Pimp my G80 5000

[t!ng]

Hey guys I would like to mod my yellowed g80 5000 a little.

I had something like this in mind (this is not my g80 5000, I have just used it for paint/photoshop):

80500.jpg (280.22 KiB) Viewed 9061 times

Possible mods:
a) paint the case either RAL 7000 or black (cannot decide)
b) glue some leather on the palm rest, any tips ? (what kind of leather? how to attach? cutting tips?)
c) either bleach the spacebar (dont want that option) or paint it (?) or replace it (what kind of keycaps?) or put some leather on it (?)

How would you do it? My mod experience is based on building an ergodox and painting a poker case.

Thanks in advance

[Nuum]

How dare you?

A dark grey similar to an NCR 3077 would look good, I think. Gluing leather to the palm rest would just look cheap, better upholster the palm rests, this way it's reversible.

[t!ng]

It just looks meh right now- it is yellowed :/

Yes NCR case color looks cool, but what color code is it?
What do you mean by upholster?

Also I wouldnt just glue leather pieces there , I would sew or work other wise the edges... maybe I am imagining it too beautiful.

[Nuum]

I don't exactly know if "to upholster" is the right English word, but I meant "beziehen", so wrap a piece of cloth/leather around it and sew it together.

[t!ng]

Gute Idee, like a sock....

[guk]

Maybe consider using plastidip for the paint job, it won't last forever but that way you won't alter the case irreversibly.

[t!ng]

Also good idea, have you got experience with plastidip? Is it good ablösbar?

[guk]

Also good idea, have you got experience with plastidip? Is it good ablösbar?

No personal experience with it unfortunately. Only read about it and saw some results. Almost all of the reviews were positive and it's appearantly quite easy to use. Especially when you have experience in spray painting. There was a rather detailled guide on either gh or rmk iirc. And it is ablösbar very easily.

[t!ng]

Wondering if plasti dip enhances dust magnetism....

[ramnes]

You really suck at photoshop!

[t!ng]

I appreciate every contribution =)

[seebart]

How about pimping it back to it's original glory with some retrobrighting?

[t!ng]

Thought about it.

How much would this cost and how long will the result last? I read somewhere that it will yellow again quite soon.

[Muirium]

It does.

http://deskthority.net/keyboards-f2/ret ... t6084.html

Mind, I'm wary about slapping on another colour or material, either. Yellow boards are a bitch, valuable ones especially so.

[photekq]

Blasphemy! You should not touch something that is already perfect..

However, if you're going to.. Maybe this will inspire you to do a good job :

The only attempt at a 5000 paint/mod I've seen (by user mass):

[HzFaq]

I was planning on doing something similar to that Pho but couldn't think of a way to get the spacebar black so decided not to bother.

[chzel]

Blasphemy! You should not touch something that is already perfect..

I was expecting that!

[seebart]

Retrobrighting does not cost much if you can use sunlight. Yes the yellowing will return, how soon varies. With a valuable board like this the effort might be worth it. Of course you want to avoid the dreaded marble effect so practice on something else first!

[kbdfr]

I have been experimenting lately with a very simple, very quick and very cheap retrobrighting method, with excellent results so far, but which unfortunately I have not documented.
As an example, here's a pic of two keyboards which I received from the same person at the same time and with similar yellowing, one of which I retrobrighted last week:

yellowed and retrobrighted side-by-side.jpg (117.7 KiB) Viewed 8874 times

Next thing I intend to do is photographic evidence of the whole process using this badly yellowed case (see the original colour where there had been stickers above the F keys):

yellowed 1000.jpg (125.01 KiB) Viewed 8874 times

So perhaps you should just wait a bit before committing such a blasphemy [© photekq]

[002]

Nice result, kbdfr
Looking forward to seeing the method.

[seebart]

Can't wait to get your new formula. I hope you will be sharing this with us in detail kbdfr !

[t!ng]

Looks clean kbfr, but how long will it last?
Also looking forward to your solution...

@photekq: That black G805000 looks awesome!

Wondering if there are any keycaps that fit these spacebar stems:

20150621_132934.jpg (712.11 KiB) Viewed 8828 times

I can't stop to praise these spacebars, their thought-out design and feel.

Here's a pic of the yellowness ( in real life it is even worse):

20150621_133537.jpg (504.24 KiB) Viewed 8828 times

You can see it better here:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24690177/Bilde ... 20_223.jpg

Besides this yellowness this board is a blast, the MX Browns, the five extra F-keys, the ergonomics. One can really see how and what the engineers thought at the designing process.

[kbdfr]

No sunshine today, so I thought I’d give it a short sunless try with the tray of a telephone swivel arm.
It was uniformly yellowed and only the top half was treated while the bottom half was left unchanged.
The two keycaps used as a reference are clean sub-dyed Cherry caps.

1st photo taken at 10:50 today just before starting:

retrotest-01.jpg (523.25 KiB) Viewed 8801 times

2nd photo taken at 12:57, just after rinsing the plate after 2 hours:

retrotest-03.jpg (525.07 KiB) Viewed 8801 times

The left edge obviously didn’t quite react as well as the rest,
but I would say after only 2 hours exposition to absolutely sunless daylight that is a nice result

[seebart]

when (if at all) will your secret new retrobright formula / method be made public kbdfr? It looks promising!

[kbdfr]

when (if at all) will your secret new retrobright formula / method be made public kbdfr? It looks promising!

It’s not a secret, I just forgot to tell
Let me take a few pics of what I use and I’ll be back.

[kbdfr]

Here it is:

12% H2O2 cream for hairdressers (e.g. on eBay for a few euros),
Stain remover (Oxi Vanish) as a spray (for a few euros)

rbm-1.jpg (164.66 KiB) Viewed 8772 times

Details H2O2 cream

rbm-2.jpg (130.47 KiB) Viewed 8772 times

Details Oxy Vanish

rbm-3.jpg (258.04 KiB) Viewed 8772 times

Paint brush (less than 1 euro)

rbm-4.jpg (87.03 KiB) Viewed 8772 times

Dripping assembly, big

rbm-5.jpg (143.01 KiB) Viewed 8772 times

Dripping assembly, small

rbm-6.jpg (106.68 KiB) Viewed 8772 times

Apply H2O2 cream with the brush (not much more than a spoon needed for a keyboard case), then spray Oxi Vanish upon it and brush. Brush again in intervalls of about half an hour, adding a bit H2O2 and Oxi Vanish if needed to prevent drying (which is essential). Use gloves (OK, I don’t, I’m just careful to avoid any splashing and skin contact) and be aware the stuff will inevitably drip.

When exposed to sunlight (which obviously is necessary), a yellowed keyboard case will need not more than a few (let’s say 4) hours to look like new again.

At least that’s my experience (based on half a dozen items), but of course I won’t be liable if you mess it up

[seebart]

Cool. Thanks. Now I got my shopping list. I will try this out.

[Muirium]

Barbarella brand peroxide? Neat!



Maybe there is something to be said for the bleached retrobrighted look. Until it grows out again…

[kbdfr]

Obviously Scots can’t read

[XMIT]

Yes. Avoiding drying is essential. If you don't, the results will be... unfortunate. I've learned this the hard way twice.