[GreenKeys] Teletype key caps

[Jordan Spencer Cunningham]

As a sysadmin, I take my keyboard selection more seriously than the average
user, but not $150 seriously. Maybe I should care more than I do for the
sake of my wrists.

I would have some interest in this, perhaps to the point of $75 or so. I
know it may be unlikely to get the price point that low, but keep me on
your mailing list regardless. Maybe I'll change my mind when confronted
with the choice.

--Jordan

On Mar 6, 2018 7:27 PM, "Ethan Blanton" <elb at kb8ojh.net> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm a computer programmer, so I spend a lot of time in front of the
> keyboard.  As such, I take keyboards pretty seriously, and have
> several expensive mechanical keyboards [1, 2].  This sort of thing
> becomes a habit (sort of like Teletypes), and the next thing you know,
> you're considering custom key caps.
>
> So here's where it gets relevant to this group.  I've been thinking
> about digging into the practicality of having custom key caps made in
> Teletype style.  (Using Teletype green for the letter keys, red for
> modifier keys, large gothic legends, CAR RET on the Enter key, etc. --
> basically, as much like a Teletype Model 28 keyboard as is practical.)
> My questions are, 1) is anyone willing to help out (for example, I
> don't have access to a calibrated Pantone color capture device or a
> Pantone color book, and plastics are often specced in Pantone colors,
> so a color capture of the relevant keys would be handy; also, the key
> legends have to be drawn in something like Illustrator, and my
> graphics design skills are mediocre (so I'd just have to use some
> gothic-ish font and call it a day)), 2) is anyone else interested in
> such a key set, and 3) for what price would people be interested (it
> won't be particularly cheap, see below)?
>
> The keys would fit Cherry MX style key switches, so they may not fit
> every keyboard.  In particular, they probably don't fit most cheap OEM
> keyboards, and they absolutely won't fit laptops or other "chicklet"
> style keyboards.  I don't know what prices would be, but custom-ish
> key sets typically run between $50 and $150 for a standard 104-key
> keyboard.  If quantities are very small, the prices may be even higher
> and this may not be at all practical.
>
> This is just a feeler.  If interest is high and people seem to think
> they'd pony up for it, I'll dig deeper.  If not, it'll probably stay
> on the back burner until I can come up with a solution for some of the
> logistical problems (like color capture and legend design) myself.
> That might be a long time.  ;-)
>
> If you want to see some custom key caps to see the sort of thing I'm
> talking about, there are some producers around the 'net with galleries
> [4, 5] and communities that get excited about these things [6, 7].
>
> Ethan
>
> [1] https://kb8ojh.net/elb/musings/infinity-ergodox-online.html
> [2] https://youtu.be/Bd2j9myjWWA
> [3] https://kb8ojh.net/station/teletype/images/Keys.jpg
> [4] https://pimpmykeyboard.com/keysets/
> [5] https://kono.store/collections/keycap-sets
> [6] https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/
> [7] https://geekhack.org/
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