This video shows the main steps of making a new keycap. Enjoy! Visit us at keymacs.com
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@johncochran84972 жыл бұрын
Detailed breakdown of video. 0:00 to 1:32 Make mold to duplicate basic key shape. This step only needs to be done once per basic key size. 1:33 to 1:46 Duplicate basic key shape (need to do this for each unique keycap glyph). I would suspect one would make a hundred or so ahead of time. 1:47 to 1:57 Mount key shape into machining fixture. Notice that fixture allows for minor variations in base thickness, yet will result in exact placement of the key top itself. 1:58 to 2:51 Machine entire surface of key shape, leaving only desired glyph intact. This will represent shape of the first shot of resin for a new keycap. 2:52 to 3:35 Make four mold halves. Those being 1 Top half of glyph (1st shot). 2 Top half of full key shape. 3. Bottom half of glyph (1st shot) 4. Bottom half of full key shape. Includes stem to mount to key switch. Wooden dowels are for alignment and to provide an escape path for air while injecting resin. 3:36 to 3:43 Top half of mold for entire keycap (2nd shot) 3:44 to 3:50 Top half of mold for glyph (1st shot) 3:51 to 4:09 Bottom half of mold for entire keycap. Notice cavity for key stem (2nd shot) 4:10 to 4:19 Bottom half of mold for glyph (1st shot) 4:20 to 4:32 Assembly of mold for glyph. 4:32 to 4:35 Filling of mold for glyph (1st shot). 4:36 to 4:44 Removal of 1st shot from mold. 4:45 to 4:50 Placing glyph into fixture for drilling. 4:51 to 5:04 Drilling of 1st shot for flow and anchor holes. These holes will permit the flow of resin to reach all areas around the desired glyph and mechanically anchor the 1st and 2nd shots together. 5:05 to 5:09 Assembly of final mold with 1st shot inside. 5:10 to 5:11 Injection of resin for 2nd shot. 5:12 to 5:13 Removal of keycap from mold. Overall, a very nice little process. The making the molds only needs to be done once and the molds could then be reused many times until they wear out. Only the steps from 4:20 onwards needs to be done for each individual keycap.
@markussteinbach88422 жыл бұрын
First, awesome keycaps. But I was asking myself, if it wouldn´t have been easier to do the keycaps almost completely with the cnc instead of the molds. Is there a benefitial treat to do the molds?
@johncochran84972 жыл бұрын
@@markussteinbach8842 There's two critical issues to deal with. 1. The key stem that has to fit on the key switch. Effectively invisible, but critical for the keycap to be functional. 2. The keycap top. I could see him using CNC on white plastic and do everything about the keycap, then overcast in resin to get the double shot appearance. But in doing so, that would leave the key step in an unusable state. And hence, the keycap would be useless. If he has a 5 axis machine, it may be possible to CNC the inner white plastic if it's on its side instead of simply upright. That would allow access to both the top and bottom of the key insert. But it would be difficult, and I don't know how the side of the insert that the insert was supported by could be removed to make it invisible on the finished keycap.
@markussteinbach88422 жыл бұрын
@@johncochran8497 thanks for the replying. The argument for doubleshot makes sense. But what ist your opinion, If you do a sublimated keycap with a single color? My idea was to CNC the keycap in two passes. From top and from the bottom. I don't See anything where a 5 Axis CNC would bei needed. Is the surface Clean enough?
@johncochran84972 жыл бұрын
@@markussteinbach8842 If you're going to do dyesub for the legends, why not simply start with easy to purchase blank keycaps?
@markussteinbach88422 жыл бұрын
@@johncochran8497 valid question. If I want to stay OEM, that ist far easier. Other than that, would the finish of the keycap with a CNC be on par with your molding. For example, If you would want to make your own keycap design.
@silver_david24982 жыл бұрын
I love how this video quickly goes from "huh this could be a diy" to "ok way out of my league and budget but I'll still watch"
@andrewcleary99522 жыл бұрын
Really once they pulled out the cnc shaper I was just like "And you used LEGO in the last part *why* ?"
