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geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: Hyde on Sat, 08 March 2014, 13:20:28

Title: WASD Keyboards UV Printing
Post by: Hyde on Sat, 08 March 2014, 13:20:28

https://www.facebook.com/wasdkeyboards/posts/675687842470222

I saw this the other day on their facebook page.  Seems like a pretty cool idea because now you can literally go with any design and any color.

Obviously it won't be as nice as PBT dye sub but I think otherwise it's a good start and opens up different possibilities.

I noticed the color look a bit faded on the color art ones but on just small symbols I think it works fine.

Hopefully the durability will be ok.

Title: Re: WASD Keyboards UV Printing
Post by: nubbinator on Sat, 08 March 2014, 18:40:09

It can actually look better than dyesub PBT given the right background since the fidelity is higher.  Depending on the printer they use, some are close to 6000DPI.  The way QWERKeys/Sleabo does it doesn't result in the best look on dark keys (wish I knew that before), but there are ways of making it look good even on dark caps.

It's also quick, easy, and fairly cheap to do, probably cheaper than their laser:

Odds are they just have a little jig they drop the set in, an acrylic/wood/metal/whatever mask they set on top of that, then they just print the full image.

It's cool, but I really wish they would work on getting a better cap supplier before doing gimmicky stuff like that.  They're so bad that I'd rather have OEM caps than WASD caps.

Title: Re: WASD Keyboards UV Printing
Post by: Hyde on Mon, 10 March 2014, 00:16:16

Ohhhhhh those video look pretty cool !  Thanks for the link and explaination.

Lol and what's wrong with WASD keycaps?  I thought they're made by Costar no?

Also I think if this turns out well it would fix the issue of dye sub can only do darker color.

Would be a cheaper / better choice for more custom legend / graphic.

:D

Title: Re: WASD Keyboards UV Printing
Post by: nubbinator on Mon, 10 March 2014, 00:18:44

Their caps are just so thin and flimsy.  They really are not fun to use.

Title: Re: WASD Keyboards UV Printing
Post by: dreydin on Mon, 10 March 2014, 01:54:45

About the WASD keycap quality, this is good to know. Thanks!

Title: Re: WASD Keyboards UV Printing
Post by: Hyde on Mon, 10 March 2014, 09:10:29

Quote from: nubbinator on Mon, 10 March 2014, 00:18:44

Their caps are just so thin and flimsy.  They really are not fun to use.

But isn't that just about the same for any OEM stock ABS keycaps?  Unless you get a Poker II or Ducky G2 Pro then it comes with stock thick PBT.

So I always thought they're just "on-par" with other ABS stock keycaps.

:P

Title: Re: WASD Keyboards UV Printing
Post by: nubbinator on Mon, 10 March 2014, 09:22:53

I actually feel that they're worse than most OEM caps.

Title: Re: WASD Keyboards UV Printing
Post by: RESPRiT on Mon, 10 March 2014, 09:33:54

I think WASD definitely scraps quality for customization, but for new users it seems to work out pretty well since they don't know what they're missing yet :P