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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: rrspamrr on Sat, 03 January 2015, 01:16:22

Title: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: rrspamrr on Sat, 03 January 2015, 01:16:22
I recently purchased a flico majestatouch 2 ninja tkl with mx brown switches and I absolutely adore the typing experience. However, after just a couple of weeks of use  some of the more heavily usedkeycaps have become shiny and quite slippery. After some research  I found out that this is a rather common occurrence with abs keycaps. I would really prefer not to spend another 50 bucks on keycaps so I was wondering if there's anything I could do to (even remotely) restore the keys to their original look/feel.
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: hwood34 on Sat, 03 January 2015, 01:23:47
There's no real good solution to removing shine. I've heard some people use those Mr. Clean magic erasers though
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: rowdy on Sat, 03 January 2015, 01:30:36
http://www.geekkeys.com/top-printed-pbt-104-keyset/

$20 for a full PBT set - although the legends are a bit meh.
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: rrspamrr on Sat, 03 January 2015, 01:37:54
There's no real good solution to removing shine. I've heard some people use those Mr. Clean magic erasers though

Could you elaborate on that method? Does it improve only the shine or does it also change the texture as well (which I'm more concerned about).
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: rrspamrr on Sat, 03 January 2015, 01:43:42
http://www.geekkeys.com/top-printed-pbt-104-keyset/

$20 for a full PBT set - although the legends are a bit meh.

Thanks for the suggestion but even if I would consider buying new keycaps I would prefer a ninja layout which is much more expensive. What I'd really like to know is if there's anythingl I could do to fix the shine/greasy texture so if you have any information on that please let me know.
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: rowdy on Sat, 03 January 2015, 02:04:15
Anything you do will damage the keycaps, and after another couple of weeks they will go shiny again.
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: Sturmfrau on Sat, 03 January 2015, 04:45:17
As per infiniti's suggestion to me, use magic tape. Haven't really gotten around to doing that to my HHKB's spacebar (specially since there might be a pbt spacebar coming soon), it's worth the try.
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: davkol on Sat, 03 January 2015, 07:09:59
Actually, there are plenty of options. Sanding works surprisingly well with ABS, although it's quite a lot of work, despite not being permanent. You can plastidip the caps. Or replace them—lasered PBT keycaps (e.g. from Cherry keyboards) are generally quite cheap second-hand.
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: rrspamrr on Sat, 03 January 2015, 13:53:10
Actually, there are plenty of options. Sanding works surprisingly well with ABS, although it's quite a lot of work, despite not being permanent. You can plastidip the caps. Or replace them—lasered PBT keycaps (e.g. from Cherry keyboards) are generally quite cheap second-hand.

Thank you so much! I decided to buy the plastidip spray and I'm confident that it should solve the problem! To everyone else who helped, I thank you all as well :)
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sat, 03 January 2015, 15:43:52
Get the Leopold side print pbt caps off eBay.

YMMV with costar stabs though.
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: davkol on Sat, 03 January 2015, 16:42:19
Get the Leopold side print pbt caps off eBay.
Yay, SpamRay is back to spamming! I missed it.
I would really prefer not to spend another 50 bucks on keycaps
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sat, 03 January 2015, 16:54:46
Get the Leopold side print pbt caps off eBay.
Yay, SpamRay is back to spamming! I missed it.
I would really prefer not to spend another 50 bucks on keycaps
Well good luck getting any decent caps for less than $50.

BUT for ~$52 delivered those Leopold caps are the best bang for your buck and they are side print, I use them daily.
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: davkol on Sat, 03 January 2015, 17:00:01
Vortex PBT doubleshots went for $30 shipped recently on Massdrop. I spot OEM PBT keycaps under €30 every now and then at DT Marketplace. Lasered Cherry keycaps can be had for even less.
Title: Re: Shiny/Slippery keycaps?
Post by: jdcarpe on Sat, 03 January 2015, 17:27:11
Any ABS caps will get shiny with use, and there's not a lot you can do to stop it. Those a stock Filco caps feel terrible, though, so you might as well replace them. My double shot ABS caps from SP on my Rosewill daily driver at work are super shiny, but it doesn't bother me one bit. Learn to embrace the shiny.

If you can do that, thick ABS from GMK are about the best you will find, IMO. But they do shine up with use.