Dyeing ABS Caps

[paecific.jr]

My boss wants to recolor his spacebar on his Dell AT101W. As my brief few seconds of research pointed out ABS caps will melt when they are dyed. Has anybody had any success using a different method?

[codemonkeymike]

There was extensive research of this done on Geekhack a while ago. I don't have a link but if you google "site:geekhack.org Rit dye key caps" should find it

[Findecanor]

I think he has seen those threads already.

Besides warping ABS caps myself, I have had limited success with a permanent marker.

[paecific.jr]

Yep, I spent a little bit of time on Geekhack already.

[dokyun]

I've been able to dye ABS with iDye poly in near boiling water with a mesh strainer. It only takes a few seconds for the pigment to bond, I place the caps in the strainer and submerge in the water for about 4-5 seconds before pulling them back out to cool. Only need to do this a few times to get good coverage, it ain't like PBT where you need to soak them for an hour. Just make sure make the caps absolutely squeaky clean otherwise any dirt or grime will permanently become part of the plastic...sonicating the caps and using gloves is probably a good idea!

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Dying ABS keycaps, well, that's par for the course with ABS — try PBT.

Oh, dyeing …

[paecific.jr]

Dying ABS keycaps, well, that's par for the course with ABS — try PBT.

Oh, dyeing …

Edited