February 20, 2023
Description
I designed a retro set of key caps for Cherry MX switches. Two different designs are part of the set:
The bowl-shaped ones are great for ‘noticeable’ keys (e.g. F/J), or if you generally prefer the surface feeling.
Both types can be printed either upside down or regular, with some effects on print quality. In my case, I prefer to print them top-down and with break-away support material. If you use wood-fill filament & concentric layers, and eg copper- or steel-fill outer filament, it gives a wood-grain like structure with really good grip for typing, and can be polished or sanded. In the picture you can still see the white support material in place on one key cap.
Prusaslicer 2.6 makes it easy to add lettering for your specific alphabet or symbol needs. I've uploaded a .3mf file that contains the standard lower case letter set for easy printing in the ‘regular’ orientation. Make sure your print surface is well dialed in, otherwise you will have misformed connectors for the Cherry MX switches.
Up-side down prints easier, but relies on the MMU and solvable/breakaway supports or post-processing o look good.
The caps fit on Cherry MX switches. The spacing on my ‘dual’, ‘triple’ or ‘space bar' is unique for my specific project. If there are requests, I'll create a few generic designs with standard spacing for single switches on these.
License:
Creative Commons — Attribution — Noncommercial