Keyboard lables

[KenK]

Worn keyboard key letters. I looked on Google and keyboard key lables are
$9 up for a single set! I've seen keyboards for that price. I hunt-and-peck
so need them.

I just tried a small piece of white Avery lable on the 'E' key with a piece
of Scotch tape over it. It's ugly but I don't care. If it holds up for a
few days I'll try it on the four other worn keys. If I have to replace them
every week so be it.

Anyone try this and have a better suggestion?

TIA


--
"Where there's smoke there's toast!" Anon

[Max]

It depends on whether your keys are white or black. White keys could
be marked with a fine tip Sharpie that would need to be re-marked.
It's harder to find white marker for a black key. You could use
refrigerator touch up paint that comes with a small brush. If you want
something to last on plastic, one way to do it is to etch the
character on the plastic say with a Dremel or a sharp pin. Then color
into the etching and the color won't wear off as fast.

This is lots of work for little gain when boards are so cheap. I would
thing that when a person types that much, they would know where the
keys are. I know I never look at the keys. This could be an
opportunity for personal growth. Just because you hunt and peck now
doesn't mean you always must do so.

[Michael Black]

On Tue, 6 Nov 2012, Max wrote:

> On Nov 6, 12:56 pm, KenK <inva...@invalid.com> wrote:
>> Worn keyboard key letters. I looked on Google and keyboard key lables are
>> $9 up for a single set! I've seen keyboards for that price. I hunt-and-peck
>> so need them.
>>
>> I just tried a small piece of white Avery lable on the 'E' key with a piece
>> of Scotch tape over it. It's ugly but I don't care. If it holds up for a
>> few days I'll try it on the four other worn keys. If I have to replace them
>> every week so be it.
>>
>> Anyone try this and have a better suggestion?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> --
>> "Where there's smoke there's toast!" Anon
>
> It depends on whether your keys are white or black. White keys could
> be marked with a fine tip Sharpie that would need to be re-marked.
> It's harder to find white marker for a black key. You could use
> refrigerator touch up paint that comes with a small brush. If you want
> something to last on plastic, one way to do it is to etch the
> character on the plastic say with a Dremel or a sharp pin. Then color
> into the etching and the color won't wear off as fast.
>

You can get silver Sharpies that look quite nice on black, though having
used one to mark an AC adapter, it wore off surprisingly fast. A key gets
a lot more contact.

Maybe spraying the keys with clear Krylon or the like would help, but I'd
take the keytops off the keyboard before spraying.

The etching sounds like a good method, though I'd be too sloppy.

> This is lots of work for little gain when boards are so cheap. I would
> thing that when a person types that much, they would know where the
> keys are. I know I never look at the keys. This could be an
> opportunity for personal growth. Just because you hunt and peck now
> doesn't mean you always must do so.
>

Or buy a good keyboard, if you can find them.

Yes, keyboards are endless (who needs to buy cheap ones when you can find
endless ones waiting for the garbage trucks) but oddly, every keyboard
seems to have a different feel, and maybe a slight change in layout for
the peripheral keys and you get used to that. It takes a bit to readjust
to a new keyboard. If I needed the markings on the keytops, and I
touchtype but still find the markings useful, I think I'd try a few
iterations of trying to put the markings back before scrapping the
keyboard. Mostly because it is something that should be easy to fix, and
I have to clear off the junk sitting at the top and then dig under the
desk to unplug the old keyboard.

Michael

[KenK]

Max <im.1.max...@xoxy.net> wrote in
news:1461e2f9-50f8-433b...@v3g2000yqb.googlegroups.com:

> On Nov 6, 12:56 pm, KenK <inva...@invalid.com> wrote:
>> Worn keyboard key letters. I looked on Google and keyboard key lables
>> are $9 up for a single set! I've seen keyboards for that price. I
>> hunt-and-pe
> ck
>> so need them.
>>
>> I just tried a small piece of white Avery lable on the 'E' key with a
>> pie
> ce
>> of Scotch tape over it. It's ugly but I don't care. If it holds up
>> for a few days I'll try it on the four other worn keys. If I have to
>> replace th
> em
>> every week so be it.
>>
>> Anyone try this and have a better suggestion?
>>
>> TIA
>>
>> --
>> "Where there's smoke there's toast!" Anon
>
> It depends on whether your keys are white or black.

Black.

> White keys could
> be marked with a fine tip Sharpie that would need to be re-marked.
> It's harder to find white marker for a black key. You could use
> refrigerator touch up paint that comes with a small brush. If you want
> something to last on plastic, one way to do it is to etch the
> character on the plastic say with a Dremel or a sharp pin. Then color
> into the etching and the color won't wear off as fast.

Will consider this. Problem is, no mistakes allowed.

> This is lots of work for little gain when boards are so cheap.

Yes, I'm thinking about this. But I figured if I could make the old one
usable to me for free or little $$ a new keyboard could wait a while. The
current one might outlast the ancient computer.

> I would
> thing that when a person types that much, they would know where the
> keys are.

I have a poor old memory for key locations. <g>

> I know I never look at the keys. This could be an
> opportunity for personal growth. Just because you hunt and peck now
> doesn't mean you always must do so.
>

[Max]

On Nov 6, 12:56 pm, KenK <inva...@invalid.com> wrote:

Here's another tip I use sometimes.

Let's say you plan to mark the keys with a Sharpie, black on white or
silver on black. Clean the keys with alcohol or acetone first to
remove any oils from the skin. After the keys are marked you can coat
them lightly with clear epoxy or even clear nail polish. Epoxy is
preferred as it won't tend to wear off. You would just wipe a thin
coat over the key with your finger.

Epoxies of various types are very frugal fixers. I have the plumber's
putty, J-B Weld, hydraulic epoxy and clear. I buy the clear by the
pound at Lowe's. If this is your only project it doesn't pay to buy
epoxy. Go with the clear nail polish or even a clear glue carefully
wiped on and allowed to dry. You can find these things at any dollar
store.

[Malcom "Mal" Reynolds]

In article <XnsA1036F5FFD...@130.133.4.11>,

Go to one of the thrift shops in town or join your local freecycle group and get
a new keyboard. Pretty soon people will be trashing their old computers so they
can get the slowest version of windoze