geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: neunelfer on Sun, 19 January 2014, 19:44:09
-
Has anyone tried dyeing the blank white Banggood PBT? I followed o2dazone's directions exactly and ended up with very little dye taking. All of my colors are very light and pastel-y. He used HHKB keycaps, so I'm thinking that the Banggood is lower quality and that's where my problem lies.
-
If it works it would be a nice cheap way to get caps. The thickness is actually ok on those caps.
-
I'd imagine they would dye just like normal PBT caps do, but maybe someone wants to test it out first?
-
I followed o2dazone's directions exactly and ended up with very little dye taking. All of my colors are very light and pastel-y. He used HHKB keycaps, so I'm thinking that the Banggood is lower quality and that's where my problem lies.
-
Have you looked into the process people use for dying thick PBT caps?
-
What do you mean 'low-quality'? They're made of the same material and similar thickness. Perhaps it's the rough texture of the caps?
-
I read somewhere that RIT changed their recipe a while back and it sucks for dyeing plastics now, it was on a forum I found when googling so I don't have a source or know if this is true.
-
I read somewhere that RIT changed their recipe a while back and it sucks for dyeing plastics now, it was on a forum I found when googling so I don't have a source or know if this is true.
I had seen that mentioned somewhere too, but didn't know if it was true. I forgot to mention that.
-
I think some colors of RIT have always sucked for plastics. I dyed a Cherry set not too long ago with purple RIT and they turned out amazing. I am not sure if other people do it the same way as me, as I have my own 'tricks' for dye PBTs. I use a 6l stock pot, 3 liters of distilled water (this is important as most tap water have too much mineral and trace materials which can cause spotting/streaks), 500ml white vinegar (acidity helps with dye absorption), and the entire dye packet. I use a wire basket with handles to put the caps in, this way I can quickly and easily pull ALL the keycaps out to check color and stop dye at same time for best even color. The other thing that is very important is temperature. You want to keep it at 180-200°C so use a thermometer. It's best to have a high temp to allow for best dye saturation since it 'opens up' the porous material, but you also need to make sure it's not too hot where it starts edging into the PBT melting point where the key begins to deform. When it's time to stop the dye, I have another pot or the sink full of ice cold water ready.
-
I used the same colors as o2dazone (http://www.flickr.com/photos/o2dazone/6824827269/sizes/l/) (Golden Yellow and Scarlet), and mine came out like this:
(http://imgur.com/E5ihDDn.jpg)
I used filtered water and my keys came out nice and uniform, so I don't think that's the issue. Was the celsius a typo? I kept mine at or just under boiling.
-
Wow, that is...interesting. Looking into that recipe change...
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38339
http://discgolfer.ning.com/forum/topics/rit-dye-not-working
A lot of angry hobbyists...
-
Wow, that is...interesting. Looking into that recipe change...
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38339
http://discgolfer.ning.com/forum/topics/rit-dye-not-working
A lot of angry hobbyists...
Seems like that's the case then, thanks for the links.