@erenender662 жыл бұрын
@@andrewcleary9952 because legos are neat
@necroowl3953 Жыл бұрын
@@andrewcleary9952 the eject technique was mind blowing are you kidding
@RomeDrori Жыл бұрын
Cncs aren't that pricey, this is surprisingly easily diyable
@Glarses3 жыл бұрын
very cool
@roykositzky22523 жыл бұрын
this was the coolest thing i have seen in the keeb world hands down.
@lilrowbear2 жыл бұрын
How do you watch every keycap or keyboard related video on youtube?
@pipfoster76462 жыл бұрын
Keyboard
@mysticfakir20292 жыл бұрын
@@lilrowbear With his glarses
@herrmutz2 жыл бұрын
DUDE, how much effort do you want to put into making keycaps ? Keymacs : "YES"
@strudelnutzz30522 жыл бұрын
Maximum Effort
@tedder130_2 жыл бұрын
channel shouldve been called keymax
@ag.cousins2 жыл бұрын
All
@fffrankthetankkk2 жыл бұрын
Congratulations you have achieved my highest applause a thumbs up and IV subscribed and left this comment at times I thought I could do this at home DIY but your skills are beyond that WELL DONE MISTER
@Dvrkstvr2 жыл бұрын
YES
@dwikafajri2 жыл бұрын
not gonna lie, this is art. this is different from industrial process, this is how to impress and present to us, about making, crafting, and processing an art from a keycaps.. hands down
@edgarbleikur19292 жыл бұрын
As a former toolmaker, maintenance fitter, industrial manufacturing and electronics engineer; I approve! Very impressed!
@disposabull2 жыл бұрын
Did you have Ride of the Valkyries playing for every tool change?
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@scheimong2 жыл бұрын
Imagine just how much lego these big keycap factories must have!
@vegardjohansen95892 жыл бұрын
"I get paid by the hour"
@karanoraon2412 жыл бұрын
Me : why are we watching this ? My brain : shut up! Just keep watching...
@HeyDan19832 жыл бұрын
95% of the video I didnt know what was going on...
@richard-mai2 жыл бұрын
I'll never complain about keycap prices again
@PinePizza2 жыл бұрын
still faster than waiting for GMK Groupbuy sets lol
@brucelee2282 жыл бұрын
truer words have never been said
@parkedhampster2122 жыл бұрын
As an 'I must do every step of the process for myself' type of diy person this is exactly the thing I was looking for to figure out what I would need for this process - only tens of thousands of dollars to go and then I can make my own double shot keys!
@theboythatsayshootyhoo38652 жыл бұрын
i had no idea what was going on and then it was suddenly done
@JJFX-2 жыл бұрын
This quickly went from, "Oh cool, maybe I could give this a shot..." to "Oh.".
@johnhendy12812 жыл бұрын
Not that you hadn't demonstrated it already at this point in the video, but when I saw you do the final machining in that metal fixture plate I blurted out loud, "yeah, this guy is legit." That was so impressive (and I'm a hobby CNC router owner, thinking of all the ways that what did was super difficult with respect to accuracy and repeatability). Amazing work!
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
@PatrickAdairDesigns2 жыл бұрын
Really makes me appreciate how affordable a mass produced set of double shot key caps can be!
@nunyabiznes332 жыл бұрын
I don't understand what the heck is happening and yet I still watched the whole thing
@uniworkhorse2 жыл бұрын
Jaw dropped seeing how much effort it takes for small-scale manufacturing! Thanks for sharing your craft!
@ashesonwool40112 жыл бұрын
Yall know hes a pro since he has that tool to pull lego bricks
@otita24882 жыл бұрын
Me during the first half: wtf is he doing Me during the second half: wtf is he doing
@anthonyellison47372 жыл бұрын
Me at the end: wtf was the point.
