Simple Questions, Simple Answers (FAQ in the OP)

[combataran]

Do new MX Blacks sound like this with 65g springs?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMIkwKgKFhc&list=UUi51LUI0D43OeR7zju-NM5g

The sound really depends on the case, caps, if you bottom out or not, material under the case and if there is a dampening mat inside.

Well what makes this particular board sound that good? That sound signature is what I'm shooting for, on a KMAC to be specific.

[BlueBär]

Well what makes this particular board sound that good? That sound signature is what I'm shooting for, on a KMAC to be specific.

Hard to say. Seems like he doesn't bottom out hard, and he probably has some sort of dampening mat inside the case. Looks like the case is also sitting on a sort of mousepad. The metal case is also of course a big factor.

[CPTBadAss]

Do new MX Blacks sound like this with 65g springs?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMIkwKgKFhc&list=UUi51LUI0D43OeR7zju-NM5g

The sound really depends on the case, caps, if you bottom out or not, material under the case and if there is a dampening mat inside.

Well what makes this particular board sound that good? That sound signature is what I'm shooting for, on a KMAC to be specific.

You told me you don't like the KMAC2, which has a similar design to that LZ-CE. But I think that block shaped case contributes to the sound signature. I'm not sure my KMAC LE would sound the same if I put the Blacks in it.

[combataran]

Well what makes this particular board sound that good? That sound signature is what I'm shooting for, on a KMAC to be specific.

Hard to say. Seems like he doesn't bottom out hard, and he probably has some sort of dampening mat inside the case. Looks like the case is also sitting on a sort of mousepad. The metal case is also of course a big factor.

So the sound isn't totally dependent on the switches themselves? What a relief. Even his RF and RF10AE sound really silent(soothingly), even less so than his HHKB-S lubed with what, krytox 104?

[CPTBadAss]

So the sound isn't totally dependent on the switches themselves?

The sound really depends on the case, caps, if you bottom out or not, material under the case and if there is a dampening mat inside.

No. I agree with BlueBar with the factors that contribute to the sound of switches.

His HHKB-S lubed with what, krytox 104?

You can lube your Topre switches with the Krytox lube mixes from Techkeys.us or Originativeco.com. On GH, those Krytox mixes are the most popular option, I think, for lubing switches.

[combataran]

You can lube your Topre switches with the Krytox lube mixes from Techkeys.us or Originativeco.com. On GH, those Krytox mixes are the most popular option, I think, for lubing switches.

Thin or thick?

[CPTBadAss]

You can lube your Topre switches with the Krytox lube mixes from Techkeys.us or Originativeco.com. On GH, those Krytox mixes are the most popular option, I think, for lubing switches.

Thin or thick?

I think mkawa said thick but you better double check.

[Zeal]

I believe mkawa developed the "super thick" lube for Topre switches.

[dorkvader]

I have received my new barrel plate from unicomp.  Would it be OK if I get it warm with water while forming it to the backplate?  I am paranoid about cracking the new one.

It shouldn't hurt anything, but all the new barrel plates I've dealt with have been just fine.

[Melvang]

I have received my new barrel plate from unicomp.  Would it be OK if I get it warm with water while forming it to the backplate?  I am paranoid about cracking the new one.

It shouldn't hurt anything, but all the new barrel plates I've dealt with have been just fine.

Thanks for the info.  Mkawa confirmed this as well.  I would assume for the actual install it goes the same as bolt modding the original?

[Pacifist]

2 questions

1. Breaking in clears before lubing-Myth or legit?

2. Lightest spring to use with clears with lube before it does sticky action.

[Melvang]

2 questions

1. Breaking in clears before lubing-Myth or legit?

2. Lightest spring to use with clears with lube before it does sticky action.

1.  I believe both.  I think it has an effect but it would take so long to get past any sort of "break in" period to have a noticeable effect that it would be moot.

2.  I am using stock Cherry springs from browns with clear stems lubed with a fairly thing Krytox mix only on the sides of the slider and have zero issues with sticking using imso thick PBT.  Though spacebar was stock clear spring.

[Pacifist]

2 questions

1. Breaking in clears before lubing-Myth or legit?

2. Lightest spring to use with clears with lube before it does sticky action.

1.  I believe both.  I think it has an effect but it would take so long to get past any sort of "break in" period to have a noticeable effect that it would be moot.

2.  I am using stock Cherry springs from browns with clear stems lubed with a fairly thing Krytox mix only on the sides of the slider and have zero issues with sticking using imso thick PBT.  Though spacebar was stock clear spring.

Thanks!

1. Im going to use the clears from those POS boards from ebay, hopefully those are broken in enough.

2. Would 55g korean be lighter or heavier than browns?

[Melvang]

2 questions

1. Breaking in clears before lubing-Myth or legit?

2. Lightest spring to use with clears with lube before it does sticky action.

1.  I believe both.  I think it has an effect but it would take so long to get past any sort of "break in" period to have a noticeable effect that it would be moot.

