Buckling spring MT3 Keycaps! (MOVED)

[vyquad]

So i got to type on a selectric for the first time and i really loved the keycaps, but with buckling springs theres really only 1 profile so i had to get working in blender (With some people that can do CAD to fix bad stuff in the model). While it may look a bit crude, my attemps at making it look good have failed spectacularly. The base of the model comes from jaseg's buckling spring stl and it was some 20s typewriter buckling spring keycap i used for the thing that the spring sits in (These were designed with the Model F XT in mind so it is unknown if some of these keycaps will fit onto a model m) As of right now, these are untested. EDIT: Someone has offered to redesign the top part of the 2 piece keycap


EDIT: Project taken over by ThermometerSandwich viewtopic.php?f=7&t=27105

[headphone_jack]

These will 100% feel scratchy and awful at the resolution you've printed them at. Filament printing, even at its best, really can't do the "grain" you would need to get a smooth switch, even with monstrous amounts of lube applied. Hell, I doubt resin printing could get a high enough resolution to make these feel anything close to the original. The key tops are also very sloppy, you need to adjust the angle of the bottom piece to be flush with the dish at the top. But without injection molding (which would cost thousands) these aren't really that useful.

[Bjerrk]

Neat experiment! Looking forward to your account of the testing, even if the keyfeel turns out to to be a bit scratchy

[Yasu0]

Have thought about grafting selectric caps as a possible solution. I think by hand could work even if tedious. Today's adhesives, some of them are amazing. I don't think that would be your main issue with this method.

For smoothing out rough machine made parts, maybe build them up a little bit oversize and use a deburring method afterward?

[Yasu0]

Joining dissimilar material should be easy, one would think, with modern adhesives. Get your smooth half from originally mold cast IBM pieces, then put your finger interactive half from the old type writers on top.

[jsheradin]

Another approach might be to utilize buckling spring two piece caps and just print some tops with your desired profile.

Edit: Didn't see Yasu0 beat me to it.

[vyquad]

Another approach might be to utilize buckling spring two piece caps and just print some tops with your desired profile.

Edit: Didn't see Yasu0 beat me to it.

If the V3 prototype does not work, then i will be using this idea

[vyquad]

i forgot to mention that I AM NOT THE ONE MAKING THE PRINTS, I AM GETTING THESE MADE TO ORDER

[vyquad]

Another approach might be to utilize buckling spring two piece caps and just print some tops with your desired profile.

Edit: Didn't see Yasu0 beat me to it.

Seems thats the only option as the prototype (even without the thing where the spring sits) is way too hard to push up and down and is not smooth at all (Even without the spring in the barrel!) as someone else in this thread said

[Muirium]

Is your goal now to make white, spherical, blank outer shells? That's about all you can do with 3D-printing.

[vyquad]

Is your goal now to make white, spherical, blank outer shells? That's about all you can do with 3D-printing.

Yeah, i guess if you want to do sublimation you have to do that yourself

[vyquad]

UPDATE: Turns out ThermometerSandwich actually did their own take on it, albeit still prototyping

[inozenz]

UPDATE: Turns out ThermometerSandwich actually did their own take on it, albeit still prototyping

i love 3d printers, amazing job :O

[Bjerrk]

UPDATE: Turns out ThermometerSandwich actually did their own take on it, albeit still prototyping

Damn!! Got any more information?

[Muirium]

Wonder if the is engraved?

[ThermometerSandwich]

Thanks for the shout-out vyquad!
Great work on your caps btw! I'm still amazed at how well those stems came out.

I plan on making a larger build log post in the Workshop about this topic in the next couple weeks. So, I suppose this is kind of a teaser trailer

20220126_101116.jpg (973.17 KiB) Viewed 15261 times

From left to right:

• OG Model M/F keycap
• My first infill test on a resin print with black CA glue (lesson learned: don't use CA glue for infill...)
• Profile test with Sharpie legend. I quickly printed a set of alphas like this just to try out for a while to make sure I was happy with the dish shape. Okay, so I may have printed several sets until I was happy with the shape... This was printed at a bit too high of a layer height (0.05 mm I think).
• Proof of concept of a "Triple Shot" keycap using the same type of UV resin as the print itself.

Wonder if the is engraved?

For the and ≥M, the caps were printed with little voids for the legends. The legend was filled with black CA glue, then sanded a bit. This didn't turn out super well. For the ≥M, I used the same UV resin as the print itself with pigment added. I poured a little resin into the voids, then put clear tape over the uncured resin to shape it. I cured it by shining a UV laser through the tape. After removing the tape, a little sanding cleaned it up pretty quickly. I meant for the main legend to be black, but I definitely didn't add enough pigment to the resin, so grey it is. Other than the color issue, I'm pretty happy with the results.

