Valorant-based Keycaps

These are 8 custom-designed keycaps that I printed for my engineering class. These keycaps are based on an agent's abilities by the name Yoru from the game Valorant. These keycaps are just the beginning of my bigger-scale project to build an entire keyboard from scratch, but for now, I have simply designed keycaps.

Huge thanks to Berbawy Makers and my teacher, Ms. Berbawy, for helping me with the tools and knowledge to complete this project.

Software

Adobe Illustrator

Fusion 360 CAD Software

PreForm 3D Slicer

Materials

Form 3+ SLA Printer

Form Wash + Form Cure

Keyboard with Cherry MX key switches (My personal keyboard)

P400 Sandpaper

6" Dial Caliper

Tough 1500 Resin

Isopropyl Alcohol

1) Measure the dimensions for your key switch and keycap using the dial caliper.

• My personal measurement for the key switch was 0.1601" (the length and width of the cross).
• My measurements for the keycap were 0.7004" x 0.5469" x 0.4588" (length x width x height).

2) Get the designs for the keycaps using the ability logo pictures (Attached 1-5 show the .svg files).

• Download .png or .jpg formatted files and use the Place function (File > Place) in Illustrator.
• Click on the image trace button (Window > Image Trace) to vector the image.
• Export the file as a .svg file.

3) 3D design the keycap using Fusion 360 and the measurements shown (Pictures 2 and 3 show the keycap).

4) Add the custom designs on the top of the keycap and extrude 0.1" to make the design pop (Pictures 4 and 5 show the designs).

This is the most annoying part, but also the most important part of this project. I had to do 5 test prints until I got my keycap to work perfectly, but it was 5 attempts well spent.

Once you have the keycaps ready, download the keycap in a .stl format and import it into PreForm. Once in PreForm, angle the keycap at around 30° and auto-generate supports. When you have done this, the end result should look similar to pictures 1 & 2.

Following this:

1. Start the print on an SLA Printer and wait for it to finish.
2. Wash the build plate using a Form Wash for 10 minutes.
3. Take the print off of the build plate using gloves and soak it in isopropyl alcohol for another 10 minutes.
4. Put the print in the curing station and wait the time for the material (60 minutes at 70°C for Tough 1500).
5. Remove the supports using a cutter or an equivalent.
6. Use the sandpaper to smooth out the edges of the keycap.

The keycaps in picture 1 go top to bottom in ascending order of the test number. The keycap at the very top is the reference keycap. I fixed issues as I printed more tests until I perfected it to fit properly into the key switch.

My first issue was the tolerance between the cross at the bottom of the keycap and the top of the key switch. It was too loose in the beginning and would repeatedly slip out, but I fixed that issue by making the tolerance tighter for the keycap. My next big issue was that only keycap worked properly out of the 8 that I printed. I did some light research and found out that the angle that you print at can drastically affect the tolerance of the print. To summarize, I was printing at a 45° angle, and that increased the tension load on the keycap, so I reduced the angle to 30° which worked perfectly. Picture 2 shows the PreForm orientation that made the perfect keycaps for my keyboard.

And there you have it! The beginning of my keyboard building journey that starts with designing some keycaps. Attached below is a .stl file of the keycap reference that I used. If you want to contact me, my email is abhilash.j.gudivada@gmail.com.