@jongon2812 жыл бұрын
@@anthonyellison4737 after hours of binging on his channel: wtf is he doing
@rickgreen76432 жыл бұрын
wtf
@idrisie67202 жыл бұрын
Me : hmmm maybe I can learn on how to make keycaps Also me a minutes later : ayo wtf
@est4952 жыл бұрын
There are easier ways
@brandsplanet43812 жыл бұрын
His childhood was spent in a different zone with Legos.
@marcusrauch42232 жыл бұрын
A part two with more detail about the processes involved would be great.
@ctrlaltdude2 жыл бұрын
I agree. The last few steps went by very fast.
@antonwinter6302 жыл бұрын
yes please
@a_d_z_y__2 жыл бұрын
*starts with Lego* *Ends with precisely cut metal piece out of a CNC made specifically to place Keycaps before milling them*
@pewpewdragon44832 жыл бұрын
starts with "this looks easy enough to try at home" ends with "nevermind, I don't own a production line"
@nemo2e42 жыл бұрын
This video is the epitome of “Now draw the rest of the ****ing owl”.
@Tanishq2692 жыл бұрын
I have absolutely no idea what is happening but I like it
@gyozakeynsianism2 жыл бұрын
"Double shot" means the keycap is made in two pieces that fit together. This video was about the process for the inside bit that makes the legend for one keycap.
@DrinkWater7132 жыл бұрын
@@gyozakeynsianism My keyboard box says it's "double shot pbt" so it means it's like the one in the video but with different material?
@gyozakeynsianism2 жыл бұрын
@@DrinkWater713 I believe so. The ones being made in this video appear to be and sound like they are of amazingly job quality. Drool-worthy.
@TheMizfitMan2 жыл бұрын
That's a lot of steps but at least the symbols will never wear off, they're solid.
@QuasiDude2 жыл бұрын
I was so confused by everything in this video then the end was so amazingly satisfying. So many skills and hours go into fabricating this one tiny part. 5 minutes ago I didn't know this hobby existed haha. Excited to see more!
@not_just_burnt2 жыл бұрын
the first thing that should tell you you are nuts if you are seeing someone making custom ALPS keycaps... what a madlad!
@MCgranat9992 жыл бұрын
So that's why they made Legos pricier over about 10 years or so
@fossar_2 жыл бұрын
Still don't know which ones were moulds and which were the actual keycaps
@NoticalMyles2 жыл бұрын
In our next video, we will be donating a significant portion of our lives to make the numlock key. Quite an exciting key. When you press it,the number keys don't work.
@jimgardner51292 жыл бұрын
That's some steady hand pouring the red.
@HyperCapricorn45162 жыл бұрын
No wonder they cost more than the keyboard
@IOSam3 жыл бұрын
Very elaborate process and incredibly educational!!! Thanks for this masterclass! (having that under "The ride of the Valkyries" soundtrack didn't hurt either :)
@esra_erimez2 жыл бұрын
Hi Sam
@IOSam2 жыл бұрын
@@esra_erimez Hey Esra!!! Nice to bump into you around here! :D
@BuildaSkill2 жыл бұрын
What a cool mold making process, and such clean results. I bet you learned a ton making these. Thanks for sharing.
@CiDK2 жыл бұрын
To anyone saying this is a waste if time. Have you never heard of a hobby before? Absolutely no one is forcing you to build your own key caps, this guy is doing it just because he LIKES doing it. Just like how some people likes to play games, do sports, work on cars, or literally anything else.
@AkaAka_AkaAka2 жыл бұрын
And for 5 min and 57 seconds I was completely and totally enthrawled.
@rickali54072 жыл бұрын
This was sick! But consider adding captions next time, I barely understood what was going on, so a bit of explanation would be great.
@RandmAnimal2 жыл бұрын
Its interesting how lego is tight enough to not get solicon spill
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
The silicone I use has relatively high viscosity.
@RandmAnimal2 жыл бұрын
@@keymacs ah i forgot the vicosity part of liquids
@metallicarabbit2 жыл бұрын
did you have a stroke?
