Acoustic properties. It’s a large mostly hollow key with three points of connection to the board. Lubricating the switch and stabilizers goes a long way to reducing “rattle,” but it’s still a big empty key. Adding ~2mm of silicone doesn’t interfere with the connection points, absorbs vibration, and further reduces rattle.
Smooth stabilized keys are the hardest thing to pull off on a custom keyboard.
I wodner if heavy metal key caps would be nice
Some people really like brass plates for the effect, but I rarely see a whole board of metal key caps. For one thing the weight throws off the scale of normal key switches, see this video where they’re using heavy black switches to balance it out.
The spacebar could definitely use some silicone!
I only use PBT plastic key caps because they stay “matte” or “gritty” as opposed to ABS plastic that shines up and stays that way. I suppose a metal key cap with knurling or a brushed finish could accomplish a similar effect.
i ended up buying a VKB gladiator nxt new, pics when it ships
Yeah pbt caps are great, the only downside is spacebar warping. Most cool sets you see are abs because of gmk, but if you find a set of good pbt caps that appeal to you, that’s the way to go imo
thread, I need to be convinced that this isn’t the absolute best stupid thing you could ever spend your money on. I have a problem.
don’t even click that link, you’ll never come out alive if you have any taste
I regret to inform you that that link seems to lead to a keyboard
and what a keyboard!
Staggered layout and felt dampener? Good heavens, no
seems like a nice keeb
I’m glad the keeblust seems to have passed me by with relatively little damage (maybe like $160 on the keychron + stuff)
in other news I’m pondering whether IL-2 (and similar) can be mapped to an Xbox pad with any decency. is there a website where I can mock up controller layouts? I’m thinking of like a Project Wingman scheme but with one of the buttons set to be a modifier, idk.
Where did you land on keycap materials?
speaking of keychron they’re now doing a “V2” of the K4 which both no longer includes optical switches by default, is no longer always on clearance prices, and only barely fixes the height/angle issues
glad I got mine when I did bc I still like it as an entry level 96%/optical/bluetooth/mac board a lot but it’s not really worth more than that
taihao cubic abs
i can probably ship those PBT blanks to somebody who needs them
Thanks to @doolittle’s help, I have purchased my first mechanical keyboard! They lent me their absolutely ridiculous switch tester so I could figure out what I like. Here’s a photo I took with it so that in 40 years my niece’s kids can look at family photos and wonder what arcane object their great uncle is holding.
I ended up really liking the Cherry MX Clear switches. Kailh Creams are nice too but I couldn’t find an easy pre-made keyboard with them. So I ended up ordering a Ducky One 2 full sized keyboard with Clear switches. I can’t get a good photo of mine, but here is the model and color scheme:
I really like it! This is a great introductory mechanical keyboard. It doesn’t light up or sing the national anthem or anything, but it types like a dream. It’s especially nice for games.
So yeah, I didn’t get as wild and tough as some of you, but I’m into it! I like the keycap colors it came with, but at some point I plan to experiment with replacing them to shake things up.
Classy keycaps!
if you have the ability to desolder, you can replace the switch which will tell you if it’s a pcb or switch issue. if you can’t, probably not much. if the switch is the problem and you can swap it the cost to do so is trivial
You can try some aerosol anhydrous alcohol to clean the contacts in the switch. With the board unplugged, remove the keycap and stick the straw nozzle on the stem. Spray a small amount of alcohol and press the stem a few times to distribute it. Leave it to dry for an hour and come back.
Failing that, if you don’t have soldering kit and would only get one for this repair, I’d just get a new board.
another way to think about it is, soldering kits are pretty cheap (<$30) and after getting one last year for a project and soldering for the first time, I’ve been pretty glad to have a whole new scope of projects I can take on
cheap soldering kits have gotten much better lately too, I had an old soldering iron that I thought was Fine and which I’d been consistently clumsy with for like 15 years but a $20 upgrade was massive
i went on the soldering journey this year and all i have to say is this is The Boy
just keep in mind it doesn’t have a holder for the iron
