DES profile MX keycaps, separate stems and keys Remixed by craigandrews

Remixed by

craigandrews

Hobby & DIY>Electronics

Print Profile(1)

All

P1S

P1P

X1 Carbon

X1E

A1 mini

0.2mm nozzle, 0.06mm layer, 4 walls, 15% infill

Designer

5.3 h

10 plates

4.0(2)

Open in Bambu Studio

Boost

Released

Description

The Distorted Ellipsoidal Saddle (DES) profile is a sculpted Cherry MX keycap profile with a unique look and feel. Designed by Pseudoku and released in 2019, the DES profile is lower profile (shorter) while still using Cherry MX stems, has key designs optimized for use on thumb clusters, and features an interesting shape.

I'm providing STLs for 1u keys including stems, keys without stems, and the stems to add to the stemless keys. Printing the keys without stems allows for using different materials for the keys (such as PLA, especially something decorative like metallic or silk) and stems (PETG is great for durable stems). The keys and stems are also oriented in the best orientation for each, reducing print failures, improving strength, and improving appearance.

Printing 56 DES keys using this profile on a P1S requires 10 plates (a stem and key plate for each of the 5 rows), taking about 45 hours and requiring 213g of filament.

To save time and materials by eliminating the need for support, instead of printing the keycaps at a 45-degree angle, rotate the keycaps to print them flat. The keycap surface won't be as smooth, but the keycaps will still be very useable. You may even like the texture.

The STLs were generated by running “make all” on my fork of PseudoMakeMeKeyCapProfiles at https://github.com/candrews/PseudoMakeMeKeyCapProfiles

To learn more about the DES profile and how to print them, see The DES Keycap Profile: 3D Printing and Using Very Nice Keycaps.

Comment & Rating (4)

@Dropbear

Print Profile

0.2mm nozzle, 0.06mm layer, 4 walls, 15% infill

Finally an excuse to try out my 0.2 nozzle. The stems printed without issue, but not the caps.

Support Issue:The supports for the 45 degree key caps was not enough - half the caps failed. Had to reprint after manually support painting.

@moose_

Boosted

Print Profile

0.2mm nozzle, 0.06mm layer, 4 walls, 15% infill

Gluing in the stems is a little tricky to get flat/even but they are awesome when its all set! I had very poor luck trying multiple at a time on my A1 so I ended up just print a keycap here and there and setup my little gaming keypad with them. I am trying to see if I could get fuzzy skin to work on this, I think it would make them even better. Thank you!

@saltyseabastard

Boosted

I had been wanting to print these for quite some time and finally pulled the trigger. I made this color scheme to commemorate fall and halloween, but I think I'll do some other ones for various seasons. They are awesome and have a killer feel and good thock sound. I printed them flat on the bed, and I couldn't feel any texture except for the gray home row, so I just hit it lightly with some 320 grit sandpaper and they're smooth as butter. One caveat to printing them flat is that sometimes the center stem would pop off the print bed and ruin the print, so I had to add a brim and cut it off with a hobby knife. It wasn't too bad though. Super worthy project if you're a keeb nerd like me. Really cool work @craigandrews !