2.  I am using stock Cherry springs from browns with clear stems lubed with a fairly thing Krytox mix only on the sides of the slider and have zero issues with sticking using imso thick PBT.  Though spacebar was stock clear spring.

Thanks!

1. Im going to use the clears from those POS boards from ebay, hopefully those are broken in enough.

2. Would 55g korean be lighter or heavier than browns?

1.  I don't see how they can't be if the board has been in service.

2.  I believe that they are just a touch heavier.  I could be wrong though.  But remember that korean springs are at bottom and Cherrys listings are at actuation.

[BlueBär]

55g should be a bit lighter than browns. The light cherry springs are around 60g (bottom out).

[phoenix1234]

Thanks!
1. Im going to use the clears from those POS boards from ebay, hopefully those are broken in enough.
2. Would 55g korean be lighter or heavier than browns?

55g Korean springs are good for Cherry MX Brown. I have tried 55g Korean spring from Originative and used them on Cherry MX Brown collected from G80. From what I feel, the springs are lighter than the Cherry MX default light spring but it brings better results : the tactile is more obvious.

However, the 55g is too light for Cherry MX Clear unless you have very old Vintage Cherry MX Clear whereas the white stem turned into yellow and the tactile degraded significantly. In that case, the MX Clear has similar tactile force as Cherry MX Brown so that we can use 55g spring on them.

[CPTBadAss]

2 questions

1. Breaking in clears before lubing-Myth or legit?

2. Lightest spring to use with clears with lube before it does sticky action.

1) Everything wears so you could wear away the friction points before lubing but I'm not sure how long it would take to get you to your desired wear state. Personal testing is probably needed.

2) I've tried lubed 55g that didn't stick and ones that did stick. Mistakemistake had new lubed 55g clears that were fine. But I've tried more boards with missed clears that stuck than didn't. Seems to me 62g it's the lowest is want to go. And I prefer 65g or MX blacks.

[intelli78]

I'm getting a Duck Mini V2 shortly that has 59g unlubed (afaik) ergo clears. Odd spring strength, I am interested to see whether I have to replace them.

Anyway, my question is: what type/size of screw/bolt is used to hold the Duck Mini V2 riser onto the keyboard? I haven't been able to find any good pics. It almost looks like a square head (?)

[cannonking]

What is the difference between a 'limited' spring and a normal spring here?

http://www.originativeco.com/collections/accessories/products/springs

[CPTBadAss]

What is the difference between a 'limited' spring and a normal spring here?

http://www.originativeco.com/collections/accessories/products/springs

From this thread, the limited springs should have a tighter tolerance and less spring weight variation between each spring.

[Zeal]

I'm getting a Duck Mini V2 shortly that has 59g unlubed (afaik) ergo clears. Odd spring strength, I am interested to see whether I have to replace them.

Anyway, my question is: what type/size of screw/bolt is used to hold the Duck Mini V2 riser onto the keyboard? I haven't been able to find any good pics. It almost looks like a square head (?)

I don't have a Duck Mini V2, but those "square head" screws are Robertson's, which are almost exclusively used in Canada due to patents and such. Perhaps someone who has one can chime in. From the look of pictures with the fixing bolts on the side, I'm going to say that it uses Hex screws.

[ajx]

is there any 60 size with dedicated arrows on the right bottom of keyboard?

[intelli78]

is there any 60 size with dedicated arrows on the right bottom of keyboard?

FC660M/C is the closest, Poker X kind of (FN+space toggles the modifier cluster to work as arrow keys).

[Puddsy]

Pure Pro and Filco miniLA as well

[ajx]

I got Pure Pro but faulty keyboard and layout was awful to get used to type on.
I would rather stay on ANSI if possible

[stancato9]

Does anyone know if there's a male usb a connector on ebay that's plastic housing is big enough to put a sleeved cable though? The ones I have right now are way too small. Thanks.

[BlueBär]

Does anyone know if there's a male usb a connector on ebay that's plastic housing is big enough to put a sleeved cable though? The ones I have right now are way too small. Thanks.

I did this:


Looks pretty good and seems to hold quite well.

[ajx]

I use desk lamp to light keyboard but i want to know it might damage keyboard (i have also white keyboard)? i have basic desk lamp and its pretty hot in there

[CPTBadAss]

I use desk lamp to light keyboard but i want to know it might damage keyboard (i have also white keyboard)? i have basic desk lamp and its pretty hot in there

Should be fine.

[swill]

Does anyone know if there's a male usb a connector on ebay that's plastic housing is big enough to put a sleeved cable though? The ones I have right now are way too small. Thanks.

I did this:
(Attachment Link)

Looks pretty good and seems to hold quite well.

