Spray Painting a Keyboard

[George7]

I recently found a nasty, old and yellowed rubber dome keyboard at work which had keys which fitted onto my AT102W; being in an experimental mood, I removed all the keys from this keyboard and I'm currently in the process of spray painting them using Plasti-kote paint that I picked up for a coupe of quid at Wilkinsons. I was going to dye them using RIT dye, like several guides on the internet advise, but I can't buy this stuff anywhere locally, and as the keys are pretty much trash already, I thought I'd try a different approach. First I washed them thoroughly in warm soapy water, dried them, then laid them out on some newspaper and got spraying. The first spray was not successful; I sprayed for a bit too long and managed to dribble red paint all over my hands, making it look like I'd been savaged by a wolf, or got my hand caught in a shredder, there also looked to be an amount of excess paint on the keys, I was not happy. Thankfully, the paint came off my hand with the aid of some white spirit and the keys looked fine once they were dry and seemed to 'absorb' the paint and retain their original texture.

The key pictured below has had 2 coats of spray paint and is only on my board at the moment to test the general durability of the paint, the rest of the keys I have at home have had another coat this morning and will be getting their final coat when I get home today.  

On the 2 coat key, the letter is still showing through faintly and causes a slight variation in texture on the top of the key, I'm expecting the variation in texture to remain, but for the decal to become less visible, I'm unsure though, as it's black it'll probably always show through to some degree. However, so far I'm very impressed, the durability seems very good. I've been typing pretty constantly for the past few hours and there's no signs of use, or red fingers. As mentioned above, the keys so far have completely retained their original texture which I'm very pleased about,, the paint seems to have 'seeped in' and had a similar effect to dying; the difference in feel between the painted key and the non painted keys is not obvious.

[False_Dmitry_II]

So what specific kind of paint did you use? That just tells me what brand.

[wompwomp]

I think krylon makes specific spray paint for plastics. Just be sure the sand the key before painting.

And I'm not sure how spray paint will hold up on a keyboard since you're going to be touching it a lot.

[dreamingftw]

I've tried spray painting keys before using krylon plastic paint. It's not very pleasant and the coating looks running. It also doesn't feel very nice typing on. I would put out a little bit of money and buy some keycaps instead.

[IvanIvanovich]

Dying is a much better way to go for keycaps. For body painting good quality vinyl paint like duplicolor or plastikote is ok, but VHT penetrating dye is best. VHT is almost as good as RIT. While it dosen't get in quite as deep it's an aerosol dye so you have the factor of not having to use heat. That's better as large pieces are often soft and warp easy even at sub boiling temperature. Also many people don't have pots big enough to fit a keyboard body in. VHT is also nice as it's strong enough to dye black to white. It doesn't alter the texture at all either. It works best if you strip off any UV coating first.
Of course buying something thats made in that color plastic is the best option, but not always possible at a reasonable price depending on what colors you are after.

[The Solutor]

I've always used the bumper paint available only in black or shades of gray it's just perfect for the task, I can't suggest a brand because the one I used it's made by a small company and is available just in Italy and neighbor countries.

BTW I think this is more or less the same  thing

http://duplicolor.com/products/bumperCoating/

[False_Dmitry_II]

Yeah that's why I asked. Look in my aekii disassemble thread on the second page. Looking for what to do with the spacebar, and a paint that just absorbs in would probably do it. Especially since that's a key that obviously gets used alot, so I wouldn't want a paint that can get worn through or feels different.

[The Solutor]

I have things, altough not keycaps painted in '95 or so still in perfect state, even whole PC cases.

Being meant for bumper this paint must be strong, elastic and highly adhesive on plastic surfaces.

[George7]

Dying is a much better way to go for keycaps. For body painting good quality vinyl paint like duplicolor or plastikote is ok, but VHT penetrating dye is best. VHT is almost as good as RIT. While it dosen't get in quite as deep it's an aerosol dye so you have the factor of not having to use heat. That's better as large pieces are often soft and warp easy even at sub boiling temperature. Also many people don't have pots big enough to fit a keyboard body in. VHT is also nice as it's strong enough to dye black to white. It doesn't alter the texture at all either. It works best if you strip off any UV coating first.
Of course buying something thats made in that color plastic is the best option, but not always possible at a reasonable price depending on what colors you are after.

 
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm very keen on doing some key dying, but I don't really fancy working with heat, as I know I'd end up warping them so an aerosol dye sounds perfect. However, I don't really know where I should look for this dye in the UK. There's a 'Hobbycraft' near me, so I might give them a go. I don't really like buying off random online shops and ebay only seems to carry 1 colour and I'd ideally like red.

The paint I used is Plasti-kote Projekt-Paint or something along those lines. It's in the shed at the moment so I'll find out for definite a bit later. In response to the person who said that they had painted caps before and they didn't feel very nice and looked like they were running, I can confirm that the ones I've done look absolutely fantastic, and because the paint has 'soaked in' and therefore the keys have retained the original texture, the keys feel pretty much identical to the non painted keys. The only discernable different I can personally notice is when I run my fingernail across them, they seem a bit tacky, but perhaps they just hadn't dried properly. The only thing I'm concerned about is durability, but, the keyboard that these keys are intended for is only used 2 mornings a week, so that shouldn't be a huge issue. I'm looking forward to trying other things, and I'm now tempted to paint a keyboard frame red, would look cool I reckon.

[IvanIvanovich]

I'd check with car custom shops first if you don't want to order online. Even if they don't stock it normally you might be able to have them get some if their suppliers carry it.

[False_Dmitry_II]

So why has VHT never been mentioned or tried before on the numerous model m threads?

[George7]

I'll do a bit of searching, I'll also check the 'hobby' store near me at some point soon, failing this, I'll just buy some RIT off ebay. It's quite expensive but at least it's proved to work well. I'll have to locate some decent caps though, or clean the red paint off the current ones (I also have the originals off the intended board, but they're very worn and are therefore smooth and don't feel all that great). The paint looks great and feels fine, but I have a feeling it's going to be unsuitable for the high contact use of the letters of a keyboard and will wear off quickly, although, for casing, low use keys and other projects I reckon it'll be ideal.

[False_Dmitry_II]

Any updates?