45g Dome Swap

[1391406]

So I finally received my orders for a white Realforce 87U (55g uniform) from EK and a Type Heaven. The goal was to swap the 45g domes from the Type Heaven into the 87U and vice versa. On that note, I received the 87U a day before the Type Heaven, which gave me 24 hours to try out the 55g weighting to see how I felt about it. I mean, I love the weighting of MX Browns with O-rings, which is the reason I spent the extra money to transplant the domes from the Type Heaven into the 87U.  Anyway, the tactility of the 55g Realforce felt better than I had anticipated. A bit on the heavy side, but pretty good nonetheless.

Fast forward 24 hours and I'm opening the box for the Type Heaven. After trying it out, the first thing that struck me (in comparison to the 87U) was how clacky it was due to the ABS caps. After typing on the 87U, I wasn't really crazy about how the Type Heaven sounded. In fact, I found it a bit difficult to really compare the feel of the two weightings due to the clacking keys of the Type Heaven. Very distracting. Incidentally, I've read some reviews that mentioned how they preferred the texture of the caps on the Type Heaven compared to the higher priced Realforce boards, however I personally prefer the smoother caps of the 87U, but that's me.

I actually considered keeping the 87U as is, but in the end the 55g weighting finally got to me and I opted to swap the domes. And I have to say I'm really glad I did! The 87U feels like I originally expected it would now, and for me the 45g weighting feels great.

On the flip side, I now have a semi-weighted 55g Type Heaven with 45g numpad I'll likely end up selling.

[GL1TCH3D]

If you end up selling for parts I really need spare 55g domes, screws for the PCB

[derb2k2]

i also recently got  a RF55g uniform but am thinking of selling it and getting the 45g uniform. I actually modded mine with silencing rings and lube hoping that it would lighten up the initial resistance but it is a heavier switch than I anticipated. I might end up keeping it just to have because it's a fine-looking board but I was going to use it for coding and typing in long sessions and I feel I won't be able to do this with the RF55g.

Why did you want to switch the 55g springs for 45g on the RF?

[Vittra]

I imagine you did this because you wanted a white RF, TKL 45G,  correct? The 45G EK TKL should be coming back into stock this month, but it's only available in black.

My understanding is the black pbt keys have a bit more texture to them than the white ones, I've only used the black ones so I have no frame of reference. The black ones on my HHKB Pro 2 are definitely not as textured as the KBC PBT on my Filco board, but I don't necessarily find that a bad thing.

[SamirD]

So I finally received my orders for a white Realforce 87U (55g uniform) from EK and a Type Heaven. The goal was to swap the 45g domes from the Type Heaven into the 87U and vice versa. On that note, I received the 87U a day before the Type Heaven, which gave me 24 hours to try out the 55g weighting to see how I felt about it. I mean, I love the weighting of MX Browns with O-rings, which is the reason I spent the extra money to transplant the domes from the Type Heaven into the 87U.  Anyway, the tactility of the 55g Realforce felt better than I had anticipated. A bit on the heavy side, but pretty good nonetheless.

Fast forward 24 hours and I'm opening the box for the Type Heaven. After trying it out, the first thing that struck me (in comparison to the 87U) was how clacky it was due to the ABS caps. After typing on the 87U, I wasn't really crazy about how the Type Heaven sounded. In fact, I found it a bit difficult to really compare the feel of the two weightings due to the clacking keys of the Type Heaven. Very distracting. Incidentally, I've read some reviews that mentioned how they preferred the texture of the caps on the Type Heaven compared to the higher priced Realforce boards, however I personally prefer the smoother caps of the 87U, but that's me.

I actually considered keeping the 87U as is, but in the end the 55g weighting finally got to me and I opted to swap the domes. And I have to say I'm really glad I did! The 87U feels like I originally expected it would now, and for me the 45g weighting feels great.

On the flip side, I now have a semi-weighted 55g Type Heaven with 45g numpad I'll likely end up selling.

Congrats on all of this working out exactly how you wanted!  I was following your idea and I know it was a bit expensive to try all that, but I'm sure it's worth it in the end.

So I'm awaiting my first feel of a Topre board.  It's a 45g, so we'll see if that's too light for me.  If so, I may need that 55g Type Heaven. 

