Glow in the dark paint on keys question.

[worzyl]

Hello there.

Looking at some of the fantastic keyboard light mods, I was wondering about an alternative for people like myself, who aren't confident about stripping their pandy apart and sticking in leds.

I was wondering about painting the keys in glow paint. 

There are lots of glow paints around that last for 8 hours or more when charged (but of course it does need to be re-charged in UV light with when the strength runs out),  but the difficulty is that the letters/signs are tiny to paint on. So I was wondering if there is a stencil somewhere of the pandora keyboard letters? That way, I could put the stencil of the letter/s on the required letter/s, and paint inside it without ruining the keyboard.

 

[Asmo]

Tricky, the lettering on the keys is beneath clear plastic, if you paint on the surface you've got to contend with it being curved (making stencils a bit harder to get right) and it wearing off without being sealed under another layer of resin, something probably best tried on a spare keymat first...

Those glow-in-the-dark paints may claim 8 hours illumination, but the light diminishes far below a useful level after 20-30 minutes typically - enough to find a lightswitch in the dark, but probably not even as bright as the existing keys look under illumination from the screen (I'm typing this in the dark, and can see all my keys illuminated by the mostly white screen).

 

[worzyl]

Yes - the light from the screen onto the keyboard ihelps, but it's those F keys and the blue lettering/signs that makes things really difficult.

 

[comradekingu]

I would separate the case and then paint that, it will be a nice glow around the buttons. Use very find sandpaper first so the paint sticks.

 

[worzyl]

I would separate the case and then paint that, it will be a nice glow around the buttons. Use very find sandpaper first so the paint sticks.

I'm not too sure that would work as the falloff from glows - I dont think would be strong enough to light up the buttons from the base, but I'll give it a try on something else.

However - it could look pretty cool!

 

[comradekingu]

It would light up the in between and the buttons would be dark spots. I dont see how you would fare better with glowing buttons.

 

[worzyl]

It would light up the in between and the buttons would be dark spots. I dont see how you would fare better with glowing buttons.

I'll have to test this (but not on my keyboard!) to see how well that method light up the keys.