Suggestions for O-rings on a LED Board?

[Brane Ded]

I have a Ducky Shine 3 with cherry black switches and I want to not only reduce the sound but also reduce the travel distance of the keys to stop just after the activation point (similar to the short throw of laptop scissor keys).  I bought a set of the grey soft landing pads and doubled them up on each key and it has the perfect travel reduction and nearly the perfect softness (it's just a hair mushier than I want but I can deal with it).  The problem is that the pads cover up the backlight LEDs in the keys so I only get some light through the very tops of the keys and some not at all where the pad has rotated with the corners completely over the LED.

Anyone else have an LED cherry keyboard and solved this problem? I was thinking of getting two sets of 50A thin o-rings and doubling them up as I think the thick O-rings may also cover the LEDs but I want to make sure to get the travel distance right about where it is now.  Any suggestions?

[Lpwl]

I tried all these O-rings and did some research :



In my opinion, the perfect hardness is 40A -- the perfect thickness is the max thickness you can have with OEM profile keycaps (= 2.5 mm ⇔ 0.098 inch).


If you wish to keep as much backlighting as you can, you should buy some "clear" O-rings from eBay or Massdrop.

... but these ones look pretty thin !

You will have to double them up - like you were planning to.


If you wish to get the "perfect travel reduction" then you should buy some "fat" O-rings.

Take a look into my thread sale here


I'm also looking to find a way to produce some "fat" O-rings in "clear" (but also soft) rubber material.

They would be really great with backlighting keyboards.

[Brane Ded]

I have been trying to find some of the thicker clear O-rings in 40A-50A hardness but have had no luck, the non-clear ones are great but cover the LED of the switch.  I can't double up the small ones as previously thought because they reduce travel distance to right at the actuation point, which means sometimes on a light press they key will not activate. Looking into clear dental bands at the moment but can't seem to find dimensions for their sizes. 

Those massdrop rings are mislabed, there's no way they have a thickness of 0.4mm, they just don't make them that thin.  Also, after reading the comments of stuff on massdrop I would rather spend the extra $5 to be assured to get the product I want and not have to deal with their 1-3 month turn-around times.  For products that don't have options they seem great but, based off the customer's comments, when it comes to choosing colors, sizes, and accessories they seem to get it wrong every time.

[Lpwl]

I agree with you.

I'll keep you informed on the projects I am working on.

[infiniti]

I got some clear/translucent white o-ring from eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261265487004?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

These are better for backlight keycaps since light will shine through the o-ring.

Look at the letter O.  Take notice of the bottom part of the letter O.  There's a slight shadow with the black o-ring.

With a black o-ring:


With a clear/translucent white o-ring:


clear/translucent white o-ring and 50A black o-ring:

The black one is stiffer than the clear/translucent white o-ring.

[Brane Ded]

Infiniti, those are the type I'm trying to find but in the thicker size.  Everything I found on ebay are the regular 1.5mm thickness and not the 1.75mm thickness, not to mention no one posts the hardness there either.

[infiniti]

Infiniti, those are the type I'm trying to find but in the thicker size.  Everything I found on ebay are the regular 1.5mm thickness and not the 1.75mm thickness, not to mention no one posts the hardness there either.

Wow...it's been a while since I bought mine and I just looked them up again on eBay and geez it's like everyone is selling them now.  All the same specs...probably all mass produced by the same factory in China.

Oh well, looks like we'll wait for Lpwl, the o-ring man.

P.S. for the dental / ortho bands, the size is 3/16 inch.  I tried the Ormco Impala 6 Oz. bands.  They're as thick as the black o-rings but far softer than the clear/translucent white o-rings.

[Brane Ded]

P.S. for the dental / ortho bands, the size is 3/16 inch.  I tried the Ormco Impala 6 Oz. bands.  They're as thick as the black o-rings but far softer than the clear/translucent white o-rings.

Hmm, if they're that soft they may be too mushy.  I've got a friend in the dental profession so I'll ask if I can get a few samples.

[Lpwl]

I've been playing with some new "clear/translucent" O-rings :



It looks pretty good to me.

More information / pictures tomorrow !

[Lpwl]

Both are made of soft rubber material (= 40A)

[Brane Ded]

The clear fat ones look great, do you have a link of where we could acquire a set?

[Lpwl]

Not yet !

Those should be available before the end of this month.

I will send you a PM as soon as everything is ready.

No worries !

[quake4mhg]

Lpwl I'm waiting for the clear fat orings too. Are you gonna post on classified? or groupbuy section? I don't wanna miss 

[Lpwl]

Lpwl I'm waiting for the clear fat orings too. Are you gonna post on classified? or groupbuy section? I don't wanna miss 

In classifieds again !

I'll send you a PM+email

You should get yours before Christmas

[quake4mhg]

Thank you Lpwl 

[Lpwl]

As promised, here they are :





Sale thread is live in Classifieds.

I hope that it will be useful!

[Brane Ded]

Lpwl, you're awesome.  These clear bands are perfect and you went above and beyond my request for a few extra thin sizes.

[Brane Ded]

Update for Lpwl and what I did with those extra sets of small rings I requested to test out for another silencing method.  I cut two slices out of one of the thin 40A O-rings and slid one on each side of the moving switch inside the channel in the switch housing.  Now the key only travels about 1.25mm top to bottom and the actuation point is about 0.25mm from the top, best of all it makes almost no sound.  I estimate that it will take only 14 of the thin 40A o-rings to do an entire 104 key keyboard.

This method may not work with blue/brown switches because of the clicker and where it actuates but it's perfect with blacks and probably reds too.  Once I get the whole keyboard done, I'll do a write up and see about getting a recording of the sound to go with it.




Edit: Fixed a typo, "40a" to "40A".

[Lpwl]

You're welcome !