Painting a keyboard-how hard is it???

Well I had my system together, but do to being unemployed, had to sell my cpu and videocard(BAD). Thats just gives me a reason to get better ones down the road(GOOD).. Got my red/black theme going-got my cyber snipa mouse http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130409166815&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT yesterday(love it).. Now I need to get a keyboard..Can't find any 2-tone red/black keaybaords so i think I'm going to paint one. What do I need to know??? Don't want to spend a bunch of money on a keyboard and take it apart and can't get it back together..Looking at this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180533554291&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

So noone has taken apart or painted a keyboard.......

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Cyborg+-+V.5+Keyboard/9498233.p?id=1218114704317&skuId=9498233

mykey board i love it

If you ever saw the movie "hackers", you may recall a scene where he painted his keyboard in like a camo-scheme using cutouts of pieces of cardboard and spraypaint. I used this technique, and it worked beautifully.

However: make a note to use a better final coat than I did, perhaps some sort of gloss, because after about two years of use on the keys I used a lot the paint had all come off/worn down to the keys.

I also did this to a cheapo dell keyboard I didn't care about ahead of time, but it worked perfectly even after painting, and still does today.

(just some thoughts)

I Googled "paint keyboard" and I found some nice results. I don't want to post any of em here, 'cuz some might go against forum rules here. But you should be able to find some nice tutorials.

the best way (i found) is unfortunately to remove the keys tape off the buttons and do the bezel and each individual key. and old drip pan for cooking works best to kee the paint from puddling and pooling ps... also a good idea to fool around with different textured paints so you can get the right "feel" of the keys you want...

Finally got it- It was kindof a pain,,..1st time I painted it, I got some bubbles in a corner so i had to sand it down.. Then used a clearcoat and it turned it white(think I was spraying too much)..Had to repaint red and the reapply clearcoat.....

Wow... that looks SICK! Definitely looks like a nice even professionally done coat. Good work

how hard? harder than You made it look
man i wish mine had turned out that well.

i tried to candy apple purple transparency a white keyboard, and had to live with what i did for years .

I have painted a keyboard before. It is very keyboard dependent. The main difficulty is the rubber behind the keys. Some keyboards use mats that are very easy to put down, these are very easy to paint. Other keyboards use individual rubber things for each each, these are a pain in the butt to replace. The second consideration is weather the keys are attached to the top plate or a separate plate. If they are not attached to the top it is easy.

Overall it if you can keep track of everything it is pretty easy to do. Generally You unscrew all the screws in the back and then the keyboard will come apart in 4 basic layers: Plates/backing, plastic connection sheet, rubber keybouncers, and the front plate.

Once you have it taken all apart just take the top plate (which should have no keys attached), paint it however you want, let it dry and but it pack on.

While you are doing this if you have a dirty keyboard you can also do a fantastic job cleaning the keyboard. Just take all the sections of the keyboard except the electronic sheet and scrub them with dish soap and water.

those electronic sheets can take a fair bit of abuse. I've rescued many a Coffey killed keyboard after careful cleaning of said sheet, just make sure you dry it properly.

Blue car mouse FTW!

As mentioned above it is totally dependent on the keyboard you are using.

Honestly if it's a cheap keyboard you don't mind possibly damaging then just grab a can of spray paint, put it on some cardboard and spray it like you would anything else.

If you want you can take all the keys out and spray every part separatly to ensure you don't damage anything.

You can add a coat of gloss which will help the paint stay on there for longer.


Ontop of all of ^ you can sand every part down, put a primer on it and then spray with 2-3 coats and then gloss it. This will give the best result and chipping will be very unlikely. It'll feel very professionally done but it takes time to get it right.