The Second Skin: Getting a UK Workshop to Recolour Your Keyboard Case

There’s a particular kind of keyboard grief that has nothing to do with switches. The case sounds lovely, the layout is right, the screws all bite, and yet the colour is just… beige-adjacent. Maybe it’s a group-buy case that arrived in a shade you talked yourself into, or a second-hand bargain with a few characterful scars. Either way, a refinish can turn it into the board you actually wanted.

In 2026, plenty of UK engineering and finishing shops will take on a small keyboard job, but they won’t always know what a keyboard is. Your job is to brief them properly, protect the bits that matter, and understand that anodising and powder coating are not interchangeable spells. They’re different processes with different strengths, thicknesses and failure modes.

First, Work Out What You’re Working With

Anodising is for aluminium. Not steel, not brass, not polycarbonate, not a mystery alloy from a car boot. It’s an electrochemical process that grows an oxide layer into the surface, then dyes and seals it. Powder coating is a dry polymer powder sprayed onto a part and cured in an oven; it sits on top like a tough jacket. It can go on aluminium, steel and plenty of other metals, but it adds thickness.

If your case is already anodised, a finisher will usually need to strip it before re-anodising. If it’s powder coated, that coating has to come off too. If it’s painted, same story. Ask before you post anything: some shops won’t strip, some will only strip in-house, and some will charge you for the privilege of discovering that the previous finish was held together by hope.

Anodising: Thin, Metallic and a Little Bit Alchemical

Type II anodising is the common decorative option. It gives you a thin, hard, integrated finish — typically in the 10–25 micron range — that keeps the crispness of machined edges and engraving. Dyes can be vivid, but the base metal still shows through. Black is black-ish, silver is silvery, and bright colours can look slightly metallic rather than flat. A bead-blasted or brushed prep changes the look enormously.

Hard anodising, often called Type III, is thicker and harder, but it’s less forgiving with dye and can tighten tolerances. For a keyboard case, decorative Type II is usually the sensible starting point unless you genuinely need abrasion resistance and have checked your clearances.

Anodising also has a batch problem. Dye lots vary, and a small one-off case may be run alongside other parts. If exact colour is critical, ask for a test coupon or a sample chip first. And be honest about your alloy: 6061 and 6063 behave differently, and some recycled or cast aluminium can finish patchily. A good anodiser will ask.

Powder Coating: Thick, Opaque and Very Forgiving

Powder coat is the pragmatist’s choice. It covers machining marks, hides small dings, and comes in a huge range of RAL and Pantone-matched colours, including textures and low-gloss finishes. It’s also thicker — think 60–100 microns or more — so it can soften sharp edges, fill fine engraving, and interfere with tight tolerances.

That thickness matters around mounting points, cable cutouts, screw bosses and any place where two parts are meant to meet closely. A powder coater can mask threads, but you need to tell them exactly which surfaces must stay bare. The cure oven is usually around 180–200°C; most keyboard aluminium cases will shrug that off, but if your case has rubber feet, adhesive foam, a daughterboard or any plastic inserts, remove them first. Don’t assume the finisher will.

Prep Is the Actual Job

Stripping and prepping is where finishes live or die. Chemical stripping can be effective but needs proper neutralising; media blasting can leave a texture that shows through anodising. Threads should be plugged or chased afterwards. Engravings and logos may need masking if you want them to remain legible, especially under powder coat. Mounting posts and mating faces should be protected so your case still goes back together without a fight.

Ask the finisher to bag small parts separately and to confirm which screws, inserts and plates are going into the process. If you’re sending a bare case, photograph it before packing, note any existing marks, and pack it like you mean it. Royal Mail is not a gentle anodising tank.

Money, Minimums and the Waiting Game

UK finishing shops often quote on a minimum-order basis because setting up a batch costs nearly as much as running it. For a single keyboard case, expect ballpark figures rather than bargains: powder coating might be £50–£120, anodising £80–£180, with stripping and masking as extras. VAT and return postage add up. A small local shop may do it for less if you’re flexible on colour and timing; a specialist anodiser may charge more but will know exactly what they’re doing.

Turnaround is typically a few weeks, not a few days. Powder coating is often quicker — perhaps two to four weeks — while anodising can stretch to four to six weeks or more if the shop is busy or needs to order dye. Ask for a realistic date in writing, not a hopeful nod.

Colour Matching Without Losing Your Mind

Keycaps are not a Pantone book. They’re moulded plastic, often with their own sheen and slight batch variation. If you’re matching a case to a keyset, send a physical keycap or a spare cap as a reference — not a phone photo. Ask the finisher for a sample chip or a test coupon in the actual process, and view it in daylight and indoors. Metallic anodised finishes shift under different lighting; powder coats are more stable but can look flatter.

Dark colours hide machining marks. Light colours reveal everything. Textured powder coat hides more than smooth powder coat. If you want a deep, saturated colour, anodising can look richer; if you want a precise RAL match, powder coating is usually the straighter road.

Questions to Ask a UK Finisher

• Do you regularly finish small aluminium parts, and will you take a one-off keyboard case?
• Is stripping included, and how do you remove the old finish?
• Which surfaces will you mask, plug or chase afterwards?
• Can you protect threads, mounting posts and mating faces?
• What prep finish do you recommend — bead blast, brushed, polished or something else?
• Can I see a sample chip or test coupon before the full job?
• What’s the realistic lead time, including stripping and return postage?
• What happens if the finish fails or the case is damaged in the process?

A Pre-Flight Checklist

Strip the case down completely. Remove feet, foams, daughterboards, badges and anything glued in place. Label the parts. Photograph the bare case. Note the alloy if you know it. Decide which threads and mounting points must stay bare. Confirm whether engravings need masking. Pack it with padding and a note inside the box. Ask for the finisher’s masking plan in writing. And when it comes back, chase the threads gently before you force a screw — a tiny bit of finish in the wrong place can turn a five-minute rebuild into a sweary afternoon.

A refinish won’t fix a bad layout or a hollow sound, but it can make you fall back in love with a case you already own. Choose the process to suit the metal and the look, brief the shop like a fellow enthusiast, and budget for the faff. The clack stays the same; the colour finally catches up.