Hello, everyone, newbie here 
. I am seriously interested in making some Cherry MX key caps out of bone (or possibly antler). So far, it seems like the mid-shaft of a deer humerus would be the best bone to use for this, seeing that the diameter is slightly larger than a standard key and would be easy to polish down to size. I also have a very large stock of excess bones from the past years building my university's zooarchaeological comparative sample. Has anyone that you know of tried to do something like this before? I have not been able to find any previous posts related to this, but I have some experience in the past with working with bone and antler, so I thought this may be a fun, new project to try out. I am also going to fiddle around with some scrap mahogany left overs, but this will not be nearly as challenging.
These would almost certainly require bonding multiple sections together, so I was also wondering if anyone knows of any strong bonding agent that would be ideal for this use. If anyone has any suggestions or pointers, let me know 
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Hi Meistershank,
I have a few bone keys and some inlays (along with shell and antler) Perhaps I can give you some advice?
-Porosity: is a big factor in what goes where. Having the keytop as the porous side you will lose detail. Or if it's just a flat or dished design you wont have that clean bone look. If you have the backside as the porous side then that affects how you make the stem. It's much easier to just sacrifice a keycap and glue in the stem for this purpose.
-Antler will almost certainly give you a better result than bone if you had a more finished/polished look that you were going for. Especially if you had small detail in the work.
-Aw crud! I forgot what I was going to write here. =(
-Glue: I would use an epoxy and slightly wet(apply to both sides and let sit a moment) both sides before adhering/joining. It might behoove you to rough up the surface on some pieces for additional tooth when bonding. You can add in either porcelain powder, silica, or ground bone for the base of the epoxy if you want to keep some of the bone color or have a more seemless join or transition. It's also much easier to sand if you do this (should you need to).
-Sealant: I would varnish, urethane, or similarly coat them to protect the bone after fabrication because it loves dirt and it's a pita to clean. Unless of course you have mutant dermestid beetles living under your nails (Ack! What a horrible thought).
-Wear a good particle mask (don't knock it, your sinuses will hate you less) if you are sanding or using a rotary tool of some nature.
-Don't measure passively if you can help it. Try to make a jig that fits the dimensions that you want and either work on it in there or constantly test fit it. This may not really be needed if you are going for a more natural look. It will help though if you choose to do the key stem insert later though (for alignment).
-Have fun!
If I think of anything else and actually remember to check this thread I will add it in.
peace
-cc =)
p.s. Welcome to gh btw.
