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Highest quality readily available keyboards
TomahawkLabs:
--- Quote from: iri on Mon, 27 January 2025, 05:29:38 ---Orange Alps' tactility feels to me like a bit of dirt on top of a linear switch.
Now Brown Alps are really tactile.
--- End quote ---
Funny you say that. I just had someone on ebay pull the keyboard out of an IBM 5140 so I can harvest the SKCM Browns. Very excited to feel how the feel. I am most excited to look at how the do the tactility. It's different than the usual metal leaf.
fohat.digs:
--- Quote from: TomahawkLabs on Tue, 21 January 2025, 20:58:23 ---
1. SKCM Blue - Feels good, could be even better after cleaning/lubing, I can see why people love these switches
2. SKCM White - also feel good, not as good as blue, but still good
3. SKCM Salmon - My favorite tactile switch
4. SKCM "Taxi Cab" Amber - My favorite clicky switch. The best balance of sound and feel
5. SKCM Orange - light tactility, good overall feel
6. SKCL Yellow - its linear, nothing to comment about. it goes up and it goes down without binding
7. SKCL Green - again...
8. SKCM Black - currently disassembled in prep for round 1 of the cleaning process but offered nice tactility, nothing ultra special as I remember
9. Damped White - My office pick if you work with other people, great feel with a rubber dampener on the slider
10. Damped Cream - same as Damped White
11. Bonus non-standard switch - Heavy Blue. It's a customer spec blue. Hand marked with a blue line down the center and a heavy spring. I cannot understate how much force it takes to press down that switch.
12. Alps Locking - fun to see and play with, but wouldn't make a good keyboard
--- End quote ---
My impression is that there is very little difference between salmon and orange, with most people giving the nod to orange.
Similarly, that there is very little difference between dampened white and dampened cream, with most people giving the nod to cream.
There is no doubt that condition and cleanliness make a huge difference in any case.
And "Northgate Bob" swore that there was no difference at all between blue and 1st generation white.
TomahawkLabs:
I agree similarly with the orange/salmon. It was a lot of going back and forth between the two and it wasn't clear which one was better. With the boards I was comparing it felt as if the salmon had a bigger bump to go over and the orange started depressing with less initial force. Being they were used in the same boards I would assume it would be a minor change between the two. My current ambitions are to collect every mainline (not counting SKCL Striped Amber) Alps SKCM and SKCL switch. Fully broken down, cleaned, and lubed. Very time consuming, but the results do speak for themselves.
The process starts with disassembling the switch into: Slider, Top Housing, Lower Housing, Contact Leaf (if tactile/clicky), Spring, Switchplate, and Switchplate Contact Leaf. The Slider, Top Housing, and Bottom Housing get cleaned by hand with Q-Tips and iso alcohol to remove any dust, dirt, grime, nasty off before heading to the ultrasonic cleaner. The Spring, Contact Leaf, and Switchplate Contact Leaf all get a turn (15 minutes) in the ultrasonic cleaner. The solution I use is 2 denture tabs and a drop of Seventh Gen dish soap. Each part is then rinsed with distillated water before being dried off. The Slider, Top Housing, and Bottom Housing all get put onto a towel before each one is hand air dried with a pet blower. Once all the parts are cleaned, I apply some Teflon Silcon lubricant via brush to the Slider, Top Housing, and Spring during the re-assembly. The cleaned switches are then put in a plastic bag to keep them nice and clean until they can be used.
Vescovo Alessio:
If the price is not a concern, as you say...
maybe a Vescovo keyboard meets all your requirements?
I have the one in the photo available, combination of finishes as follows:
- Base: American Walnut wood.
- Insert: Matte black anodized aluminum.
- Switches: Novelkeys-Kalih Cream (linear, self-lubricating POM, 55cN actuation force).
- Layout: US International (ISO).
- Compatibility: MacOS.
I can also build with different switches, different woods, windows compatibility, etc.
FOURRINGS:
--- Quote from: quiet_destroyer on Thu, 09 January 2025, 22:38:06 ---have you checked out Mode keyboards? They have a great lineup, probably some of the best quality I am aware of that is in stock. Can also check out kbdfans or keychron.
--- End quote ---
GOOD CALL.. massive fan of the new MODE line up. Transparent PC hits the mark for me
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