Artisan Keycap History
Artisan keycaps have evolved significantly as both an art form and collectible hobby, belying its niche status within the mechanical keyboard market. The dynamic interplay between a rapidly growing community of makers and collectors continues to fuel this evolution. This section chronicles the development of the artisan keycap hobby, will expand as history is uncovered or new milestones are achieved, and is not expected to satisfy any particular standards for completeness. You can help by proving suggestions for the timeline via our feedback form.
Note: You can drill into each milestone through the header, to read more or follow links to source information. Orange highlighted maker milestones include links to the maker profile.
Mechanical Keyboards
General Artisans
Maker Milestone
Community Milestone
Marketplace / Vendor
Media / Influencer
Typewriter with QWERTY layout first developed and patented in 1868 by Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel W. Soule. The first keyboard with a Shift key (on the left side) was introduced 10 years later in 1878, on the Remington No. 2 typewriter.
ZF Electronics UK Ltd. files the first patent for MX switches, titled "Mechanical keyboard with membrane switch array", with the European Patent Association.
iMav creates geekhack.org (domain registered), the first major community where artisan makers and collectors gathered. The logo was created by aggiejy and Krogenar.
EliteKeyboards (EK) was one of the early mech keyboard online sellers, and later became the exclusive vendor to sell Clack Factory artisans. EK was the US reseller of KUL, HHKB, Topre, Filco and Leopold keyboards. As of 2021 they are mostly inactive, but still sold remaining Clack Skull inventory through their web site.
ClickClack's earliest post on Geekhack was about his impressive keyboard collection (250+) and how he likes to disassemble them to examine various switch types. He then proceeds to post a photo of himself holding a bag (unfortunately, the photos are no longer available on geekhack, but you can see it…
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Clickclack of Clack Factory creates account on Geekhack and begins selling the first known hand-sculpted, resin-cast artisans for Topre and Cherry MX switches. Whether he knew it would happen or not, Clack spawned an entire art form around artisan keycap making, inspiring hundreds of makers and thousands of collectors who…
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Deskthority.net domain registered to launch a keyboard-focused discussion forum. Creates the Deskthority Awards, to eventually include "Best Artisan Keycap" category.
Ishtob was an early hobbyist who made some cherry blanks and a sculpted DSA blank called a Zergling.
Nascent artisan efforts often took the form of painted blanks. Niqmods are one of the earliest examples of this style, with automotive spray paint on OEM keycaps.
Early artisan maker Boost posts a prototype version of his Superhero keycap to Geekhack, and runs a few small sales later that year.
Steve El-Hage and Nelson Wu, originally from Toronto, move to Sillcon Valley and launch Massdrop. The site enabled group buys for enthusiast communities, including mechanical keyboards and, eventually, artisans. They would re-brand to Drop.com in 2019. There is some discussion on whether Massdrop was responsible for "over commercialization" of the…
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Korean maker GirlDC starts series of posts on Geekhack showing metal artisan keycaps. This is one of the earliest Asian makers with high quality metal keycaps, and matching prices ($80+ per cap was a lot in 2012).
Techkeys is an early US vendor that sold mech keyboard accessories and artisans. Like EK, they sold some artisans, including early work from makers such as HWS, Bro and Gen.s (the community was small back then, and every channel helped). They also collaborated with Binge and Pichael Thomson on bringing…
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Gas Mask Keycaps, based in Hong Kong, one of the first larger scale artisan makers, releases their first keycap, the Gas Mask.
Bro Caps launched his first cap (Brobot v1) at some point in 2012, sold initially via email sales. Bro would go on to become a highly successful and long lasting maker brand. (Photo by Dustin) See also: Bro Caps Maker page
Alessandro used nail polish to paint OEM keycaps styled after sweets or candy. A few low production sales were hosted on Geekhack with caps starting at $15. Four designs were released and a fifth was prototyped.
Jeroplane and his significant other in Australia offer a group buy for painted blanks on Geekhack. They employ a process called “dip painting” - where a pattern is created using paint on top of a buffer (such as water) and the cap is dipped into it.
r/mechanicalkeyboards sub is created by Ripster (following some Geekhack drama), and becomes one of the largest mechanical keyboard and artisan communities.
