Method of manufacturing keycaps of keys of a keyboard

1. A method for producing a keycap for a backlit keyboard of an electronic device, the method comprising:

removing a first portion of a material from a backside of a body to form a cavity in a shape associated with a character;

filling the cavity with a translucent fill material;

removing a second portion of the material from a front side of the body to expose the translucent fill material on a front surface of the body; and

polishing the front surface of the body after removing material from the front side of the body to provide a keycap with a smooth finished front surface;

wherein when the keycap with the smooth finished front surface is assembled into the backlit keyboard, the backside of the body of the keycap is disposed adjacent a light source to illuminate the translucent fill material from the backside.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein two or more keycaps are produced from the body.

3. The method of claim 2 , comprising separating the two or more keycaps after polishing the front surface of the body.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a bottom of the cavity comprises at least one bore hole extending through to the front side of the body.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the first portion of the material further comprises forming the cavity having a cavity width that is greatest at a depth intermediate the backside and the front side of the body.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the first portion of the material from the backside of the body comprises undercutting the first portion of the material to form non-parallel cavity walls to facilitate mechanical retention of the translucent fill material within the cavity.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the translucent fill material is a plastic to facilitate passage of light through the body.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the first portion of the material from the backside of the body comprises removing material adjacent to the cavity to provide a frame extending around the cavity.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein filling the cavity comprises forming a layer of the fill material over the backside of the body, and, after forming the layer, decreasing a thickness of the layer by removing a portion of the translucent fill material from the backside of the body.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein removing the second portion of the material from the front side comprises removing material such that the body has a non-uniform thickness.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the body is a metal.