Metal key caps

[Korth]

They look most awesome.  So shiny!

Are they pleasant to type on?  Are those made of aluminum or zinc or whatever considered better than others?  Do they come in titanium?  Which methods are typically used (and which methods would be best) for printing onto their top faces?  Any particular surface finishes or coatings which make them better?

But very seldom mentioned on GH threads.  Apparently maligned because finger oils gradually corrode/stain their surfaces?  Does the metal damage plastic keystems?  Any other metal-specific problems?

My apologies if 10 million metal key cap threads already exist.  GH site search is not working at the moment.

[Puddsy]

The older zinc keycaps were pretty bad, but all I've heard about the more recent ones is good.

I don't think the new ones have corrosion issues.

There was once a group buy for an aluminum keyset, called the scarface set. It sells in the classifieds for about $400.

Feng sells MKC zinc keycaps at a pretty reasonable price, i think it's about $40 for alphas, and roughly the same for mods when he has them.

[Korth]

I was looking at Alibaba offerings.  Many to choose from, some not excessively overpriced, no doomed-to-take-forever-then-fall-apart group buys needed, lol.

I'm torn between impatient lust and apprehensive uncertainty.  Last time I felt this way I got stuck paying too much for a bad woman.  Don't want to get stuck paying too much for bad keycaps.

[TheSoulhunter]

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=46762

Aluminum -VS- Zinc :
- Zinc is cheaper
- Aluminum is lighter
- Zinc feels less cold (but still colder than Titanium)
- Zinc "needs" plating -> Bad, as it wears off over time
- Aluminum can be anodized to color it, and to improve surface hardness

Aluminum -VS- Titanium :
- Aluminum is lighter
- Titanium is tougher
- Both can be anodized
- Both build a tough oxide layer
- Titanium is more expensive (same for alloys)
- Titanium is harder to machine and process in general
- Aluminum feels much much colder (10x better heat conductivity iirc)

Titanium -VS- Stainless Steel
- Titanium is lighter
- Stainless Steel can be tougher
- Stainless Steel can't be anodized
- Stainless Steel can be harder to machine than Titanium
- Stainless Steel feels less cold than Titanium (the least "cold" of the 4 materials)

[Korth]

Good info, sir.  Always useful to focus on fundamental material properties, lol.

Cost of metal keycaps seems a wee bit too extravagant for me.  How about black nickel plating on ABS?  As a professional batch job or as a DIY?  On blank keyfaces, of course.

[YoungMichael88]

I love my zinc caps. I have them on MX Reds and they almost press themselves. It's a wonderful experience. And mine show no signs of wear but I don't use it as my daily driver anymore. Although there was a time when I did and still no wear. And mine are the older gold colored ones that don't get made anymore. Got them from Feng.

[metal369]

I have one made by HOLYOOPS. Its quality is very good.