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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: iMav on Sun, 01 June 2008, 18:38:21
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Just put my HHKB Pro back together after a good cleaning. Had a key that was sticking and also noticed that there was some "board chow" building up.
For those of you with black HHKB's, know that the black DOES wear off. I have some white showing through now on the keys, which surprised me...I had figured that it was black dyed all the way through. Oh well.
But it IS nice and clean now. The nice thing about the electrical capacitive switches is that all of the moving parts are submersible. If you desired, you could put out the electronics and throw it all in the dishwasher. (I opted for the kitchen sink) :)
Ahhhhh...there's nothing quite like a fresh, clean keyboard.
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Kind of off-topic, but some people put the RO-59 keyboard lubricant after they cleaned up each key of their HHKB. http://www.ro59inc.com/
It's somewhat popular in Japan among keyboard lovers and is supposed to be the best lubricant to reduce key friction
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Aw, the black wears off? How could this happen!?
I thought they were using black plastic... this sucks. I would've gotten the white one if I knew my $300 KB's paint would wear off.
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Mine looks like it is solid plastic. That is a bummer.
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Kind of off-topic, but some people put the RO-59 keyboard lubricant after they cleaned up each key of their HHKB. http://www.ro59inc.com/
It's somewhat popular in Japan among keyboard lovers and is supposed to be the best lubricant to reduce key friction
Do they only do this (and what exactly do they do with it) with HHKB Pros?
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For those of you with black HHKB's, know that the black DOES wear off. I have some white showing through now on the keys, which surprised me...I had figured that it was black dyed all the way through.
I wonder if that is the same on the Pro 2 as well.
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how can I remove the keys from my hhkb properly? i've been scared to do so but I want to get rid of a few strands of hair stuck in there. (though imav probably doesn't have that problem, judging from his avatar :D:D:D)
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Do they only do this (and what exactly do they do with it) with HHKB Pros?
They do it with all kinds of non-mechanical keyboard (though some might do it on mechanical kbds). One retailer in Japan sells a product called "Smooth Aid" for like 10 bucks, which contains some amount of RO-59. They don't import RO-59 from the company, but buy Smooth Aid instead. They just rub it over where key friction occurs. To get a sense, see the pics in http://www.ne.jp/asahi/uv33a/hidlab/company/iodevice/keyboard_senjou.html.
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That's really interesting, but I don't think I'll be trying it anytime soon. Cool though, thanks.
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I wonder if that is the same on the Pro 2 as well.
These are Pro 2 keycaps that are wearing off.
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These are Pro 2 keycaps that are wearing off.
Post pictures!
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These are Pro 2 keycaps that are wearing off.
How long did that take?
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Yea, please post pictures! I really want to avoid this happening to mine...
:/
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Maybe this is the kind of wear that the black HHKB can suffer after intense use? http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/112880011 (http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/112880011)
Looking at the photos I thought the keyboard was under a bright light, but trying to decipher the babelfish'd translation I think it's just that the black keys have suffered some discoloring over time and have now an uneven gray color finish.
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Maybe this is the kind of wear that the black HHKB can suffer after intense use?
That's pretty much what I am seeing. I'm having trouble getting the camera to properly reflect what I am seeing. And, actually, once they were dry, it wasn't as bad as I thought initially. But it is definitely noticeable.
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Maybe this is the kind of wear that the black HHKB can suffer after intense use? http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/112880011 (http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/112880011)
Looking at the photos I thought the keyboard was under a bright light, but trying to decipher the babelfish'd translation I think it's just that the black keys have suffered some discoloring over time and have now an uneven gray color finish.
Uhm.. I can't even see it. Is it the shinyness around the edges of the buttons?
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^^ Me either.
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That's pretty much what I am seeing. I'm having trouble getting the camera to properly reflect what I am seeing. And, actually, once they were dry, it wasn't as bad as I thought initially. But it is definitely noticeable.
If the keys are painted - how did they look from the inside? And is it safe to just pull a keycap off or is it easy to break something?
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If the keys are painted - how did they look from the inside? And is it safe to just pull a keycap off or is it easy to break something?
They are black on the inside as well. I have no idea how they are colored. I just know that mine are now a bit discolored. (which i'm really not at all concerned about.
To safely pull a keycap, use xsphat's two-paperclip method. Unbend two paperclips and make "hooks" out of them. Hook two opposite corners and pull straight up.
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I finally pulled a keycap. Looks like they're painted but only on the outside. It's a very thin semi-matte coating. There is a 1mm border at the lower edge of each side of a keycap that is not painted.
The plastic is black and more glossy so that's probably what you see where the coating wears off.
To safely pull a keycap, use xsphat's two-paperclip method. Unbend two paperclips and make "hooks" out of them. Hook two opposite corners and pull straight up.
If you do not pull completely straight up, one hook might slide along an edge resulting in both hooks pulling at the same edge. This possibly can break a switch. I had a keycap puller so this didn't apply to me, just something to consider.
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I bought a couple keycap pullers a while back as well. They work great on everything except Alps, and what's my favorite switch?
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Mine came with an Alps keycap set, hehe.
Nothing special though, just a piece of bent sheet metal.
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I got this one:
http://hooleon.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=AC-312-0049&Category_Code=KT-P&Product_Count=1
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I'll post pictures as soon as I make some progress with my current keyboard related project.
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I'll post pictures as soon as I make some progress with my current keyboard related project.
Which is ...
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I have an old laptop keyboard made by Alps which I'm going to convert to USB.