@anoopjayan25102 жыл бұрын
@@keymacs Hey, what resin did you use for the actual keycaps in the end?
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
@@anoopjayan2510 Smooth-Cast 310
@JP-yg5bz2 жыл бұрын
In the beginning I was like "Legos? Wow maybe I can do this." Then they pull out the million dollar automated drill scribe and I'm like "maybe not..." 🥺
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
The machine (Nomad Pro by Carbide 3D) is affordable (now starting at $2,800).
@captainironbat81932 жыл бұрын
This seams like he could have skipped a ton of the steps he took in the beginning by just going straight to the cnc.
@zaxmaxlax2 жыл бұрын
I wish I had the same motivation and effort during my school times.
@Msantor16052 жыл бұрын
Ahh so this is why these keycap group buys are taken 2 years. MFers are making the key caps one by one with Legos!
@cadman97682 жыл бұрын
I mean, I want to say life's too bloody short, but equally found the whole process fascinating
@jonwebb92612 жыл бұрын
Might be the most satisfying thing I've ever watched
@pbpictology2 жыл бұрын
I have no idea what I watched and how we arrived at that keycap in the end but I watched the whole thing.
@r4vi4n2 жыл бұрын
Exactly my feeling 😅
@hatem02 жыл бұрын
I thought only me didn't understand a thing
@LeslieWorks2 жыл бұрын
Yeah wtf
@MajesticDemonLord2 жыл бұрын
Started watching for curiosity, stayed for the Valkyries.....
@badhonebrahim77072 жыл бұрын
the level of work you put in... danm...
@UncleChopChop222 жыл бұрын
Meanwhile in China some child is stamping out 5000 an hour of these for 9c a day.
@ztaltac95712 жыл бұрын
He just showed the actual use of lego
@viardent88232 жыл бұрын
i love things that are nearly impossible without cnc precision and pretty much trivial with it.
@johnear56572 жыл бұрын
Moral of story : Buy instead of make your own keycap
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
Or: Take the red pill and start appreciate fine things. ;-)
@stevenandino81782 жыл бұрын
@@keymacs Ikr, that makes you understand why the food delivery business is huge, why make when you can order, or why clean when maids exists, etc. Whats the point of having unique things when you can have a bunch of generic ones with 2 clicks.. Btw, nj! was cool to watch the process, had no idea.
@palananas2 жыл бұрын
*cries in gmk group buys*
@LemonCookies2 жыл бұрын
Wait im confused.. did u make a mold to make another mold to make another mold to make another mold to make a keycap?
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
Wait, I am confused, … another ‘mold to make another mold’ comment-seriously?
@FunDumb2 жыл бұрын
Lego for the mold set up is genius.
@cho7official552 жыл бұрын
The lego thing, is purely geniusness !
@spr00sem00se2 жыл бұрын
The use of Lego here makes me feel dumb for spending ages making card boxes around my parts to be molded. Thanks for the idea.
@anthonyellison47372 жыл бұрын
The use of Lego here makes me feel dumb for building things out of Lego as a kid when all the while I could have been using it for practical things like this.
@brianabongan22072 жыл бұрын
And now I will not ask why these keycaps are so expensive.
@WeaponsArtist2 жыл бұрын
Geez, no wonder keycaps are $1-$2 per keycap, home boy gotta build a whole Lego set to produce em
@ry7hym2 жыл бұрын
lmao underrated
@xarsf.w.38842 жыл бұрын
Im so high that i forgot what i was watching because of all the effort into making that
@mortezaesmaeilnezhad55052 жыл бұрын
Holy mother of god what did i just watch 🤯 i saw the videos thumbnail and said no way he is gonna make it 5 minute. I saw the video and my mind is blown how simple and high quality, steps were shown in this video. Nice work, definitely earned the sub.
@11zazzy112 жыл бұрын
Start off with everyday lego now lets all head over to our everday milling tools xD
@briangarrick96932 жыл бұрын
This is the only explanation I’ll accept for these gmk wait times
@HeroRc2 жыл бұрын
OMG such precision and quality! Just wow!
