=-Mod Z key-=

Lord_Zoltan · Sep 18, 2002

I was wondering if anyone would know how to safley remove the z key outline of the letter. I was hoping to cut that out and then put plexi or think plastic on the key, and have a led or something to light it up. So it is able to be seen in the dark.

Im not sure what tool to use, dremel would probably destroy it~

any ideas?

:beer:

yanks111 · Sep 18, 2002

Would there be some special reason you picked the "z" key? Because I think it would be much easier to cut out a hole in the spacebar.....but that's just me.

You could also (if you have the time) keep scraping it with an X-acto knife until you eventually shave through the plastic.

KILLorBE · Sep 18, 2002

You could use a very small drill bit, the smallest I have is 0.5mm which is about the right size for my 'Z' key, but it will be alot of work (~20 holes for my Z key) and you'll probably break a few bits.

Good luck

Lusankya · Sep 18, 2002

paint over them
Buy a letter stencle from the stationary store and redo the letters in a different font and to the size you actually have a chance in hell of successfully cutting out.

Lord_Zoltan · Sep 18, 2002

Hmm stencil idea doesnt sound that bad, but i dontk now if i could make it that professional looking.

However scraping down will take to much time , but hmmm is ther any other way.

However the really small drilbit is a good idea, i might try that. I want the "Z" key cuz its the first inital of my name and it seems like the most difficult key to do. If it was succesful i was going to expand throughout the hole keyboard. You have to admit it would look pretty cool in the dark where you cant see anything but the letter of your keys glowing, (faintly so it doesnt blind you lol)

Lusankya · Sep 18, 2002

shouldn't be too hard.. wither paint or sand off the current letter
hold the stencle on top of the key and 1 quick pass with a fat marker oughtta do it well enough for you to be able to cut it out... somehow

Diggrr · Sep 18, 2002

And what pray-tell did you plan to do with the 1/4" wide post under the key? Ya know, the one that's actually pushing the button under the key to make it register.

I would add that, assuming your keyboard has white plastic keys on it, one super brite blue LED would light up the whole key anyway, without any further modding needed. Just epoxy it to the underside of the key, and provide wiring.
And one more thing, if it's USB, there's 5 volts for powering a diode, just add resistor if you need less voltage than that.

Lord_Zoltan · Sep 18, 2002

Thanks Diggrr,

Your idea sounds the easiest but im having doubts doing this, there must be a simply way to do this.

Is there any other way to light up the keyboard, but i dont mean inbetween them i mean light the actual keys up?

I so wanna do this,

Diggrr ill try your idea and let you know how it goes. :burn:

The Spyder · Sep 18, 2002

The plastic might be thin enough to be "lit" underneith without drillin a hole or anything- just by placing a led underneither- ill try it later..... or now

Captain Slug · Sep 18, 2002

If you get some needle-point size etching tools you might be able to cut through the actual printed letter on the keyboard.

It would be extremely tedious work and I've never tried it because I don't like under-lit keyboards (I'm light sensitive)

The Spyder · Sep 18, 2002

LED under - key- blue- 3000-- no lights on except neon in case---

The Spyder · Sep 18, 2002

Edit* As you can see its pretty bright.... thats under the MINUS key if your wondering.

weponhead · Sep 19, 2002

i had a idea that would be very tedious .. and hard .. and would require plexi.. super glue .. and possibly a dremel

so .. here goes.. take all the keys off your old crappy keyboard.. and cut off the posts.. "the things that lock the keys into the keyboard" and cut some pieces of plexi to the size of your keys "to make it comfortable to type with you may need to use a small bit on your dremel and file the edges so theyre round instead of sharp" and then glue the plexi onto the posts .. with superglue probably.. so they stay.. and then you could stencil on letters .. and use the el wire mods on your keyboard and then ALLL your keys would be underlit if you want it heres a link on how to add the EL wire ... http://www.virtual-hideout.net/guides/keyboard_el/index.shtml have fun with my idea .. and correct my if i am like totally nutz about doing that..

Carnil · Sep 19, 2002

What about painting over the lettering of the keys with UV-sensitive paint and then lighting the keyboard with a UV light of some sort?

Malt_Vinegar · Sep 21, 2002

Why not just piggyback the scroll lock LED to the key, or just move it comletely, how often do u use the scroll lock? Then u could turn it off and on at will

And no voltage, or electricty moddage is required!

Would look well cool

infact, i might try it myself with the enter key

Lord_Zoltan · Sep 21, 2002

What do you mean piggy back it?

Athlonman · Sep 23, 2002

Lord_Zoltan said:
What do you mean piggy back it?

if you just want your keyboard to glow just get a black light and put it on the ceiling above your keyboard then your keys will glow!! Your dell keybord is black with white lettering right?

elekt · Sep 23, 2002

i was thinking about a glow in the dark paint that is clear in daylight but at night is bright. they sell it in green and blue, so you could make the letters green and ctrl alt del space etc would be blue. i think that would be sweet i might try it on an old keyboard. i'll let ya now if i doo.

oh and how would you cut out and A?or a B think about that you couldn't.

Kill Control · Sep 23, 2002

heres what i would do...

my z key lettering takes up 1/4th of my key face and is in the top left. i'd cut out the lettering, including what little bit of the post that is under it. then, get your very small or underpowered led mounted under it. then, get maybe some foil and paint one side black to make some kind of shroud to keep the light from leaking beyond the key. you could prolly apply this a few ways.. one may be to wrap it around the led to try and focus the light.. or a more literall shroud around the base of the led like an upside down lampshade. this is all theory of course =)

Veland · Sep 24, 2002

What you need to cut out the Z:

A very small drill bit
A variable voltage powersupply
Some thin wire
Some good, thick wire

Huh? Power? Well, I've used this way when working with plastic before and it's the easiest way of doing it..

Drill one small hole somewhere in the "Z". Then put the thin wire through the hole, you need about 2(?)com of wire, depending on your PSU. Then wrap each end of the thin wire to the thick wire that you connect to the PSU. Then turn up the voltage until the thin wire starts glowing and then use this to melt the plastic! Then rub the surface to remove some plastic bits and a scalpel to make the edges perfect.

REMEMBER! You are practically shorting the PSU here, so if it's a low quality thing it may be destroyed.. And if it gives you too few amps you never get the wire to glow.. And too much power melts the wire away..

Haven't got the PSU? If you have two 9V rechargeables, you can use them. Normal 9V won't work because they don't deliver the power fast enough.. And since you can't regulate the power you must make the wire just long enough to glow but not burn off.

Good luck!

=-Mod Z key-=

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