Look at your keyboard. Do the keycaps excite you? That’s what we thought. You pound on that thing day in and day out. Shouldn’t it at least be attractive? Or even happiness-inducing? You don’t necessarily have to replace every single keycap to spark joy. When it comes to artisan keycaps, the point is to have something that stands out.
How about an Escape key that looks like a tall stack of flapjacks or a tiny, intricate cream puff? From a practical standpoint, how about a spiky Escape key that makes you think twice about rage quitting?
If you’re into games or anime, chances are good that there are more than enough artisan keycaps out there to keep you cash-poor for a while. The same goes for scrumptious foodstuffs with Cherry MX-compatible stems.
In this day and age, you can get just about any type of keycap you want, especially those encapsulating pop culture phenomena and fads. Yes there’s a fidget spinner keycap, and it’s adorable.
There’s a Slight Catch (Unless You Prefer Linear Switches)
Before you go crazy, keep in mind that these fancy keycaps are only going to fit mechanical key switches, and we think it’s safe to say that most artisan ‘caps are designed for switches with a Cherry MX-type stem. Most of your newer gamer-aimed keebs have exactly that.
But aren’t mechanical keyboards expensive? Yes and no. In trying to build a portable word processor, I found a great 60% keyboard with MX blue clones for about $30 over at the Bezos Barn. The switches are even hot-swappable, so it’s a great little all-around portable starter keeb, and it’s probably not the only one out there.
With a tester you get x number of switches, all with different feels, a set of blank keycaps, and some kind of acrylic or plastic to put the switches in to approximate the keyboard setting for testing purposes. Cherry and Cherry clone testers (Kailh, Outemu, Gateron) are pretty cheap; testers for higher-end switches like Pandas and Halos are less so.
Some switch testers don’t want to be functional, so you’d have to drill out the bottom plate to access the switch pins so it can be wired up. That actually makes them sound like even more fun, right? Here’s an example of someone turning a six-switch tester into a macro keyboard using a Teensy.
Okay, So Where Do I Find Them Already?
Artisan keycaps are pretty much everywhere on the internet. Do a search for (interesting thing) + artisan keycap and you’ll probably find something. Interestingly, I pull up a different keycap than the one shown above when trying the Xenomorph + keycap image search. If you get possibilities paralysis like I do and forget all your interests when put on the spot, hit up a large keycap seller pool like Reddit’s MechMarket or wander the increasingly diverse virtual aisles of Etsy.
The keycaps and mechanical keyboards subreddits are good sources of leads for fresh ‘caps, as is the r/mk Discord channel. Lots of artists sell through Instagram. If you don’t mind the pain of relying on your fellow clackers to meet some minimum quantity before you can even part with your money and start waiting, plenty of places offer group buys.
Between these guideposts, you should be able to find more than enough ‘caps and leads to get going. It’s easy to be inspired by all the amazing artisan caps out there, so don’t be surprised if you want to join in the fun.
Or, Just Make ’em Yourself
A lot of the artisan keycaps you see out there will be cast in polyurethane resin, crafted in clay and mixed media, or 3D-printed in resin and then painted. Some are carved out of wood. It really doesn’t matter what a keycap is made of, as long as it’s strong enough to last and won’t hurt the switch.
As far as resin casting goes, you can buy keycap molds pretty cheaply, or build a mold-casting box out of LEGO. Then you can use whatever keycaps you already have to make silicone molds. Full disclosure and fair warning: I have never done resin casting, but I really want to. I’ve looked far enough into it to be able to tell you that a decent setup will cost at least a few hundred dollars.
Resin cast objects look fantastic when the process is done right. Unfortunately, there’s a lot that can go wrong along the way. You need a vacuum chamber and a pressure pot unless you want a million tiny bubbles in your molds and casts, and that’s just the beginning.
The good news is that you don’t really have to start from zero. Get some blank keycaps and experiment, or pop the caps off of a cheap rubber dome keyboard and there’s 104 or so chances to practice before you try it on caps that are designed to fit mechanical switches.
There are a ton of ways to express yourself with keycaps. Glue a tiny trinket on top, or craft something from clay. You could also paint them, dye them, subject them to Plasti-Dip, or score the tops with hot nichrome wire or a Dremel.
