Creating texture on button surface

[ragnar]

I'm not sure how many people have their hands slip while playing games.  But it is a problem that I have.  So I want to texture one button per player so that it is much like the keyboard you are typing on.  If you havn't noticed, there are "home keys" on a keyboard.  usually the "F" and "J" will have bumps on them so you can find these keys without looking.  Sometimes they are the "D" and "K" keys.

So, my original idea way to take a drill and make a small dent in one button to have it act as my "home".  That is one method.  Another method is described below (from my cab build thread):

ah. the pictures made it look super small to me. but 5' 11" isnt too bad. what if you textured the main like 6/7 buttons that you use? you could do what we do for surf boards, take some salt  and some resin and put in the buttons, then rinse, and you have a nice texture left behind

How large of salt though?  table salt?  Rock Salt?  I'm getting at, what size salt?

So has anyone here made textured home buttons and if so, how did you go about doing so?

[javeryh]

I would practice with some spare buttons first but I'd probably take a hammer and nail and tap it from underneath to create a bump on the top of the button.  You could also replace your "home" buttons with convex buttons instead of the concave buttons you are probably using or vice-versa.

[bkenobi]

If you have a 7 button layout, the 7th button is pretty obvious without looking.  Also, if your layout is curved at all, same deal...  If you have a 6 button layout, can't you just feel the 3 on the top or bottom and then feel up/down to know where you are.  I guess I don't see this as being that useful, but to each their own!

[BadMouth]

Haven't tried it on buttons, but I've been using Rustoleum truck bedliner for a lot of projects lately.
No matter how thick or thin you spray it, the texture always comes out consistent.
By itself, it is pretty rough to the touch.
On my driving cab dash, I applied rustoleum clearcoat over over it and it came out perfect; about like fine textured abs plastic.
You could do the whole top of the button or mask off a shape.

[ragnar]

Haven't tried it on buttons, but I've been using Rustoleum truck bedliner for a lot of projects lately.
No matter how thick or thin you spray it, the texture always comes out consistent.
By itself, it is pretty rough to the touch.
On my driving cab dash, I applied rustoleum clearcoat over over it and it came out perfect; about like fine textured abs plastic.
You could do the whole top of the button or mask off a shape.

Autozone carries it.  I will be buying it in a few days!  I'll use it on my marquee holders (making them myself) and use hte leftover on a button as a test.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/catalog/accessories/accProductDetails.jsp?itemIdentifier=98214_0_0_&skuDescription=Rust-Oleum+/+15oz.truckbedaerosol&brandName=Rust-Oleum&displayName=15oz.truckbedaerosol&skuDisplayName=Rust-Oleum&categoryNValue=10099999&navValue=100055&categoryDisplayName=15oz.truckbedaerosol&parentId=00-10&itemId=55-10&productId=98214

[upprc04]

Are you just looking to put a little bump on one button?  Why not put a little drop of super glue on top of one button?  I have accidentally got super glue on my mouse pad, and it take a lot of effort to get it off.  It looks like you may want to make the whole top of the button textured, but this could could be one solution.

[ragnar]

Are you just looking to put a little bump on one button?  Why not put a little drop of super glue on top of one button?  I have accidentally got super glue on my mouse pad, and it take a lot of effort to get it off.  It looks like you may want to make the whole top of the button textured, but this could could be one solution.

I think a bump like you describe would be a possiblity.  I think the texturing would be best though so long as it is a thin lyer.

I might try out a bump via super glue though.  I wonder if 2 part epoxy would work better.

I should add that I did do a test with a small piece of masking tape and it did wonders.

[mrtuesday42]

i think we used rock salt, something that was large. i keep forgetting to look it up for yah man. ill ask my dad since he is all old school like that. you could just give it a try too

[ragnar]

i think we used rock salt, something that was large. i keep forgetting to look it up for yah man. ill ask my dad since he is all old school like that. you could just give it a try too

I tried the Google for about 5 minutes and failed.  If you get me some details, it would be appreciated.

At the same time I am starting to think more about the keep it simple concept.  I should just try out the drill bit thing and make a dent.  It will take all of 5 seconds.

[mrtuesday42]

And if you do that, you will rue the day you put it one when you need to sand the floorboards down and paint them. Silica (beach sand) does a fair number on sandpaper. Kind of like taking sandpaper to a piece of quartz.

And if you use ground walnuts, you'll rue the day you either trip and fall on the stuff or have to kneel on it with bare knees.

Either use the poly granules sold by Interlux, Z-spar and Epifanes for non-skid or do it the old way.


Once you've got your finish coat on, mask out what you want to keep glossy. Get a lot of table salt or sugar. Lay down one more finish coat where you want the non-skid, inside your masked margins.