@MrMBinder2 жыл бұрын
This is a great video. I work as a machinist at a place where we make all kinds of injection molding tools for a lot of different industries, so I know a thing or two about the precision and attention to detail that go into these things.
@jamespfitz2 жыл бұрын
And the per unit cost of manufacturing
@MrMBinder2 жыл бұрын
@@jamespfitz Well, it's not cheap, I'll tell you that for free. The machines I work with in "my" area are pretty decent for finishing parts. I think they have a base price of $500K (give or take, exchange rates, etc.) And that's without a decent amount of carbide mills, fixtures, and so on. Consistent 0.003mm tolerances and polished surfaces are hard to achieve for most hobbyists.
@davidrojas64572 жыл бұрын
Now I understand why my GMK sets are taking so long to get here. This one guy has a lot of work to do!
@mikathegaything10 ай бұрын
this is much more expensive than GMK
@clickaclacka42023 жыл бұрын
Jesus christ, the dedication for every cap is insane. The fact that these are hand poured at every stage is mind boggling. Do you have to recast a new legend mold everytime?
@keymacs3 жыл бұрын
The molds are reusable but have a limited life. From 10 to 15 casts without a visible degradation.
@lmaogoshi2 жыл бұрын
Beautifully, masterfully done. I'm at work, sitting between two 3-axis routers and this made me want to try this out lol
@benjaminmoody77222 жыл бұрын
You ever just completely zone out while reading a book and by the end of the chapter, you have no clue about what the crap you just read? Yeah. That was me about 30 seconds into this video.
@gordonfreeman58722 жыл бұрын
keycap lore
@Snoigel2 жыл бұрын
gmk still hasn’t shipped my set i bought over a year ago can i just make the set myself jezus
@bryonypitt31152 жыл бұрын
This was the most satisfying thing I have ever watched.
@turingsghost2 жыл бұрын
Alright, fine, I won't complain about keycap prices any more.
@AMiniki2 жыл бұрын
Well… that explains the price.
@KeenyNewton2 жыл бұрын
Wow! I have a new found appreciation for the keycaps. The effort and the thought that goes in. TBH I got lost multiple times in the video, not being sure of what was really going on. 🙌🙌🙌
@ChrisTrunek2 жыл бұрын
i liked it within first 30 seconds because you're using legos as a mold box. freakin heck ya!
@chillinvibin60572 жыл бұрын
I was so confused about the whole process until the last 10 secs
@Soupie622 жыл бұрын
Next level is: triple shot. That's where you add a label to the FRONT of the keycap, using a different color (such as yellow). Extremely expensive, if you can even find a place that makes them, but great for 60% keyboards due to the extra functions each key must support.
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
I am on it sir. I hope to release the video in late Sep.
@himanshu-negi2 жыл бұрын
Moulding a mould out of a mould and moulding thatvmold into another mould
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
That is a lot of mould, I agree. The good news is I am working on another process-this time with less moulds and more crazy machining.
@himanshu-negi2 жыл бұрын
@@keymacs Cant wait to see it
@arnavbhandary1789 Жыл бұрын
@@keymacs when will you be updating us about that?
@Testerinopelinokinosjwizldid2 жыл бұрын
When gmk takes too long so you just make your own gmk sets
@nick_koh2 жыл бұрын
Cool video but somehow feels unnecessarily complicated.
@NdumN2 жыл бұрын
Using lego like that... Nice
@beseakos2 жыл бұрын
holy crap so this is how the resincasted double shot keycaps were made for your keyboards this is incredible ngl
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
@omnitype_official3 жыл бұрын
This is incredible. 👏🏻👏🏻
@It_needs_to_be_said2 жыл бұрын
Why no check mark? Are you real or fake?
@massgrave8x2 жыл бұрын
@@It_needs_to_be_said Channel has legit links to social media pages
@It_needs_to_be_said2 жыл бұрын
@@RapidReelTV lol I never even looked, I usually just join a GB and leave, thanks.
