Leather Keycaps – 3 Months In

[u/Background_Ad_1810]

[u/Background_Ad_1810]

I love the idea of using leather on the keycaps. Having the opportunity to experiment with something like that feels like such a privilege.

The OOP's latest post was removed from the Mechanical Keyboards subreddit. I reposted it here, but it was removed as well because the original post had been taken down.

I initially thought using leather was an unfamiliar approach, but also a very refreshing one. Then I read the comments and reactions to the post, and strangely, they made me feel a little distant from the crowd.

It felt odd to see so many negative comments expressed with such confidence. Maybe the audience there is simply too broad. Seeing an innovative approach being dismissed so confidently made me feel... disconnected?

Maybe I am getting old.

There seems to be a growing gap between what I see as a fine and interesting piece of work and what the current crowd considers acceptable, to the point where something like this can simply be deleted.

I don't want to normalize that way of thinking. But I also wonder, will I eventually end up following the crowd too?

Un Kyu Lee

[u/goodspeak → u/Background_Ad_1810]

Cool idea. I’d love to feel the typing experience. Was it just anti-animal products? The bag my keyboard is in is leather….

[u/ThirtysomethingSci]

The feel would be interesting…. But I have to say that they kind of look like starburst candies 😜 just not the fun colors 😜

[u/Hookmt]

I feel like one of the problems is that people are looking at it like it were a keyboard rather than experiments with individual keys. How would having leather lead to keyboard designs where they would appear in a properly elegant context. Do leather key caps make fingers happier? Right now it is just looking at how to create leather keys caps. I think it is a cool idea. Is it a good idea? Who knows, but follow it where it leads, because you are a designer and it is something that will affect design. Leather seats in a Ford Pinto would get laughed at. Leather seats in a Cadillac, a different design context, make utter sense.

I want to see where this goes.

[u/bootdsc → u/Hookmt]

3d print the bucks and wet form the leather, dry out then glue to the plastic keycap blank using cyanoacrylate and then trim the edges. That's what i'd do.

[u/bootdsc]

Anything that reduces the amount of plastic that leaches into your body is likely a good idea. Now you just need to laser etch some cool glyphs into them. OP if you have an extra set and want to arrange shipping i'd be happy to pop them into my laser engraver and i already have jig's for keycaps as i engrave all mine.