Parametric Keycap Veneers for Flat Laptop Keyboards

thingiverse

This was my ultimate attempt to make the terrible flat keyboard on my laptop functional without constantly staring at it. These caps were designed to be printed and then attached directly to the existing keyboard. The keys' size and taper can be customized, and their crowns can have a range of parametric concave relief styles (spherical, cylindrical, ellipsoidal, elongated spherical hull, etc). The keys can also feature bevels on any side or identifier/avoidance bumps in various shapes. They can even be styled so that the concave relief spans multiple keys. These caps were printed in PLA on a MakerBot Replicator 2. Sanding and cleaning up was a tedious process, but the end result was well worth the effort. The functional improvement is immense, despite the finish looking unattractive.