This is what I was planning to do for mine as well...

[jonathanyu]

The pbt set that sold on originative has a profile or b profile bottom row?

[Puddsy]

The pbt set that sold on originative has a profile or b profile bottom row?

IIRC b profile

[ajx]

I ve seen on my Poker II there are poling rate settings, whats the purpose?
Meaning if i enable the lowest amount, should i become to type faster?

[BlueBär]

I ve seen on my Poker II there are poling rate settings, whats the purpose?
Meaning if i enable the lowest amount, should i become to type faster?

Polling is basically how often the keyboard and the PC exchange data, the higher it is the more often data is exchanged and the less "lag" between pressing the key and it getting registered by the PC occurs. However, even fairly low polling rates are enough for keyboards, it is more important for mice.

[ajx]

Are you telling me they added usuless features? lol
Yes that what i thought, it does not feel necessary since you can type way faster with mechanical keyboard than anything else

[BlueBär]

Are you telling me they added usuless features? lol

Well it's useful for marketing I guess )

Yes that what i thought, it does not feel necessary since you can type way faster with mechanical keyboard than anything else

That is not necessarily true. If you would have a keyboard with less than 2mm travel until actuation you can in theory be faster. So you could be typing a lot faster on something like a touchscreen than on a mechanical keyboard, but we all know that is not really true and doesn't feel nearly as good

[b7ad]

Does anyone have a 'default' .map file for a GON NS 38 GT? Had some troubles mapping.

[b7ad]

Does anyone have a 'default' .map file for a GON NS 38 GT? Had some troubles mapping.

[intelli78]

Is there a 60%+numpad custom board? Like a lightsaver, but without the function keys?

[jdcarpe]

Is there a 60%+numpad custom board? Like a lightsaver, but without the function keys?

That new Chinese "Red Scarf II"

[CPTBadAss]

Is there a 60%+numpad custom board? Like a lightsaver, but without the function keys?

What jdcarpe said or I think there was one from the DT custom build thread. But I can't remember 100%. You'll have to doublecheck yourself. This thread might also have some information.

Does anyone have a 'default' .map file for a GON NS 38 GT? Had some troubles mapping.

Just edit your previous post. Please don't double post.

[intelli78]

Interesting, thanks!

[nuclearsandwich]

Does anyone have a 'default' .map file for a GON NS 38 GT? Had some troubles mapping.

I will post one when I get home. I think I have a Poker II-ish layout.

[b7ad]

Does anyone have a 'default' .map file for a GON NS 38 GT? Had some troubles mapping.

I will post one when I get home. I think I have a Poker II-ish layout.

Thanks so much that would be extremely helpful! I haven't used this software before and stupidly managed to delete the whole layout and upload it to the keyboard so nothing works now - and when I try to remap the keys it seems like only sometimes it works, I don't know. Spent hours messing with the software anyway trying to fix it and I'm pretty fed up at this point!

[nuclearsandwich]

Does anyone have a 'default' .map file for a GON NS 38 GT? Had some troubles mapping.

I will post one when I get home. I think I have a Poker II-ish layout.

Thanks so much that would be extremely helpful! I haven't used this software before and stupidly managed to delete the whole layout and upload it to the keyboard so nothing works now - and when I try to remap the keys it seems like only sometimes it works, I don't know. Spent hours messing with the software anyway trying to fix it and I'm pretty fed up at this point!

Yeah, I learned pretty early on in messing with layouts to always have a QFR (or equivalent keyboard you can't screw with) on hand in the event of excess humanity.

[Melvang]

Was there ever a Model F that had the inverted T arrow key layout?

[nuclearsandwich]

Does anyone have a 'default' .map file for a GON NS 38 GT? Had some troubles mapping.

I will post one when I get home. I think I have a Poker II-ish layout.

Thanks so much that would be extremely helpful! I haven't used this software before and stupidly managed to delete the whole layout and upload it to the keyboard so nothing works now - and when I try to remap the keys it seems like only sometimes it works, I don't know. Spent hours messing with the software anyway trying to fix it and I'm pretty fed up at this point!

PM'ed you a matrix file but since both my Aikon boards are out of the house right now I have no real way of verifying it. Tomorrow I'll bring one home and double check everything but I have no Windows at work so I can't get it to you until I return. Why isn't there time travel yet?

[intelli78]

Was there ever a Model F that had the inverted T arrow key layout?

Nope, the closest thing is the arrow cluster on the F122.

[Melvang]

Was there ever a Model F that had the inverted T arrow key layout?

Nope, the closest thing is the arrow cluster on the F122.

Alright thanks.  That is the 5 key plus sign layout right?

[Pacifist]

Was there ever a Model F that had the inverted T arrow key layout?

Nope, the closest thing is the arrow cluster on the F122.

Alright thanks.  That is the 5 key plus sign layout right?

yup