I've done this and the results are great. I didn't have to do much sanding either, only doing so if there are sharp edges. I used the cheapest no-name brand PLA I could find aswell. Printers nowadays are pretty fast. A single keycap would print at 5 minutes. I used an Ender 3 v3 KE to do mine. Made layer lines partially invisible by using fuzzy edges. Afterwhich, I sprayed it with a primer, no sanding. Once dry, sprayed it with whatever color I wanted. Afterwhich, I used waterslide decals to place the the text. Sprayed with a matte top coat to keep the decals in place. All done within two days.
If you're going to print keycaps then do it with a resin printer. I already tried with fdm and I needed to do a lot of postprocessing to get rid of the print lines while the ones I printed in resin just needed some sun exposure and filing on where I removed the supports and they were ready to be used.
Thank you for showing an honest side to 3d printing. Its never just to push a button and out comes a new keyboard in 6 minutes. Enjoied the vid. Subbed👍 🤜🤛 keep printing bro.
I would gladly 3d print entire set of keycaps because i can make set specificaly made some uses. Keycaps you can buy are good but manufacturers do not offer enough options to customize them or if they do they charge obscene amounts of money for it. I know pbt keycaps are most durable but if i had 3d printer i would 3d print them and if they break i'd reprint them again and just extrude broken or worn out caps into filament using extruder, For nice and smooth fdm print of keycaps petg seems like a good option.
I've considered doing this. If you also printed a sanding "profile" / holder that is the convex version of the key cap top, you could use that to sand them smooth with good consistency. You'd just have to make sure you slice them with a thick ceiling.
As it happens just scraped a stack of my GKtwo resin printer build platform. Just have to sand the bottom (supports) and hey presto. Can even do embossing on it with great results.
@@S7Vision I would avoid ABS unless you have a space with good ventilation and no humans around. Even with a filter it is still highly questionable to print it near humans who might breath in the vapors from it. If you really want smoothing you can try something like Prusament PVB which just smooths with IPA (which is also a lot less harmful/easier to handle), is easier to print and not as toxic as ABS printing. You might want to look into a drybox for printing it though. I never used it so I don't know how much of an issue moisture really is for PVB.
I lament the idea that you forgot to do these prints with ironing on, it could have made the finish look a lot better whilst saving a lot of sandpaper in the process.
Hello. I need to 3D print some keycaps on the ender 3V3 ke, but it keepsfailing. The strucutre it self is great, but the steam. OMF. dosen't fit!!! I tried e.v.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. it doesn't work.
I have printed a spare L keycap as the original keycap broke, and some other keys for fun, also from what have learned along the way is that you want to print the keys with flat top surface and use ironing if you want them to feel as good to use as possible.
Do you think I could 3D Print a laptop keyboard keycap? I have 1 missing keycap but since my laptop is old, I unfortunately cannot easily find a replacement. So, I was hoping to 3D Print one instead.
@jikuzo Hey! I looked it up by searching "laptop key sissor 3d print" followed by model. Laptop switches use sissor hinges to work. Hopefully the plastic tab holding the hinge also isn't broken. If it is, prob would need to replace entire keyboard. I'd look into warranty too.
I was disappointed you didn't show how you imported and what settings you used in your slicer, you missed a chance to be able to help instruct and share more "how to"
@@grandmasterautistwizard4291 it's actually not, cura for instance, auto adjusts scale by 10,000 for no apparent reason, and the particular key I wanted to print has no information on the STL download page for size, scale or any other information, so I have nothing to go on for the correct scale to print. this is for a Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro so, yea, knowing what settings used would have been most advantageous.
0.4mm but now I have to feel I have to check my cura settings! I did enable ironing and played with some settings if that may affect it. Still learning the 3D printing process
@@S7Vision You really need to have your bed adhesion down though because your layer height will be cut in half. FDM printing small things is difficult. I can see switching to resin for a project like this.
When I saw you moving the bed with the printer turned off my hearth just skipped, I fried 2 mother ;boards this way. I don't want to sound mean or anything, more like a friendly advice, please never move your bed or any stepper motors when your 3D printer isn't on. When you move a stepper it can create a some voltage and damage your motherboard. I'm not sure if it's a problem on any printer, but on my Ender 3 it really did some damage. Overall great video, I love watching people use 3D printing to improve their main hobby or work. 👍
Appreciate the example. You should do a follow up of sanding with 1200 and 200 grit as 200 is way too low for polishing as well as method for painting methods for the top. Also, why can't you print more than one keycap at a time?
I've done this and the results are great. I didn't have to do much sanding either, only doing so if there are sharp edges. I used the cheapest no-name brand PLA I could find aswell.
Printers nowadays are pretty fast. A single keycap would print at 5 minutes. I used an Ender 3 v3 KE to do mine. Made layer lines partially invisible by using fuzzy edges. Afterwhich, I sprayed it with a primer, no sanding. Once dry, sprayed it with whatever color I wanted. Afterwhich, I used waterslide decals to place the the text. Sprayed with a matte top coat to keep the decals in place. All done within two days.
would definitely recommend cleaning the bed before printing especially if you haven't printed in months.
If you're going to print keycaps then do it with a resin printer. I already tried with fdm and I needed to do a lot of postprocessing to get rid of the print lines while the ones I printed in resin just needed some sun exposure and filing on where I removed the supports and they were ready to be used.
Thank you for showing an honest side to 3d printing. Its never just to push a button and out comes a new keyboard in 6 minutes. Enjoied the vid. Subbed👍 🤜🤛 keep printing bro.
