Glass Keycaps
To reduce both the cost and the potential mechanical issues of a glass keycap, I designed an intermediary part to hold the glass cap in place while avoiding the stress of gripping the switches
I got a degree in Materials Engineering because I have a proclivity towards glass structures, so it’s only natural that I want to make glass keycaps. Using a custom metal mold with fine glass frit to cast the caps could allow larger batches of many possible shapes. Two problems with a full glass keycap is the amount of material used as well as potential stress fractures from the interface between the key switch and the keycap. To avoid this, I designed a part to be made of flexible plastic that would sit perfectly in the keycap and provide the connection to the switch. The part has shallow bumps that fit into grooves in the glass to grip the fragile keycaps even in the most unfortunately turbulent scenarios.
Concept render of the keycap parts, the glass would likely be frosted or opaque to hide the look of the plastic beneath, otherwise the glass and plastic would ideally be more synergetic colors.
