I finally tossed my vintage keycaps after a friend pointed out the cracks

Was showing off my Olivetti keycaps at a meetup in Austin last month and a guy leaned over and said 'you know those hairline cracks are just gonna get worse right?' I had been holding onto them for 5 years thinking they were rare. Has anyone else had to let go of a favorite set that was actually falling apart?

2 comments

2 Comments

sage_rodriguez12d ago

Oh man, I actually read a post on Deskthority last week about how certain old ABS plastic starts getting micro cracks from the inside out. It's not just your keycaps, it's like the material itself is aging. You did the right thing letting them go though. I saw a video where a collector tried to restore cracked caps with epoxy and it just made a mess. The legends started flaking off anyway. Olivetti sets are beautiful but they're like old cars. They look amazing but you can't use them every day without something breaking. What set are you using now? Did you go with something modern or find another vintage option?

chen.phoenix12d ago

Wait, you saw that Deskthority post too? Yeah, that internal cracking thing is creepy. Feels like the plastic is dying from the inside. Epoxy sounds like a nightmare for those caps. I'd rather just let them retire gracefully than mess them up worse. And you're spot on with the old car comparison. Beautiful to look at, but you're always worried about the next thing that'll break. I picked up a modern SA set actually. GMK Oblivion. Not the same warm feeling but it works every day without stress. No regrets.