I would gladly 3d print entire set of keycaps because i can make set specificaly made some uses. Keycaps you can buy are good but manufacturers do not offer enough options to customize them or if they do they charge obscene amounts of money for it. I know pbt keycaps are most durable but if i had 3d printer i would 3d print them and if they break i'd reprint them again and just extrude broken or worn out caps into filament using extruder, For nice and smooth fdm print of keycaps petg seems like a good option.
I want to do this but with double extruder and transparent filament for the rgb.
I've considered doing this. If you also printed a sanding "profile" / holder that is the convex version of the key cap top, you could use that to sand them smooth with good consistency. You'd just have to make sure you slice them with a thick ceiling.
Maybe the odd escape with a model or item on top would be fun to print, or even clear TPU could work I will try that!
Ooooh I like the tpu idea! Thanks! It's gonna be perfect for just a little macro keyboard.
As it happens just scraped a stack of my GKtwo resin printer build platform. Just have to sand the bottom (supports) and hey presto. Can even do embossing on it with great results.
This was really clear and helpful, thank you! Now I have to figure out what resin printing is 😂
EXACTLY
3D printing tip: apply glue stick to the COLD bed
Maybe using abs and acetone smoothing would work
True! I haven't used ABS yet but that I'd a great idea for easier smoothing
@@S7Vision I would avoid ABS unless you have a space with good ventilation and no humans around. Even with a filter it is still highly questionable to print it near humans who might breath in the vapors from it.
If you really want smoothing you can try something like Prusament PVB which just smooths with IPA (which is also a lot less harmful/easier to handle), is easier to print and not as toxic as ABS printing. You might want to look into a drybox for printing it though. I never used it so I don't know how much of an issue moisture really is for PVB.
You're not alone my glass bed is the same.
How this not blow up
nice video but i want a time lapse all the keycap tho
Noted! I'll get a camera to get a better time-lapse of all the printing
I lament the idea that you forgot to do these prints with ironing on, it could have made the finish look a lot better whilst saving a lot of sandpaper in the process.
@@freepics1400 learned after! Still learning... 😅
25hrs of printing - how much does this affect the electric bill?
Hello. I need to 3D print some keycaps on the ender 3V3 ke, but it keepsfailing. The strucutre it self is great, but the steam. OMF. dosen't fit!!! I tried e.v.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. it doesn't work.
I have printed a spare L keycap as the original keycap broke, and some other keys for fun, also from what have learned along the way is that you want to print the keys with flat top surface and use ironing if you want them to feel as good to use as possible.
Do you think I could 3D Print a laptop keyboard keycap? I have 1 missing keycap but since my laptop is old, I unfortunately cannot easily find a replacement. So, I was hoping to 3D Print one instead.
@jikuzo Hey! I looked it up by searching "laptop key sissor 3d print" followed by model. Laptop switches use sissor hinges to work. Hopefully the plastic tab holding the hinge also isn't broken. If it is, prob would need to replace entire keyboard. I'd look into warranty too.
@@S7Vision Thanks for the info! I'll try and check.
Bambu Labs should hit u up
Do you still have the file? could you send me?
I was disappointed you didn't show how you imported and what settings you used in your slicer, you missed a chance to be able to help instruct and share more "how to"
Brother man, it's pretty straight forward.
@@grandmasterautistwizard4291 it's actually not, cura for instance, auto adjusts scale by 10,000 for no apparent reason, and the particular key I wanted to print has no information on the STL download page for size, scale or any other information, so I have nothing to go on for the correct scale to print.
this is for a Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro
so, yea, knowing what settings used would have been most advantageous.
Resin printing would also improve print time because printing 20 key caps would have taken just as long as 1
What size nozzle did you use? It looks way chunky.
0.4mm but now I have to feel I have to check my cura settings! I did enable ironing and played with some settings if that may affect it. Still learning the 3D printing process
@@S7Visionironing only helps for large flat surfaces and even then I personally dislike it
When you are printing small parts, you have to use a small nozzle. 0.2 mm is better.
Compare your total size to your print size.
@@butsukete1806 I'll get a .2 and try that out in the future, thanks for the tips yall!
@@S7Vision You really need to have your bed adhesion down though because your layer height will be cut in half. FDM printing small things is difficult.
I can see switching to resin for a project like this.
When I saw you moving the bed with the printer turned off my hearth just skipped, I fried 2 mother ;boards this way. I don't want to sound mean or anything, more like a friendly advice, please never move your bed or any stepper motors when your 3D printer isn't on. When you move a stepper it can create a some voltage and damage your motherboard. I'm not sure if it's a problem on any printer, but on my Ender 3 it really did some damage. Overall great video, I love watching people use 3D printing to improve their main hobby or work. 👍
Not sure how fast you were moving the bed but moving at a reasonable speed should never get you voltages above the mainboard's rate limits.
Appreciate the example. You should do a follow up of sanding with 1200 and 200 grit as 200 is way too low for polishing as well as method for painting methods for the top. Also, why can't you print more than one keycap at a time?
The inside of that keyboard looks so nasty 🤢if you already had the caps removed, you might as well clean it properly before filming...
use sla
Your 3D printer my guy needs cleaning and the key caps are garbage. it was a good try.
@hisway86 I've tried to wash the glass bed with hot water with soap and isopropyl alcohol, most likely will try a new bed soon.
millenial pause 💀