I thought someone here said they tried and they blew up in the kiln so they gave up.
I thought someone here said they tried and they blew up in the kiln so they gave up.
There's a thread somewhere. I think the stems were also too brittle to be removed frequently.
Huh, are there any nice looking clear blank caps then? Or maybe acrylics?
"one rage quit and you're blind for life"And missing a couple fingers
I would imagine the glass being either too heavy for the switch to hold open or too brittle for regular use (especially the cross post).
Same could be said about metal caps, yet people use those with no problems.
Huh, are there any nice looking clear blank caps then? Or maybe acrylics?
I would imagine the glass being either too heavy for the switch to hold open or too brittle for regular use (especially the cross post).
not necessarily!
See you can easily make glass or ceramic keycaps that are tougher than PBT. Also, you'd have to design around the stem a little, but it's possible to harden the stem up a lot. I was thinking of sintering some ceramic powder keycaps, but getting the size right would be hard. I suspect you'd have to machine the cruciform stem a little.
Long story short, it'd be a lot easier to make hall effect keycaps in basically any material.
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About injuring yourself after hitting a keycap hard: I don't think so. See, you could make it so that the cap bottoms out on the switch housing which would seriously dampen the force. I doubt it'd break at all, but a nice glass-ceramic composite keycap would be more than tough enough to not shatter. Also, such a material would break into large sections rather than shattering completely. Also, you could design a stress raiser so that just the top would shear off safely. There's a lot of ways of making it safe.
TBH I think the hardest part would be to ensure that there's enough friction on the stem to keep the keycap in place.
Glass would probably be too cold to the touch for an enjoyable typing experience. Also such a hard material would be rough on the fingers.How "cold" it feels is largely a function of the thermal conductivily. Many metals have good thermal conductivety and sink heat from your hand and feel "cold". Glass (and especially glass / ceramic) can be made as as insulator and will not have this issue.
I actually want to see someone produce this.Same here! I'd have done it by now, but DIY'ing materials research projects is much harder and more expensive than normal keyboards / electronics projects. This is a large part of why I like keyboards and electrical engineering and hobbyist stuff and all that.
you could refractory press medium porosity powdered SiO2 then fire, but medium porosity is typically not transparent, as to get a glass you need to melt then vitrify. there are some glass ceramics that crystallize into transparent glass, but plastic is your best bet for transparent or translucent keycaps. can't help but mention signature plastics' hybrid PBT + PC hybrid caps that combined the two resins to form a compound material that, when injection molded, had a glassy surface on the outside and opaque surface inside. the interesting thing about these, was that unlike overmolding, the change in reflectivity was gradual and isometric. very cool little caps.
I have an idea for making porcelain caps using resin casting. There is a kind of imitation porcelain additive that ought to be interesting. It's coming with the next batch of supplies. I'm excited.
I would love to have some glass/acrylic/resin caps. That would be sick.
I would love to have some glass/acrylic/resin caps. That would be sick.
I'm working on resin caps right now, I have a few different types of resin I'm working with. ^_^
"one rage quit and you're blind for life"
I would love to have some glass/acrylic/resin caps. That would be sick.
I'm working on resin caps right now, I have a few different types of resin I'm working with. ^_^
Are you using 1:1 or the harder to mix and cure poly resin? I just de-moulded my first batch of poly pieces and I think due to the small size of the mould they will need a few days to cure. But despite some issues with my inclusions moving around they look promising (to me. Ha Ha...I'm going to do another batch today. ) I'm working on this cool geometric keys mould. But I need more silicone!
They are still too tacky to trim or polish. Hence, the rough look.
Huh, are there any nice looking clear blank caps then? Or maybe acrylics?
http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/product/clear-blank-full-104-keycap-sets
Full 104 key clear DCS profile set goes for 40 dollars. They also have them in blue and red semi-clear.
would it be possible for the stem insert on the cap itself to have tiny ridges on the inside to prevent all the glass caps from sliding off if upside down? can you guys get that precise when creating glass molds? can we make the glass smooth enough that it is comfortable to the touch?
imagine stained glass keycaps and white LEDs. that would be really cool.
Huh, are there any nice looking clear blank caps then? Or maybe acrylics?
http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/product/clear-blank-full-104-keycap-sets
Full 104 key clear DCS profile set goes for 40 dollars. They also have them in blue and red semi-clear.
Quoting myself in case the OP missed my post... You can get a full set of clear keycaps from the link I posted for just 40 dollars!Show Image(http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Translucent-Full-Set-Clear-6.jpg)
would it be possible for the stem insert on the cap itself to have tiny ridges on the inside to prevent all the glass caps from sliding off if upside down? can you guys get that precise when creating glass molds? can we make the glass smooth enough that it is comfortable to the touch?
imagine stained glass keycaps and white LEDs. that would be really cool.
I've got all kind of crazy ideas in my head...