Another Australian Geekhack user, akuJIWA, and his wife do an interest check for nail polish painted keycaps on Geekhack, after receiving inquires from the community.
r/mechmarket sub founded, and gains traction as one of the most active trading platforms for artisans. Makers start to post sales on the platform.
The first 3D printed artisan keycap models start to appear on Shapeways, heralding what would eventually become an important medium for keycap making. (Photo by Liang Kong)
CtrlAlt was an active early vendor in the community for many years, who ran several artisan sales for Bro Caps and KWK, and also ran several keyset group buys. Although the web site has been scaled back, the brand is still managed by Bunnylake, and continues to partner with Bro…
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Nubbinator posts to Geekhack about his casting adventures and begins to share photos of his initial caps. He later follows this up with sale sculpts and continues to release an impressive body of work over the next years before going on a long hiatus. See also: Nubbinator maker page
Bunnylake releases a series of nail polish painted blanks with confetti and glitter effects. The caps came as single Esc, WASD, and arrow sets in a variety of styles, including Topre stems. He would later experiment with casted caps using a sculpt that resembles an alien facehugger.
Binge shares his initial artisan keycap prototyping and casting journey on Geekhack, and starts to release his first sculpts. He notes his inspiration from predecessors such as Bro Caps, Clickclack, and Nubbinator, who inspired him to explore mold making and keycap casting concepts. See also: Hunger Work Studio maker page
About 30 hobbyists attend the first annual Keycon on August 17, 2013 at the University of Illinois campus in Chicago. Organized by i3oilermaker from Techkeys, the event features several vendor sponsors, and a presentation by Binge, who also did some giveaways. (Photo by mkawa) More information about the event was…
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Geeekhack user do_Og@n shares initial painted keycaps he made for friends, and subsequently runs a few sales under the Hypnocaps brand.
HipsterPunks starts sculpting and casting early versions of Mummies and Death Lives in late 2013, and sends them to various folks within the community. In early 2014 he starts selling caps on Geekhack. KBK style ranged from rough and ugly to clean and polished. Hipster used a variety of sale…
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Geekhack user Dodgy is inspired by Binge and Nubbinator's threads on keycap making and decides to try his hand at it. His initial sculpts are a skull like object on a keycap, and a cubic face with mustache called "Mister". Dodgy experimented with many casting techniques, including marbled and translucent,…
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Imsto runs a group buy on Geekhack for Hellboy and Skull sculpts, OEM height resin keycaps in MX and Topre stem. Initial colorways are transparent red and black with shine-through eyes. The caps were manufactured and shipped from China, each with a stamped pouch. [caption id="attachment_2203" align="alignnone" width="300"] Hammer Skull…
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Martin of Gasmask Keycaps notifies the community that he is rebranding to Hot Keys Project (HKP), featuring a larger variety of new products, and shares prototypes of his new Warmaster and Raven sculpts. HKP will go on over the years to release a successful line of injected molded artisans, blanks,…
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Geekhack user SSIPAK posts his experiments with keycap making and sculpts Necrocap, based on the Necronomicon book in the Evil Dead series. He follows up with some sales later that year.
Krytone shares his first attempts at sculpting and casting with great detail and progression photos, which is characteristic of early makers starting out. He continues the thread throughout the launch of his Krap brand, and continues to post previews of his new sculpts for over 4 years, making this a…
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KatzenKinder posts about his efforts at "amateur cap-crafting to sort of rejuvenate the creative mindset". He sculpts various organic and robotic faces on stock PBT caps from his Poker II. He starts a sale thread shortly afterwards, and embarks on a roughly two year journey of progressively refined sculpts and…
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Connorelsea and some friends make painted key caps using a hydrographic printing technique, and offer made-to-order custom keycaps starting at $15 each. They thank Nubbinator for providing some assistance with base materials.
Brief artisan maker Mandolin launches his first sale with Demon Cat and El Chihuahua.
