Looking for Inexpensive, Blank Keycaps. (And also general information.)

[Wulfre]

I am open for colors, but I am looking mostly for Black/Grey/Purple/Brown, or somewhere in that area.

I am fairly new to the keyboard community, so I have no idea what the difference between plastics, what size keys I need, or even where to start looking for supplies.

Because I am so new I don't really know if it is worth paying more than $25 for caps, even though I really want to customize my keys.

I also hope I posted this in the right place.

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

As good a place as any to ask

Purple (well, lavender) for $20, you won't get much cheaper than that:

http://www.elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,cherrymxkeys&pid=dmx_us104_lav_np

Or, how cheap were you thinking?

brown btw you won't find many sets at all.  Grey is surprisingly rare, Ducky had some sets, but they might not have been blank and were 3 to 4 times more expensive than the set linked above.

Black sets are all over the place.

PMK has some DSA blank sets:

http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/products/blank-key-packs

http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/products/full-keysets/dsa-blank-sets-1

[Wulfre]

I found these, though I am not sure about the plastic, and white is also much lighter than I was looking for, on the other hand I could possibly dye them.

http://www.geekkeys.com/blank-pbt-104-keyset/

[rowdy]

PBT is good - it won't shine (not for a very long time).

Also that set will suit a standard ANSI layout - which keyboard have you got?

[Wulfre]

I have a CM Storm QuickFire Rapid (TKL).

Thanks for the help, too. 

[rowdy]

QFR - excellent keyboard!  And fortunately a completely standard layout, so pretty much any set you choose should fit.

[Wulfre]

I looked around Epic Keyboard and I am liking the blue with a lavender cluster.

I'll just leave this crude photo edit here to see if anyone has an opinion.

[rowdy]

Elite Keyboards?

I have a green printed set.  It is ok, about what you'd expect for the price.

The printed ones are pad printed, so the legends are likely to wear off after a while.  The blank ones obviously have no legends.

In general people weren't unimpressed by the keycaps

[Wulfre]

Yes, I meant Elite Keyboard. I have no idea where I got the world epic from.

I might buy them next week, I'll put some pictures if I do, but you can probably expect exactly what you saw in the fake picture above.

[KHAANNN]

Yes, I meant Elite Keyboard. I have no idea where I got the world epic from.

I might buy them next week, I'll put some pictures if I do, but you can probably expect exactly what you saw in the fake picture above.

Thanks for the link, I remember checking each keyseller, yet I somehow missed this: http://www.geekkeys.com/blue-grey-printed-thick-pbt-108-keyset/ bought it without much thinking

I suggest you do the same, decent PBT sets are extremely hard to find, don't mess with ABS's much if you can avoid it

(just saw the blank requirement, I strongly suggest DSA/pbt's in that case, although I haven't tried it myself, I was aspiring to get a set myself)

[hking0036]

Yes, I meant Elite Keyboard. I have no idea where I got the world epic from.

I might buy them next week, I'll put some pictures if I do, but you can probably expect exactly what you saw in the fake picture above.

Thanks for the link, I remember checking each keyseller, yet I somehow missed this: http://www.geekkeys.com/blue-grey-printed-thick-pbt-108-keyset/ bought it without much thinking

I suggest you do the same, decent PBT sets are extremely hard to find, don't mess with ABS's much if you can avoid it

(just saw the blank requirement, I strongly suggest DSA/pbt's in that case, although I haven't tried it myself, I was aspiring to get a set myself)

ABS can be great, just that some are better than others. It really depends on who's making, some can be thin and others not. CHEAP anything is obviously gonna be thinner and generally more fragile.

That said, for reasonably cheap blanks SP's blank DSA's seem pretty popular so might be a safe option.

[Wulfre]

ABS can be great, just that some are better than others. It really depends on who's making, some can be thin and others not. CHEAP anything is obviously gonna be thinner and generally more fragile.

That said, for reasonably cheap blanks SP's blank DSA's seem pretty popular so might be a safe option.

I assume you are talking about this? http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/products/full-keysets/dsa-blank-sets-1

I had found this set, but I am not sure if the quality will be compromised much. They are made of PBT so I expect them to be at least a bit thicker, even if they are thinned down for cost. http://www.geekkeys.com/blank-pbt-104-keyset/

[hking0036]

ABS can be great, just that some are better than others. It really depends on who's making, some can be thin and others not. CHEAP anything is obviously gonna be thinner and generally more fragile.

That said, for reasonably cheap blanks SP's blank DSA's seem pretty popular so might be a safe option.

I assume you are talking about this? http://keyshop.pimpmykeyboard.com/products/full-keysets/dsa-blank-sets-1

I had found this set, but I am not sure if the quality will be compromised much. They are made of PBT so I expect them to be at least a bit thicker, even if they are thinned down for cost. http://www.geekkeys.com/blank-pbt-104-keyset/

Feng's stuff is typically alright, and I think that SA and those thicknesses are about the same (citation needed). Either way you're probably doing better than stock caps with either of those options.

