keyboard painting

[wildbilly2k]

hey anyone know where i could possibly get keyboard decals for all the keys and then just for the alhpibet one i woul like symbols:D

[Captain Slug]

you're going to find that modifying/painting any keyboard will be extremely labor intensive. The best way to get a durable coat on a plastic interface device is by using spray-on vinyl dye. The vinyl dye eats color into the surface layer of the plastic, so if you want to put stickers on your keys to prevent that area from being dyed, that should work fine. That or you could carve the letters out after you've let the vinyl dye cure.

[wildbilly2k]

ooh i used car paint on my computer and i kinda want it to be the same color cause i want to do it black but carving it out sounds pretty good ill just take massive pictures before i do it


now is this vinyl die like a liquid i dip it in or is a spray on substance and where do i get it?

[Abra_Volta]

This is a good question as I am looking to maybe paint my keyboard.

I have one of those crappy Rocketboards, but man I love those hotkeys at the top.

I was thinking of doing it 2 ways:

1) Paint the whole keyboard and keys, and then use dry transfers to put the letters back on, then finish up with a nice clear coat to protect it.

2) Paint the letter color (say blue), use stickers of letters and apply them, then paint the whole thing again. Then peel the stickers off. So, you could get a black keyboard with blue letters on it. Once again finishing with a clear coat.

[Captain Slug]

The problem with simply PAINTING your keyboard is that...

a) The paint can get inside and ruin the contacts
b) The paint rubs off with wear or will give you sticky keys
c) You'd have to re-label all the keys

IF you're trying to paint a white keyboard the vinyl dye won't wipe out the laser printed letters so you shouldn't even need to relabel the whole thing unless you WANT to. The vinyl dye comes in spray cans, doesn't require prep or finish work, and it drys a nice satin finish.

[Abra_Volta]

Any particular place that says this vinyl dye? Furniture store? Home Depot?

[cyberey66]

You might be able to use plain RIT dye for a keyboard with black letters. I have died a mouse and some other plastic things in a pot of boiling RIT dye. It soaks into plastic, but the water has to be boiling for it to work effectively. I'm wondering if the boiling water will effect the printed keys.

Anyways, if RIT dye would work, you can do some really cool designs with it. Mostly tye died and camo effects.

[Captain Slug]

Originally posted by Abra_Volta
Any particular place that says this vinyl dye? Furniture store? Home Depot?

Any store that sells a wide variety of spray paint should have it. But if you want to save yourself a trip, just call them and make them do the footwork.

[wildbilly2k]

well if i vinyl die my keys key and key board black then the black letters wont show up but i wouldnt mind having red letters which would be cool maybe i will just buy a cheap black keyboard

[Captain Slug]

black may not dye properly. If you want to cover over the letters than you may want to find a different way of covering over the keys. Automotive trace tape or automotive decals might be the best method.

I've never gone to such lengths because I prefer to keep the original laser printed letters because they're far more durable than anything else I can come up with.

[cryogen97]

at the price range of a new black keyboard, I would think that the headache and time saved, would make it worth the money.

[Doc_Skurlock]

no fooling. Why don't you just put some led's in your keyboard? It's been done before.
Doc

[CrystalMethod]

You can use "Letraset" to put on letters, numbers, and symbols. It's basically a rub on transfer sheet. It's comes in all sorts of colours and font sizes. Check into local art shops, they might carry the stuff.

[gahdzila]

I gotta agree with Captain Slug...painting a keyboard is WAY more trouble than it's worth...I've tried it, here's what I did:

I got an old keyboard (that just barely avoided the garbage can...can't you hear me screaming, "NOOOOOOO!!!!!! I can mod that and make it really COOL!!!"). It's marked as a Lite-On Model SK-0002. Nice clickety keys, not quite as clicky as the IBM Model M's, which are a bit too clicky for me.

Anyway, I tore the whole thing down, removed all of the componants from the outer case. The outer case, I painted black with vinyl dye from a spray can (you can find it at automotive stores, like AutoZone, Pep-Boys, even in the auto section of WalMart...it's spray on, used for painting vinyl seats and dashboards in cars). The vinyl dye worked great...it gives a nice flat finish, and the plastic keeps it's original texturing. Spray on vinyl dye tends to "soften" the plastic while it's still wet, so DON'T TOUCH IT UNTIL IT'S COMPLETELY DRY, or else you can actually rub a layer of plastic off, and make it look really crappy.

After painting the casing, I put all of the componants back in the case, except for the keys. I had read somewhere about RIT dye, thought I'd try that first...maybe I didn't have the water hot enough (it was very hot, but NOT boiling), because after 5 or 6 hours of soaking, the keys weren't colored at ALL.

