Improving feel on Cherry G86 domes

[iconoclaST520]

Aye, well...

Not having thoroughly researched, I bought a Cherry G86-62410. Aside from the windows keys (That I can take care of...) and the feel of the rubber domes, I absolutely love this board. Is there any ways I can improve upon the feel of this board at all, or am I just kind of...stuck with mushy keys?

(Perhaps switching the domes with something else might be an option? I have an older Olivetti board with domes, that actually has a really nice tactile feel to it)

[iconoclaST520]

The keys as they were, already had a thick white grease smeared all over the domes and the shafts of the keycaps. I played with it a bit, and it seemed to almost make it more gummy. (Personally, my hypothesis is that graphite would be a better choice of lubricant).

I'm removing that, and transplating some other domes to see if that makes a difference..

And yes, I love the layout. It also has the sexiest num/caps/scroll indicators I've ever seen. I may sand parts of the windows and menu keys away to give it some other symbols there in place (After all, not all of us use Windows). I'll play around and post the results.

[o2dazone]

The keys as they were, already had a thick white grease smeared all over the domes and the shafts of the keycaps. I played with it a bit, and it seemed to almost make it more gummy. (Personally, my hypothesis is that graphite would be a better choice of lubricant).

Funny you mention graphite. They use the same thing to close a connection on the PCB of a rubber dome. I'd be careful if it's conductive.

[iconoclaST520]

Well, there's a little bit of improvement after hosing the domes, board, and keys down... Still using the original domes. It's all one sheet, rather than separate domes (and I applied the graphite to the top side of the sheet, so no worries about it conducting anything, as it's all between silicone and plastic)

Overall....it's a well-featured, compact, and eye-pleasing board, but it terms of feel, it's a major downgrade from my Model M.

On the other hand, this keyboard would be a huge improvement from the keyboard on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum...but that's about it.

The card reader really doesn't bug me. It's not as big as most of them...it would be great if I could log in with a swipe card..>sigh< I want a good cherry board, but...it seems with every one I find, there's always ONE thing wrong with it that puts me off. In this one, it's the domes.

[Rajagra]

.it would be great if I could log in with a swipe card..

Grab an old credit card, swipe it, use the output as your password! You can configure it so only certain tracks are sent.

[cchan]

I've known iconoclaST520 a long time. He ended up using his driver's licence as the swipe card by setting the info on it to his password. I've done the same to one of my desktops to which my MX8100 is hooked up.

[itlnstln]

Welcome back, cchan.  Hadn't heard from you in awhile.  Good to see you.