Geekhack member SavvyBird posts about her artisan making, with sculpts of a cat, nose, and ouija planchette on top of Poker keycaps. She would later cast the cat and nose sculpts for a debut sale on Reddit. She would later do a sale of Topre blanks on Geekhack under the…
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After KBK abruptly ended, Punksdead returns a year later under the Kult Worship Kaps (KWK) brand, with a variety of micro sales (1 - 4 kaps) listed at random times on kultworshipkaps.com. Once it was understood that Punksdead and HipsterPunks were the same person, there were larger sales on Geekhack…
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Voidward posts high resolution pics of his 3D printed V0idtek Skull Cap on the Reddit Mechanical Keyboards sub. The prototypes were made using a Craftbot printer at 66-100 microns, with post-print chemical smoothing using acrylic cement. He subsequently sells more refined versions of the 3D Skull and other 3D artisans…
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Fedent was a long-time member of Geekhack by the time he decided to share his initial sculpting experiments in February 2015. He would spend nearly two years doing casting before some initial giveaways of Topre Esc-fn sets at the end of 2016, followed by his Murray sculpt release in 2017.
HiddenPower launches a story-driven series of futuristic masked soldier keycaps, with blanks and a key-puller based on a rifle, using 3d modeling, casting, and painting.
WinterWinds posts a photo of a watermelon style artisan blank on Reddit, that he plans to make available for sale. Later that year, in August, he shares photos of his first sculpted efforts of a fist keycap on Geekhack under the username Defect. Notably, Binge, Bro, and Hipster all comment…
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Kudos makes an introductory post on Geekhack after some initial casting efforts with his partner Koala (now spouses). Their initial focus is on Topre and MX keycaps. His first sculpt is a Skull Squadron bust, which showcases Kudo's characteristic methodical sketching and planning before proceeding to sculpting and casting. See…
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Lootkeys starts posting his various hand sculpted and cast artisan keycaps on Geekhack, and runs a few sales. He also institutes a loyalty program called "lootscore", where the more caps you buy, "the better chance you have of grabbing something you would want".
Adamski, an early hobbyist that was heavily into DIY, posts on Geekhack about his attempts at keycap making. He shows pictures of his prototype hooded Skull sculpt, and subsequently makes Topre and mx blanks.
ImpendingxDoom launches DOOMCAPS on Geekhack with Topre and MX Esc and Function blank sets and several sculpted blanks. He would continue to refine his work over the years, and was known for interesting casting effects such as marbling.
RoastPotatoes was a Geekhack member who ventured into sculpted artisans and eventually held a few sales on Geekhack. He was also published his own blog covering weekly artisan roundups and even a did couple interviews with makers. (Editor's note: RoastPotatoes' blog is the closest early predecessor to ArtisanCollector.com that I…
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Australian reddit user flehrad, who now runs a mk-related podcast called The Board, posts his first casts of sculpted Sakura blank. Later that year he sells casted caps with semi-trans colorways. He would subsequently make an interesting multi-keycap artisan sculpt of a FFG / Adelaide Class Guided Missile Frigate from…
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Aspiring beekeeper and mead maker shares their efforts on Geekhack at making Cherry MX custom keycaps. Inspired by the warm tones and colors, zazie_rx casts their first trans resin blanks to match honey. They would go on to run a sale of artisan blanks later that year.
KappaKapps was an early vendor run by two community members, /u/KappaKappsLogistics and /u/KappaKappsKeyboards, who made 3D printed artisan caps and sold keyboard related accessories on their website. According to an interview conducted by skiwithpete of 1upkeyboards, all of their profits were donated to charity. They produced their Undead Clackin' Kapp…
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Retrocaps had an unorthodox start by today’s standards. Retrochick, the maker, cast for 1.5 years before her first public sale. During this time, she documented the process in her Making Stuff Together Geekhack thread and sent out a limited number of caps to members. Her first keycap was a goblinoid…
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Gen.s from China posts photos of his Gem keycaps on Geekhack. He used a CNC to make the prototype, and then cast caps using silica gel. He then cut the caps into random shapes, polished the surfaces with sandpaper, and added a layer of high-gloss varnish. His first sale is…
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Zorb sells his first sculpt on Geekhack, a medieval Templar made with a combination of casting and hand painting. He goes on to become one of the most popular makers in Europe, releasing a series of well-known sculpts. See also: ZorbCaps maker page
Keypress Graphics lists an assortment of artisans for sale on Geekhack, made by other makers that he painted. He offers the first professional keycap painting services, from his home base in Australia. His initial customers send 3D printed caps for painting, but later on, collectors send well known artisan sculpts…
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Gloyz introduces himself to Geekhack as a "family of glass blowers that took on the challenge of making keycaps", which was not an easy transition despite a lot of existing mold making knowledge.