I thought about CNC milling the legends, but I think the prints came out well enough when printed at 0.02 mm or so. Also, I'm way too lazy to do the tool-pathing for ≥107 different legends.

i love 3d printers, amazing job :O

Thanks!

Is your goal now to make white, spherical, blank outer shells? That's about all you can do with 3D-printing.

[Muirium]

One of those so has my name on it…

[Bjerrk]

Neat experiment! Looking forward to your account of the testing, even if the keyfeel turns out to to be a bit scratchy

Well, almost. Except for the spam link you embedded in the smiley face.

[Scottex]

Thanks for the shout-out vyquad!
Great work on your caps btw! I'm still amazed at how well those stems came out.

I plan on making a larger build log post in the Workshop about this topic in the next couple weeks. So, I suppose this is kind of a teaser trailer
20220126_101116.jpg

From left to right:

• OG Model M/F keycap
• My first infill test on a resin print with black CA glue (lesson learned: don't use CA glue for infill...)
• Profile test with Sharpie legend. I quickly printed a set of alphas like this just to try out for a while to make sure I was happy with the dish shape. Okay, so I may have printed several sets until I was happy with the shape... This was printed at a bit too high of a layer height (0.05 mm I think).
• Proof of concept of a "Triple Shot" keycap using the same type of UV resin as the print itself.

Wonder if the is engraved?

For the and ≥M, the caps were printed with little voids for the legends. The legend was filled with black CA glue, then sanded a bit. This didn't turn out super well. For the ≥M, I used the same UV resin as the print itself with pigment added. I poured a little resin into the voids, then put clear tape over the uncured resin to shape it. I cured it by shining a UV laser through the tape. After removing the tape, a little sanding cleaned it up pretty quickly. I meant for the main legend to be black, but I definitely didn't add enough pigment to the resin, so grey it is. Other than the color issue, I'm pretty happy with the results.

I thought about CNC milling the legends, but I think the prints came out well enough when printed at 0.02 mm or so. Also, I'm way too lazy to do the tool-pathing for ≥107 different legends.

i love 3d printers, amazing job :O

Thanks!

Is your goal now to make white, spherical, blank outer shells? That's about all you can do with 3D-printing.

this is great, sphericals for buckling spring is a dream

[mrprofessor]

Thanks for the shout-out vyquad!
Great work on your caps btw! I'm still amazed at how well those stems came out.

I plan on making a larger build log post in the Workshop about this topic in the next couple weeks. So, I suppose this is kind of a teaser trailer
20220126_101116.jpg

From left to right:

• OG Model M/F keycap
• My first infill test on a resin print with black CA glue (lesson learned: don't use CA glue for infill...)
• Profile test with Sharpie legend. I quickly printed a set of alphas like this just to try out for a while to make sure I was happy with the dish shape. Okay, so I may have printed several sets until I was happy with the shape... This was printed at a bit too high of a layer height (0.05 mm I think).
• Proof of concept of a "Triple Shot" keycap using the same type of UV resin as the print itself.

Wonder if the is engraved?

For the and ≥M, the caps were printed with little voids for the legends. The legend was filled with black CA glue, then sanded a bit. This didn't turn out super well. For the ≥M, I used the same UV resin as the print itself with pigment added. I poured a little resin into the voids, then put clear tape over the uncured resin to shape it. I cured it by shining a UV laser through the tape. After removing the tape, a little sanding cleaned it up pretty quickly. I meant for the main legend to be black, but I definitely didn't add enough pigment to the resin, so grey it is. Other than the color issue, I'm pretty happy with the results.

I thought about CNC milling the legends, but I think the prints came out well enough when printed at 0.02 mm or so. Also, I'm way too lazy to do the tool-pathing for ≥107 different legends.

i love 3d printers, amazing job :O

Thanks!

Is your goal now to make white, spherical, blank outer shells? That's about all you can do with 3D-printing.

Wow, they look super cool. Want to get my hands on a set

[ThermometerSandwich]

Heading your way, vyquad!

Spoiler:

keycapParade

20220405_154318.jpg (2.98 MiB) Viewed 11115 times

[ThermometerSandwich]

I plan on making a larger build log post in the Workshop about this topic in the next couple weeks. So, I suppose this is kind of a teaser trailer

Build log started: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=27105

[-Space-NATO-]

Looking very nice!