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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: Hellcatz on Wed, 10 December 2014, 18:55:29

Title: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Wed, 10 December 2014, 18:55:29: I recently bought kbp double shot key caps and added leds to my poker 2 keyboard. Since my keycaps are white The light shines through em and gives a yellow tinge to the key caps (NOT BACKLIT KEY CAPS).
This was not the desired effect I was looking for and was looking for a way to get rid of that. Thought of spray painting the underside of my key cap in silver but don't know if they will darken the white key caps?
Thoughts
[attachimg=2][attachimg=1]?
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: tankfulloffoxes on Wed, 10 December 2014, 22:27:18: So it's my understanding that you want the light from the switches to shine through the keys more so than it currently is?
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: FrostyToast on Wed, 10 December 2014, 22:31:29: Quote from: tankfulloffoxes on Wed, 10 December 2014, 22:27:18
So it's my understanding that you want the light from the switches to shine through the keys more so than it currently is?
He actually doesn't want them to shine through at all.

You would need to seal off the top and outer sides of the keycap with something like play dough in order to prevent the spray paint from getting there.
It would also be recommended to pop in a stem (just the stem, not an entire switch) into that hole to plug it up. Silly putty would probably just get stuck there.
This would prevent paint from getting inside the hole which wouldn't be the end of the world but it would rub off onto the stems of your actual keyboard.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 10 December 2014, 23:16:47: You'd also want to make sure whatever paint you select will not damage or melt the keycaps!
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: PointyFox on Wed, 10 December 2014, 23:42:07: Maybe something like black acrylic paint.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Thu, 11 December 2014, 18:04:36: Quote from: PointyFox on Wed, 10 December 2014, 23:42:07
Maybe something like black acrylic paint.

the thing is the black will darken the key caps
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: FrostyToast on Thu, 11 December 2014, 18:06:23: Quote from: Hellcatz on Thu, 11 December 2014, 18:04:36
Quote from: PointyFox on Wed, 10 December 2014, 23:42:07
Maybe something like black acrylic paint.

the thing is the black will darken the key caps

Perhaps some white plastidip or whatever.
I honestly have no clue what I am taking about.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Thu, 11 December 2014, 18:14:12: plastidip might actually work in a way where it wont kill the value of my keycaps after I mod it (Not like mine are all that expensive in the first place but perhaps in the future)
thinking adding a layer of light silver where it wont darken it but to reflect some of the light away
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Melvang on Fri, 12 December 2014, 00:09:36: If you are willing to use mask off the caps and use spray paint I would recommend as high of a gloss as you can get in white or possibly chrome but that usually comes out looking just gray. The reason is the paint with the high gloss should reflect the light back down to the plate and should give a stronger underglow effect instead of the bleed. Fair warning this advice is untested so YMMV.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Fri, 12 December 2014, 18:04:49: I will try it on my numpad keys since i have some extra and will post a tutorial if it proves worthy of back light
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Lastpilot on Fri, 12 December 2014, 18:08:06: Just get a pack of gum, chew it and infill the keys.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Fri, 12 December 2014, 18:10:53: Sure you can do that but the only down side is that it will affect the overall feel of the keyboard and thats kinda gross
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Geroximo on Fri, 12 December 2014, 18:42:08: You could dimm the LEDs
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Fri, 12 December 2014, 18:57:12: Quote from: Geroximo on Fri, 12 December 2014, 18:42:08
You could dimm the LEDs

The funny thing would you not think that i would have thought of that before I made this post?
I would have to dim the leds to the point where I could't even tell they are on due to thin walls on the keycaps
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Neebio on Mon, 15 December 2014, 16:10:11: I was going to make some terrible joke suggestion, but it occurred to me that my terrible joke suggestion might not actually be terrible...

Aluminum Foil Hats.
More
(http://venturebreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/weird-al-tinfoil.png)

I'm not kidding! Little circles of aluminum foil attached to the switches (not the caps) just above the LEDs. They would block and reflect the light that would be going straight up into the cap back down towards the PCB instead.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: minh278 on Mon, 15 December 2014, 23:26:12: Try one of those posterpaint sharpies?
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: aicrono on Tue, 16 December 2014, 15:05:36: Electrical tape/ any thick tape around the inside of a cap might also work pretty well.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Oobly on Wed, 17 December 2014, 03:41:44: Buy thicker, dark coloured doubleshots? Turn off the backlighting?

Even thick white PBT caps allow light to bleed through.

Best bet is probably some black electric tape. It'll block a lot more of the light, but it may also make the caps seem a bit darker due to how thin they are. Just gonna have to decide which is worse or buy some thicker caps.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Wed, 17 December 2014, 13:26:55: Going to use tinfoil tape! Stuff they use on ducts and such
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Melvang on Wed, 17 December 2014, 13:56:11: Please be careful with that tape. I will slice your finger right up if you aren't paying attention.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Wed, 17 December 2014, 19:42:59: So the modding has begun!!!! Let me know if you peeps want a full tutorial!

ctrl key is modded
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 17 December 2014, 20:39:29: Improved underglow, so it seems.

