Razer BlackWidow Matte

[hawky358]

I've been wanting to do this ever since I got the keyboard. Finally started.
Why make it matte?
1. I like the matte look more than gloss
2.



This will be a short mod.

This is the plan:

1. Remove keys
2. Sand
3. Spray


Here are some "Before" pics

Nice reflection:


Overall:

 

[hawky358]

Here's a test I did at the back of the keyboard using different sanding paper.

I settled on 1200 grit


Taking off keycaps.


Be careful with the longer keys (Double length and spacebar). They have the normal metal support most keyboards have.



After taking off all the keycaps I realised it may be better if I could just take off the glossy part. Voila, yes you can by means of six screws at the back (Under the corner feet and in the middle near the cable)


Just work your way around the cover. It just clicks in

 

[hawky358]

1st Pass of sanding
Still looks a bit uneven and rough. The Blackwidow has these annoying little rounds which make it quite difficult to get in there.



2nd Pass. Looks a bit better



This is after 3 passes of sanding


I'll do another few passes to get it nice and uniform. The original plan was to do a matte black spray on it, but this actually does not look that bad.

I'm going to test the spray on something else to see what it looks like then make a decision. The spray will also cover up the LED indicators (numlock, etc.) , whereas just sanding will not.

 

[hawky358]

I've decided to go with the spray and indeed it looks much better

Here's the first primer coat done


This is the first coat of colour. I've decided to make that little clip at the bottom white to give it some contrast.



This is after the final colour coat. In total so far 2 primer coats, followed by 5 colour coats with 800 grit light sanding in between. The 4th colour had a 1200 grit sand.



In the current state however the finish feels a bit rough. I saw on my test piece that the clear coat makes it nice and smooth, but does unfortunately add a bit of shine. This is all I can do, so I'll give it a pass of clear.

Final pictures coming soon...

 

[hawky358]

Done:

Here's some final pics. The clear actually made it very nice.