[1391406]

i also recently got  a RF55g uniform but am thinking of selling it and getting the 45g uniform. I actually modded mine with silencing rings and lube hoping that it would lighten up the initial resistance but it is a heavier switch than I anticipated. I might end up keeping it just to have because it's a fine-looking board but I was going to use it for coding and typing in long sessions and I feel I won't be able to do this with the RF55g.

Why did you want to switch the 55g springs for 45g on the RF?

That's really the only way I was going to get a white RF 45g uniform.

[1391406]

So I'm awaiting my first feel of a Topre board.

Which one did you get?

[bocahgundul]

So I finally received my orders for a white Realforce 87U (55g uniform) from EK and a Type Heaven. The goal was to swap the 45g domes from the Type Heaven into the 87U and vice versa. On that note, I received the 87U a day before the Type Heaven, which gave me 24 hours to try out the 55g weighting to see how I felt about it. I mean, I love the weighting of MX Browns with O-rings, which is the reason I spent the extra money to transplant the domes from the Type Heaven into the 87U.  Anyway, the tactility of the 55g Realforce felt better than I had anticipated. A bit on the heavy side, but pretty good nonetheless.

Fast forward 24 hours and I'm opening the box for the Type Heaven. After trying it out, the first thing that struck me (in comparison to the 87U) was how clacky it was due to the ABS caps. After typing on the 87U, I wasn't really crazy about how the Type Heaven sounded. In fact, I found it a bit difficult to really compare the feel of the two weightings due to the clacking keys of the Type Heaven. Very distracting. Incidentally, I've read some reviews that mentioned how they preferred the texture of the caps on the Type Heaven compared to the higher priced Realforce boards, however I personally prefer the smoother caps of the 87U, but that's me.

I actually considered keeping the 87U as is, but in the end the 55g weighting finally got to me and I opted to swap the domes. And I have to say I'm really glad I did! The 87U feels like I originally expected it would now, and for me the 45g weighting feels great.

On the flip side, I now have a semi-weighted 55g Type Heaven with 45g numpad I'll likely end up selling.

Congrats on all of this working out exactly how you wanted!  I was following your idea and I know it was a bit expensive to try all that, but I'm sure it's worth it in the end.

So I'm awaiting my first feel of a Topre board.  It's a 45g, so we'll see if that's too light for me.  If so, I may need that 55g Type Heaven. 

Samir which one did you get? the Hi-pro?

[1391406]

I imagine you did this because you wanted a white RF, TKL 45G,  correct?

I wanted either a full size or TKL, but wasn't sure I'd miss the numpad with a TKL. Now that I've got a TKL, I kind of wish I'd gone with a 104 because I find myself reaching for the ten key more often than not.

[Vittra]

Ahh, I see.

You get used to not having it over time, unless you use it specifically for data entry. Have you tried using the embedded numpad for awhile to see how it fares? Again, it'd take some time to get used to, but it may be acceptable or even appreciated afterward.

[1391406]

Ahh, I see.

You get used to not having it over time, unless you use it specifically for data entry. Have you tried using the embedded numpad for awhile to see how it fares? Again, it'd take some time to get used to, but it may be acceptable or even appreciated afterward.

I've tried it. Enabling & disabling Num Lock every time I want to use it gets tedious, though. EK sells an RF tenkey pad, but it's $109 and requires an additional USB port.

[SamirD]

So I'm awaiting my first feel of a Topre board.

Which one did you get?

It's the Japanese one that Bromono had for sale for almost a year in his FS thread.  And then btctopre got it, and now I'm getting it.

Samir which one did you get? the Hi-pro?

No, that thing was waaaay to expensive to just try out.  I needed something 'cheap' to start with.  I'm not a fan of rubberdomes, but I do like the snap of the Keytronic boards I have, but everything I've read about Topre still has me 50/50 on if I'll like it.

[1391406]

So I'm awaiting my first feel of a Topre board.

Which one did you get?

It's the Japanese one that Bromono had for sale for almost a year in his FS thread.  And then btctopre got it, and now I'm getting it.

I almost never visit the classifieds, so I've no idea which one it is.

[SamirD]

So I'm awaiting my first feel of a Topre board.

Which one did you get?

It's the Japanese one that Bromono had for sale for almost a year in his FS thread.  And then btctopre got it, and now I'm getting it.

I almost never visit the classifieds, so I've no idea which one it is.

I used to never do that either.   But I'm a lot more keyboard happier now!

He's going to send me the pics tomorrow so I can post.