3D Printing Keycap, possible?

[Cyclonechuah]

i apologize if this has been talk before or well, not possible.

not sure if this is even possible, well.. i just want you guys to share some view and opinion on this.

[mintberryminuscrunch]

It's possible but expensive

[Spharx]

just make a mold : http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:23722 .. but watch out with the link I don't know if geekhack is save already

[Isaiah]

I own Metro Rapid Prototyping and am highly interested in architecture. We have made stereolithgraphy models and RTV casting for the U S Capitol Visitors' Center and the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

What is the preferred file type for architects? We want to have the most up to date translation apps available to keep up.

Thanks.

[Gerk]

Most of the current crop of 3d printers don't have the resolution to handle keycaps very well. I tried one with a current RepRap model and the results were less than spectacular. You can get down to 1mm for the fine details, but in the case of cherry mx stem mounts it's not enough to make it worthwhile to pursue. That may change in the future, but it will also depend on the materials available and the like.

As an earlier poster pointed out a mould based setup is really the way to go.

[trax]

Get a printrbot or we, their like 1000 dollars,
Im sure you will get profit over time

[Findecanor]

In a thread on geekhack, user "rantenki" claims to have got quite good results with a Prusa Mendel (RepRap) bot. According to him, the bot could make Cherry stems fine, but the key caps did not have a very nice surface finish. The subtle curve and inclination of standard key faces turned out to be the biggest problem.