What is the most important part of the keycap? The average user-who cares may tell you that it looks and feels, but a keyboard maker will probably tell you the mounting style. Where the rubber meets the road, after all. Anyone trying to create their own keycap, ‘Mount itself’ is definitely the right answer. Try printing your own keycaps, and you’ll learn a lot about tolerance when mounted correctly.
Alternatively, you can use a subtraction mechanism, such as a wooden mill, to make keycaps. Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? But what about all of us who don’t have access to one? [cbosdonnat], Which has no CNC, combines hand-tooled wooden keycaps with 3D-printed mounts to create a fully customized keycap, creating a cellulose trail. This is a great project, including how to do it briefly, especially when it comes to creating the jigs needed to keep key-caps consistently in shape and size.
It makes perfect sense to start the business side by hollowing out the bottom instead of cutting the first or even the original shape, since the mount is mechanically important. Why waste time on looks and feelings if the foundation is not there yet?
Hardwood is required for DIY keycaps, as the walls need to be thin enough to fit both above the switch and between the matrix and be strong enough to break in use. We liked the look of the varnish-transferred laser-printed logo and had only one video so we could hear the clicking.
DIY keycaps have all sorts of ways to hold legends, for example waterslide decals.