The only other thing I could think of was this...it worked OK, but was quite labor intensive, and the finish isn't very durable, it's starting to rub off. I used a Sharpie marker in a light shade (I chose a neon green, and an electric blue). Colored a key completely, then wiped it gently with a paper towel to give it a smooth, consistant finish, without "brushstrokes." Looked really nice, and the letters are still clearly visible. It was such a PITA, however, that I only colored the function keys, the top row number keys, the numeric keypad, and the spacebar. And now, the color is rubbing off badly. So now I've got the ugliest keyboard on the face of the planet...still using it, though, because I love how it types!

I thought of this too, but decided it would be too much of a hassle...you might try the Sharpie marker method I described, then cover with a clear acrylic...something like clear nail polish or something. That would probably help keep the color from rubbing off...but it would probably also give the keys a strange texture that would take some getting used to. Also, this would be even MORE of a PITA than just coloring them with a Sharpie.

You can use "Letraset" to put on letters, numbers, and symbols. It's basically a rub on transfer sheet. It's comes in all sorts of colours and font sizes. Check into local art shops, they might carry the stuff.

A good idea...you could probably even get some cool looking fonts...however, I'd be too afraid that it wouldn't be durable enough to stand up to serious typing.

The only way I can think of to paint the keys and still see the letters would be to find some sort of semi-transparent paint that wouldn't color the letters.

If you're trying to paint a white keyboard the vinyl dye won't wipe out the laser printed letters so you shouldn't even need to relabel the whole thing unless you WANT to.

Are you sure? Have you tried this? Spray vinyl dye would be the way to go, if it would work without making the letters invisible. You certainly couldn't paint the keys black, if the lettering is black. And I haven't seen vinyl dye in very many colors...gray (yuck), black (wouldnt be able to see the black letters!), and brown (double yuck) are about all I can get at the local places...anyone know where we can get vinyl dye in more colors online?

[CrystalMethod]

A good idea...you could probably even get some cool looking fonts...however, I'd be too afraid that it wouldn't be durable enough to stand up to serious typing.

The only way I can think of to paint the keys and still see the letters would be to find some sort of semi-transparent paint that wouldn't color the letters.

You spray them with a clearcoat afterwards and they as durable as you want to make them.

[Captain Slug]

Originally posted by CrystalMethod
You spray them with a clearcoat afterwards and they as durable as you want to make them.

Nope. I've tried every kind of clear coat finish available and they just don't adhere to plastic as well as they do to metal. After 9 months of use the clear coat started coming off my keyboard and mouse. I painted the keyboard with acrylic, and I painted the mouse with autmotive finish clear coat.

Paint just doesn't hold up. THE ONLY paint I've used that actually stood up under excessive wear is the weird new spray on blackboard paint I got at Wal-Mart. I bought a cheap $0.70 mouse, lightly sanded it to a rough finish, sprayed one coat, sanded to a soft finish, sprayed on another coat, sanded to a light finish, sprayed on another coat.
You can easily assume that this took hours (and it did). When it was finished it looked just like a vinyl automotive accent and I have yet to hear from my friend about the paint wearing off (he doesn't know I painted it. For all I know, he thinks it came that way from the factory). It was more of an experiment than anything. I could have easily bought a black mouse for $2, but that wouldn't have proven anything.

Other than vinyl dye, there's no graceful and long-lasting way to change the color of your keyboard.

[wildbilly2k]

Originally posted by CrystalMethod
You can use "Letraset" to put on letters, numbers, and symbols. It's basically a rub on transfer sheet. It's comes in all sorts of colours and font sizes. Check into local art shops, they might carry the stuff.


do you know of any online shops that carry the stuff but im think ing of little stencilsbecause i have a microsoft office keyboard

[Abra_Volta]

Captain Slug, have you tried using any of the dyes like the RIT brand mentioned above?

I know i've used them for fabrics, but never thought about trying it on plastics.

[CrystalMethod]

Originally posted by wildbilly2k
do you know of any online shops that carry the stuff but im think ing of little stencilsbecause i have a microsoft office keyboard

Unfortunately no, I've only ever bought it at local art shops.

[Captain Slug]

Originally posted by Abra_Volta
Captain Slug, have you tried using any of the dyes like the RIT brand mentioned above?

Nope. I don't bother painting peripherals very often. I have to be pretty bored in order to waste 5 or hours doing so. Painting drive faceplates and things is much more fun. I haven't tried vinyl dye yet because I love Rustolleum metallic silver hard finish paint too much. :)

I've heard from numerous people that RIT dye just won't work.