What about using something else for the stem, something less fragile that would adhere to the glass without being damaged during the process?
would it be possible for the stem insert on the cap itself to have tiny ridges on the inside to prevent all the glass caps from sliding off if upside down? can you guys get that precise when creating glass molds? can we make the glass smooth enough that it is comfortable to the touch?
imagine stained glass keycaps and white LEDs. that would be really cool.
I've got all kind of crazy ideas in my head...
What about using something else for the stem, something less fragile that would adhere to the glass without being damaged during the process?
sure. but how will you attach it to the clear glass cap without some sort of fugly glue? my worry would be a LED showoff of your badass work work only accent/highlight the method to piece the caps together.
ideally a solid piece would be best no doubt. but then again i know jack **** about glass. all i know is that blowing traditional stain glass can be very dangerous. my aunt passed away at 38 from brain cancer. she made stain glass windows for catholic churches down in Louisiana. my family always thought the glass blowing might have contributed. we dont know for sure. but heads up on that.
would it be possible for the stem insert on the cap itself to have tiny ridges on the inside to prevent all the glass caps from sliding off if upside down? can you guys get that precise when creating glass molds? can we make the glass smooth enough that it is comfortable to the touch?
imagine stained glass keycaps and white LEDs. that would be really cool.
I've got all kind of crazy ideas in my head...
What about using something else for the stem, something less fragile that would adhere to the glass without being damaged during the process?
sure. but how will you attach it to the clear glass cap without some sort of fugly glue? my worry would be a LED showoff of your badass work work only accent/highlight the method to piece the caps together.
ideally a solid piece would be best no doubt. but then again i know jack **** about glass. all i know is that blowing traditional stain glass can be very dangerous. my aunt passed away at 38 from brain cancer. she made stain glass windows for catholic churches down in Louisiana. my family always thought the glass blowing might have contributed. we dont know for sure. but heads up on that.
would it be possible for the stem insert on the cap itself to have tiny ridges on the inside to prevent all the glass caps from sliding off if upside down? can you guys get that precise when creating glass molds? can we make the glass smooth enough that it is comfortable to the touch?
imagine stained glass keycaps and white LEDs. that would be really cool.
I've got all kind of crazy ideas in my head...
What about using something else for the stem, something less fragile that would adhere to the glass without being damaged during the process?
sure. but how will you attach it to the clear glass cap without some sort of fugly glue? my worry would be a LED showoff of your badass work work only accent/highlight the method to piece the caps together.
ideally a solid piece would be best no doubt. but then again i know jack **** about glass. all i know is that blowing traditional stain glass can be very dangerous. my aunt passed away at 38 from brain cancer. she made stain glass windows for catholic churches down in Louisiana. my family always thought the glass blowing might have contributed. we dont know for sure. but heads up on that.
The progression very well could have contributed to the cancer, but chances are not from the glass. Glass itself is very inert. My bet would be on the lead that is/was (not sure if it is still used) in the framework that holds the pieces together.
Stained glass caps would be awesome. Though my vote would be for solid 1 price caps but with no ribs. Glass would be stiff enough that they would should not be needed.
I would love to have some glass/acrylic/resin caps. That would be sick.
I'm working on resin caps right now, I have a few different types of resin I'm working with. ^_^
I would love to have some glass/acrylic/resin caps. That would be sick.
I'm working on resin caps right now, I have a few different types of resin I'm working with. ^_^
There was a resin keycap GB not that long ago. Apparently the keys were really, really loose (like press a key, and the keycap pops off when the switch springs back up).
I don't know if that turned out to be a manufacturing defect, or a side-effect of the plastic, but it might be something to bear in mind :)
I would love to have some glass/acrylic/resin caps. That would be sick.
I'm working on resin caps right now, I have a few different types of resin I'm working with. ^_^
There was a resin keycap GB not that long ago. Apparently the keys were really, really loose (like press a key, and the keycap pops off when the switch springs back up).
I don't know if that turned out to be a manufacturing defect, or a side-effect of the plastic, but it might be something to bear in mind :)
Huh, are there any nice looking clear blank caps then? Or maybe acrylics?
http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/product/clear-blank-full-104-keycap-sets
Full 104 key clear DCS profile set goes for 40 dollars. They also have them in blue and red semi-clear.
I did see those, but they are not quite as clear as I was looking for. They are a bit frosted and such.
Quoting myself in case the OP missed my post... You can get a full set of clear keycaps from the link I posted for just 40 dollars!Show Image(http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Translucent-Full-Set-Clear-6.jpg)
I would love to have some glass/acrylic/resin caps. That would be sick.
I'm working on resin caps right now, I have a few different types of resin I'm working with. ^_^
There was a resin keycap GB not that long ago. Apparently the keys were really, really loose (like press a key, and the keycap pops off when the switch springs back up).
I don't know if that turned out to be a manufacturing defect, or a side-effect of the plastic, but it might be something to bear in mind :)
I bought $140 worth of them... I'm well aware... however, I'm producing them in small batches, without a vacuum or pressure chamber and no humidity issues around here. :)
There's also a few types of cold-casting resins so I'm experimenting.