@Wingpad: So, let me be sure I understand your click-modded orange Alps. Let's suppose I am starting with a recipient board that has white Alps switches. To make click-modded orange, which of the following parts would I swap into the white Alps from a donor Orange Alps board?
+ Orange Slider
+ Click-modded Orange Tactile Leaf OR original Click Leaf from the white Alps
+ Orange Spring? OR white Spring?
+ Orange Top Housing? OR original White Top Housing?
Or, are you saying that the recipient board would be an Orange Alps board?
@Chyros: The video you are planning sounds like a great contribution. As long as you are going to all that trouble, would you also consider making a table like I have described to summarize the combinations and results?
A click modded Orange switch means you take an Alps SKCM Orange switch and snip the top tabs on the tactile leaf, then insert the leaf back into the housing and you're done.
Oranges and SKCM Creams (not damped) are probably the closest to SKCM Blue. I feel like Oranges are a touch lighter and Creams are a touch heavier though. Click modding either of these would bring them somewhat close to SKCM Blue.
I think the click leaf is the big defining point for SKCM Blue--it's got a lighter angle and a more gentle curve on the click legs and is not very sharp at all. Since that is unique to SKCM Blue, there's not much you can do to get that exact feel.
Blue
White
As you can see, there's a few difference between a white click leaf and a blue. I haven't compared blue leaves to oranges or creams yet though.
This has been my experience with SKCM brown switches in a 60% custom with a stainless steel plate. The switches feel very stiff and the bottoming out is harsh. These switches feel very different in their native habitat of an IBM 5140 keyboard, which has a lot of flexibility. Nevertheless, brown Alps offer wonderful tactility, and I still find it fun to type on the 60% board with these switches.
Hmm... do we know what affords the IBM5140 keyboard such great flexibility? Is it simply a different/thinner plate material? I found it quite fun to type on them in their "native habitat" and I'm hoping to replicate that as closely as possible.
I think the biggest factor is the plate material. I would use aluminum for any custom builds, or mild steel, but that'd be prone to rusting. 1.2mm thick is what I measured the IBM 5140 plate's thickness at.
The second factor I could see causing harshness is the mounting style of the plate to the case. I think top-mounted or suspended style mounting (as I like to call it) would be the least harsh as it would give the plate more room for flex. You see this in metal-backed vintage keyboards and many TKL customs (the Orion is an example).
Bottom-mounted or tray mounted might lead to more stiffness, especially if the PCB is screwed into the bottom at various points like most 60% case styles. Most plastic-cased vintages are bottom mount, but if I remember right, the screws are more spaced out and the PCB is mainly resting on standoffs. Did I ever mention that the Xerox boards use no screws at all?
My bent case Infinity was notoriously harsh to the point that typing on Alps SKCM Oranges gave me RSI in my right thumb last November. The case is made of stainless steel and being bent as it is makes it incredibly rigid and not prone to much flex at all.
