geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: Air tree on Sat, 02 May 2015, 07:41:36
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I was thinking over the past while, how difficult would it be to do the resin coating done on the HHKB HG Japan?
Is it possible to achieve such a thing in a DIY sense for someone such as my self?
I'm really curious on the process they use and what the durability would be like, surely it would be durable. Considering it's $4,400 price tag.
They are really beautiful keycaps.
Apparently it's done with a wajima style lacquer resin, hand brushed over stock blank black HHKB keycaps.
(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2006/10/happy-hacking-keyboard-hg-japan-440px.jpg)
(https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/fe.bcnranking.jp/sys_imgs/news/20120315HHKB_003.jpg)
(http://fasttype.pro/koken/storage/cache/images/000/014/194FB4404E0AE7450C9849,large.1424288284.jpg)
(http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2006/1012/pfu_09.jpg)
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Its probably extremely difficult to actually replicate the lacquer.
You would have to source some of the actual soil they use.
Most likely the cheapest way to do it would be to actually go to Japan to have an artisan lacquer it for you.
Unless you want to experiment with different concentrations of Vermillion, red and brown for a similar color.
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Real lacquer is fairly expensive. Reminds me of the lacquer they use on the TH900 headphones
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Real lacquer is fairly expensive. Reminds me of the lacquer they use on the TH900 headphones
I'm actually pretty sure that it's the same process.
But yeah this process isn't as easy as just grabbing some lacquer and slapping it on the keys, this lacquer process is a process that required a lot of experience to get to this outcome.
I have no idea of its history but I'm sure it's a very old process that's been passed down and is done by skilled professionals just like a lot of Japanese things are due to the long history Japan has.
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Real lacquer is fairly expensive. Reminds me of the lacquer they use on the TH900 headphones
I'm actually pretty sure that it's the same process.
But yeah this process isn't as easy as just grabbing some lacquer and slapping it on the keys, this lacquer process is a process that required a lot of experience to get to this outcome.
I have no idea of its history but I'm sure it's a very old process that's been passed down and is done by skilled professionals just like a lot of Japanese things are due to the long history Japan has.
I would imagine for the price that it's real lacquer, the only difference being that it probably doesn't have the silver leaf under compared to the TH900.
I took tons of pictures of the TH900 and the lacquer is truly stunning. However $4400 seems quite overkill even for high quality lacquer work. (I'd say $800-1000 for a set would be more reasonable)
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It still doesn't justify the price but this model also features the aluminum case.
It's definitely more of a baller status/art work purchase than anything else
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It is cool an all but I feel like those keys would be no match for a pair of sweaty hands, looks really slippery.
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It is cool an all but I feel like those keys would be no match for a pair of sweaty hands, looks really slippery.
It's not that slippery. Lacquer of high quality is used a lot in fountain pens and headphones (like I posted above). It's really not slippery but it won't have a feeling like any of the usual keycaps that's for sure
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Can you buy this wajima lacquer somewhere?
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I wonder just how those keycaps feel to type on