Project: Keyboard make over

S

sanj101

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
448
Ok im 14 parents kno next to nothing about computers and i've almost finished my rig but I can't afford a new keyboard (ie a satiek with blue leds all over) so im gong to turn a current old windows keyboard ( had it for about 3 years) from white to black using any materials in the house I can find im not going to buy a thing lol.

The keyboard BTW the armrest ataches onto it I forgot to take a picture with the armrest on.
origkeyboard.jpg

armrestbefore.jpg

Ok the problems that I know im going to face are:I dismatled the keyboard and realised taht the keys are attached to the top frame so its im possible for me to just spray all over the top as the keys letters and numbers will go in the process but whta im goig to do is hold a piece of card board inbetweek the long lenghts so keys will stay white but outter rim wil be black. The keys arn't in one straight line and I can't just spray it along its very cuvey, i hope the spray paint drys as one layer.

What im going to use (mum wouldkick my ass if she knew what I was exactly doing good thing im only telling after its done.
too clean the parts before the spray painting comences
wetwipes.jpg

glovesandspray.jpg


Ok im gonna get the easy part done first, spray paint the armrest
armrestdone2.jpg


Well what doo think so far im going to do the main keyboard tomoz any sugestions
 
i would say just spray the main part of the keyboard, don't bother about the keys.. unless you are going to go back and re write all the letters etc. The keys won't look too bad white.
 
well i have to aviod the keys as the main frame is attachedd to them so its very hard but i am not going to spray paint them.
Anyone else what do you think so far
 
ok relised after looking at the keyboard I can take out the buttons and this will make everything a lot easier
so this is what I did
Took of the keys with a screwdriver (flat head)
takinoffkeys.jpg



Opened it up
allopenwhitekeysoff.jpg


This is what was inside
insidebits.jpg

whatsinsisedclear.jpg

whatsinsidelast.jpg


Removed the led area
ledpart.jpg


Washed all the parts apart from the electronis duh!
allwashedup.jpg

thats something i never thought i would see drying lol.

Will continue tomorrow hopefully might even finish
 
yea, I see that in my house every couple months. exept it's 5 keyboards all laid out like that. keep up the good work.
 
you can take a little piece of tape and cover enough of the letters to where you can paint the keys and keep the oddly colored letters.

but remember don't spray too many coats on the keyboard otherwise the keys won't move and the LED's won't go back in place properly..
 
Is it worth the time? If the cruft bothers you, why not just get a new keyboard?
 
I don't know if you are up to it but the first keyboard I moded I just spayed the whole thing keys and all, if you can touch type then it works well and its fun to laugh at those who can't when they try to use your computer ;-P
 
I had this same exact keyboard. It was pretty damn dirty, so one day I decided to take it apart and clean it. After cleaning the entire thing, I noticed 1 single spring was missing. the space bar uses two springs.

keyboard is done. haha. I dont know what you plan on doing with this but I still have the keyboard but its all in peices (like yours right now). If you want any peices PM me (actually im at work let me see if i still have them).
 
Good on ya! A keyboard was my first mod (and I was a lot older than 14...)

If you're feeling a little more adventuresome, get some EL wire and lay under the keys. It can be a little tricky because you have to lay the wire right otherwise the tactile feel of the keyboard isn't right (or you won't be able to use some keys at all--which can be quite annoying).

OR mount a USB hub in your keyboard...

OR simply keep doing what your doing and finish cleaning the keyboard. There's a lot of joy in just knowing it was YOU that did the work--that's why I mod.
 
well i really can't touch type and knowing where keys like these @~[]'#/.!"*^£$&*"$*(* are impossible for me lol :D
 
willie92 said:
Good on ya! A keyboard was my first mod (and I was a lot older than 14...)


OR mount a USB hub in your keyboard...
Click to expand...
Brillaint idea will definatly take it up any idea how to hide to hide in the keyboard lol
 
I didn't put a USB hub in the keyboard I modded, just a switch to turn the EL lighting on & off. But I can't imagine a USB hub can be that much thicker than the switch I used.

I've got a laptop cooling pad that I'm planning to try to put a USB hub in. The key will be finding a thin USB hub.

I think you're best bet is between your media buttons on the top of the keyboard and the keyboard lights. But if you can identify where the keyboard is thickest, that will give you the most room.

I'll keep you posted on USB hubs that I find...
 
Ok got home and decided to spray as i have never sprayed before :p
allsprayedup.jpg


next day reassembled
putingitbacktogether.jpg


almost there
alomstdone.jpg


Done and all fully working
doneandworking.jpg


and what it looked like before
origkeyboard.jpg


and the eye witness for this mod My Cat SNOWY (sister named him yes its a him!) :D
thecatthatsawitall.jpg


Well hope you liked it I shore did :D
For a first mod I don't think it could have gone any better
My next mod is to stealth a drive but I won't post that as everyone knows what its all about

The USB hub idea is brillaint as it willl fit perfect where my command buttons at the top BTW I never use them the thinest one I can think of would have to be the ones at the front of cases but a converter for all the pins to a USB will be required

Well that all for now :cool:
 
nice job for your first mod, but it might just be the picture but it looks a little rough in certain spots.
 
well it is a bit rough but no where near as bad as it looks on the picture
Will condier the sand and grid in the future
 
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