[IC] DON'T PANIC - Cherry Switch Esc Key

[rek55]

Options:

1. White or Black text on Red key (doubleshot or laser )
2. White, Gold, or Red text on Black key (doubleshot)
3. Something magical that would let us have gold and red lettering on black key ( tripleshot? laser engraved and then filled with paint? is this possible? )


Anyone interested?
This is a key part of the design I mocked up for my das (haha, pun).

I can try mocking up some actual keys, but the image above shows the look I'm going for.

[razorsharpgears]

Red on Black would look good.
And if you can ever get that Triple-Shot, count me in... :drool:

[mashby]

Would love to see what comes of this.

[i3oilermaker]

I hate being Debbie Downer in these threads, but the feasibility of a double shot, triple shot, or engraving is little to none (at least with that font).

Your best bet is Dye Sub.

[jeroplane]

Yep, building on what i3 said, whichever way you go you're going to have to sacrifice at least one element of the design.

Triple-shots: essentially an impossibility right now
Double-shots: only two colours, and the font will have to change
Engraving: cannot choose colour of legend, font will have to change; you can go try ordering one from WASD now
Dye-sub: light-coloured legends cannot be printed onto darker coloured keys - you'd probably have to use a white base

[rek55]

I hate being Debbie Downer in these threads, but the feasibility of a double shot, triple shot, or engraving is little to none (at least with that font).

Your best bet is Dye Sub.

Thanks, part of the point of me posting was to find out the feasibility of this design. Would a dye-sub be possible? I thought you can't use brighter colors on darker caps (so red and yellow I had assumed would not be an option for dye-sub on a black cap)

Yep, building on what i3 said, whichever way you go you're going to have to sacrifice at least one element of the design.

Triple-shots: essentially an impossibility right now
Double-shots: only two colours, and the font will have to change
Engraving: cannot choose colour of legend, font will have to change; you can go try ordering one from WASD now
Dye-sub: light-coloured legends cannot be printed onto darker coloured keys

Midair collision. Why would the font have to change for the double-shot? What aspect of this wouldn't work it? The sharpness of the lettering?

Also the reason I mentioned a laser-etched is because from what I understand the black keys are etched and then the etching is filled with white paint. It seemed like that would be the best bet for being able to achieve a more complex design like this. Similarly I am wondering though why the font would need to change?

Also I'd like to reiterate - thanks for your input, I am not yet an expert on keycap production although I do find the details interesting and am glad to be learning more from the more experienced members of this community.

[i3oilermaker]

Thanks, part of the point of me posting was to find out the feasibility of this design. Would a dye-sub be possible? I thought you can't use brighter colors on darker caps (so red and yellow I had assumed would not be an option for dye-sub on a black cap)

You are right.  DyeSub needs to be a dark color on a light cap.  SP is really good at black on almost any color, but when you put color on color, all hell breaks loose.  Perhaps IMSTO or Qtan could do it but they don't have quite the resolution printing that SP has.

[rek55]

So I could possibly do dye-sub black text on a red key using this same font.

[i3oilermaker]

That would work, but it would be somewhat expensive, unless there is a lots of buy-in.

See Like a Sir key: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=37090.0

[nereme]

Im interested in this. depending on what is decided and how it looks in the final design

[harrison]

definitely interested to see where this goes

[rek55]

Other ideas:

1. Doubleshot red blob on black key and then laser-etch the outline and get an infill of gold paint...
2. Pad print? Would this avoid the color limitations and allow for red+yellow on top of a black key? Although I assume interest levels in this key would be much less if done this way.
3. Red key, painted black, laser remove the blob to expose the red (the way SP does the backlit keys), and then laser etch the outline and infill with gold.

[rek55]

1. Doubleshot red blob on black key and then laser-etch the outline and get an infill of gold paint...

I checked with SP on this one but they don't have a laser and their CNC engrave wouldn't be precise enough.

[NikoGasm]

I would definitely be interested in this if you can make it work out.

[rek55]

It sounds like this might actually be able to happen, but MOQ would be 50.... I'll keep you posted.