But it's going to take a very long time to do all the keycaps :eek:
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Wed, 17 December 2014, 20:41:57: Indeed but a dad will do anything for his baby XD
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Geroximo on Thu, 18 December 2014, 10:56:31: Nice :)
Is this tinfoil? How did you get it to stick under the keycaps?
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Melvang on Thu, 18 December 2014, 11:05:38: Quote from: Geroximo on Thu, 18 December 2014, 10:56:31
Nice :)
Is this tinfoil? How did you get it to stick under the keycaps?

I believe it is aluminum tape for duct work repairs. Extremely good glue and probably twice or three times thicker than your kitchen aluminum foil. I have yet to take my micrometer to check though. It is pretty stout stuff.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Thu, 18 December 2014, 18:24:44: Here is the finished product and pictures of what I used and roughly how thick it is (thinner then tinfoil for sure)
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: rowdy on Thu, 18 December 2014, 18:31:03: That was done surprisingly quickly!

The results seem to be what you were aimng for - congratulations, and nice job :)
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Thu, 18 December 2014, 18:36:50: had a day off so I stayed up late to finish this puppy. Once you get a rhythm going its not that bad.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Lain1911 on Thu, 18 December 2014, 18:54:51: I'd like a how to about adding LED's to a poker II :)
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: rowdy on Thu, 18 December 2014, 19:05:08: Quote from: Hellcatz on Thu, 18 December 2014, 18:36:50
had a day off so I stayed up late to finish this puppy. Once you get a rhythm going its not that bad.

No slashed fingers, we hope!
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Thu, 18 December 2014, 19:44:08: Quote from: Lain1911 on Thu, 18 December 2014, 18:54:51
I'd like a how to about adding LED's to a poker II :)

Here is the guide I used for my keyboard
http://imgur.com/a/Y2Yyn
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Oobly on Tue, 27 January 2015, 06:10:56: This is a nice solution (aluminium tape) :)

I think I'll be modding the orange caps of my Nostalgia set like this, they allow too much of the backlighht to glow through and it's especially noticable because the black ones block the light completely.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Thumper_ on Tue, 15 December 2015, 03:05:43: How did the mod affected the sound of the bottoming out?
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: E3E on Tue, 15 December 2015, 09:35:49: One hell of a bump, but it did bring this awesome mod to my attention, so thank you for that! When I have had issues like this I've wanted to eliminate, I've used paint to paint the insides of the cap.

This is much easier with no dry time, and it's not permanent! Definitely noted down in my tips and tricks book. I'll have to keep this in mind. The fact that it improves the underglow is really cool as well!
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Thumper_ on Tue, 15 December 2015, 09:38:55: Quote from: E3E on Tue, 15 December 2015, 09:35:49
One hell of a bump, but it did bring this awesome mod to my attention, so thank you for that! When I have had issues like this I've wanted to eliminate, I've used paint to paint the insides of the cap.

This is much easier with no dry time, and it's not permanent! Definitely noted down in my tips and tricks book. I'll have to keep this in mind. The fact that it improves the underglow is really cool as well!

Yeah, felt ashamed to bring it back up.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: E3E on Tue, 15 December 2015, 09:43:25: Quote from: Thumper_ on Tue, 15 December 2015, 09:38:55

Quote from: E3E on Tue, 15 December 2015, 09:35:49
One hell of a bump, but it did bring this awesome mod to my attention, so thank you for that! When I have had issues like this I've wanted to eliminate, I've used paint to paint the insides of the cap.

This is much easier with no dry time, and it's not permanent! Definitely noted down in my tips and tricks book. I'll have to keep this in mind. The fact that it improves the underglow is really cool as well!

Yeah, felt ashamed to bring it back up.

Well, the upside is definitely that more people might brush past it and be thankful for seeing it. I honestly never would have guessed doing this to cover up any light bleed issues.
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: rawrjau on Wed, 22 February 2017, 20:36:05: Requesting that tutorial!
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Hellcatz on Thu, 23 February 2017, 01:14:58: Quote from: rawrjau on Wed, 22 February 2017, 20:36:05
Requesting that tutorial!
Didnt expect such an old post of mine would ever see the light of day in 2017
Ill do a semi small tutorial in the morning and after i find my foil tape
Title: Re: Key cap modding (no glow effect?)
Post by: Wylte on Fri, 24 February 2017, 12:55:00: Well shoot, there's one more thing I want to do when I have time! Looking forward to the tutorial, gotta know what your method was to get it done so fast.