Hi All. I recently purchased a Filco Majestouch2 with Cherry MX Browns and it has proven to be as fantastic as I had hoped. The only downside is these Filco’s really look generic out of the box if you do not opt for a custom case from Filco. Getting creative with your keycaps is a great way to make your keyboard unique and honestly much more enjoyable to have at your desk.

There are several sites where you can purchase blank caps & custom printed caps, but the price for a complete set of keys is really high (especially if you just purchased a pricey mechanical keyboard.) With a small budget in mind, and also needing instant gratification, I threw caution to the wind and decided to start painting the keycaps from my brand new Filco.

Using the WASD keyboard website to plan out my colors (they have a custom keyboard template you can play with) I decided to go for a white / gold combination. Breaking from tradition slightly, I went for gold on the alpha keys and white for everything else.

I had some blank caps lying around so I initially experimented with them first using a Rust-oleum gold paint, nothing special. I simply placed the keycap onto a long section of 2 x 4 lumber, carried them into my backyard and started spraying away. After the first coat I waited 30 minutes, and then reapplied for complete coverage. After an hour of drying, I applied a poly spray clear coat 3 times (10 minutes in between.) After letting them dry overnight, I swapped in the newly painted keys onto my keyboard to try them out.

My initial impression was that they looked great and felt nice as well (the paint actually added a decent texture.) After a day of typing, I did notice that the keys were starting to grime up a bit though (I don’t think I allowed enough time for them to completely dry.) I used some rubbing alcohol and a q-tip and managed to shine them up without damaging the paint. With the initial test done, I was convinced that pulling off and painting all of my keys was a great idea.

For the white paint, I used a Rust-oleum “Painters Touch” primer / paint combo that is designed for adherence to plastic. I noticed almost immediately that this paint was coating the keys much better than the gold. The dried keys also had a really nice texture to them that felt much more durable. People seem to like Krylon Fusion as well, but I definitely recommend the “Painters Touch”. An added bonus of both paints is that you can still see the text on the keycap after painting.

A couple of notes on removing keycaps. You can get a keycap puller online (recommended) or you can use basically anything that will slide underneath a key. A small amount of leverage can pop a cap off relatively easily. That said, I used an old credit card to pop all of my keys off. The card is flexible enough to start to bend if you apply too much force but rigid enough to pop off a cap if you get it in the right position. I was surprised at how well it worked.

For the stabilized keys, I removed them from the switch, and then slowly pulled one side to remove the stabilizer insert on the key. This small piece of plastic will pull off from the cap and stay on the stabilizer bar. You can then slide it off and re-insert into the keycap. The Filco has a lot of stabilized keys and this method was quick and easy.

After a few nights of painting a dozen keys a time, I am finally satisfied with how everything looks. I have been using the keyboard now for a few weeks and have noticed that the gold paint is not wearing well. A plastic specific paint is a must I think and I will paint over the gold soon. The white on the other hand is performing great and is staying surprisingly clean. The whole project cost me 4 dollars (1 can of paint, already had the gold) compared to $60 for a set of new blank caps. Happy Painting!

Finished Product (for now….)