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geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: mer on Fri, 06 June 2014, 11:52:32

Title: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: mer on Fri, 06 June 2014, 11:52:32
I'm having a very hard time finding anyone that sells keycaps specific for us Mac users. Does anyone know where some may be available?

I am close to buying a WASD V2 keyboard and really like that they allow you to fully customize the keycaps with your own layout file and you can select whatever keycap colors you want. So, I was going to go with white and gray keycaps to mimic the original IBM Model M keycap coloring and use my own layout to legend them with Mac legends (Command keys along with the symbols on the function keys for brightness, media control, volume control, eject, etc).

 But, from my research mainly here on GH, it seems their keycaps aren't very good. So, what alternatives do I have? Don't any of they keycap makers give Macs any love?
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Fri, 06 June 2014, 14:00:57
I don't think there really has been yet. There has been some discussion about having some sets made for groupbuy towards the end of this thread (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=54708.0). Feel free to weigh in on that retro style or offer other suggestion.
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: ideus on Fri, 06 June 2014, 14:02:23
Quote from: mer on Fri, 06 June 2014, 11:52:32
I'm having a very hard time finding anyone that sells keycaps specific for us Mac users. Does anyone know where some may be available?

I am close to buying a WASD V2 keyboard and really like that they allow you to fully customize the keycaps with your own layout file and you can select whatever keycap colors you want. So, I was going to go with white and gray keycaps to mimic the original IBM Model M keycap coloring and use my own layout to legend them with Mac legends (Command keys along with the symbols on the function keys for brightness, media control, volume control, eject, etc).

 But, from my research mainly here on GH, it seems their keycaps aren't very good. So, what alternatives do I have? Don't any of they keycap makers give Macs any love?

WASD caps are super thin, be aware of that, they feel very cheap. Also the printing process is low quality.
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: mer on Fri, 06 June 2014, 14:42:17
Quote from: ideus on Fri, 06 June 2014, 14:02:23
Quote from: mer on Fri, 06 June 2014, 11:52:32
I'm having a very hard time finding anyone that sells keycaps specific for us Mac users. Does anyone know where some may be available?

I am close to buying a WASD V2 keyboard and really like that they allow you to fully customize the keycaps with your own layout file and you can select whatever keycap colors you want. So, I was going to go with white and gray keycaps to mimic the original IBM Model M keycap coloring and use my own layout to legend them with Mac legends (Command keys along with the symbols on the function keys for brightness, media control, volume control, eject, etc).

 But, from my research mainly here on GH, it seems their keycaps aren't very good. So, what alternatives do I have? Don't any of they keycap makers give Macs any love?

WASD caps are super thin, be aware of that, they feel very cheap. Also the pro
nting process is low quality.

Yeah, that is what I've been hearing about their keycaps. But, then it seems most people are talking about older keycaps. I've read a few people seem to think they caps have gotten better ever since they switched to UV printing only now.

Is your experience with WASD keycaps purchased this year?
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: Photoelectric on Fri, 06 June 2014, 14:51:45
There have been some group buys with Mac-specific key kits, such as

Raindrop:
(http://aggiejy.com/raindrop/images/rain/blue-mods.png)

Tall SA profile doubleshots: "Round 5" at deskthority.net
(http://deskthority.net/w/images/1/13/HONEY_APPLE125.png)

"Granite" DSA profile dye sub PBT
(http://www.pimpmykeyboard.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/16-apple.png)

and probably a few others.  You could try getting some of those sets off the Classifieds section here or there might be left-overs of the Granite set once it's produced and shipped out.
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: mashby on Fri, 06 June 2014, 15:26:47
There have been very few commercial vendors or sets that include the Command and Option key for the Mac.

Elite Keyboards (https://elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,cherrymxkeys&pid=dmx_cmd_blu_tw) has a few in stock right now. They're OEM profile so they'll match Ducky, Filco style key cap sets.

However, like Photoelectric said, you best bet will be find a community group buy set that includes support for it.
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: ideus on Fri, 06 June 2014, 19:03:33
Quote from: mer on Fri, 06 June 2014, 14:42:17
Quote from: ideus on Fri, 06 June 2014, 14:02:23
Quote from: mer on Fri, 06 June 2014, 11:52:32
I'm having a very hard time finding anyone that sells keycaps specific for us Mac users. Does anyone know where some may be available?

I am close to buying a WASD V2 keyboard and really like that they allow you to fully customize the keycaps with your own layout file and you can select whatever keycap colors you want. So, I was going to go with white and gray keycaps to mimic the original IBM Model M keycap coloring and use my own layout to legend them with Mac legends (Command keys along with the symbols on the function keys for brightness, media control, volume control, eject, etc).

 But, from my research mainly here on GH, it seems their keycaps aren't very good. So, what alternatives do I have? Don't any of they keycap makers give Macs any love?

WASD caps are super thin, be aware of that, they feel very cheap. Also the pro
nting process is low quality.

Yeah, that is what I've been hearing about their keycaps. But, then it seems most people are talking about older keycaps. I've read a few people seem to think they caps have gotten better ever since they switched to UV printing only now.