@Bluesonofman2 жыл бұрын
Does Lego approve of this?
@OneDollarWilliam2 жыл бұрын
Love watching a video and thinking: "OK, I can do that. I can do that. I can do that. Shit CNC. And now there are parts he didn't show the making of, are they 3d printed? Those look like toothpicks I can handle tha... wait. Is that milled block just for pushing the toothpicks out? Do I need to buy needles?! Can you just BUY needles?! Where did this metal plate come from?! Another one?! IT'S PART OF A MOUNT FOR THE CNC?! Ugh, guess I'll have to keep buying my keycaps like a chump."
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
😅 All parts are machined. Some of them are manufactured in other videos on my channel.
@kartikeyajp82942 жыл бұрын
Exactly i was thinking
@crspy10752 жыл бұрын
You demonstrated every step and I still don't understand LOL
@Aozora2102 жыл бұрын
The whole video shows a method of creating keycaps called double shot. Basically you have two sets of materials, one for the legends (in this case it's the custom logo) and then the base. It creates a very durable and smooth keycaps which legends wouldn't wear with time unlike legends that are printed or painted into the keycaps (though nowadays people have discovered very good printing that's very durable too). It also takes much longer process, like these three keycaps took him three days to make. So he first created the custom logo legend sculpt (the whole process of the first half of the video with the machine cutting), then he created a mold for the custom logo legend (the thing with the wooden pins) so it can be fit into many keycaps molds afterwards. After that, he uses the freshly made legend mold to make the actual legend for the keycap (where he shot white liquid into the mold) and cleaned it up after it dries (the machine cutting in latter part of the video). Finally he put that cleaned custom legend into an actual keycap mold, shotting inside it with black liquid, which hardens and wraps the legend snugly and beautifully. Thus, the method being called double shot. One shot for the legend, and one shot for the rest of the keycap.
@DarkusObscurius2 жыл бұрын
MAGIC, that's all.
@ivanshut52592 жыл бұрын
That was a ride that I was not ready for, the result might not have seemed to be worth the effort for y'all but, maybe that was never the point of the experience.
@HypeBeast7642 жыл бұрын
Once you have them molds though you can reuse them over and over again
@Shadow__X2 жыл бұрын
Those close up shots with those smooth, soft touch-ish finishes are beautiful in some weird way
@H3Y0o2 жыл бұрын
Lego: Listen up nerds, we have more use than just causing mayhem to your foot
@Admiral86Untidy2 жыл бұрын
Staggering amount of work for one key lmao
@HypeBeast7642 жыл бұрын
Yeah but the molds are reusable
@imwhatim72592 жыл бұрын
Bro this is industrial level
@meshacht49782 жыл бұрын
Epic... The cocktail stick ejector pins .. that tickled me. Good video, should be shown to students. Well done man.. !!!
@christ9382 жыл бұрын
I watched the whole thing just because I could tell this took a ton of effort
@mrbadpersonality2 жыл бұрын
I watched it hoping it would be cool in the end. I was wrong.
@antruys6462 жыл бұрын
Wow. Neat to see this and actually have a representation of what double shot injection means. Shows exactly why the quality would be better and why the price is so much higher
@keymacs2 жыл бұрын
Note, however, that the classic injection molding (ABS/PBT) is much different from this resin casting process. It typically runs on large automated machines and the demolding time is in seconds rather than hours but, yeah, it is substantially more expensive than pad printing or lasering.
@sntxrrr3 жыл бұрын
Wow, best use of Legos I have ever seen. Makes me appreciate the caps even more than I already do. And I want that one too.
@antonwinter6302 жыл бұрын
wow, that came out so clean
@olegebloek2 жыл бұрын
Why is the whole process so overly complicated? Why is the music so unnecessarily intense? How did I even get here in the first place?
@prawnmikus2 жыл бұрын
Box of chocolates?
@azka78042 жыл бұрын
Popcorn
@videogamehelper132 жыл бұрын
I understood nothing but I can appreciate the effort