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geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: opentype on Sun, 26 May 2024, 08:49:32
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I’m intending to produce around 100 keycap sets with 110 keys in two versions (50 each) using dye-sublimation.
What are recommendable providers in regards to quality, affordability and reliability?
I’m completely new to the field and this website, so all recommendations are welcome. (Which companies to contact. Which prices to expect. What quality, issues to look out for …)
So far, I have only found a few Chinese providers on Alibaba and the first one I contacted didn’t reply.
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Hello, I am a keycap manufacturer from China, the process we use is dye-sublimated. my previous keycaps are NP Crayon,NP PBT and so on. Now we have a variety of keycap heights to choose from, with excellent production technology, reliable quality and suitable price. If you are interested, you can contact me, I am looking forward to cooperating with you.
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It depends on what profile you are looking for and whether you want all-over dye sub, just legends, or reverse dye sub. Those processes are all different.
If you generally know what you want, you can email Signature Plastics in the US; they are more than happy to walk you through what they have. The quality is considered the best in the biz, but they can't offer every possible option.
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This is not something I know a great deal about.
The person who first replied might be someone to talk to.
But the best dye-sub available is from CRP. They are located in China, and I don't know if they do such small orders.
An affordable company that had some good results in the past [see PBT Islander] is Infinikey. https://infinikey.xyz/
Maybe they can do smaller orders. They have done some things from the IC -> GB stage.
I think both GMK and Signature Plastics may have tooling for dye-sub. Not so common now, but it is still used for sublegends and the like. Those two companies are at least capable of small orders, so it may be worth inquiring with them.
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Also, I think 21KB has offered customization on their dye-sub. At least for their beige + cream sets.
Which means you can control the lettering and sublegends in the standard beige + cream sets.
https://21kb.com/
EDIT: KAT Profile by Keycreative also has a dye-sub option. [They even do reverse dye-sub, I believe].
I don't know what their minimum order is, though. KAT examples:
https://cannonkeys.com/collections/kat
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Hi i think of JC studio and Shenpo as they also make small portion of PBT dye sub and the price range will be affordable.