Signature Plastics ABS Shine Rate

[lasttycoon]

So when talking about keycap material you frequently hear people talking about shine on ABS keycaps as being the biggest disadvantage of ABS. So being interested in nice custom keycaps I am natually drawn to Signature Plastics Double Shot ABS but I worry about the shine developing on my daily drivers. I know there have been posts like this before but I am hoping this one will be different by gathering images of SP Double Shot ABS with and without shine and the time they have been used. Can anyone post some pictures of well used SP ABS sets and any associated shine over time? What has your experience been with these keycaps with regular use? I am a bit split on investing in some of these nice thick ABS Double Shots in a cool design or going for some nice thick PBT Dye Sub instead of durability. What do you guys think? Are you satisfied with SP ABS over time on your daily driver? Does shine even bother you? Do you prefer thick PBT instead? And is the durability of Dye Sub legends much less than ABS Double Shot?

[engicoder]

Shine is love.

[lasttycoon]

Shine is love.

Lol, So I am guess you dont mind it? Looks like you have the 1976 set and I was seriously considering picking them up but the thought of them shining up after a year or so of uses kinda bums me out. Have you shined your SP keycaps before?

[nubbinator]

I feel like SP DCS shines a lot faster than others.  I'm not a huge fan of shined SP caps....but that's because I'm not a huge fan of SP DCS caps to begin with.  I have no experience with their SA or DSA caps and shine.

GMK/Cherry shine, on the other hand, is great.

[lasttycoon]

I feel like SP DCS shines a lot faster than others.  I'm not a huge fan of shined SP caps....but that's because I'm not a huge fan of SP DCS caps to begin with.  I have no experience with their SA or DSA caps and shine.

GMK/Cherry shine, on the other hand, is great.

Interesting to hear. So you like the shine on GMK caps then? They definitely seem higher quality than SP. Thanks for your input! I really appreciate it <3

[engicoder]

Shine is love.

Lol, So I am guess you dont mind it? Looks like you have the 1976 set and I was seriously considering picking them up but the thought of them shining up after a year or so of uses kinda bums me out. Have you shined your SP keycaps before?

One thing you have to consider is the surface texture. The majority of sets have a matte finish, which is slightly rough. Shine will be very obvious on with a matte finish. !976 uses a semi-matte finish which is smooth. I think shine will be less apparent on a smooth surface; only being seen at angles where the light is just right.

[Hak Foo]

I used a CCnG set at work for a few years.  The white keys shined faster than the green ones.

[rowdy]

I probably have too many different keycap sets - none of them has shined up yet, apart from a small spot on the space bar where my thumb keeps hitting it.

That goes for SP sets, as well as GMK and Tai Hao, as well as a couple of OEM sets.

[metal369]

SP keycaps are very beautiful. But also it's thinkness is too low and durability is disappointing.

I think it is decoration for keyboard.

[lasttycoon]

SP keycaps are very beautiful. But also it's thinkness is too low and durability is disappointing.

I think it is decoration for keyboard.

Yeah, I have been thinking something similar. I think I am going to grab a set of Ivan Dark PBT instead of trying to buy up a SP set. I think those PBT caps will last for years to come (hopefully) and outlive the my keyboards!

[lasttycoon]

I probably have too many different keycap sets - none of them has shined up yet, apart from a small spot on the space bar where my thumb keeps hitting it.

That goes for SP sets, as well as GMK and Tai Hao, as well as a couple of OEM sets.

Oh Damn. Well looks like I have something to work up to.

[metal369]

SP keycaps are very beautiful. But also it's thinkness is too low and durability is disappointing.

I think it is decoration for keyboard.

Yeah, I have been thinking something similar. I think I am going to grab a set of Ivan Dark PBT instead of trying to buy up a SP set. I think those PBT caps will last for years to come (hopefully) and outlive the my keyboards!

Good! My best keycap is Cherry Origianl Dye-Sub keys. It is just best of best.

And...  Although GMK is ABS keys, I like it.  It's typing feeling is good.

[lasttycoon]

SP keycaps are very beautiful. But also it's thinkness is too low and durability is disappointing.

I think it is decoration for keyboard.

Yeah, I have been thinking something similar. I think I am going to grab a set of Ivan Dark PBT instead of trying to buy up a SP set. I think those PBT caps will last for years to come (hopefully) and outlive the my keyboards!

Good! My best keycap is Cherry Origianl Dye-Sub keys. It is just best of best.

And...  Although GMK is ABS keys, I like it.  It's typing feeling is good.

Well hopefully the Gateron PBT will compare to the Cherry Caps. They look pretty amazing.

[strafe]

I have used many different types of ABS keys, and they have all started to shine after a few months.  The main keys that shine for me are the space bar and wasd keys.  This is mainly from playing a lot of battlefield.  The shine doesn't worry me.

I have a set of double shot vortex pbt keycaps on my work computer that comes into contact with all sorts of chemicals / corrosives (automotive workshop) and they still have all of their texture.  My previous logitech keyboard's keys were as smooth as glass.

[Oobly]

SP keycaps are very beautiful. But also it's thinkness is too low and durability is disappointing.

I think it is decoration for keyboard.

SP makes a few different profiles. I agree with you about DCS profile, but SA profile is thick and solid and awesome Semi-matte keys shine quite quickly (couple of months of hard use), but they look and feel great great, even when shiny. In fact the shine suits the style of keycap and I feel they're very retro. The shine adds some character, IMHO.

My favourite keycaps are the Penumbra set.

If you REALLY don't like shine, get some textured dyesub PBT caps. All ABS caps will eventually shine. Actually, even the most textured PBT caps will eventually shine, but it takes a lot longer to wear down.

