Found another FK-2001, tips on painting the chassis black?

[LambdaCore]

Title says it all! The thing has a ton of broken keys, the key caps were pad printed and just feel kinda awful and I'm curious if I could take the chassis and paint it black, I've seen the black 2001s and they look beautiful! I have some spare black alps mount tai hao key caps and think it could work, any tips on how I might paint it? I believe the chassis on the FK-2001 is ABS same as the caps.

[Polecat]

Old thread where I painted a KB-101A case dark gray:

viewtopic.php?p=392175#p392175

DupliColor Vinyl and Fabric paint from the auto parts store works well. It will wear off with use. A paste wax treatment after a couple weeks will help even out the surface and possibly protect it from wear.

Some tips and tricks for black Focus boards:

viewtopic.php?f=62&t=22072

Unusual for a (beige?) Focus to have printed caps. But my black one did. Bottom row was a bit tricky, but some parts donors helped out. There were at least three layouts for the FK-2001, so caps will depend on which version you're starting out with.

[LambdaCore]

For this project I'd get a big ass enter from Tai Hao and I already have the rest of the caps so I'm good on that front.

[Polecat]

For this project I'd get a big ass enter from Tai Hao and I already have the rest of the caps so I'm good on that front.

Maybe, or maybe not. The Tai Hao BAE keys take two MX-style inserts, for two wire-type stabilizers. The early Focus BAE keys have one stabilizer wire and a guide pin and socket. Late Focus BAE takes two wire-type stabilizers, so you need to check that before ordering the Tai Hao Enter key.

[LambdaCore]

For this project I'd get a big ass enter from Tai Hao and I already have the rest of the caps so I'm good on that front.

Maybe, or maybe not. The Tai Hao BAE keys take two MX-style inserts, for two wire-type stabilizers. The early Focus BAE keys have one stabilizer wire and a guide pin and socket. Late Focus BAE takes two wire-type stabilizers, so you need to check that before ordering the Tai Hao Enter key.

Ah, thanks for the heads up! I'd be pretty upset to pay shipping on one of those only for it to be completely incompatible lol

[Polecat]

Ah, thanks for the heads up! I'd be pretty upset to pay shipping on one of those only for it to be completely incompatible lol

Tai Hao is a first class company to deal with. I ordered several of the offset black CapsLock caps, and they were in my hands (in the U.S.) in just a few days.

Both the black and beige 2001/2002 boards on the above link had the guide stems on the Enter keys. But the one I painted gray with Windows keys and Dolch caps had the Enter with two stabilizer wires. I don't know if that changed at the same time the Windows keys version came out, or sometime before or after that, but it does affect the choice of Enter key. On the Dolch one I used a black Enter from a Datacomp with the two stabilizer wires.