Drop Mech Keys Meetup Recap - Thanks for Visiting!
As you may have seen, we just hosted our first meetup in quite a while here at Drop HQ (Corsair HQ, but they seem to like us enough :) )! It was a blast to get to meet so many enthusiasts local to the bay area—it had been 10 years since I was last hanging out with keyboard nerds in the bay, at KeyCon 2014. We had a great time hosting everyone at the offices, checking out all the very nice boards y'all brought, and sharing some of our own projects/spaces! I knew it would be fun to host in the Game Room when I first saw it in person, but seeing it come to fruition was still so cool. Alright, I'll stop blabbering on now. xD Picture time! (Oh, real quick - there will be more of these! Stay tuned for more info and to catch the next one!)
May 15, 2024
I am a tinkerer, and as such, ever since I first heard about mechanical keyboards I've been interested in designing my own keycaps - not just in terms of layout and colour, but completely from the ground-up. I know that this is not necessarily the most cost-effective way to go about things, but I am naturally just very curious and love to take on new challenging projects, so making an entire keyboard essentially from scratch is something I'd like to do at some point; the keycaps are just the aspect I'd like to tackle first (I have CAD/CAM skills and am finishing design school so I am fairly confident that I can do the case design and soldering etc.).
I have a couple ideas about manufacturing methods, but the one thing that I see as the biggest challenge is the stems, and getting a perfect fit. I could take an existing keycap and work off a silicone mould of it, but I am also entertaining the possiblity of downloading CAD models of the stem or purchasing some kind of pre-made mould of just the stem profile.
Does anyone have experience DIY-ing keycaps and know good resources to look to as far as parts I could buy to work off of of can just offer me advice? Anything would be appreciated - although I've learned so much about mechanical keyboards I'm sure a lot of you have more expertise on the subject!
Cheers!