Glass keycaps

[noisyturtle]

Thinking about making a ceramic mold and filling it with glass frit to create a glass set. Has anyone tried this method before, and have you encountered any issues I should look out for? Would slumping be a better rout?

[phetto]

Are you sure they arent going to break? I believe I might destroy glass keycaps. Perhaps youre a bit more careful when computing.

Anyway very cool! I will follow this.

[rowdy]

Thick glass should be fine.  Need to be very careful of sharp corners.

[TheSoulhunter]

Do ceramic molds work for glass casting?

[noisyturtle]

Are you sure they arent going to break? I believe I might destroy glass keycaps. Perhaps youre a bit more careful when computing.

Anyway very cool! I will follow this.

It would be fairly thick, and probably frosted in the end as well. I have no idea how to implement stems yet though, because consistency is very important to me and having a loose or slightly off-center stem would mean me probably having to re-cast the entire thing again. I'll have to ask some advice from folks who do their own casting about it. All I know is that the stems would be attached after the slumping process. Probably by drilling into the glass with a wet drill and gluing it in, but then there's the issue of where do I get/how do I make them. I have access to a big pottery studio as well as a local artist who works with glass and has the proper tools. Maybe he'll have some ideas.

[mashby]

If you tempered the glass after casting, that would probably help.

[Binge]

huehuehuehuehuehuehue 

nobody will ever know the true meaning behind this laugh

[terrpn]

don't forget the windex )

[Tarzan]

Are you sure they arent going to break? I believe I might destroy glass keycaps. Perhaps youre a bit more careful when computing.

Anyway very cool! I will follow this.

It would be fairly thick, and probably frosted in the end as well. I have no idea how to implement stems yet though, because consistency is very important to me and having a loose or slightly off-center stem would mean me probably having to re-cast the entire thing again. I'll have to ask some advice from folks who do their own casting about it. All I know is that the stems would be attached after the slumping process. Probably by drilling into the glass with a wet drill and gluing it in, but then there's the issue of where do I get/how do I make them. I have access to a big pottery studio as well as a local artist who works with glass and has the proper tools. Maybe he'll have some ideas.

Maybe metal stems.  Cast the caps like Model M caps, and use metal/plastic stems with a square, flat top surface for maximal adhesion.  A bit of epoxy, and those are never coming loose.

[phetto]

binge: glass wasdson?

[MOZ]

Excited!

[cactux]

How well do you think they will take the stress before the first cracks?

[SpAmRaY]

How about gorilla glass molded into key caps!

[noisyturtle]

How well do you think they will take the stress before the first cracks?

I could see fracturing around the stem insertion for those who type with gusto, but the actual caps would be thick, heavy, and solid.

[BakerMan1971]

Not sure if they could handle gaming rage, but they would look awesome!

[nubbinator]

It's something I was researching for a while since I wanted to experiment with it, but it's really problematic and, from what I saw, there was no real feasible way to make a stem.  You'd have to fit a stem into the glass.

[TheSoulhunter]

Perhaps transplanting stems from clear polycarbonate caps?

[nubbinator]

Potentially, but you also run into issues with epoxy and the like.  It's definitely an interesting idea and one that I've been trying to figure out how to do for a while, but it has its issues that are hard to get around.

[TheSoulhunter]

No epoxy...
Thought more of crystal clear adhesive as used for glass and plexi!

[TheSoulhunter]

Perhaps creating the mold with a blind-hole:

[noisyturtle]

Perhaps creating the mold with a blind-hole:

(Attachment Link)

But the glass would slump over it. The other option would be having the hole be created by the top side of the mold with a protrusion the same size of the stem, but the issue with glass it that it starts out solid. If I use slumping which is probably the best method, I would have to drill a hole in the glass before firing. If I use frit there would be no guarentee as to how the glass would settle around the stem part, so it would be a sort of crap shoot for each key.

[TheSoulhunter]

Oh, sorry...
That was actually supposed to be the finished thing (Glass-cap/Adhesive/PC-stem)



The mold would be 2 piece like this ^^;

[noisyturtle]

Oh, sorry...
That was actually supposed to be the finished thing (Glass-cap/Adhesive/PC-stem)

(Attachment Link)

The mold would be 2 piece like this ^^;

That actually might be possible, but would require a lot of attention. essentially it would be:
Lay the glass over the top mold
Fire it in the kiln until softened
Place the top piece of the mold and continue firing

Double the molds means double the chance of the glass sticking to it too. Also my ceramics teacher is wary of the glass exploding in the kiln.

[noisyturtle]

My initial mold came out of the kiln today and sadly there was an air bubble in it somewhere and it exploded destroying a bunch of other peoples work with it. Now my teacher wants me to stick to the curriculum, but says I can try again over winter break.

[MKULTRA]

My initial mold came out of the kiln today and sadly there was an air bubble in it somewhere and it exploded destroying a bunch of other peoples work with it. Now my teacher wants me to stick to the curriculum, but says I can try again over winter break.

HAHAH that is ****ing hilarious.

[xecut]

wow, i like the idea of a glass keycap

[terran5992]

wow, i like the idea of a glass keycap

I forsee glass injuries

[iAmAhab]

My initial mold came out of the kiln today and sadly there was an air bubble in it somewhere and it exploded destroying a bunch of other peoples work with it. Now my teacher wants me to stick to the curriculum, but says I can try again over winter break.

Well this made smile, so all the carnage was not in vain.

[noisyturtle]

My initial mold came out of the kiln today and sadly there was an air bubble in it somewhere and it exploded destroying a bunch of other peoples work with it. Now my teacher wants me to stick to the curriculum, but says I can try again over winter break.

Well this made smile, so all the carnage was not in vain.

A bunch of people were pissed and had to have their grades smoothed out before midterm. I sort of feel like God.

[viowastaken]

this could be very interesting if the glass was sandblasted. Glossy regular glass seems incredibly uncomfortable to type on. Sticky icky 

[Moosecraft]

This would be so sick

[Melvang]

I would buy 4 and use as arrow keys in a heartbeat.

[Jixr]

An allum case and glass keycaps is apples wet dream of a keyboard.

[mashby]

An allum case and glass keycaps is apples wet dream of a keyboard.

I think it might be mine too. LOL!  )

[BakaPhoenix]

A satin glass will be nice, but a full transparent glass will be awfull with all the fingerprints on the keycaps.

[MKULTRA]

[rowdy]

Show Image

They glass?  Or just plastic?

[MKULTRA]

Show Image

They glass?  Or just plastic?

Resin.  CC made them

[jonathanyu]

Show Image

They glass?  Or just plastic?

Resin.  CC made them

I want a whole keyboard with these

[rowdy]

Show Image

They glass?  Or just plastic?

Resin.  CC made them

I want a whole keyboard with these

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49929.0

Start buying ... ;)

[BakaPhoenix]

Show Image

Those looks really nice!

[rowdy]

Show Image

Those looks really nice!

They are CC's - how could they be anything but nice? ;)