Plastic Keycaps

Plastic Keycaps Legends for P+R rubber keyboard come in several forms: 

Silkscreen Printing.

It it the most common processes of plastic keycap. The cost is very low, but compared with the laser etching process, the key cap life is much shorter, the character is easy to fall off, so it is better to do UV coating on the characters.

Laser Etching.

Laser etching is also a common processing of key cap characters. There are two options, one is to laser engrave directly on the keycaps, without any other processes. The characters can only be white color. The other is the same as silicone rubber keyboard. Spray the different colors according to the requirements, and then laser out a variety of color characters.

Double-shot moulding/dual-injection molding.

Doubleshot keycaps also called as dual injection molding keycaps. They are made from two separate pieces of plastic that are injection molded (stuck together) to create the keycap.

This manufacturing process allows for the keycap legends (numbers, letters, and symbols on top of the keycap) to be transparent so the RGB backlighting shines through (rather than painted on the keycaps).

Doubleshot keycaps are available in both PBT and ABS plastics.

One of the advantages of double shot molding is durable, and characters are almost impossible to wear off. Since the high development cost of double-shot keycaps, this process is always applied for high-end mechanical keyboard.

Laser Etch legends onto the backside of keycaps.

The normal laser engraving process is processed on the front of the keycap, and this is on the back. The characters of keycaps by this way are more durable and will never fall off.

Hollowing Out Silk Screen Printing.

It is a similar method with silicone rubber keyboard, which called as hollowing out silkscreen printing. This method is mainly applied to ABS plastic keycaps. That’s because ABS keycaps have better translucency.

It is also a backlit option. 

Plastic Keycaps Protective Coating.

Ultraviolet(UV) Curing Coating.

Polyurethane(PU) Coating.

PU Glossy Coating

Polyurethane(PU) Glossy Paint