While the paint is fresh, wet and sticky, dump a heavy layer of table salt/sugar on the wet paint. Go away. Have a homebrew. Take a shower, get dressed up a little. Take SWMBO out for dinner and a little clubbing.

Come back when the paint is dry. Brush off the excess salt/sugar. Get out your garden hose and blast away and dissolve the salt/sugar that has stuck to the paint, leaving a surface beautifully pitted where the salt/sugar used to be.

et voila! A beautiful non-skid surface with just the right texture. When it needs to be renewed, a light sanding, a new coat of non-skid and you're ready to go.

You can vary the texture by using salt or sugar of different crystal sizes.

pulled this from a forum about dinghy's or something. saw a bunch of stuff about surfboards but was kind of hard to follow as they were more concerned with how abrasive it was. i googled 'non skid with salt' and found plenty. there are a lot of options in my opinion for it. you could just take some sandpaper too it and make it more matte textured. subtle.

[tsaylor]

Haven't tried it on buttons, but I've been using Rustoleum truck bedliner for a lot of projects lately.
No matter how thick or thin you spray it, the texture always comes out consistent.
By itself, it is pretty rough to the touch.
On my driving cab dash, I applied rustoleum clearcoat over over it and it came out perfect; about like fine textured abs plastic.
You could do the whole top of the button or mask off a shape.

That surface is really interesting.  Does it adhere to other surfaces such as wood?  Just wondering about the possibility of covering an entire cabinet in it.

[SavannahLion]

Are you just looking to put a little bump on one button?  Why not put a little drop of super glue on top of one button?  I have accidentally got super glue on my mouse pad, and it take a lot of effort to get it off.  It looks like you may want to make the whole top of the button textured, but this could could be one solution.

I think a bump like you describe would be a possiblity.  I think the texturing would be best though so long as it is a thin lyer.

I might try out a bump via super glue though.  I wonder if 2 part epoxy would work better.

I should add that I did do a test with a small piece of masking tape and it did wonders.

Try nail polish. There's a bazillion color options.

Don't get the cheap "kiddie" ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- though, if it smells like Elmers glue, it'll just peel off.

[ragnar]

I went with the simple solution.  I took a drill bit last night and put a dent in button #1.  I have 9 buttons in an arc by the way. See my project thread in my signature for pictures of the CP/button layout.  If anyone else does this, remember to run the dril in reverse for better depth control and for a smooth finish.

The layout is as follows where Z is the dented button.

 X X X X
 Z X X X
X

In the end, this had the intended result ... An easy way to find home.  And for what it is worth, I am very happy with the 9 buttons even though the 9 buttons only are needed for N64 games.  The only unintended consequence so far has been what this topic discusses.  And that is now resolved!

 4 5 6 9
 1 2 3 8
7

[BadMouth]

That surface is really interesting.  Does it adhere to other surfaces such as wood?  Just wondering about the possibility of covering an entire cabinet in it.

Yep, I used it on MDF for the dashboard of my driving cab. (link in my sig)
I did use primer first because I had to use a little bondo.
Whenever I get around to building a full size cab, that's what I'm using.
Looks as good as laminate if you prep right, costs under $20 for the primer+bedliner+clearcoat.

It's not as thick as you'd think bedliner would be.
Don't expect it to cover surface imperfections, they will show through.

I didn't like the feel of the surface without the clearcoat.  It was really rough, trapped dust, and snagged whatever you used to wipe it off.
With the clearcoat on, it's easy to clean.
The part pictured above hasn't been clearcoated.

Apply the clearcoat in thin coats.  If it's put on too thick on top of another coat that isn't dry yet,
it will trap the gasses coming out of the first coat and ugly things can happen.

[tsaylor]

Thanks BadMouth, those are good tips.  Any hints on the "prep right" point?  Does that mean sand it down, fill in any holes, and then primer?  Is spray primer a good choice?  How many cans of each (primer/bedliner/clearcoat)?  Sorry, feeling like a noob in this area. 

[BadMouth]

Thanks BadMouth, those are good tips.  Any hints on the "prep right" point?  Does that mean sand it down, fill in any holes, and then primer?  Is spray primer a good choice?  How many cans of each (primer/bedliner/clearcoat)?  Sorry, feeling like a noob in this area. 

Yeah, prep just means what you said, fill, sand, & prime. 

Any primer should be fine.  I used Rustoleum Primer Filler because it's sandable & fills in small imperfections. http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=11

I've only done small projects, but the primer/bedliner/clearcoat seem to go a long way.
Two cans of each would definitely do a whole cab, one can of each would probably come close.
The stuff covers really well, so it doesn't take a lot.

Don't cheap out and buy generic primer & clearcoat. 
You'll end up having to use 5x as much primer and the clearcoat could have some type of reaction with the bedliner and ruin your project.

[tsaylor]

Thanks BadMouth!  Hope I didn't sidetrack this thread too badly.