Painting Switch Sliders

[DrHubblePhD]

Is there any reason why one couldn't spray paint switch sliders to add extra visual effect?

Side note...anyone want to run a full clear switch GB eg clear housings plus custom translucent stems?

[Photekq]

Well, it'd make them slightly thicker, which would probably interfere with the action. Also, I'm not sure paint is quite as good at rubbing against gold contacts as plastic is.

[FrostyToast]

Translucent stems would have to be done through someone like Kailh.
As for painting stems, I would guess that you would have to do it with dye.

[DrHubblePhD]

Well, it'd make them slightly thicker, which would probably interfere with the action. Also, I'm not sure paint is quite as good at rubbing against gold contacts as plastic is.

I would think though that plastic paints are probably similar in texture to plastic for better bonding. I would also think that just adding a layer or two wouldnt contribute too much to the action.

^dying might work though...

[Sygaldry]

Translucent stems would have to be done through someone like Kailh.
As for painting stems, I would guess that you would have to do it with dye.

What kind of plastic are the stems made out of?

I have a hunch that stems will melt at the temperatures needed to dye plastic.

[FrostyToast]

Translucent stems would have to be done through someone like Kailh.
As for painting stems, I would guess that you would have to do it with dye.

What kind of plastic are the stems made out of?

I have a hunch that stems will melt at the temperatures needed to dye plastic.

I could be wrong, but I remember that people were able to dye things that were ABS even.

[nubbinator]

Translucent stems would have to be done through someone like Kailh.
As for painting stems, I would guess that you would have to do it with dye.

What kind of plastic are the stems made out of?

I have a hunch that stems will melt at the temperatures needed to dye plastic.

I could be wrong, but I remember that people were able to dye things that were ABS even.

iDye Poly was able to dye ABS, but I'm not sure it would work on the stems.

[DrHubblePhD]

Translucent stems would have to be done through someone like Kailh.
As for painting stems, I would guess that you would have to do it with dye.

What kind of plastic are the stems made out of?

I have a hunch that stems will melt at the temperatures needed to dye plastic.

I could be wrong, but I remember that people were able to dye things that were ABS even.

iDye Poly was able to dye ABS, but I'm not sure it would work on the stems.

What was the method, I would consider trying it out for science.

[Melvang]

Do not paint.  It will gum up the switch and it will not actuate.  I don't have any feeler gauges that small but I would be willing to bet there is less than 10 thousandths of an inch clearance total between the front and back of the slider and the stem.  You would be doing good to get anything but Cerokote even remotely close to that thin.  Dye would be the best option.

[Sygaldry]

Hmm I guess it is possible to dye ABS.

[Oobly]

Paint is a bad idea. They are manufactured with tight tolerances and adding even a thin layer of paint will make keycaps fit more tightly or not at all and will cause them to stick / not fit correctly in the rails. It will also be rubbed off pretty easily against the leaf and cause a difference in tactility.

MX sliders are made from POM. AFAIK, it doesn't accept dye very well and I suspect it's hard to get any paint to bond to it.

But also, why would you want to change the colour of the sliders? They're not visible with caps on the board anyway. If the visuals are that important to you, then I suggest using MX Clear or white stems depending if you want tactile or clicky. For linear use black?

[exitfire401]

I have some idye on order and some extra clear stems I'd be willing to sacrifice for an experiment.

[MOZ]

I would also not recommend painting them, my biggest concern would be the texture.

Dye if possible, shouldn't be an issue.

[nubbinator]

I doubt dye will work if it's POM.  When I was researching, a lot of yoyo forums talked about it not working.

[dorkvader]

You can paint them with krytox fairly easily, but this is not a long-term solution.

[DrHubblePhD]

I have some idye on order and some extra clear stems I'd be willing to sacrifice for an experiment.

Are you going to try, this I would be very interested in the results! Might make for some cool color matching experiments.