geekhack

geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: moonexe on Mon, 16 December 2013, 22:14:31

Title: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Mon, 16 December 2013, 22:14:31: Well, long story short, I just ordered new G80-3000, and I want custom keycaps on it. Will I run into any sort of trouble if I order a set from WASD? 104 keys, by the way.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Dampeners? Yes/no/which ones?
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: Pacifist on Mon, 16 December 2013, 22:15:37: Bottom row may have some problems
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: terran5992 on Mon, 16 December 2013, 22:26:40: Quote from: moonexe on Mon, 16 December 2013, 22:14:31
Well, long story short, I just ordered new G80-3000, and I want custom keycaps on it. Will I run into any sort of trouble if I order a set from WASD? 104 keys, by the way.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Dampeners? Yes/no/which ones?

Dont get dampeners unless you absolutely need silence. It ruins the feel of the switch
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Mon, 16 December 2013, 23:08:03: Alright, no dampeners it is, saves me $25 :rolleyes:

By bottom row, do you mean the shift row or space row? I dont see anything unusual about either of them...
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: laffindude on Mon, 16 December 2013, 23:26:33: Capslock and spacebar.
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: Findecanor on Tue, 17 December 2013, 04:15:25: I use dampeners with MX Blue, so that I only get the click and not the clack (sound from bottoming out). The Red O-rings are the smallest from WASD giving the smallest difference in feel.
I have tried O-rings on MX Clear and MX Brown also - they are unnecessary on Clears and I feel that they dampen too much on Browns.

Laffindude said it. The Caps Lock and the Space Bar have different switch positions on the G80-3000 than on WASD Keyboard's own keyboards. The other keys are compatible.
Note that WASD's keycaps also have a higher profile than Cherry's caps, the so called "OEM profile" so that using mixed keycaps can be weird.

Custom key sets in Signature Plastics' DCS profile are often more compatible with the G80-3000, even having practically the same height, but AFAIK they are incompatible with O-rings.

Cherry's keycaps are usually of pretty high quality anyway, being made of thin PBT or thick POM plastic ... or in the case of vintage keyboards: double-shot ABS plastic, which is in high regard.
Another option, if you have grey Cherry PBT keycaps may be to dye them in RIT-brand fabric dye. It is not that easy to get a perfect result, though, but many have done it and there are threads about it on the forum.
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Tue, 17 December 2013, 11:15:43: I did think about dying, but I'd like to have colored blanks, so that's gonna have to be my last resort.
I'm looking at signature plastics right now and their site doesnt seem to work on mobile, so I suppose I'll have to wait until later when I'm back home... Though I did notice they have stepped keys, which would be nice for the caps lock. :D
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Tue, 17 December 2013, 11:23:20: While Cherry stock keys don't come in all sort of colors, they are surely indeed about 500% higher quality than what WASD sells. What are you after exactly? There may be some much better options without taking a huge step down in quality.
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Tue, 17 December 2013, 11:41:30: Like others before me...
(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o10/ChazFox/PortalKeyboard.png)
:rolleyes:
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Tue, 17 December 2013, 11:48:42: Hehehehe. I was thinking on making that as well. If you are not in a rush I have a groupbuy open for Cherry thick black PBT (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=50935.0). Then you would only need few keys from white set to dye. All of those colors come out very good with RIT.
Assuming you have the white keyboard, you could sandblast the legends off the stock PBTs so they are ready for dye.
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Tue, 17 December 2013, 12:36:23: Sand blasting uh... How does one go about doing that? :rolleyes:
I'll look into whatever options I'm given, though like I said earlier I'm on mobile at the moment so some sites will have to wait tonight.
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: Findecanor on Tue, 17 December 2013, 15:08:26: Ah, the Aperture keyboard. :D Hmm. I have also considered that, but with keys with legends still on them.
I snatched the cooling vents from a broken Commodore 64C, and I have a few spare Cherry cases ...
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Tue, 17 December 2013, 15:30:49: I thought of using legends too since I never actually typed on blanks before, but I want to stop relying on sight for my typing, and in this case accuracy actually works in my favor. :D
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Tue, 17 December 2013, 17:54:44: Well I can't give any useful advice about sandblasting. I only know it is possible. There have been some posts with results both positive and some negative around here and other keyboard sites, but I don't recall anyone ever doing a fully detailed how to/how not to.

If you want to just go ahead and give dyeing a go with the lasered keys I can give some useful advice on that. I have dyed PBT Cherry keys a few times now with various colors and get good results just as I expect them to be. My most recent dyejob using purple
(http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/pp349/lysol8086/20131015_133526_zps1962abee.jpg~original)
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Tue, 17 December 2013, 18:06:39: That purple is beautiful, my favorite color too... :D my only worry about dyeing the etched keys is actually the yellow keys, I can deal with the blue and red ones but I think the letters on yellow would be a little more distracting than I'd like. Plus I wanna try typing on blanks anyway. :rolleyes:
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: vasconqs on Wed, 18 December 2013, 09:16:58: Quote from: IvanIvanovich on Tue, 17 December 2013, 17:54:44
(...) My most recent dyejob using purple
Show Image
(http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/pp349/lysol8086/20131015_133526_zps1962abee.jpg~original)

Hi, this is a Portuguese layout, right? I'm looking for one, and can't find them anywhere. I started looking for blanks on account of not finding them. Has this one got MX blues? If so, where can I get one?
Thanks!
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Wed, 18 December 2013, 14:01:00: vasconqs, yes that is Portuguese layout and I actually have it for sale (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=52322.0).
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Wed, 18 December 2013, 15:05:04: So I'm looking at a few options here, seems like the most efficient would be to dye all my keys black and get the 28 colored blanks separately, but cherry profile blanks are practically impossible to come across.... So how much of DCS is the same as cherry,exactly?

If Signature Plastics isn't an option, there's a few other places that I'll have to email regarding the keys I want and I guess I'll get back to you guys on that.
The keyboard itself should be here on friday(or possibly monday... Fingers crossed for friday) if it ships today. :D
I plan on using the extra function keys to model a few customs, so that should be fun...

EDIT: Forgot to ask, do you know what material the stock cherry keys are? And which materials would feel relatively similar next to them?
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Wed, 18 December 2013, 16:19:17: Stock Cherry keycap on current production models is PBT for light color white/light grey/beige and POM for black models.

SP DCS profile is fairly similar to Cherry. They are very very close in key height, but have a bit different key shape and the bottom row is way more slanted inwards than Cherry.
QWERkeys would be another option and thier keys are even closer to Cherry, but I am unsure what they may be able to provide currently as they seem to be in transition.
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Wed, 18 December 2013, 17:09:04: I actually sent Qwerkeys an email earlier, we'll see where that goes. ;)
I can't believe how hard it is to find blank cherry keys. It's not like I'm asking for a sculpted horse head or anything, just blank white/light gray at the very least...
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Wed, 18 December 2013, 17:18:35: I think they are out of stock, but you can check with imsto (http://geekhack.org/index.php?board=115.0) anyway and see if they have any all white or white/beige blank sets left. I have one, but I am presently trying to sell it with a keyboard.
Title: Re: G80-3000 custom keycaps?
Post by: moonexe on Wed, 18 December 2013, 17:57:28: I did see your keyboard and wonder where you got that set! ;D
Another added to the list of awaiting replies... :rolleyes:

Edit: got a reply from Tim from Qwerkeys, he said he might have some spare keys laying around, so there may be hope there.