Texture for keys

[athflying]

I want to put a drop of something on a few keys so I can stay oriented while typing. Any ideas what would be safe to put on the keyboard that won't look horrible cosmetically and will last??

 

[barry99705]

I want to put a drop of something on a few keys so I can stay oriented while typing. Any ideas what would be safe to put on the keyboard that won't look horrible cosmetically and will last??

Probably a small dab of epoxy.

 

[jbert]

I want to put a drop of something on a few keys so I can stay oriented while typing. Any ideas what would be safe to put on the keyboard that won't look horrible cosmetically and will last??

I honestly wouldn't risk it on your phone. Some epoxies are harsh and can eat away at certain materials. If you absolutely insist on doing something like this, I would first buy a Droid "dummy" or display device to test it out.

 

[ginigma]

Nailpolish works great. You can color code and everything.

 

[pittsy]

I don't think you can put a drop on there as it won't open/close with the screen.

 

[silverhack]

What about regular Elmer's Glue? It should stick pretty well and dries clear. But it's also pretty mild and shouldn't eat away any of the materials. You could probably apply a very tiny drop with just the tip of a toothpick or needle.

 

[Watashi]

Anyone that puts any type of chemical/liquid on their phone that is not specifically made for that purpose is just asking for a broken phone and a voided warranty.

I wouldn't take the chance on a $300+ phone.

 

[barry99705]

I don't think you can put a drop on there as it won't open/close with the screen.

I'm talking like the point of a toothpick dab. Basically just to make a "home key" bump like on full sized keyboards. There's a pretty good space between the two halves.

 

[Watashi]

If you look at the backside of the screen when it's slid out you'll notice that there are wear marks, those are from your keys touching the backside, so adding something to the key would at the least just wear off after a few times of opening it.

 

[athflying]

I tried Elmer's glue, but it was to smooth. Instead I took a sticker I had and cut tiny squares, then carefully put them on the keys I wanted raised. Works pretty good, but not sure how long it will last...time will tell. There is plenty of space between the keys and the top of the phone. The keys do not drag on anything. Open your phone and hold it to light...lots of room.

 

[ricktssf]

In MY RC Model Plane Days... we would make fake rivets on the skin of the planes (for that scale look) with a tooth pick and small dab of 5 min. epoxy. It make nice little round rivet bumps and I too thought about doing this to my droid keyboard... but I think I will just practice typing a bit more before making a pertinent step. I was more worried about the slider closing well that the key being dissolved by glue.

ricktssf

I'm talking like the point of a toothpick dab. Basically just to make a "home key" bump like on full sized keyboards. There's a pretty good space between the two halves.

 

[athflying]

I am going to see how long my sticker works then might go for something more permanent. I actually did this to help when I play with the NES emulators....it's hard to know what key you are pressing without looking. I have to look when I text anway, so doesn't do me much good for that. I never thought I would say this but I can type better with the onscreen keyboard than physical keyboard. I am not crazy about the physical keyboard. Lots of reviewers said it ws better than the G1. I had the G1 for a year and in my opinion it was much better. The rest of the phone more than makes up for itthough and I am very happy with my decision.

 

[spectrrr]

As soon as I read the title of this thread I knew what you wanted to do, and thought it was a great idea. I'm not TOO worried about the chemical makeup of what I put on it, BUT it certainly calls to exercise a bit of caution in that regard as well....

Space is not a problem as long as they are VERY small drops, hold the phone up to the light, there is room, but far less than it looks like, so again, SMALLLLLLL drops.

You've got the right idea - get REALLY used to the keyboard before you take that permanent step, so you know exactly where the best place for those rivits would be (though frankly, i'd love to have them on EVERY damned key, then i'd have no trouble finding my way around).

It will probably be a month before I mod my phone with this... but I think It's pretty certain I'll try at some point, I use the physical keyboard a lot, never could get the hang of the on screen one.