Is your experience with WASD keycaps purchased this year?

I bought them early last year. While the printing process may be upgraded, the injection molding cannot, unless they spend thousands of dollars in new molds, that I think is not likely cost wise. Also prices should increase. A good set of caps is in the 100s, while WASD are very cheap. Just a heads up. You may order some caps just for the purpose of see them for yourself. If they meet your expectations you can order all the caps you need.
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: rowdy on Sat, 07 June 2014, 02:55:32
There is a Mac-specific version of the DAS keyboard - maybe you could find a broken one and harvest the keycaps?
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: mer on Sat, 07 June 2014, 08:23:02
Quote from: rowdy on Sat, 07 June 2014, 02:55:32
There is a Mac-specific version of the DAS keyboard - maybe you could find a broken one and harvest the keycaps?

Hmm... I'll look into that. I noticed the Mac DAS before but they don't seem to have a TKL version, which is what I'm looking for. Otherwise, I'd probably just buy a new DAS. Are the DAS keycaps high quality?
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: rowdy on Sat, 07 June 2014, 19:57:59
Quote from: mer on Sat, 07 June 2014, 08:23:02
Quote from: rowdy on Sat, 07 June 2014, 02:55:32
There is a Mac-specific version of the DAS keyboard - maybe you could find a broken one and harvest the keycaps?

Hmm... I'll look into that. I noticed the Mac DAS before but they don't seem to have a TKL version, which is what I'm looking for. Otherwise, I'd probably just buy a new DAS. Are the DAS keycaps high quality?

Not necessarily suggesting you get the keyboard for itself, but AFAIK (most of) the keycaps that matter are standard size, so you could migrate them to a TKL of your choice.
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: codyeatworld on Sat, 07 June 2014, 20:14:21
Quote from: Photoelectric on Fri, 06 June 2014, 14:51:45
There have been some group buys with Mac-specific key kits, such as

Raindrop:
Show Image
(http://aggiejy.com/raindrop/images/rain/blue-mods.png)



Raindrop has two rounds, they both include the mac os x legend.
Round one has "WYSE" legends aka standard SP legends, while round 2 has the community cherry legends.

This is one of my favorite sets, specifically because of the command key legend.

https://ctrlalt.io/buys/raindrop-r2

PM me if you are interested and I'll check if there is an extra raindrop r2 set for you.
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: tooki on Wed, 11 June 2014, 03:45:27
It bugs me that nobody -- nobody -- makes an error-free Mac layout for aftermarket keys. WASD comes really close, but mislabels the key above forward-delete as "insert", even though that should be the "help" key.  Most everyone else does nothing with anything other than the command key, not even bothering to make a proper "option" key. (The Mac has no "alt" key!! That secondary label is there for Windows applications, basically.)

I'd love to see a Matias-style Mac layout with all the modifier states on each key, so you can just look and see that option-2 is ™, for example.

P.S. I let WASD know about the error in their layout, since it should be easy to fix, but they didn't seem particularly interested. I also suggested a full-modifier-states layout, but they replied that they wouldn't even consider it.
Title: Re: Any place to get quality "Mac specific" keycaps?
Post by: mer on Wed, 11 June 2014, 06:58:34
Quote from: tooki on Wed, 11 June 2014, 03:45:27
It bugs me that nobody -- nobody -- makes an error-free Mac layout for aftermarket keys. WASD comes really close, but mislabels the key above forward-delete as "insert", even though that should be the "help" key.  Most everyone else does nothing with anything other than the command key, not even bothering to make a proper "option" key. (The Mac has no "alt" key!! That secondary label is there for Windows applications, basically.)

I'd love to see a Matias-style Mac layout with all the modifier states on each key, so you can just look and see that option-2 is ™, for example.

P.S. I let WASD know about the error in their layout, since it should be easy to fix, but they didn't seem particularly interested. I also suggested a full-modifier-states layout, but they replied that they wouldn't even consider it.

I totally agree with all you said. However, with WASD, you can easily create your own key layout. As I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a WASD keyboard, I figured I'd get one with their keycaps to see the quality. And, since they can do one-off completely custom keycaps, I  I took their default Mac layout and I've added several things to make it even more "Mac friendly". I've added the symbols for Command, Option as well as Control, Shift, etc and added the multimedia, volume, brightness, etc symbols to the function keys. I think it looks pretty good (mockup attached).

I considered changing the Insert key to a Help key but it seems Macs no longer have Help keys so I left it as an Insert. At least it will be correct when using the keyboard on Windows (Parallels). I also thought about making it the Eject key (and still might).

At first I was going to keep the function key symbols in the same place as the standard Apple keyboard, but it seemed to make more sense to move them around a bit since the function keys on the WASD will be in groups of 4 unlike on an Apple keyboard.

I considered added the symbols for the modified alpha keys like the Matias but I'm not sure I actually like that look. But, it would certainly be doable with the WASD custom layouts.

[attachimg=1]

Or, maybe white and black keys, such as this:

[attachimg=2]