Binge and WidgiePidge rebrand Binge Caps to Hunger Work Studio, continue to release new sculpts, launch a web site, and develop various products under this brand. See also: HWS maker page
Bcredbottle runs giveaways on Geekhack for his multi-shot Cherry profile artisan blanks. He would later experiment with Alps stems.
Booper started casting in late 2014, gave out some initial caps in 2015, and had her first Omniclectic sale on Geekhack in Oct 2015. The first sale sculpts were the Cosmo v1, Monkey, and Lilith. Booper would go on to create a long-lasting catalog of popular sculpts. See also: Omniclectic…
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Binge collaborates with Massdrop on a Deal with it Jack (DWI) Topre Artisan for a Realforce Numpad drop. This event marked the first time a major artisan maker sold a cap through Massdrop, and was certainly a surprise at the time, since artisans were still fairly niche. Binge would do…
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Inspired by artisan keycap makers on Geekhack, Tinymakesthings explores how methods used to make jewelry, keychains, and other items with polymer clay can be applied to keycap making. She proceeds to post her experiments using sculpey polymer clay on top PBT keycaps, and then bakes the caps in the oven,…
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Widdlekitty posts his keycap making progress on the Geekhack Making Stuff Together forum, and has a debut sale for some beautiful artisan blanks a couple months later.
The first commercial tool to help artisan keycap makers called ":~$ynth" is released. Binge describes the solution on Geekhack as, "a new opportunity for artisans and resin casting enthusiasts", and it certainly resulted in a significant amount of amateur keycap makers that follow in 2016 and beyond. A collaboration between…
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Bambino posts his initial sculpts for feedback: the tall Spartan helmet, a bulldog named Duke, and one of his most popular, the samurai mask Keybuto. The Duke and Keybuto would go on to have many sales under the Suited Up Keycaps (SUK) brand, and bambino would make several popular sculpts…
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Badnewscaps starts sculpting in late 2015, and in Jan 2016 releases several artisan keycaps for sale in MX and Alps stems. Early sculpts include Ent, Lucky Cat, Mr. Shakey Hands, and Eye.
Eat_the_food was a fan of artisans before being a maker, and after a series of frustrating raffle losses (especially KeyKollectiv), decided to embark on his own journey into keycap making. Nightcaps' started out by experimenting with Topre blanks and sculpts. The first released casting experiments, posted on the Nightcaps Making…
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Australian maker Rama debuts with an aluminum milled keycap blank, with vacuum sealed packaging. Rama would go on to become a popular manufacturer of keyboards, keycaps, and mechanical keyboard accessories.
After posting details of how he used a CNC machine to build a CNC router (how meta), and making wooden blanks, Ramage has his first sale of wooden artisans based on the Moai of Easter Island. The raw materials used for the sale were: Ebony, African Blackwood (the 7th hardest…
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Australian picture framer Cozmosis holds his debut sale on Reddit with No Esc Keys, BucketHeads, Volkeynoes, MOBA Sets and blanks. He would go on to be a fairly consistent maker, releasing new sculpts and refinements to existing ones, with a broad set of offerings across both sculpted artisans and blanks,…
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Solidnitrogen introduces himself and his first artisan, Admiral Clackbar, on Geekhack. After a sale of another StarWars themed Rancor artisan on Reddit, several users complain of quality problems, and Solidnitrogen issues a mea culpa to try to resolve the issues. Despite these efforts, this maker's tenure is cut short, and…
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Jelly Key is a Vietnamese brand that was created by Trần Mạnh Hùng in late 2015 to make artisan keycaps. This was the keycap product line of Joiha/Joinhandmade, which also specialized in custom headphones, the first of which was called "Jelly Ear". Jelly Key started selling keycaps in March 2016…
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In March 2016, SneakyPotato starts sharing his sculpting progress under the KeyForge brand on Geekhack. His initial sculpts are the Sabre v1 and Mulder v1, decent examples of initial sculpts that would serve as good experience for a maker that would go on to create the iconic Shishi and Orochi…
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Ericaps has a debut sale on Reddit of their artisan blanks. They describe themselves on Instagram as having a "background in design and former crafters and hobbyists who have a passion for making and perfecting".