[Oobly]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2C517C9755

They're most likely the same profile and thickness as the ones from Feng (Keycool brand medium thickness). The white ones are PBT, the black ones are POM.

If you can find them on Banggood, they'll be a little cheaper, but they take a long time to ship.

I love my POM caps The feel really nice to type on. Slightly "teflon-like" surface texture, denser than PBT, so they're a little heavier.

[drewba]

I took a picture awhile back for someone on the GH irc channel regarding key thicknesses; this may or may not help. For what it's worth, I can recommend both the blank PBT keyset on geekkeys as well as the blank ABS keyset on elitekeyboards. Both should be ~$25 after shipping. If you decide on elitekeyboards, their keysets ship in a carrying case which is great for storage.

FYI I dyed the PBT geekkeys in case you're wondering why they aren't white 

[Wulfre]

This is a bit off-topic for the thread, but I didn't exactly want to make a whole new thread.

People have been complaining that I bottom out too much, so I was planning on just picking up some generic o-rings from the hardware store. Would these suffice? I am not entirely sure on the measurements I would need to look for.
http://www.amazon.com/008-Buna-N-O-Ring-Durometer-Black/dp/B000FMWLR8/ref=zg_bs_16413421_1

[Oobly]

This is a bit off-topic for the thread, but I didn't exactly want to make a whole new thread.

People have been complaining that I bottom out too much, so I was planning on just picking up some generic o-rings from the hardware store. Would these suffice? I am not entirely sure on the measurements I would need to look for.
http://www.amazon.com/008-Buna-N-O-Ring-Durometer-Black/dp/B000FMWLR8/ref=zg_bs_16413421_1

70A is pretty hard, harder than the ones sold for use on keyboards.

I'd get some "proper" ones, they're not expensive.

[ianbullock]

I tried those O-rings on a MX brown QF TK - I personally wasn't a huge fan. They are quite thick, so the travel is reduced quite a bit. That could be a good thing for some but I had trouble getting used to it, just felt mushy and less satisfying (but maybe all O-rings would do that). Sound was reduced a bit but not a ton. Maybe I just don't want to give up the clackiness.

On the other hand, it's only $2 and might give you a feeling of whether you should be getting a more expensive o-ring set or not.

[Oobly]

Wow! Seems the US keyboard companies have massive markup on their orings. Seriously, $18 from WASD? ridiculous. You can find cheap ones on Amazon or eBay, though. Look for 40A or 50A orings in 3/16" ID, 5/16" OD (1/16" thickness).

Keyboardco sells them for reasonable prices in UK: http://www.keyboardco.com/product/o-ring-switch-dampeners-for-filco-keyboards.asp

[Wulfre]

Wow! Seems the US keyboard companies have massive markup on their orings. Seriously, $18 from WASD? ridiculous. You can find cheap ones on Amazon or eBay, though. Look for 40A or 50A orings in 3/16" ID, 5/16" OD (1/16" thickness).

Keyboardco sells them for reasonable prices in UK: http://www.keyboardco.com/product/o-ring-switch-dampeners-for-filco-keyboards.asp

That's why I didn't want to pay full price for them.

[Asininity]

Elite Keyboards?

I have a green printed set.  It is ok, about what you'd expect for the price.

The printed ones are pad printed, so the legends are likely to wear off after a while.  The blank ones obviously have no legends.

In general people weren't unimpressed by the keycaps

I was looking at elitekeyboards red blank set. Does the set come with two keys that have raised bumps for the J and F key?

[vmod]

Cheap most likely would be on banggood and ebay. And PBT quality cannot be that bad that you can't use them at all.

[rowdy]

Elite Keyboards?

I have a green printed set.  It is ok, about what you'd expect for the price.

The printed ones are pad printed, so the legends are likely to wear off after a while.  The blank ones obviously have no legends.

In general people weren't unimpressed by the keycaps

I was looking at elitekeyboards red blank set. Does the set come with two keys that have raised bumps for the J and F key?

These ones? http://www.elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,cherrymxkeys&pid=dmx_us104_red_np

If so, then yes, F and J have nubs (see the 5th pictures in the first post):

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47311.0

[Asininity]

Elite Keyboards?

I have a green printed set.  It is ok, about what you'd expect for the price.

The printed ones are pad printed, so the legends are likely to wear off after a while.  The blank ones obviously have no legends.

In general people weren't unimpressed by the keycaps

I was looking at elitekeyboards red blank set. Does the set come with two keys that have raised bumps for the J and F key?

These ones? http://www.elitekeyboards.com/products.php?sub=access,cherrymxkeys&pid=dmx_us104_red_np

If so, then yes, F and J have nubs (see the 5th pictures in the first post):

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47311.0

Thank you! I think I'll be grabbing a set of these.

[MajorMajor]

I picked up a blank white set from banggood.com, took awhile to arrive but they're good quality.