I’m not sure, but I have heard multiple reviewers say that the only difference between melodics and lanes is that the latter have the small tab added to the top-housing to immobilise the leaf.
Assuming that’s true, I did think of chopping off that tab to recreate a melodics switch, just to see what it feels like, and to see if it’s just as snappy when the leaf is free. But ultimately I don’t know that I want to do a non-reversible mod, even on a single switch.
I spring swapped some keygeek briny switches today.
These are pretty great linear switches. They’re the first keygeek I’ve tried that actually don’t have any weird noises from the housing or leaf (even though I’ve had more than one Keygeek set that made this same claim).
They have a nylon top and bottom with a UPE stem. They are lubed and feel that way, but it’s a really nice and even application. The result is a clean sounding medium deep switch with a clearly defined bottom-out (almost like if you had a long stem cherry switch that was fully lubed)
TLDR: I’m impressed with the switches (especially after getting a spring of my preference installed). I’ll report back if they start making any funky sounds.
The one thing I thought could be better was the spring. The stock spring listed at 63.5g felt too heavy for this switch to me.
So I’ve replaced with 55g TX medium springs, which are both shorter and lighter. Much better IMO
A few interesting things to note. First off, look at the contact leaf
Notice how thin it is in comparison to a standard leaf (briny on left)
Also, when I was spring swapping I noticed that both ends of the spring were treated with lubrication (Donut dipped), with a larger amount on the top end that sits against the stem.
I have never lubed both ends of the spring and it never even occurred to me. When I tested my spring swap, 4 of the first batch of 10 still had some ping. So… I copied their technique and lubed the spring top. It worked.
In fact, for the remaining 60 switches, I ONLY lubed the top of the spring, and not a single one had ping. I do think there is quite a bit of factory lube still in the bottom housing around the stem tube. 
Got my first Yuzu PBS set mounted on my first Daertwing! I might correct print alignment on some of the keys in subsequent order, but I really like this combo. Switches are KTT Soot/Ash.
Love the legends!
Wholeheartedly agree, that is a neat looking legend font.
Thanks! It’s a font pre-loaded on YUZU called Edit Undo Line - here’s the link to the YUZU design: PBS Daertwing custom PBS keycaps - by lemmons - on Yuzu. The comma and semi-colon are too low, but it’s a start! (EDIT: I had the wrong link at first!)
A few days in and one of my switches used a lot for gaming (E) has started making a plastic tick noise on rebound occasionally. I think it happens more when I press the bottom edge of the keycap.
So far just this one but it’s the same situation I’ve previously experienced from Keygeek switches. I’m planning to let it develop further and then see if adding lube somewhere fixes it. Maybe it’s a spring I didn’t get enough lube on? It’s not all that different from the ticking noise that Durock switches develop, so it also may be the stem pole rattling
Luckily they’re not soldered in. I’m not a fan of random noises here and there (especially on a deep pitched, lubed switch), but they do still feel very nice to type on.
Today I built my Pangea Mini with Taro n Sweet Potato switches. Topped off with DCS Orange on Beige.
I’ll report back after I’ve given it a proper break in. The board is very well made and finished. Still not certain about the switches. Sometimes I like them and sometime the little, high-pitched ticking noises they make bother me. If I can figure out how to silence that aspect without changing the feel of the keypress I would say they are great. More to come, I guess.
I was surprised the keycaps didn’t have a R1 delete key, but the colors are perfecto.
So version 3 definitely works (I’m typing on a Leggera built with it now)! But I also definitely screwed up the RGB. KiCAD is weird in that the mapping between pins (in the schematic) and pads (on the PCB) is really stored in the symbol (in the schematic). So while I used the right footprint, because it was the “wrong” symbol, the pins are all wonky and it doesn’t work. -_-
I’m currently working on the fix but it’s a royal pain having to delete all the old traces, rotate the parts, and redo all the traces again. Also working on a F13 version.
Not quite on the workbench yet, but I’ve forked and added to dcpedit’s fantastic Mission Control project, which replaces the guts of a IBM M122 with a modern MX-compatible PCB. For my part, I’ve added RGB lighting and mucked with the layout.
The bottom row is a cursed special layout to cram in 3 mod keys in the WKL of the M122: 1.5U, blocker, 1U, 1U, 6U spacebar, 1U, 1U, blocker, 1.5U. (My other alternatives involved more standard space bars but doing horrendous things like mixing 1U, 1.25U, and 1.5U mods so I could use a standard spacebar.)
Anyway, here’s Wonderwall the repository: mission-control-rave-edition
PS: I embarked upon this because I managed to snap two decent condition M122’s…but I didn’t check the part numbers and so one of them was the dreaded “Quietouch” model, which is a cheap-ass membrane dome keyboard disguised as a battleship. Thus the desire to replace the guts with something more usable.
I’ll stick up for the quiet touch here a bit, though not enough to pretend your build isn’t gonna be awesome. I acquired mine almost exactly how you did yours, but I kind of like it. There are much worse membrane battleships out there than the genuine IBM (and successors) ones, though the bad ones can look the part from listing photos. The tactility of a dome-M is very distinctive, and the build quality is exactly the same as any later Model M.
Fair enough! This one had a few stuck keys that probably could have been fixed with a cleaning. I’m keeping the internals, as the controller and membrane sheets could be used to repair the other M122 at least). Not entirely sure what to do with that membrane sheet, though.
One weird difference from the other M122 and the model M I have is that the slider and keycap are one piece of plastic rather than two, which got me thinking about EC mods whereupon I stumbled upon the Mission Control.
Also realizing now (after sending off to JLCPCB) I should have added at least one encoder since an DJ edition clearly needs a dial to crank to 11. I’ll probably patch something in using the header for the LCD.
That guy’s IBM MX projects are soooo cool and I am glad he open sourced them.
Yeah, the one piece caps are a thing for buckling spring too, though I think they’re just a bit later. The replacement BS caps I got from Unicomp are all one-piece. That would track with the QuietTouch coming later as well, and I think the only molds for their filled-in-stem caps were one-piece. Mine was a Unicomp (“IO Corp” branded) without too many miles on it. Sucks that yours had stuck keys, but that makes it even less of an issue that it’s the donor for your conversion.