I have learnt to embrace the shine, but only buy SA profile from SP (never DCS or DSA). I also like GMK doubleshots and those new JTK caps look good.

[hwood34]

SP keycaps are very beautiful. But also it's thinkness is too low and durability is disappointing.

I think it is decoration for keyboard.

Yeah, I have been thinking something similar. I think I am going to grab a set of Ivan Dark PBT instead of trying to buy up a SP set. I think those PBT caps will last for years to come (hopefully) and outlive the my keyboards!

Good! My best keycap is Cherry Origianl Dye-Sub keys. It is just best of best.

And...  Although GMK is ABS keys, I like it.  It's typing feeling is good.

Well hopefully the Gateron PBT will compare to the Cherry Caps. They look pretty amazing.

The quality on them is awesome

[heedpantsnow]

I have plenty of SP sets. The set I use the most, R3, I've had for several years and have used it pretty consistently.

There's a decent shine on the right side of the spacebar from where my thumb hits and rubs there.

You have to really examine the other keys to find shine.

People act like keysets should be trashed as soon as there is any amount of detectable shine. I think it's an extreme overreaction.

It's not like people walk by and say, "Your keyboard sucks because there's shine on the spacebar."  And if they did, spacebars are cheap and plentiful!

[RabRhee]

Here is a picture of my DSA dolch, ordered 13 months ago, and been on my main board permanently for 12 months. The top of the T is totally smooth, D, H and the vowels are getting there, by comparison the B has some, and V and Z has all of the original texture. The space bar also has its shine on each side as thumbs hit it.

This is all day every day use, on green switches that I always bottom out, so perhaps that is harder on them too. Personally I like keys with shine, shows it is being used and I am getting my moneys worth. But then I like used antiques with dents in too, maybe its just me.

[childofthehorn]

Ehhh... depends on how much that you use it, as all ABS shines eventually and at about the same rate.

I have some ABS keycaps on my Matias V60 (Main work keyboard as not too loud) and the keycaps that it comes with are junk, but just basic abs and..... after a little over a month many of the most used keys were pretty shiny...... now almost 2 months later the pad printing on some of these is nearly gone and several are shined out and these had a rougher texture than most from Signature Plastics. I have a relatively light touch and do not bottom out so its not the amount of pressure being applied.

I don't care much as these are getting replaced with the Calm Depths SA set once I get some time to properly fit my 3d printed adapters for ALPS to Cherry caps. 

[swimmingbird]

One of the thing I dislike about my Hack'd by Geeks is that the deep dish homing keys seem to be a grease trap - often get a tissue and wipe them once a day or so

[Oobly]

One of the thing I dislike about my Hack'd by Geeks is that the deep dish homing keys seem to be a grease trap - often get a tissue and wipe them once a day or so

I'm already getting some shine from wear on my Hack'd by Geeks letters "E" and "A". Doesn't bother me, love the shine. A shiny keycap set is a used keycap set. A used keycap set is a loved keycap set (otherwise why leave it on your board, life's too short for crappy caps). Therefore Shine=Love.

[lasttycoon]

Here is a picture of my DSA dolch, ordered 13 months ago, and been on my main board permanently for 12 months. The top of the T is totally smooth, D, H and the vowels are getting there, by comparison the B has some, and V and Z has all of the original texture. The space bar also has its shine on each side as thumbs hit it.

This is all day every day use, on green switches that I always bottom out, so perhaps that is harder on them too. Personally I like keys with shine, shows it is being used and I am getting my moneys worth. But then I like used antiques with dents in too, maybe its just me.

(Attachment Link)

Thanks for taking a picture, it really helps me visualize what the shine will look like. You are right, it really doesn't look bad. I guess its the un-evenness of the shine that has worried me, but yours looks nice still.

[swimmingbird]

One of the thing I dislike about my Hack'd by Geeks is that the deep dish homing keys seem to be a grease trap - often get a tissue and wipe them once a day or so

I'm already getting some shine from wear on my Hack'd by Geeks letters "E" and "A". Doesn't bother me, love the shine. A shiny keycap set is a used keycap set. A used keycap set is a loved keycap set (otherwise why leave it on your board, life's too short for crappy caps). Therefore Shine=Love.

Probably looks good as well given the retro vibe of SA keysets

[lasttycoon]

One of the thing I dislike about my Hack'd by Geeks is that the deep dish homing keys seem to be a grease trap - often get a tissue and wipe them once a day or so

I'm already getting some shine from wear on my Hack'd by Geeks letters "E" and "A". Doesn't bother me, love the shine. A shiny keycap set is a used keycap set. A used keycap set is a loved keycap set (otherwise why leave it on your board, life's too short for crappy caps). Therefore Shine=Love.

Yeah, I would be interested in seeing some pictures. I think the more retro sets will look better with it. Im more worried about cleaner looking sets like Green Tea and Eve.

Probably looks good as well given the retro vibe of SA keysets

[blastoid]

I'm no shine expert, but from what I've seen, shine adds a "worn-in" quality to spherical caps, but a "worn-out" look for cylindrical caps.

[E3E]

I'm no shine expert, but from what I've seen, shine adds a "worn-in" quality to spherical caps, but a "worn-out" look for cylindrical caps.

That's an excellent point. I find the shined glossy look to be very charming on SA and DSA profile key caps, but on anything else (that I've seen), it doesn't really look that great. The spherical profile versus the cylindrical profile is definitely what does it.

I always wipe off my customized gaming board with a mixture of water and vinegar when I'm done using that computer. For everything else, for extensive typing and writing tasks, I use another keyboard and I don't really bother wiping the keys off (partially because it has white caps that really don't show grease as opposed to the dark-colored caps I have on the gaming board).

I know shine comes from a combination from friction on a matte surface and grease sinking into the plastic. One is avoidable while the other is not with enough use.