Mechanical keyboards, with their ultra-long lifespan and exceptional hand feel, have regained the status that was once replaced by thin film keyboards and become a favorite of peripheral players. In addition to the feel and longevity of a mechanical keyboard, the attraction lies in the freedom to replace the keyboard cap. Replacing a set of favorite keyboard caps is like replacing a keyboard. Players can give their keyboard a unique appearance based on their preferences or needs, and the feel will also change.
If the shaft body determines the basic feel of a mechanical keyboard, the key cap is to enhance the user’s feel in use. Keycaps with different colors, processes, and materials not only affect the appearance of the keyboard, but also affect the feel of the keyboard, thereby affecting the keyboard experience.
Although the key caps of mechanical keyboards can be freely replaced, the price is relatively high, and some limited version key caps can even be compared to high-end keyboards. Although the material of mechanical keyboard key caps is commonly plastic, different materials have different characteristics, and there are many other special material keycaps.
Different Types of Keycap Materials – What’s the Difference Between ABS, PBT and POM Keycap Material
The key caps of common mechanical keyboards can be divided into three materials: ABS, PBT, and POM, with ABS having the highest usage rate in mechanical keyboards. ABS plastic is a copolymer of acrylonitrile (A) – butadiene (B) – styrene (S), which combines the properties of three components. It has the characteristics of high strength, good toughness, easy processing, and low cost. Here’s the comparison between ABS vs PBT vs POM keycap material for mechanical keyboard. Find what material is best for keycaps.
ABS
Due to these characteristics, ABS has been widely used. Due to the relatively mature manufacturing process, the key caps produced have the characteristics of regular technology, exquisite details, and uniform texture. ABS not only excels in craftsmanship, but also has a very good feel and is extremely smooth.
Although the key cap made of ABS has a good performance in terms of technology and feel, it has a very obvious disadvantage. Due to the insufficient hardness of its own material, the surface will become shiny and shiny after long-term use, which is commonly known as oiling.
The greased keycap not only feels greasy to the touch, but also looks very bright and dirty, especially for friends with sweaty hands, which makes many players shy away. Later, PBT and POM keycaps emerged.
PBT
PBT refers to a type of plastic composed of polybutylene terephthalate as the main body, with a reputation of “white rock”. Compared to ABS materials, the processing process is more difficult and the cost is also relatively high. This material has excellent strength, is characterized by wear resistance and high temperature resistance, and has a small shrinkage rate during injection molding. The processing technology is relatively mature and can be processed by secondary injection molding and other processes to achieve the goal of never losing characters. The key cap made of PBT material has a dry and firm touch, and the surface of the key cap has a delicate frosting feel.
Compared to ABS, the biggest advantage of PBT is that its wear resistance is significantly higher than that of ABS material. The time limit for using PBT material to make key caps subject to oiling is significantly longer than that of ABS material. Due to complex processes and relatively expensive prices, this material is commonly used in mid to high-end keyboard products.
Due to the large molecular gap and high temperature resistance of PBT material, the key cap made of this material also has a feature that it can be used for dip dyeing operations with industrial dyes. After purchasing a white PBT key cap, users can use industrial dyes to dye the key cap to create their own unique color key cap. However, this type of operation is relatively complex, so it is recommended that if you want to dye the key caps, you can purchase a small batch of key caps and come back to practice. After familiarizing yourself with the process, you can dye the entire set of keycaps.
POM
Although the wear resistance of PBT keycaps is higher than that of ABS materials, they are not the hardest of common mechanical keyboard materials. There is another material that performs better in hardness than PBT – POM.
POM, known as polyoxymethylene, is a kind of synthetic resin, which is a high molecular polymer of formaldehyde, a harmful gas in household decoration materials. POM materials have a high hardness, are very wear-resistant, and have the characteristics of self smoothing, so they are often used in the production of lightweight parts. Due to its own material characteristics, the key cap made of POM has a cold touch and a smooth surface, even smoother than the greased ABS material, but it has a completely different sticky feeling from the greased ABS material.
Due to its large shrinkage, POM materials are more difficult to inject. During the manufacturing process, if there is improper control, it is easy to have too small assembly clearance for the key cap. After installing the key cap, when pulling out the key, it may cause the shaft core to be pulled out together. Even if it can solve the problem of the bottom cross socket being too tight, due to the large shrinkage rate of the material, it will also form a certain shrinkage texture on the surface of the key cap.
DIY Keycap
In addition to the three conventional key caps mentioned above, there are also some rare non mass produced key caps – DIY custom key caps.
DIY customized keycaps are made of resin, electroplated copper, aluminum alloy anodizing, titanium alloy, etc. You can customize the colors and shapes you like, and the price is also relatively expensive. The rarity of materials and the complexity of the manufacturing process are factors that affect the price of keycaps.