one has to change it in order for it to not infringe.

Custom Fingerprint structure.

Already done, although there are no pics it is listed in OP. I used my own fingerprint for fun, but sort of regretted it later when it came to posting my own fingerprint publicly on the interwebs. Should use some free stock image of a fingerprint instead.

[Melvang]

You could probably glue a sticker on the top, or emboss the legend and you would end up with something quite steampunk looking.

Show Image

This in metal but without the + hole in the top, with the legends punched into the top of the cap with something like this.

That web design is wicked.  Also, if you could expand some of these to buckling spring that would be great.

[Fat2Mad]

Here my idea:

The Eye of Providence.
Illuminati style.

Since keycaps have a (almost) trapezial prism form, it would be cool to add a layer of transparent plastic on a flat key and add a pyramid with the Eye of providence on top. The backlight could be used to make the eye or the pyramide or just the space in between glowing.

Of couse that would be a bottom that you better not hit to hard. Au.

Interesting. The cap sides aren't that slanted though, so the pyramid will be very tall unless I stray away from the regular key cap shapes. Or place the pyramid on top. Or simply place the eye logo on the top surface. Lots of possibilities at least.

Alternatively the key could be a cube. And the pyramide is attached to the cube. The clue should be that it looks like the eye is hovering above the surface.

And since you have some memes: Here is one... d i c k butt.

Also a possibility, although not personally as(s) interested in making it though.

Other ideas:
A Tooth (simple, heh?)

Something like this?

Oh, cool. But a ugly tooth. Is it a horse tooth? I thought of a more realistic version aka human version.
http://crowncouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Tooth-300x300.jpg

Heroes of the storm logo. (I like the HolyOOPS Dota key, but recently enjoy HotS pretty much.) Other Logos could be GoT related (eg. Stark wolf)
Pacman Ghosts.
Ghostbuster Sign.

I am a bit hesitant to use copyrighted materials, at least straight copies. I have sort of walked the edge there and it would probably be safest to just avoid trademarked stuff entirely. I honestly don't know how much one has to change it in order for it to not infringe.

True. I have read a previous comment of yours on it before. Still, since I had them on my mind, I wanted to mention them.

[jdcarpe]

Man, those steampunk caps would be awesome!

[tigersharkdude]

A Guy Fawkes would be legit

Black base with a white mask .. WANT

[damorgue]

Alternatively the key could be a cube. And the pyramide is attached to the cube. The clue should be that it looks like the eye is hovering above the surface.

One could probably leave a gap between the cap and the pyramid to make it float while supported only in the middle, and have a hole in the cap which lets light seep through inbetween under the pyramid. Add a hole through the pyramid to the eye and it would glow a bit as well I suppose.

You could probably glue a sticker on the top, or emboss the legend and you would end up with something quite steampunk looking.

Show Image

This in metal but without the + hole in the top, with the legends punched into the top of the cap with something like this.

That web design is wicked.  Also, if you could expand some of these to buckling spring that would be great.

The World Wide WEB has never been made for buckling spring, others have though. I have made three in total for BS. The first was essentially a failure. The second used the lower part of the split caps which exist for buckling springs and simply snapped onto it, but I don't have that many two-part caps. For the third, I gave it a stem of its own, but it caused some wear on the barrel as I had suspected.

A Guy Fawkes would be legit

Black base with a white mask .. WANT

I should really go through all my images one day and sort out the key cap stuff. Two random pics of two different Guy Fawkes below. White paint you say  ;)

[Ius]

That zipper has to be the coolest custom cap I've seen on here