Painting a notebook keyboard?

One of the things I've been considering with my design for the Sager NP5793 is sanding down every key on the keyboard, then painting them all a nice, glossy white (except for the ASDW, which would probably end up black, for some contrast and geeky flair).

Is this possible? Does it have any serious risk of damaging the machine or ruining the keyboard? I'm new to this whole thing, so I really just don't even know where to begin.

Is this something that just can't be done?

Something that should be left to professionals?

A DIY project?

 

might not be too comfortable to type on with all the layers of clear coat to prevent it from being worn out, not to mention you'll be removing all the lettering on it.

 

Presumably one would stencil new letters on or something.

 

Actually, the lack of decals is intentional. Going for a sleek, elitist look, and I'm a touch-typer.

The issue of comfort might be relevant, though. I will probably try this out on an older machine to see what I think, before I even think about trying on a high-end machine.

 

so you're gonna have no letters on your keyboard? That's actually pretty cool.

 

I've been having a nasty time trying to find information about this, but I did finally find a pretty nice article describing how to paint a desktop keyboard: probably the closest I'm going to be able to find.. From what I can gather, painting a keyboard is a daunting, but not impossible task. No matter what happens, I will not lay a finger on my 5793 without practicing on two other old keyboards I have laying around.

 

There are quite a few mechanical keyboards with no letters.

Real nice.

Sounds like a great idea Flex! I love the way the FX's and Asus' have the arrows on the WSAD keys, but a different color would be awesome!

 

I did this with the Uniwill in my sig 2 years back. I just sprayed a clearcoat, though. You will need to remove each individual plastic key, then paint the keys and put them back. I strongly advice against going for a glossy finish- it may take 20 minutes or longer per key to get a professional, glossy finish(sanding, polishing, etc).

A matte finish(just remove the keys, clean[or sand] them, spray them, and put them back) would be much better and not nearly as time consuming.

When I sprayed my keyboard, I was just getting into painting and did a horrible job spraying the keys. The clear coat came out cloudy and consisted primarely of overspray. It took hours to undo the work and I ended up leaving the keys as they were.

Don't forget about all your special keys. The ones you (presumably) rarely if ever use. For example, perhaps the numberlock or scroll lock or the pause key. Maybe you do know where all the keys are and this won't be a problem. But I thought it was worth mentioning before you decide to take on this project.

 

Ah-hah! Glad to hear I'm not the first to attempt something like this.

Since I opened this thread, I asked the guys over at Laptop Design USA if they do this. I'm planning on sending in my machine to have it custom painted by them, anyway, and I figure that if they can do the keyboard while it's there, that should save me a lot of time and a lot of risk - for the right price.

On the other hand, though, I did decide to try my hand at painting my [much] older laptop, a HP Pavilion dv5000. Right now, I'm working on the monitor shell, but after that, I'm probably going to take a crack at the keys.

JPZ - is your recommendation to avoid a glossy finish only because of the extra time and work involved, or are there other detriments or risks involved? If it's just a matter of extra time and work, I think it's worth it, but if there's a bigger issue at hand, I'll stick to matte.

 

My biggest reason by far is the extra time. By the time you get to key number 10 there's a good chance you'll be regretting painting the keys. Trying to sand and polish all the tiny edges and surfaces becomes quite annoying. Depending on the type of plastic your keys are made of and your painting skills, you may be able to get a somewhat acceptable finish just be spraying the keys, but that probably won't happen. Also, there's always the issue of fingerprints(and scratches), so if you go for a gloss finish, I wouldn't paint the keys a darker color.

 

sem brand paints.... simply put. these are specifically designed for plastics. use a prep-sol on each key first to make sure any and all grease or contaminents are removed. then use a adhesive promoter. spray with the sem dye, then clear with the sem clear. imo i prefer the satin clear over the gloss clear if they will get touched a lot. sem paint is FOR SURE the way to go if you want to paint plastics. and if you even want them to have a texture to them sem has stuff called "texture spray" which give the plastics that slightly grainy texture like it had from the factory...

http://semproducts.com/Catalog.asp?cat=36

the products you want to use are from the color coat line from sem. trust me i paint custom made auto interior pieces all the time and we ONLY use sem paints.. i make people custom dash inserts and things like door panels etc to hold custom equipment

 

I was just curious enough to see how it would turn out, so I tried it out on my old HP Pavilion dv5000. I'm already in the process of gutting it, so I figured I might as well have some fun while I'm at it.

For the amount of time and effort I put into it, I am extremely pleased with the results. I'm afraid I started a couple of days ago, so I missed your advice, zfactor, but my process was pretty close, regardless.

Rather than paint the keys one at a time, I removed my entire keyboard and did all the keys at once. Needless to say, I was happy to have a spare USB keyboard to use while I was waiting. The entire process took about 48 hours, but if I were a little smarter and more patient, I would have stretched it out over the course of a week to allow plenty of time in between coats to dry and sand.

Because I rushed through several steps, the keys do not have a glassy smooth finish, and there are several noticeable blemishes from overspray, lack of sanding, and overall shoddy worksmanship (this is my first time attempting to paint just about anything - a more experienced painter would have easily avoided a lot of the mistakes I made).

On the other hand, most of the blemishes are very subtle and forgiveable, and the job turned out a heck of a lot better than I had expected. I have absolutely no doubt that anyone with a lot of patience and a bit of a steady hand could do this.

