Shining keycaps on purpose

[DALExSNAIL]

So I have been trying things for the past few weeks to shine up the remainder of a keyset I have, but nothing is getting the job done so far.

Have tried wet sanding, polishing compound and a rag, and broke out the dremel as well to see if I could do it, but these either messed up the cap or didnt seem to make a huge difference. Or in the case of the polishing compound, it seemed to make the shine a bit "cloudy", not nearly as nice as the mirror finish of a truly worn in shiny cap. Been doing these tests on some other caps from an incomplete set that I use for stuff like this occasionally.

Some people have suggested a bench grinder and a large buffer to try out, but that was met with some mixed results I hear (melting).

Anyone got any ideas?

And before anyone says it, I know earning the shine is the best option, but I'm impatient.

[Puddsy]

So I have been trying things for the past few weeks to shine up the remainder of a keyset I have, but nothing is getting the job done so far.

Have tried wet sanding, polishing compound and a rag, and broke out the dremel as well to see if I could do it, but these either messed up the cap or didnt seem to make a huge difference. Or in the case of the polishing compound, it seemed to make the shine a bit "cloudy", not nearly as nice as the mirror finish of a truly worn in shiny cap. Been doing these tests on some other caps from an incomplete set that I use for stuff like this occasionally.

Some people have suggested a bench grinder and a large buffer to try out, but that was met with some mixed results I hear (melting).

Anyone got any ideas?

And before anyone says it, I know earning the shine is the best option, but I'm impatient.

someone told me about a method involving a t shirt and some mild abrasive but i can't remember for the life of me who it was

[ideus]

Here is your solution:

[clasicks]

OP have you tried supergluing some fine grit sand paper to your finger tips. I think this would work well.

[DALExSNAIL]

OP have you tried supergluing some fine grit sand paper to your finger tips. I think this would work well.

Good idea, trying this tonight

[Giorgio]

It's so easy. Just swap the keys in the same row. The less shiny ones take the place of the more shiny for as long as it takes 

[mogo]

OP have you tried supergluing some fine grit sand paper to your finger tips. I think this would work well.

I'm not so sure on that, I think that's counter-intuitive. Harsh sandpaper will un-shine a surface. Keycaps tend to shine over time as a result of fingers polishing the caps gradually. So, polish them. Get a plastic polishing compound and a polishing cloth and work it over.

edit: i re-read and saw you've already tried polishing. I dunno then. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[rowdy]

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=94062.msg2562213#msg2562213

[typo]

See my "I strangely like shiny GMK" thread. It has your perfect solution to this IMO. Works great for me but perhaps, YMMV
oops it was just linked above this.

[ideus]

OP have you tried supergluing some fine grit sand paper to your finger tips. I think this would work well.

I'm not so sure on that, I think that's counter-intuitive. Harsh sandpaper will un-shine a surface. Keycaps tend to shine over time as a result of fingers polishing the caps gradually. So, polish them. Get a plastic polishing compound and a polishing cloth and work it over.

edit: i re-read and saw you've already tried polishing. I dunno then. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Shining the caps requires polishing not grinding. The skin's properties are what make the shining on ABS so nice.

[Hyde]

As weird as it sounds I think the shine is partially finger oil / grease corroding plastic.  I notice my wife's keyboard is shinier than mine because she wear hand lotion / moisturizer.

I also lend a keyboard to her before and got back a lot shinier.

So moral of the story, make your finger very oily / greasy and go at it for a while see if it helps.  After that take off all the keycaps and give them a bath to wash off the oil.  Or you can probably rub on it one key at a time but not sure how long this would take.

Also if I remember correctly, doesn't oil eat away plastic?  I think this might be what contribute to the "shine".

TL;DR version:  Basically go buy a bucket of KFC and eat chicken and typing at the same time.

EDIT:  take a brush rub some olive oil on the top part of the keycap and come back to it next day and see what happens.

[Giorgio]

Oils do exactly the opposite. Since they lube your skin, its action on the plastic will be lighter.

Please people, please please please stop once and for all this unsubstantiated nonsense about food and skin oils.

ABS is perfectly resistant to finger-food oils.

[clasicks]

"Basically go buy a bucket of KFC and eat chicken and typing at the same time."

i can do that

[jdcarpe]

Can confirm. My hands are usually dry, not oily, since I hate using lotion. And my fingers will shine up a set of ABS caps in no time!

