What is a Computer keyboard made of?
What is a Computer keyboard made of?
ABS or PBT keycaps over either a silicone rubber dome on printed film, or individual mechanical switches.
The keycap plastic explains most of the visible ageing: ABS is a softer polymer that polishes under fingertips into the shine familiar from any old keyboard, while PBT keeps its texture much longer. Legend printing matters as much — pad-printed legends rub off, laser-etched ones fade, and doubleshot caps have the legend moulded as a separate piece of plastic that cannot wear away because it goes all the way through. Membrane boards fail as a unit when the printed traces crack or a spill bridges them; mechanical boards fail one switch at a time and can be repaired, which is the practical argument for them beyond feel.
Component by component
| Part | Material | Why that material |
|---|---|---|
| keycaps | ABS, or PBT in better keyboards | ABS is cheap and takes sharp legends but develops a greasy shine within a year; PBT is harder, more textured and resists shine. |
| membrane mechanism | silicone rubber domes over three printed polyester sheets with carbon traces | The whole switching layer is three films and a rubber sheet, which is why a membrane keyboard costs a few pounds to make. |
| mechanical switch | a nylon and polyacetal housing with a spring and gold-plated crosspoint contacts | Each key gets its own switch with a defined force curve and a 50-100 million press rating, which is what the price buys. |
| stabilisers | wire and plastic inserts under wide keys | Without them a space bar pressed at one end binds; they are also the usual source of rattle in a mechanical board. |
| plate and PCB | steel or aluminium plate over a printed circuit board with a matrix and diodes | The diodes are what allow N-key rollover — without them, three simultaneous keys can register a phantom fourth. |
Other electronics objects
- Alkaline battery Zinc powder and manganese dioxide either side of a potassium hydroxide paste, in a steel can.
- Smartphone screen Chemically strengthened aluminosilicate glass over a touch layer and an OLED or LCD panel, with an oil-shedding coating on top.
- Solar panel Doped silicon wafers with silver contacts, sealed between low-iron glass and a plastic backsheet in an aluminium frame.
- LED bulb Blue LED chips under a yellow phosphor, plus a driver circuit and a heat sink — and it is the driver that dies.
- Touchscreen A grid of transparent electrodes measuring the tiny capacitance your finger adds — which is why gloves fail.
- Headphones A neodymium magnet, a coil of copper wire and a thin plastic diaphragm — a loudspeaker shrunk to fit an ear.
- Loudspeaker A paper or plastic cone hung on a rubber surround, driven by a coil in a magnet gap.
- Computer mouse An ABS shell around a tiny camera taking thousands of pictures a second, plus two clicky microswitches and PTFE feet.
Common questions
- What is a Computer keyboard made of?
- ABS or PBT keycaps over either a silicone rubber dome on printed film, or individual mechanical switches.
- What is the keycaps of a Computer keyboard made of?
- ABS, or PBT in better keyboards. ABS is cheap and takes sharp legends but develops a greasy shine within a year; PBT is harder, more textured and resists shine.
- What is the membrane mechanism of a Computer keyboard made of?
- Silicone rubber domes over three printed polyester sheets with carbon traces. The whole switching layer is three films and a rubber sheet, which is why a membrane keyboard costs a few pounds to make.
Related pages
- Alkaline battery Zinc powder and manganese dioxide either side of a potassium hydroxide paste, in a steel can.
- Smartphone screen Chemically strengthened aluminosilicate glass over a touch layer and an OLED or LCD panel, with an oil-shedding coating on top.
- Solar panel Doped silicon wafers with silver contacts, sealed between low-iron glass and a plastic backsheet in an aluminium frame.
- LED bulb Blue LED chips under a yellow phosphor, plus a driver circuit and a heat sink — and it is the driver that dies.
- Touchscreen A grid of transparent electrodes measuring the tiny capacitance your finger adds — which is why gloves fail.
- Headphones A neodymium magnet, a coil of copper wire and a thin plastic diaphragm — a loudspeaker shrunk to fit an ear.
- Loudspeaker A paper or plastic cone hung on a rubber surround, driven by a coil in a magnet gap.
- Computer mouse An ABS shell around a tiny camera taking thousands of pictures a second, plus two clicky microswitches and PTFE feet.
- Pencil Stationery and paper
- Tennis ball Sport and games
- Banknote Around the house
- Golf ball Sport and games
- Paper Stationery and paper
- Glass Building materials
Sources
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place