Summary

I purchased a 1939 General Television and Radio model 534 antique radio, which I am in the process of restoring. The housing of the radio is shaped like a miniature grand piano, complete with plastic piano keyboard. Unfortunately, the keyboard was warped from the heat of the radio, and badly yellowed with age. Also, one of the keys was broken off. So, I decided to print a new one instead..

Turned out that the hardest thing was how to blacken the grooves between the piano keys. Things like paint and ink kept bleeding into the surrounding plastic. I even tried black putty, but it was a mess. The answer was to wind a black thread around the keyboard in the grooves. Looks great!

The other secret was to print the keyboard on a flat glass plate, which gave the keys a smooth and shiny surface. Otherwise, I used standard PLA print settings. I was able to use the black keys from the original keyboard, but I decided to also draw up a design for the black keys. The photo of the keyboard in the piano is with the original black keys. The photos with the keyboard separate is with 3D printed black keys.