What's on your workbench today?

[HungerMechanic]

A lot of interesting posts in the past 5 days.

Interference

It’s too bad about the MW H-L keycaps demonstrating that kind of interference. (I was considering putting them on MX Clears, as well).

I could get some HMX Jade tactiles for my NCR-80, which I think are shorter-travel and might work with the Hash-Line.

WRT the HMKB, I always thought that HMKB75 was one of the cleanest and most-organized looking 75%.

Now we know that the MW Hash-Line is good for both classic-beige colourations, and the GMK colourways that the gray HMKB was trying to accommodate.

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Surface-Texture

The MW Hash-Line surface-texture discussion is interesting.

I know that you are interested in keycaps with similar feel. I don’t have them all arrayed out in front of me right now, but isn’t the surface-texture similar to KCH Nekoccino? I saw you mention that set the other day.

Both should be relatively smooth, and non-grippy.

I have a set of these “Mixed Lights” keycaps:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009514016965.html

As one of the reviews expressed, these are hard keycaps with a soft-feeling surface. I feel that these keycaps, as well as KCH Nekoccino, and MW Hash-Line, might use similar materials and processes for the surface-layer.

But MW Hash-Line keycaps are more substantial, as you know. Is it that particular combination of smooth-surface and heavy construction that you are looking for?

There are different variants of the “Mixed Lights” keycaps. They’ve been listed, alternatively, as having “texture-coating” as a technique, and being made from “PC” and “PBT.” You can almost feel the legend-layer of plastic on some of the keycaps.

“Performance and Property: Super skin-friendly feel with thickness for texture”

“Made from premium PC material, these keycaps offer a super skin-friendly feel that ensures comfort during extended periods of use. The thickness of the keycaps adds a tactile dimension, allowing for a more satisfying typing experience.”

Personally, I prefer a classic ‘slight egg-shell’ texture, but these are good for certain builds. Typing on them right now, with MX Browns.

[pixelpusher]

The KCH caps have a nice feel but it’s not as different as these MW caps.

The mixed lights caps you linked do look more like they could have a similar feel.

[63N]

@pixelpusher

I remember durock using this band design and it was a nightmare b/c with friction it would start to rotate inside the housing and it would eventually bind the switch.

Indeed.

That’s the main reason I stopped using Durock silents. It happened to me both with Shrimps and Daybreaks.

I thought lubing the rails might make it better, but it actually made the situation worse.

So I’m really curious if Gateron’s take on the concept is as prone to binding as Durock’s dampeners.

[pixelpusher]

@63N

I thought lubing the rails might make it better, but it actually made the situation worse.

That’s exactly what I experienced. I have a full bag of silent Seriko switches from years ago that I’ve never used. They needed lubrication to feel and sound right. But when I added lube the dampeners started turning.

[schizobovine]

@63N

@pixelpusher

I remember durock using this band design and it was a nightmare b/c with friction it would start to rotate inside the housing and it would eventually bind the switch.

Indeed.

That’s the main reason I stopped using Durock silents. It happened to me both with Shrimps and Daybreaks.

So I don’t think the Grape Smoothies’s (or any of the other new purple stemmed Gateron silent tactiles, they all appear to be the same stem) silencing band is made separately and attached later (like the JWK/Durock style mentioned). The silicone seems too inconsistent to have been made with dedicated, separate mold. More likely it’s either another “shot” or overmold done on the stem itself. This will make sure it conforms to the surface better and reduce chances of it sticking to the rails rather than the stem.

It does come off easily, but that’s because nothing sticks to POM very well.

[wjrii]

Next project on the docket, using up PCB 3 of 5 from my original order in… jeez… 2024. Time flies.

This one will use outemu mid-height clickies, the ones with the interesting ball-catch click mechanism. Spring swapping with mid height black went poorly, so I’m just going to run these a little lighter than I normally would. Stab-less build.

Caps are the overstock VSA that used to be insanely cheap in the before-times, but nowadays are not a good value. I got this set before tariffs though, and the enter is a SP DSA from my grab bag, which has come in handy a few times now. It’s not an exact match dimensionally, but really quite close. If I’m careful about pin selection, I should be able to reuse the firmware from when I converted its older brother from KMK to ZMK.

I want this one to be fairly low height, so I will keep it zero-degrees, which also necessitates finding a spot for the MCU. The plan is to adapt some design elements from the IBM/Lenovo Silitek membrane boards, specifically the forehead and pen tray. I always kinda liked them aesthetically, and at least they were full travel when chiclet membranes were taking over the cheap pack-in space.

Edit: I came up with something that should have enough room. Switch plate was largely lifted from the prior build, but not entirely. Still need to design the bottom plate and get the switch plate lasered. This design would be a shrouded stack, with the switch plate, some standoffs/spacers, and the bottom plate forming a unit, but instead ofa top plate, it all screws into the case. I could tweak it a little more and make it a proper top-mount, but I’m also sensitive to the case’s footprint, as I want to try again to get something with a numpad printed in one piece.

[pixelpusher]

I’ve assembled many of these MM switches from their parts over the past few years, but these parts had been laying around unused for way too long. So I fixed that.

This is by far my favorite combination and the 3rd set with this combo I’ve made. POM top and bottom, LY stem. But I went lighter this time with a 57g TX medium spring and 3204 on all stem surfaces except the pole bottom (where it impacts). Might be my best work yet

So where do they live? I soldered them in my TKL Classic. It’s one of my favorite boards of all time.

And how to top it off? Well, my MW Unmanned Playground set came in today.

I’m in love. It’s perfect. I may have achieved perfection here.

[Wooden-Toilet]

That is quite the well coordinated board you got there also would you say the MM switch parts are worth buying with the level of part customization it gives or is it better to just buy a switch that has similar specs.

