The Golden Key

I'll be honest, keyboards are boring. And most of us are at our desks 8 hours a day with these drab accessories. Gold, however, is not boring, and is exactly what our keyboards need. With just a little spray paint, your keyboard can have more carrots than a salad. 

Step 1: Sand the key

Carefully pop off your $4 key. Sand thoroughly with 180 grit sandpaper.

Comments

[instructamaker]

Thats so epic

[lllshreelll]

I always wanted to try this on my cellphone.

[lllshreelll]

Hey that's a dell keyboard!

[Hiyadudez]

I already knew about this stuff but you inspired me. I am quite a serious PC gamer and I spray painted my WASD keys and my Shift and CTRL key, just to make sure I didnt make a crucial mistake when in battle :D

Thanks!

[Thrasym]

Looking away from your screen and delaying commands while your eyes try to locate the right keys is a good way to die in PC battles.

Having to feel around isn't much better, but it leads to not having to look or grope around in the dark. So, if you still look at the keyboard, I'd suggest you glue dots or wire pieces to your keys for recognition (and don't allow yourself to look ever again). Use hot glue or water soluble glue or poster tack (something that you can remove later).

But anyway (back on topic), having just stumbled upon this instructable, I'm looking at my keyboard trying to come up with something clever...I'm not clever...o'well, gonna copy this and the spacebar idea too. Great ideas.

[Hiyadudez]

I now have a Razer Lycosa keyboard which all of the keys light up and I also have a Razer Naga mouse which has numbers 1-12 on the side, which also light up.

After a couple hours of gaming you get used to where the numbers on the mouse are and it becomes super easy.

[Hiyadudez]

I now have a Razer Lycosa keyboard which all of the keys light up and I also have a Razer Naga mouse which has numbers 1-12 on the side, which also light up.

After a couple hours of gaming you get used to where the numbers on the mouse are and it becomes super easy.

[monsterlego]

Cool!

[EvilDefman]

It occurs to me, what about automobile paint, like those electric paint, best of all, they're protected, so would lasts longer under our fingers.

I was thinking, four or five USB wireless keyboards, like the one I'm using now, each one with one colour - electric blue, electric flame red, electric yellow, electric green... would look great when you move your keyboards and the paint would be shining, bit like the gold tooth there, eh.

It's fun.

What about clear transparent keyboards? Eh... lost of ideas, each one great.

Nah, I don't have resources to do anything like that, I like stuff I hopes I'll get room to do, one of these days. Ah well.

No worries! Cheerio!

[NE patsrock]

y does it have to 4

[iambrad]

It's not the "4", it's the "$"

gold and money go hand in hand

[sadook]

nice idea...... ,but button "Enter" is better than number 4 is'nt it !!
thank u for your fun project .

[SwishMaxx]

the reason for it is the $ part.

[Blegueni]

In the french key disposition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AZERTY), it would have double meanings : $ and £ signs are on the same key !!
I will do one when i will get the time ...

[sourabh882008]

i didn't like the drawing idea. else is good. :)

[nevermore0069]

I'm not trying to be rude, but you appear to have missed the step in which you shoot a round of clear to seal the gold paint. Being an aluminum based paint, that key will turn black-ish really quickly from the oils on your fingers and the moisture in the air.

[SwishMaxx]

he's using gold spray paint.. do you think he cares?

[kazmataz]

*she

And I didn't choose to cover the key with clear, but that would certainly seal in the paint. I don't use my $4 key all that much, so it didn't seem necessary.

[bd5]

... What this guy said ... The clear will also protect the blank ink from wearing out.

[mcraghead]

Ctrl, Alt & Delete would be good contenders...
but depending on your OS you might still run into the wear & tear issue (per Ludwig Von Mech Jul 21, 2011. 5:12 PM)

:)

[[e-mail]]

I love both your projects! HAHA more!!!
I bet you would love gold leaf. I have wanted to use it for a million years, I don't think it's that expensive. And how it's made is crazy too.
At my art store they have other metals in leaf form also.

I think you've inspired me do to my first instructable...........
thanks

[jgilbert4]

i got the best idea ever and if i do do it (lol doodoo) ill post pics but pretty much im gunna make it like a h4x0r k3yb04rd and the icing on the cake instead of having F9-F12 im gunna change it to 1-3-3-7

[abnor]

This makes me want to draw all over my keyboard in my own handwriting xD

[Xeronotts]

subliminal message "Cash 4 Gold

[PerfectionLost]

How does the rustoleum hold up to wear? Also, is it toxic?

[EvilDefman]

Not bad. Would look real good with ALL the keys painted like that. Just one reminds me of a bad gangster with a gold tooth! :) Great instructable, by the way.

[Ludwig Von Mech]

If you paint all the keys, you run into several problems. One of them is wear and tear. The "4" key is not used too terribly much, and when it is hit, you will hit it with the pad of your finger. When I paint my boards, I always run into the "a" key and the space bar picking up my fingernails and getting rather worn.

[zack247]

i got my laptop used, but for me its w, e, r, t, y, h, n and spacebar.

[Phade]

I'm guessing you got the idea from here?
http://www.chihapaura.com/limited/lE04

[scotth61]

and I'm guessing that several people can have the same ideas without having copied another persons ideas.
.

[Foaly7]

There should be a like button for this comment. And i'm sure someone else has thought of this :P

[Grokking]

You had me until you said I had to draw the "4" and "$", if I could write that neatly I would have never started to use my keyboard.

[videogamemaster]

Heh, no kidding. Mine would end up looking like I wrote the characters up, then through the key at the wall a couple times '-.-

[dannystaple]

Do they still make lettraset? I'd consider that...

[Grokking]

Your showing you age, I haven't seen that for about 20 years.

[videogamemaster]

Lettraset? Whats that? :/

[Madrigorne]

LMGTFY
http://www.letraset.com/products/91-Lettering/

[Grokking]

Perhaps a $ sign with a slash through it, so when you hit the $ sign it would be telling the real truth, this is how much I don't have.

[vincent7520]

Fun project ! …
But I wouldn't do it in the office : your boss may well steal the keyboard from you !
After all he / she's the boss !!!…
;))

[Krayzi99]

voted for you