Mechanical Keyboards

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Material to fill translucent capslock hole (midwest.social)

submitted 8 months ago by goatmeal@midwest.social to c/mechanicalkeyboards@lemmy.ml

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Made my gf a keyboard for her birthday and she's enjoying it, but is missing light up indicator when caps lock is on. I know this key sucks and I disabled it on mine but she uses it a lot for her job.

The keyset I got her is completely opaque so you can't really see the caps light unless you're right above the keyboard looking at the edges of the caps key.

I took some spare keys of the same shape and drilled holes right above the indicator light and it shines through pretty well, but want to fill it with something clear to make it look nicer/diffract the light a bit. Does anyone have any recommendations? Was thinking about using polyurethane caused I've used it for random other things and seems like it could work.

Thanks!

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[–] RedEyeFlightControl@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Put a dot of hot glue through it, then carefull trim the top with a small exacto knife.

[–] goatmeal@midwest.social 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Sounds simple and effective, I'll try that out on one of my test keys. Thanks

[–] wjrii@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I actually did that on my very fist aftermarket set of keycaps. I was so stoked that they didn't look like gamer nonsense but had a badass RED escape key. Can you believe it? RED! Just needed to let that capslock LED shine through.

Anyway, it worked out quite well.

Edit: Here we go. Behold the glory of a dusty Drevo Calibur v1 ca. 2014.

[–] DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Silicon sealant, like for the edge of windows? It’s clear, but will diffuse the light a bit to make the key glow.

[–] goatmeal@midwest.social 1 points 8 months ago

Interesting I'll check that out!

[–] linuxPIPEpower@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 8 months ago

I doubt you'll be able to make something adhere securely long term. if I was to try I would drill holes on the sides only and fill with hot glue. I added hot glue to keys before and it stayed for a fairly long time. Holes on the top will be annoying on the fingertips. There would always be a perceptible difference. And your filler will eventually fall off. if you really wish to pursue the project you will need to investigate the material your keys are made of and what will adhere to it.

You're basiclaly trying to DIY double shot keys. I think it would be really hard to duplicate this without a factory:

I suggest you go on ali express and buy shine-through key of the same profile and compatible texture. You can buy blank keys or modifier keys in small amounts, even one at a time depending. Make sure to get the correct size per your layout.

[–] johnjamesautobahn@beehaw.org 2 points 8 months ago

CA glue may also work, but test it first as it may melt your keycap material