When it comes down to it, the greatest keycaps are the ones that make you happy. Here’s a handful that make me happy.
Gallery of Greatness
- Koi fish by @KeycapSky
- Companion cube by @Clackeys
- Mt. Fuji by @MechanicalKeycap
- Cream puff by @PixyHandmade
- Coffee by @keylabskeycaps
- Jellyfish by @DekopiaHandcrafted
- Throne of Rage Quitting by @capsmiths
- Fidget spinner by Hammer
- Cherry MX processors via Massdrop
- Hamburger and hot dog by @tinymakesthings
That throne looks like an extremely painful way to use vi.
It makes my left pinky hurt just looking at these. I suppose if you’re willing to suffer in the name of art, there’s ctrl-[ as an alternative.
Rebind Caps-Lock to ESC
Does that really matter? I mean vi is already really painful to use by itself. :-)
No menu, no use of function keys or cursor keys. We do not heave the 1970ies any more.
I remember to use a terminal switch, “ps -u” and kill the process not only once to be able to just quit vi.
Vim is a pain to learn, but a joy to use.
It’s a computer language focused on editing text! And once you learn that language, it’s painful to try to use any other text editor.
Oh, man, where is David Cronenberg when you need him?
And I thought my red key cap with “Panic” imprinted on it was State of the Art.
> From a practical standpoint, how about a spiky Escape key that makes you think twice about rage quitting?
Ohhhh, that reminds me of electrified chess: https://youtu.be/W67Ez4ALGiw?t=82
I mean, put it on the WASD keys and when your playing too long…. ;-)
Glue a centimeter of guitar string across all your keys so you’re ready to binge learn guitar in a week or two :-D
How about a link to Bezos Barn? I’m not likely to find it using Google because of Jeff Bezos!
It’s a joke they are referring to Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/CHONCHOW-Rainbow-Mechanical-Keyboard-Switches/dp/B07QXWMMRM/ref=mp_s_a_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=60%25+keyboard&qid=1588099019&sr=8-14
My hhk has nothing on most of its keycaps I’ve worn the lettering off typing. Thought about 3d printing them with embossed letters but I’m kinda proud of them being blank. It’s also alot more work than it’s probably worth.
The easy fix is keycap labels. But you have to buy the more expensive ones with a thicker clear plastic top, since the cheap ones will just have the same problem with the lettering coming off.
Get some double-shot moulded ones. The letters are actually cast in the plastic and go all the way through the key. They wear down but always stay legible.
Apply clear fingernail polish to all keycaps before first use. Repeat as necessary/
Meh. If you’ve typed enough to wear the letters away, you don’t need to look at them any more anyway.
Just no.
I also had already keyboards with worn keys, e.g. “N” or “E”. This is disturbing, when I can not find the key I need. I had to replace the keyboard.
But I am not the right customer for custom keycaps anyway. When I saw the “toast” keycaps, I thought: “OK, now you have for or more unlabled keys. That makes a keyboard more or less useless.” Although they seem to be the function keys. You can count them every time you need one.
I’ve got a CODE keyboard from WASDkeyboards.com which I love, since it’s backlit, but the lettering is coming off. I’d *really* love a source of high quality doubleshot keycaps that let the light through cleanly, and the lettering is pushed to the tops of the keys, since that’s where the lights are.
These funky, fun keycaps are interesting, but I’m looking for durability and feel over fun looks. Though a crisp font is also a key issue.
The koi fish actually from Jelly Keys. That is just a poor copy.
I have a quite cheap but really nice backlit keyboard here with nice doubleshot keycaps. It was sold as “semi mechanic gaming keyboard” for about 30 € in a discount supermarket. It looks like RGB, but in reality it’s a fixed rainbow distribution of LEDs. But you need some time to notice. :-)
I once put some rabbits feet as my keycap. They replaced the Paws button.
A benefit of custom keycaps (vs chiclet style) is the ability to have text / icons on the front dace of the keycap.
trouble is with good keyboard not keycaps
i need 16*6 keyboard, with computer (raspery pi zero) inside.
I Love the Way how you Customize the Keyboards with a great IDEA. Today I will try this Method. Thanks