Navigation
- Introduction
- Bill Of Materials (BOM)
- 3D printing
- Finishing 3D prints
- Electronics
- Software
- Assembly
- Accessories
Finishing 3D prints
This is the part of the project which requires a bit of creativity and some of you own ideas to get a nice result using the resources you have available. I will describe the way I made it and some ideas I have had for alternative ways.
If you have any other ideas on how to finish the parts, please let me now. If you tested any of the methods listed as ‘not tested’, also let me know. Preferably with some pictures of the result.
Assembling the body parts
- Rough sand all the parts so they are relatively smooth.
- Test fitment of the parts, sand when necessary.
- Insert small filament segments in ‘Top’ and ‘Fingerguard’ parts using superglue.
- Carefully align all parts to the main body and glue them together.
- Sand to blend any edges between parts.
After this, paint all the parts using some spray paint. If you plan on laser engraving, use a white base-coat underneath. This helps getting clear engravings.
Note: Don’t spray too much paint inside the keyholes. This could create interference problems with the keycaps.
Assembling dobber switch
Assembling rocker switch
Keycaps
The exact same method is used for finishing and painting the keycaps. Check proper fitment between the body and keycaps.
Laser Engraving
I laser engraved all the text using an Ortur Laser Master 2 - 15W at:
- 10 mm/sec
- 20% power
- Outline and fill. (Outline improves the edges of the text)
Don’t use too much power or the plastic will melt. Just play around a bit with the settings to get the best result.
Other finishing ideas:
Some other finishing techniques I thought off. Some tested, some not
Tested: Embed text
I tried printing the keycaps with the text in the Z-axis at 0.12 mm layerheight with embedded text. I tried filling it with:
- White paint
- White nail polish
- Molten white crayon
Of these, the molten white crayon gave me the nicest result. You still need to add a top-layer of transparent nail polish or polished superglue because the crayon will remain soft.
This process was very labour intensive and only gave me OK results.
The paint kept creeping between the layerlines and gave the text a fuzzy look.
If your 3D printer is better setup than mine, or you have a resin printer, I think it will be possible to get nice results using this way.
Untested: Print on transparent sheet
It might be possible to get nice results by leaving all keycaps white, printing the designs in black on a transparent sheet and glueing this on top of the keycaps.