Kenda, a student in Vietnam, shares his initial artisan casting on Geekhack, with several sculpts from ogres to owls to skulls. Latee that year in September, Kenda then launches the DCCaps Instagram account, and proceeds to have a debut sale of his Owl sculpt. His initial exposure is primarily within the…
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Juahenza, a Malaysian community member, posts photos of his initial artisan sculpts on keycaps: the Screamer, Kappa, Goo, and Lil Tim. The Goo would go on to to enjoy several sales along with other new sculpts.
Nocturalowl made a Navcaps post on Geekhack, in May 2016, saying that he started making caps exactly one year earlier. He mentioned that his family owns a pastry shop, and that pastry making shares some commonality with casting and molding. His first sale sale was some time in late July…
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After sharing detailed progress of his initial sculpting and casting efforts on Geekhack, JT Sea (u/jtm_sea) runs his first public sale for his Bonk R1 sculpt, roughly inspired by Goombas from the Mario video game series.
Dgneo runs his first "Alpha" sale of his Zev sculpt, based on the Mf Doom mask. His initial sale was mx pre-synth caps. In subsequent sales, he would also offer a Vik sculpt and WASD+Esc sets, and topre caps.
Raenbo posts his artisan keycap making progress on Geekhack's Making Stuff Together forum, sharing photos of Topre blanks and Aero Keys' initial released sculpts, the Mechashark and Rose. After a successful debut sale, Areo Keys would eventually release his most well-known sculpts, the Areophant.
Reddit user RocketGruntJake starts sharing his initial sculpting and casting experiments in April 2016, and after getting a Synth, debuts his Gramps sculpt and has his first sale in July 2016. He would follow up with his Rose v1 sculpt in August 2016. JAK goes on to become a popular…
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BrewCaps shares his debut Ogre-themed sculpt on Geekhack, and launches a sale shortly thereafter on his Esty store (this might be one of the earliest known community members to use Etsy, although many casual makers would later adopt the platform). BrewCaps would go on to become a popular maker with…
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Switzcaps shows off his Octo v1 sculpt in June 2016, and holds a debut sale on r/mm in August that year, for the Octo, Skullface, and some blanks. He would go on to refine the Octo sculpt and hold a few more sales, but then seems to leave his artisan…
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Canadian members Baddy126 and /u/MojoM1ke release photos of their Pyro sculpt on Reddit and Geekhack, and run their several sales shortly thereafter. They take a hiatus, and return two years later in 2018, for another series of Pyro sales. Their last sale was a single colorway No Face Pyro in…
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Mattc777 introduces Lost Keys and his first artisan sculpt. In his words, "this sculpt started as a fox, turned into a dino, and then began to look so much like a dog that I attempted to transform him into a "Sun God" version of Anubis." Lost Keys would go on…
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Indonesian craftsman, gadzkun, shares a "skeletor artisan" that he made on Nubbinator's GMK skeletor Geekhack thread. He proceeds to have a sale of the sculpt, officially called Pompaskull. Gadzkun also shares his impressive skill progression in the Making Stuff Together Geekhack forum, where also showcases some of his leather craftsmanship.…
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Avid artisan collector ipee9932cd shares a preview of Step the Ceph, his own debut sale cap, with colorful multi-shot designs. His earlier sculpting and casting efforts are also available on his Instagram.
Deskthority was running annual awards since 2011, nominating products, vendors, or members across various keyboard categories, with winners chosen by popular vote by the DT community. The award categories have shifted throughout the years, and 2016 is the first time that artisan keycaps were included as a category. The official…
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