[pixelpusher]

I would say that if you plan to lube or spring swap your switches, the MM switches are worth it because of the time it saves by not having to disassemble everything. But the switches as a whole are not above and beyond anything else you can get out there. The sound of the LY on POM is one of my favorite by far. The only thing that keeps these from being a perfect 10/10 experience is the wobble. They’re about on par with standard Gateron switches for wobble. And different stem/housing combos have more wobble than others.

They LY stems must have been popular because they are sold out at most vendors, even though the other parts are on heavy discount most places.

[pixelpusher]

I got some of these: linears (strawberry) and silent linears (mint) today. They are quite nice in the hand. Have to get them in a board, but the silent linears seem top notch.

wrote about them here:

What did you get in the mail today? (Part 2)

Gateron Full POM Smoothie switches I’m a linear fan, so I ordered Mint and Strawberry MINT The Mint smoothie are pretty legit great silent linears. Very snappy but light spring and a true 4.0mm travel. They feel a bit different from other silents I’ve tried and liked. They sound similar to silent Lucy but the spring and 4.0mm travel makes them feel distinct. They have a 20mm single stage 45g spring. Longer springs like this usually feel quite heavier than listed, and this one feels esse…

[Neprawda]

Today I took out my old KBD D45
to redo all the stabilizers.

At the same time, I took the keycaps from the “D45” keyboard to put them on the “Agar” keyboard — they match the theme and overall look really well there.

Summary

[pixelpusher]

Tempest blue classic-TKL with knight v4 stabilizers and gateron pom strawberry smoothies. GMK muted R1 with new sleeves blue accents (also picked up on clearance at NK for $10)

Still not a fan of these switches. I’ll give them a day or two, but I think these go in the “sell” pile. I tried wiping the lube off of the housings and stems, and that did improve things a lot. Don’t know if I want to rinse and repeat 100 times though.

[TheNamesTy45]

That is very aesthetically pleasing.

[flemur]

My first introduction to an EC-ish experience:

After my recent interest in finally getting to try out some Topre-inspired boards, after many years of wondering, I stumbled upon the mention of the XVX Whisper switch, described to be fairly similar to real EC, but fitting in hot swap HE boards.

I promptly ordered 70 switches, seeing as they were not sold out, and then went into research mode to see if I could find a wireless, 65%, ISO board so that this could be my cheap EC experiment, serving as my office board. The Akko Mod68 seemed to be the single option fulfilling these requirements.

Yesterday I did the first assembly, just swapping in the switches and changing to my old enjoyPBT BoW set, and adding a little extra lube to the stabs.

Later when I get new supplies I’ll take it fully apart, lube the springs with 105g0, install TTC plate mounted stabs with 205g2, and see if I can fit in some more foam.

So far I’m loving the feel, and especially the sound of these switches. It sounds like all those HHKB and other Topre sound tests I’ve been listening to for so many years!
And honestly I’m shocked how much keyboard I’ve gotten for the money here - 100ish USD for the board, 50ish for the switches. The feel is somehow both nothing special, and at the same time super satisfying. I’m not getting the “wow” of the first time I tried a holy panda, or a super smooth lubed linear, but it somehow just feels right.

I’m super excited to try the real EC experience, even if not genuine Topre, when the Kraze65 is released and produced!

[schizobovine]

GitHub - seancaulfield/ISOish87: h87 compatible keyboard PCB for my own preferred...

Sadly no pictures ATM due to my phone being stupid, but been working on a hotswap h87-compatible TKL PCB that does ISO layout. Third revision is off to JLCPCB, as the last one worked except for 1) RGB and 2) the spacebar.

RGB just needs a 3.3V to 5V buffer (I think). The spacebar, OTOH, was just a new category of stupid mistake: I rotated the stabs in KiCAD but didn’t check that they stayed centered. So they were like 0.775mm upwards from the switch center. Result is that the spacebar binds entirely and will not move. :sad_trombone:

Hopefully version 3 will work fully. Maybe I’ll get around to switching to a ST chip, at some point.

[pixelpusher]

@schizobovine

I rotated the stabs in KiCAD but didn’t check that they stayed centered. So they were like 0.775mm upwards from the switch center. Result is that the spacebar binds entirely and will not move. :sad_trombone:

Welp, you’ve confirmed that this isn’t an acceptable modification. I guess there’s that.

[wjrii]

@schizobovine

I rotated the stabs in KiCAD but didn’t check that they stayed centered. So they were like 0.775mm upwards from the switch center.

Sounds like you’ve just discovered a use for the dusty plate-mount stabs hiding in your junk drawer! My last PCB had two traces get nuked by the cleanup routine because I forgot to assign them to a subnet, and it only physically fits 2 of the 3 layout options I intended.

[63N]

Mange hilsener til min dansk “nabo” i sør

[picturamundi]

The Lanes have this really interesting tactile snap on the return stroke that reminds me of click bar switches. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to get that feel in a non-clicky switch, and I think these are already part of the way there.

So I’ve been playing around with tweaking the angle of the tactile leaf to see if I can get more of that crisp snappiness on the way down as well:

The stock leaf is on the left. I first tried increasing it to roughly 90 degrees (on the right). The super strong, crunchy tactility this produced reminded me of Box Royals. It’s a bit too much for me.

In the middle is roughly where I think the sweet spot is. You catch the tooth just enough to give more of a snap on the way down, but not so much that it becomes harsh.

So far I’m just experimenting with a single switch; I’m not yet sure I want to risk ruining the consistency and resale value of the whole batch (like I’ve done with my Zeal clickiez…).

[wjrii]

I remembering correctly that the lanes are factory modified melodics? If so, I wonder what the melodics angle is.