[GreenKeys] Teletype key caps

[Ethan Blanton]

Hi all,

I'm a computer programmer, so I spend a lot of time in front of the
keyboard.  As such, I take keyboards pretty seriously, and have
several expensive mechanical keyboards [1, 2].  This sort of thing
becomes a habit (sort of like Teletypes), and the next thing you know,
you're considering custom key caps.

So here's where it gets relevant to this group.  I've been thinking
about digging into the practicality of having custom key caps made in
Teletype style.  (Using Teletype green for the letter keys, red for
modifier keys, large gothic legends, CAR RET on the Enter key, etc. --
basically, as much like a Teletype Model 28 keyboard as is practical.)
My questions are, 1) is anyone willing to help out (for example, I
don't have access to a calibrated Pantone color capture device or a
Pantone color book, and plastics are often specced in Pantone colors,
so a color capture of the relevant keys would be handy; also, the key
legends have to be drawn in something like Illustrator, and my
graphics design skills are mediocre (so I'd just have to use some
gothic-ish font and call it a day)), 2) is anyone else interested in
such a key set, and 3) for what price would people be interested (it
won't be particularly cheap, see below)?

The keys would fit Cherry MX style key switches, so they may not fit
every keyboard.  In particular, they probably don't fit most cheap OEM
keyboards, and they absolutely won't fit laptops or other "chicklet"
style keyboards.  I don't know what prices would be, but custom-ish
key sets typically run between $50 and $150 for a standard 104-key
keyboard.  If quantities are very small, the prices may be even higher
and this may not be at all practical.

This is just a feeler.  If interest is high and people seem to think
they'd pony up for it, I'll dig deeper.  If not, it'll probably stay
on the back burner until I can come up with a solution for some of the
logistical problems (like color capture and legend design) myself.
That might be a long time.  ;-)

If you want to see some custom key caps to see the sort of thing I'm
talking about, there are some producers around the 'net with galleries
[4, 5] and communities that get excited about these things [6, 7].

Ethan

[1] https://kb8ojh.net/elb/musings/infinity-ergodox-online.html
[2] https://youtu.be/Bd2j9myjWWA
[3] https://kb8ojh.net/station/teletype/images/Keys.jpg
[4] https://pimpmykeyboard.com/keysets/
[5] https://kono.store/collections/keycap-sets
[6] https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/
[7] https://geekhack.org/