[typo]

I am not trying to be a jerk here okay. It is not oils. Sanding them even with 2000 grit is likely not going to be to your liking and certainly not shiny. I gave the answer to this question already. There is a link to the thread here. I promise you that if you cannot wait 3-5 years this is your answer. I bet everyone that wants all shiny caps will love this. Of course I am not liable for any dumb mistake anyone may make. I just want to say that part but I am sure everyone will be happy. Just do as I said. Obtaining it is not hard. Pep boy's. Napa, Autozone, Walmart and yes, even Canadian tire. Or if you are too lazy Amazon. It must be the stuff in the yellow bottle! That is what I meant about dumb mistakes. Stuff in Black, Green and Orange bottles is not scratch out. Then, if you have a older vehicle you can polish the headlights and trim and still have 1/2 the bottle. I would not use this on painted surfaces oddly what it is intended for. Factory automotive beyond 1984 it will not do a darn thing and painted surfaces like some Mice etc it may remove some paint. Use it a bit and if the chamois has picked up color discontinue at once. Any ABS DS it is likely to work splendid. It will take some elbow grease. The joke is it is barely abrasive but hence the polish it provides. The highest Emory cloth is like 16,000 grit and it a baby soft rag I would say this is about 6-8,000 grit. Absolutely never use buffers on power tools with keys! You must use a chamois! If anyone has a better way I would be happy to hear it. It is a great feeling imo and you can get it in 1-1/2 hours of work vs. 3-5 years of use. That is assuming at least 8 hours 5 days a week at least 130wpm.

[captsis]

This thread raises an interesting question for me...why aren't any of my caps shiny after, in the most relevant case, almost 2 years of daily use? The only wear I see on them (SP SA) is when I don't clean them every once and a while. No shine.

[Giorgio]

This thread raises an interesting question for me...why aren't any of my caps shiny after, in the most relevant case, almost 2 years of daily use? The only wear I see on them (SP SA) is when I don't clean them every once and a while. No shine.

Aren't SP SA shiny and clean and untextured right from the start? How can they become more shiny and smooth? I would say that the shine depends also on the quality of the plastic, if for example it was micro-porous and full with imperfections, it would be way less shiny than a perfect plastic without inclusions or microbubbles of any sort.

[captsis]

This thread raises an interesting question for me...why aren't any of my caps shiny after, in the most relevant case, almost 2 years of daily use? The only wear I see on them (SP SA) is when I don't clean them every once and a while. No shine.

Aren't SP SA shiny and clean and untextured right from the start? How can they become more shiny and smooth? I would say that the shine depends also on the quality of the plastic, if for example it was micro-porous and full with imperfections, it would be way less shiny than a perfect plastic without inclusions or microbubbles of any sort.

Well that certainly would explain it haha

[Puddsy]

This thread raises an interesting question for me...why aren't any of my caps shiny after, in the most relevant case, almost 2 years of daily use? The only wear I see on them (SP SA) is when I don't clean them every once and a while. No shine.

are they a light color?

shine doesn't really show up on light color sets

i used sherry's GMK olivetti for like 4 years and it doesn't really show shine like a wob or a dolch

[ideus]

This thread raises an interesting question for me...why aren't any of my caps shiny after, in the most relevant case, almost 2 years of daily use? The only wear I see on them (SP SA) is when I don't clean them every once and a while. No shine.

are they a light color?

shine doesn't really show up on light color sets

i used sherry's GMK olivetti for like 4 years and it doesn't really show shine like a wob or a dolch

Light colors shine the same as dark ones, except that it is less evident on the first. It is my experience as well.

[rm-rf]

so you want to shine some caps, without a huge effort...
just get stiff springs. 90g or higher, my gmk is rather shiny on my 120g board.
granted this isn't the fastest method, but it will work.

if you do go the route with the dremel you don't want a high rpm.
the dremel and polish needs a low rpm to do the job right... and it will be time consuming.
this will even work on a PBT set.

[captsis]

This thread raises an interesting question for me...why aren't any of my caps shiny after, in the most relevant case, almost 2 years of daily use? The only wear I see on them (SP SA) is when I don't clean them every once and a while. No shine.

are they a light color?

shine doesn't really show up on light color sets

i used sherry's GMK olivetti for like 4 years and it doesn't really show shine like a wob or a dolch

Light colors shine the same as dark ones, except that it is less evident on the first. It is my experience as well.

1976