how long till your ABS keycaps start to shine?

[kikkobots]

I bought my keyboard at the end of january and the stock keys are starting to get very shiny already.....

how long does it take you guys??

are the GB DS keys from SP any better? i got a ragnarok set coming in soon, but i might just resell it if they will shine up just as quickly (i'm assuming since its just wear and the material is the same that they will)

maybe its time for PBT?

[Nunez]

My Poker ABS F/J started to shine within weeks.

[irjoe]

Actually curious about this too, how do ABS DS keys from SP do in terms of shining?

My leopold keys started shining in less than a month.

[Awful]

Two weeks on my WASD keys that I used on my Das.

[Forsaken]

I have noticed shining beginning within weeks as well. I get a couple years before decals start to wear off.

Shiny keycaps and worn off decals are just the mark of a well used tool though. Shows that your investment in a quality keyboard has not been left to waste.

[fossala]

Shiny keycaps and worn off decals are just the mark of a well used tool though.

Not really, people have the ability to make keycaps that do not wear as bad (PBT) but even on top end keyboards like filco, they choose to be cheap to make the largest margin possible.

[irjoe]

Can PBT keycaps have double shots? If so, why isn't this more common?

[hazeluff]

Can PBT keycaps have double shots? If so, why isn't this more common?

It isn't more common because we can't do it = )

[dorkvader]

It isn't more common because we can't do it = )

Doubleshot PBT keycaps are theoretically possible, but hasn't been done yet to my knowlege, most likely due to material limitations inherent with PBT (Shrinkage, primarily), and the large about of R&D required to overcome them.

I imagine anyone who tried it would notice cracking, stress, or even implosion during or after cooling.

The fact that PBT has much better wear resistance is why I use it exclusively on my three "main" keyboards.

[Human]

Can PBT keycaps have double shots? If so, why isn't this more common?

It isn't a compulsory to do so as PBT can dye-sub, if you get what I mean.

[irjoe]

I just understood it as DS will have much clearer colors with sharper contrasting lines that doesn't look 'inked' compared to something like dye-sub. So i was just curious.
But if there is problem in the process of DSing PBT caps, then makes sense

[mr626]

The ABS keys on my Leopold are starting to show some signs of shine after about 4 months of owning it.

[dorkvader]

Mostly, I've read people's qualms with Dye sub PBT is that it "bleeds" a little, making the letters "fuzzy" This has not been my experience, though I am by no means an expert. I have only one IBM 'board, 1 unicomp, some SP,and one cherry (all Dyesub PBT). In all cases, the legends look pretty good, though some few are a bit "faded" looking on my grey unicomp keycaps.

I have read that the reason for Dyesub variation is that as keycaps are created, they get more and more fuzzy-looking until the tooling is replaced on the dyesub machine. Perhaps I've gotten lucky thius far?

Given Imsto's "3d" PBT dyesub accomplishments, I'm unconvinced that modern techniques will render PBT legends any less "sharp" than doubleshot. This is especially true looking at the detail in the portal round1 keycap set.
---
mr626, might I recommend switching to PBT?

[tp4tissue]

Mostly, I've read people's qualms with Dye sub PBT is that it "bleeds" a little, making the letters "fuzzy" This has not been my experience, though I am by no means an expert. I have only one IBM 'board, 1 unicomp, some SP,and one cherry (all Dyesub PBT). In all cases, the legends look pretty good, though some few are a bit "faded" looking on my grey unicomp keycaps.

I have read that the reason for Dyesub variation is that as keycaps are created, they get more and more fuzzy-looking until the tooling is replaced on the dyesub machine. Perhaps I've gotten lucky thius far?

Given Imsto's "3d" PBT dyesub accomplishments, I'm unconvinced that modern techniques will render PBT legends any less "sharp" than doubleshot. This is especially true looking at the detail in the portal round1 keycap set.
---
mr626, might I recommend switching to PBT?

Shrinkage is still the main problem, that is the reason they use abs space bars in the topre and hhkbs,, because the space bar has a very large visible surface, so in order to make sure this surface is level and even, they chose ABS

[Daniel Beardsmore]

I just understood it as DS will have much clearer colors with sharper contrasting lines that doesn't look 'inked' compared to something like dye-sub. So i was just curious.
But if there is problem in the process of DSing PBT caps, then makes sense

Granted, Unicomp's dye sub isn't all that great.

However, my Acer 6312-TW appears to be dye sub, and it's flawless. It's as sharp as FILCO pad printing, except you can't feel the lettering. My Tulip ATK 030244 is a mixture of dye sub and double shot, and the dye sub keys are perfect.

Dye sub is perfect for light keys: wear resistant and sharp (doubleshot leads to childish fonts) letting you have any font you desire.

The down side is simply that it doesn't work on dark colours, which is where I'm not sure how you win. I'm curious what Topre use.

And yes, ABS wears far too fast for use on black keycaps. Wear that's come with age is one thing, but a keyboard that looks twenty years old after a few months, is taking the mick a bit. It's like going bald at 30.