Adafruit launches DIY resin keycap tutorials and silicone mold sale

Adafruit announced a maker blog how-to and a sale on silicone keycap molds on March 3–4, 2026, listing molds at $3.95 each for quantities of 1-9, $3.56 for 10-99, and $3.16 for 100 or more. The product copy on Adafruit’s shop describes the Kitty Paw Keycap Molds as a single two-piece rubber mold with six spots and gives product dimensions of 70.0mm x 46.0mm x 15.0mm, noting that once molded the key caps will fit on any Cherry MX-compatible keyswitch.

The hands-on guide tied to the announcement is the Learn Adafruit project titled "DIY Decorative Resin Keycaps Created by Ruiz Brothers," which the project metadata shows was last updated on 2024-06-03 03:27:07 PM EDT and includes step-by-step sections such as Make Keycap Molds, Pour 1st Layer, Pop Bubbles, Cure 1st Layer, Stem, Align Stem Mold, and Pull Mold. The Learn page includes the line "Resin casting keycaps is a really fun way to level up your keyboard making skills" and shows examples of casting for platforms like the Adafruit MacroPad and clear resin keycaps with LED lights.

Adafruit’s product copy and the Learn guide are explicit about materials and workflow. The shop recommends UV-curable resin and a UV lamp, stating, "We recommend UV-curable resin, yes you'll need a UV lamp but its worth the investment: two-part resin is much messier and hard to cure if the temperature and humidity isn't just right." The Learn guide echoes a streamlined approach: "To keep it simple, all you really need is the keycap molds, some UV resin and a UV lamp for curing," and points builders to downloadable files with "Download UV Lamp Files" for a mini UV lamp the Ruiz Brothers say they 3D printed to fit the molds.

Mold options shown across Adafruit’s pages include a Ctrl keycap set described as "3 x 1U and 2 x 1.25U 'Ctrl' Silicone Keycap Molds," and the Kitty Paw two-piece mold noted above. The shop listing repeats the pricing table twice in the supplied content and directly ties the two-piece Kitty Paw mold to the six-cavity count. Adafruit also highlights compatibility: "Once molded, the key caps will fit on any Cherry MX-compatible keyswitch."

Practical tooling and safety recommendations appear in the Learn steps and image captions. The guide advises using flush snips with a downward angle so "the flash doesn’t fly across the room," handling tacky surfaces with isopropyl alcohol or a few minutes of direct sunlight, and to "wear eye protection" when cutting cured resin. Visual assets referenced in the Learn content include files named projects_capsB-hero.jpg, projects_resistor-hero-close.jpg, projects_mold-hero.jpg, and projects_uv-mold-caps.jpg, and the Learn page shows an angled shot of a MacroPad and a custom 4x4 keypad build with 16 black keys and blue and red backlighting.

Social posts promoted the guide alongside a companion video, with an Instagram excerpt linking to the Learn project and a YouTube video. The publish timeline in the supplied material shows the maker blog sale announcement dated March 3–4, 2026 while the Learn project metadata lists a last updated timestamp of 2024-06-03, presenting both dates in the record. With molds priced from $3.95 and downloadable UV lamp files available from the Ruiz Brothers’ guide, Adafruit’s combination of how-to content and low-cost molds makes short custom runs and decorative resin experiments explicitly accessible.