Artisan keycaps have become one of the most sought-after ways to personalise a mechanical keyboard — small, sculptural, often character-shaped pieces that swap in for a single key. But how are they actually made? Here's a beginner-friendly look at the process behind a Jesmonite artisan keycap, from mould to finished piece.
What You're Actually Making
An artisan keycap isn't printed or machined — it's cast, usually by hand, in small batches. That's part of the appeal: no two pieces come out completely identical. The process below focuses on Jesmonite casting, which is how we make ours, but the same general steps apply to resin-cast keycaps too.
The Basic Process
1. Choose Your Mould and Design
Every keycap starts with a silicone mould, usually shaped like a character, symbol, or motif. Multi-part or "multishot" designs — where different sections are cast and layered separately — allow for more detail, like a character with distinct facial features or clothing.
2. Mix Your Colours
Jesmonite is mixed from a base powder and a liquid resin component (often referred to as AC100 in the material's standard formulation). Once combined, pigments are added to create your colour. This is where a lot of the personality of a piece comes from — marbling two colours together, layering solid colours, or blending gradients.
3. Pour & Cast
The mixed Jesmonite is poured into the mould, section by section for multishot designs. Timing matters here: Jesmonite has a limited working window before it starts to set, so pours tend to happen in a fairly deliberate, practiced sequence.
4. Let It Set
Jesmonite typically takes about an hour to fully cure to a safe, handle-able state. This is different from resin, which usually needs much longer curing time — part of why Jesmonite pieces can often be finished and taken home the same day.
5. Demould and Finish
Once set, the piece is carefully removed from the mould. From there, finishing work — sanding rough edges, cleaning up seams between multishot sections — brings the piece to its final, polished state.
6. Mount It
A finished keycap needs a stem that fits your keyboard's switches (most commonly Cherry MX-style stems). Some keycaps are cast with the stem built in; others are designed to sit on a compatible base you assemble separately.
Common Beginner Mistakes
Keycaps are cast in small amounts compared to something like a homeware piece, which means there's less material to buffer for hesitation or trial and error. A few mistakes tend to show up because of that:
- Not planning your pour. Jesmonite's working time is shorter than people expect the first time — going in without a clear plan for your colours and layers means you're figuring it out mid-pour, right when time matters most.
- Adding too much pigment. It's tempting to add more colour for a bolder look, but pigment should stay under about 1% of the Jesmonite mixture's weight. Too much can affect how the piece cures and finishes.
- Taking too long while mixing. Because the batch size is small, the working window closes faster than it would for a larger pour — spending too long mixing eats directly into your pour time.
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Not being precise enough. With small quantities, small measurement or timing errors have an outsized effect. Precision matters more here than it would on a larger piece.
Prefer to Skip the Trial and Error?
Reading through the steps is one thing — getting the timing, mixing ratios, and finishing technique right takes practice. If you'd rather learn hands-on with guidance (and skip the ruined first few attempts), our workshops walk you through the entire multishot casting process in person, with all materials provided.