In other words, for a half-witted amateur with no real experience painting anything, I'd say it turned out pretty well.

PROCESS:

I started by removing the keyboard, taking off each key individually, and giving everything a good cleaning with a dry toothbrush and a can of compressed air.

MISTAKES/RECOMMENDATIONS: I did not sand the keys at any point in time during this project, out of impatience and laziness. I think the keys turned out fine, but if you wanted a glossy, ultra-smooth finish, you would need to sand often throughout the project, including right now.







After each key was cleaned, I placed it in its proper position on the tack side of a sheet of shelf lining paper, which I wrapped around cardboard to keep it sturdy. Shelf lining paper, I might add, is a miracle when working with paint - it has a very low-tack back surface that makes it perfect for temporarily mounting lightweight objects, taping off areas, or cutting stencils.

MISTAKES/RECOMMENDATIONS: If I had thought of it earlier, I would have used two layers of shelf lining paper, ribbed with popsicle sticks, straws, or something similar, so that instead of laying flat on the paper, the keys would have been elevated at the top and bottom edges, allowing for fuller paint coverage and less trimming, later.




The painting process went something sorta like this:

• Plastic primer spray - Coat 1
• Wait 10 minutes
• Plastic primer spray - Coat 2
• Wait 1 hours
• Gun metal paint - Coat 1
• Wait 10 minutes
• Gun metal paint - Coat 2
• Wait 10 minutes
• Gun metal paint - Coat 3
• Wait 10 minutes
• Gun metal paint - Coat 4
• Wait 12 hours
• Glossy clear finish - Coat 1
• Wait 10 minutes
• Glossy clear finish - Coat 2
• Wait 10 minutes
• Glossy clear finish - Coat 3
• Wait 10 minutes
• Glossy clear finish - Coat 4

MISTAKES/RECOMMENDATIONS: Again, I did not spend nearly as much time on this as I would have, if I was going for a professional finish. Realistically, anyone looking to do this to an expensive/important machine should probably stop in between every coat and carefully sand each key with an 800-grade or finer sandpaper: especially if you're going for a super-sleek glossy finish. Without stopping to sand, the original texture of the keys will be prominent in the final product.



I allowed the whole thing about 8 hours to dry, then I removed the keys, one by one. With a steady hand and an X-acto knife, I shaved away any flaky excess, then snapped each key back into place.

Anyone looking for a professional finish should give their keys much, much longer to dry before removing them from the tack paper. If I was going to do this to an important machine, I would have allowed at least a full 48 hours. The paint was still a little tacky after just 8 hours, and several keys now have prominent fingerprints, nicks, and dents from handling them too early.



Once everything was back in place, I wiped the keyboard down with a microweave cloth, then gave it one more good cleanout with the compressed air, to be sure everything was in ship shape.





OTHER NOTES:

• The right arrow key was damaged by my own stupidity, by trying to remove the key from the top edge. I found out the hard way that the arrow keys, the F1-F12 keys, and the special function keys are all hinged on the left side, so I should have removed them from the right side, rather than the top. I'm assuming that every keyboard is different. Try to get a good look at the bottom side of your keys with a flashlight before you do any serious prying, to avoid damaging your keys. As for me, I'll probably swap out the broken piece for one of the lesser-used special function keys (who really uses Pause/Break on a regular basis, anyway?).
• The keys are noticeably heavier than before, but I did this with low-grade paint that goes on very, very thick. With Krylon or vinyl dye, I suspect there would not be a noticeable difference. Even with this thick paint, there is no rubbing/grinding between keys, and the keyboard is still very responsive and easy to use.
• The textured gunmetal paint does a fantastic job of hiding smudges and fingerprints, but a darker color or a smoother finish would reveal them much more clearly. Even after fully drying, the glossy coat has sort of a "sticky" feel to it. People with "smudgy" typing styles might notice a bit of lag in their typing, but I'm more of a poker (and a darned fast poker, I might add).
• I cannot emphasize this enough: the biggest mistake I made throughout this process was impatience. The longer you wait in between each coat, and the thinner you spray each coat, the smoother and cleaner your finished keys are going to turn out. Waiting out each coat also gives you the opportunity to sand: another time-consuming step that yields magnificent results.
• My warranty for this puppy expired years ago. I imagine that your warranty, if you still have one, will expire the moment you do this to your keyboard. Assume the worst.

Anyway, that's that!

After having done it, seen it, and used it, I've definitely decided that I like the effect, and that it looks pretty snazzy, even with a rather dull gunmetal finish. With a bright white or even a shiny chrome, the effect would be awe-inspiring (just as long as you kept a microfiber cloth handy to wipe out smudges)! On gaming rigs, I would also be tempted to use a different color for ASDW, for a nice effect. The extraordinarily patient could even go out of their way to two-tone their keys or apply stickers/stencils.

Any touch-typer worth his weight in paint fumes should be able to work with the blank keyboard quite easily: I occasionally have to double back when I'm looking for something obscure or remote, like the F8 key or the NUM LOCK key, but having a blank keyboard just helps to reinforce your memory even faster.

Speaking of paint fumes: wear a mask and keep your painting area well ventilated. Headaches aren't much fun, and lead poisoning is such a hassle.

But seriously, folks. Don't kill yourselves.

After seeing what I could do with a couple of days and twenty bucks, I have no doubt in my mind that a professional could do some pretty awesome stuff. With that in mind, I'm definitely thinking about having my NP5793 keyboard done in chrome. :]