Detailed breakdown of video. 0:00 to 1:32 Make mold to duplicate basic key shape. This step only needs to be done once per basic key size. 1:33 to 1:46 Duplicate basic key shape (need to do this for each unique keycap glyph). I would suspect one would make a hundred or so ahead of time. 1:47 to 1:57 Mount key shape into machining fixture. Notice that fixture allows for minor variations in base thickness, yet will result in exact placement of the key top itself. 1:58 to 2:51 Machine entire surface of key shape, leaving only desired glyph intact. This will represent shape of the first shot of resin for a new keycap. 2:52 to 3:35 Make four mold halves. Those being 1 Top half of glyph (1st shot). 2 Top half of full key shape. 3. Bottom half of glyph (1st shot) 4. Bottom half of full key shape. Includes stem to mount to key switch. Wooden dowels are for alignment and to provide an escape path for air while injecting resin. 3:36 to 3:43 Top half of mold for entire keycap (2nd shot) 3:44 to 3:50 Top half of mold for glyph (1st shot) 3:51 to 4:09 Bottom half of mold for entire keycap. Notice cavity for key stem (2nd shot) 4:10 to 4:19 Bottom half of mold for glyph (1st shot) 4:20 to 4:32 Assembly of mold for glyph. 4:32 to 4:35 Filling of mold for glyph (1st shot). 4:36 to 4:44 Removal of 1st shot from mold. 4:45 to 4:50 Placing glyph into fixture for drilling. 4:51 to 5:04 Drilling of 1st shot for flow and anchor holes. These holes will permit the flow of resin to reach all areas around the desired glyph and mechanically anchor the 1st and 2nd shots together. 5:05 to 5:09 Assembly of final mold with 1st shot inside. 5:10 to 5:11 Injection of resin for 2nd shot. 5:12 to 5:13 Removal of keycap from mold. Overall, a very nice little process. The making the molds only needs to be done once and the molds could then be reused many times until they wear out. Only the steps from 4:20 onwards needs to be done for each individual keycap.

DUDE, how much effort do you want to put into making keycaps ? Keymacs : "YES"

I love how this video quickly goes from "huh this could be a diy" to "ok way out of my league and budget but I'll still watch"

very cool

Imagine just how much lego these big keycap factories must have!

Me : why are we watching this ? My brain : shut up! Just keep watching...

"I get paid by the hour"

As a former toolmaker, maintenance fitter, industrial manufacturing and electronics engineer; I approve! Very impressed!

still faster than waiting for GMK Groupbuy sets lol

not gonna lie, this is art. this is different from industrial process, this is how to impress and present to us, about making, crafting, and processing an art from a keycaps.. hands down

I'll never complain about keycap prices again

95% of the video I didnt know what was going on...

Me during the first half: wtf is he doing Me during the second half: wtf is he doing

This quickly went from, "Oh cool, maybe I could give this a shot..." to "Oh.".

i had no idea what was going on and then it was suddenly done

As an 'I must do every step of the process for myself' type of diy person this is exactly the thing I was looking for to figure out what I would need for this process - only tens of thousands of dollars to go and then I can make my own double shot keys!

Me : hmmm maybe I can learn on how to make keycaps Also me a minutes later : ayo wtf

Not that you hadn't demonstrated it already at this point in the video, but when I saw you do the final machining in that metal fixture plate I blurted out loud, "yeah, this guy is legit." That was so impressive (and I'm a hobby CNC router owner, thinking of all the ways that what did was super difficult with respect to accuracy and repeatability). Amazing work!

*starts with Lego* *Ends with precisely cut metal piece out of a CNC made specifically to place Keycaps before milling them*

I don't understand what the heck is happening and yet I still watched the whole thing

His childhood was spent in a different zone with Legos.

A part two with more detail about the processes involved would be great.

Yall know hes a pro since he has that tool to pull lego bricks

Really makes me appreciate how affordable a mass produced set of double shot key caps can be!

In the beginning I was like "Legos? Wow maybe I can do this." Then they pull out the million dollar automated drill scribe and I'm like "maybe not..." 🥺

I have absolutely no idea what is happening but I like it

That's a lot of steps but at least the symbols will never wear off, they're solid.

the first thing that should tell you you are nuts if you are seeing someone making custom ALPS keycaps... what a madlad!

Jaw dropped seeing how much effort it takes for small-scale manufacturing! Thanks for sharing your craft!

So that's why they made Legos pricier over about 10 years or so

Still don't know which ones were moulds and which were the actual keycaps

To anyone saying this is a waste if time. Have you never heard of a hobby before? Absolutely no one is forcing you to build your own key caps, this guy is doing it just because he LIKES doing it. Just like how some people likes to play games, do sports, work on cars, or literally anything else.

Ahh so this is why these keycap group buys are taken 2 years. MFers are making the key caps one by one with Legos!

Meanwhile in China some child is stamping out 5000 an hour of these for 9c a day.

This was sick! But consider adding captions next time, I barely understood what was going on, so a bit of explanation would be great.

Its interesting how lego is tight enough to not get solicon spill

In our next video, we will be donating a significant portion of our lives to make the numlock key. Quite an exciting key. When you press it,the number keys don't work.

Geez, no wonder keycaps are $1-$2 per keycap, home boy gotta build a whole Lego set to produce em

No wonder they cost more than the keyboard

I have no idea what I watched and how we arrived at that keycap in the end but I watched the whole thing.

