Comparison with Unicomp's APL keycaps

I've got Unicomp's APL keycaps for the reference of IBM PC layout.



Unicomp's APL keycaps are all dye-sub. They are made recently I suppose, but remind me of 80's days.

Nonuniformity and new challenge

I found that my 3D dye-sub machine is not so excellent.



The center and its right is noticeably pale than others.

My new challenge is keycap dyeing.



Color matching is difficult, especially at pale color.

The first trial set of APL keycaps

I've got it:



There are some glitches yet. I'll go on.

New machine's first result

These are the first results of my new machine:



Overall,it's OK. Ink thickness is fairly stable.

Problems: Ink bleed is too broad, ink thickness is too deep. The heating time and/or temperature is too much, I suppose.

I got a 3D dye-sub machine

I got a 3D dye-sub machine.



Printing tray:



The CD is as a size guide.

The silicone sheet has a bump. It is good for iPhone case, but may cause some trouble for me...



And this is my new keycap mount's mask.



I'll make new keycap mounts from now on.

New Small 3D Sublimation Machine

My vacuum cleaner overheats while printing recently. I'm leaning toward buying 3D sublimation machine... And I've found a new small machine.



ST1520

Printing area 150x200x20 mm looks promising. But in my eyes, the machine is too small for the area. Hmm... OK I'll buy and test it.

Windowed Key

Now I'm working on Keycool 87's blank keycaps.
The keycap set contains some windowed key. Is the window printable?



The answer is yes, but hard to see.