That's some steady hand pouring the red.

This seams like he could have skipped a ton of the steps he took in the beginning by just going straight to the cnc.

I was so confused by everything in this video then the end was so amazingly satisfying. So many skills and hours go into fabricating this one tiny part. 5 minutes ago I didn't know this hobby existed haha. Excited to see more!

Very elaborate process and incredibly educational!!! Thanks for this masterclass! (having that under "The ride of the Valkyries" soundtrack didn't hurt either :)

Moral of story : Buy instead of make your own keycap

Wait im confused.. did u make a mold to make another mold to make another mold to make another mold to make a keycap?

Started watching for curiosity, stayed for the Valkyries.....

The use of Lego here makes me feel dumb for spending ages making card boxes around my parts to be molded. Thanks for the idea.

And now I will not ask why these keycaps are so expensive.

i love things that are nearly impossible without cnc precision and pretty much trivial with it.

You ever just completely zone out while reading a book and by the end of the chapter, you have no clue about what the crap you just read? Yeah. That was me about 30 seconds into this video.

And for 5 min and 57 seconds I was completely and totally enthrawled.

I wish I had the same motivation and effort during my school times.

keycap lore

I mean, I want to say life's too bloody short, but equally found the whole process fascinating

He just showed the actual use of lego

The lego thing, is purely geniusness !

the level of work you put in... danm...

Love watching a video and thinking: "OK, I can do that. I can do that. I can do that. Shit CNC. And now there are parts he didn't show the making of, are they 3d printed? Those look like toothpicks I can handle tha... wait. Is that milled block just for pushing the toothpicks out? Do I need to buy needles?! Can you just BUY needles?! Where did this metal plate come from?! Another one?! IT'S PART OF A MOUNT FOR THE CNC?! Ugh, guess I'll have to keep buying my keycaps like a chump."

Start off with everyday lego now lets all head over to our everday milling tools xD

Might be the most satisfying thing I've ever watched

Now I understand why my GMK sets are taking so long to get here. This one guy has a lot of work to do!

Jesus christ, the dedication for every cap is insane. The fact that these are hand poured at every stage is mind boggling. Do you have to recast a new legend mold everytime?

Holy mother of god what did i just watch 🤯 i saw the videos thumbnail and said no way he is gonna make it 5 minute. I saw the video and my mind is blown how simple and high quality, steps were shown in this video. Nice work, definitely earned the sub.

Alright, fine, I won't complain about keycap prices any more.

What a cool mold making process, and such clean results. I bet you learned a ton making these. Thanks for sharing.

Next level is: triple shot. That's where you add a label to the FRONT of the keycap, using a different color (such as yellow). Extremely expensive, if you can even find a place that makes them, but great for 60% keyboards due to the extra functions each key must support.

This is a great video. I work as a machinist at a place where we make all kinds of injection molding tools for a lot of different industries, so I know a thing or two about the precision and attention to detail that go into these things.

Lego for the mold set up is genius.

Wow! I have a new found appreciation for the keycaps. The effort and the thought that goes in. TBH I got lost multiple times in the video, not being sure of what was really going on. 🙌🙌🙌

holy crap so this is how the resincasted double shot keycaps were made for your keyboards this is incredible ngl

OMG such precision and quality! Just wow!

This is the only explanation I’ll accept for these gmk wait times

When gmk takes too long so you just make your own gmk sets

Moulding a mould out of a mould and moulding thatvmold into another mould

Im so high that i forgot what i was watching because of all the effort into making that

Beautifully, masterfully done. I'm at work, sitting between two 3-axis routers and this made me want to try this out lol

As a keyboard enthusiast, I know my stuff. But tell me I’m not the only one who has no idea what they were watching until it was finished

You demonstrated every step and I still don't understand LOL

i liked it within first 30 seconds because you're using legos as a mold box. freakin heck ya!

That was a ride that I was not ready for, the result might not have seemed to be worth the effort for y'all but, maybe that was never the point of the experience.

Well… that explains the price.

This is incredible. 👏🏻👏🏻

I watched the whole thing just because I could tell this took a ton of effort

This was the most satisfying thing I have ever watched.

I was so confused about the whole process until the last 10 secs

Wow. Neat to see this and actually have a representation of what double shot injection means. Shows exactly why the quality would be better and why the price is so much higher

That is a shit tonne of work, for every single cap, but after that you can probably make them quite easily. But man is it a lot of work. The end result does look fantastic though.

I dont know why the comments are so negative. This is really cool.

Hats off to you, sir. This is beyond awesome! I almost trick myself by thinking "Woah it's almost like I could make something like this!", but then I realize I need a 500k CNC xD Keep up the magnificent work, I'm beyond impressed.

"I used the mold to make the molds"

Those close up shots with those smooth, soft touch-ish finishes are beautiful in some weird way

Epic... The cocktail stick ejector pins .. that tickled me. Good video, should be shown to students. Well done man.. !!!

Lego: Listen up nerds, we have more use than just causing mayhem to your foot

This needs that song “it costs this much cause it takes me fucking hours.”

Wow, best use of Legos I have ever seen. Makes me appreciate the caps even more than I already do. And I want that one too.

Bro this is industrial level

Using lego like that... Nice

Great job! Fantastic molding techniques!

Cool video but somehow feels unnecessarily complicated.