Author Topic: KL and mtl's Kustom Filco Tenkeyless (Read 15088 times)

keyboardlover · « **on:** Sat, 23 April 2011, 10:46:33 »

[H=2]Overview[/H]
So, I had a tenkeyless Filco with Cherry blues, 64 cherry clear stems, and was trying to think of what to do for my next mod. I knew I wanted my next board to have a mix of my favorite switches (Ergo Clears, Reds and one Green switch for lulz).

I was very impressed with mtl's custom Filco with Cherry Clears. I have minimal soldering experience and have been told by many folks that desoldering/resoldering a Filco board is a PITA. So, I proposed mtl to do the soldering for me. He not only obliged, but also offered to mod the LED's and give the stems a guruishy lube handjob for me! He is a really nice guy. The modded LEDs will be green like the standard ones, except that they look clear when the LED's are off.

Here's basically what I asked him to do (the color denotes the switch color):

Here are photos of the progress so far:

Now THIS is how you do a guruishy handjob right!

It's pretty close!

Done!

Thanks mtl!!

[H=2]For more information[/H]
Cherry MX Ergo Clears (my favorite switch)
The "Mods" section of the Cherry MX wiki
mtl's custom Filco with Cherry Clears
My other Kustom Keyboards

Orphagn · « **Reply #1 on:** Sat, 23 April 2011, 11:04:01 »

Very nice! I bet that's gonna feel real nice. Looking forward to seeing how you like it.

Mr. Perfect · « **Reply #2 on:** Sat, 23 April 2011, 11:06:24 »

What's with the random blues? Just not enough clears? The blues might be nice if put in some order. All of the modifiers or numbers for example.

keyboardlover · « **Reply #3 on:** Sat, 23 April 2011, 11:19:10 »

It's not actually going to have the blues in...I think he took that photo when he was taking a break

mtl · « **Reply #4 on:** Sat, 23 April 2011, 15:10:22 »

Quote from: Mr. Perfect;336177

What's with the random blues?

I left those in place to keep the mount plate from coming completely separated from the circuit board. The remaining switches hold the plate at the correct spacing away from the PCB. The remaining blues are swapped out after soldering in the first batch of new ergo clears and reds.

harrison · « **Reply #5 on:** Sat, 23 April 2011, 15:15:57 »

Quote from: mtl;336285

I left those in place to keep the mount plate from coming completely separated from the circuit board. The remaining switches hold the plate at the correct spacing away from the PCB. The remaining blues are swapped out after soldering in the first batch of new ergo clears and reds.

I'd like more details about this. My plan had been to completely separate the two since I'm looking to custom wire each switch with an LED, which would require me pulling them all out so I can run the wires cleanly between the plate and PCB. Is this going to be a problem? I always assumed the spacing was dictated by either the switches themselves or possibly standoffs?

My LEDs should be here soon, so I hope to get going on my mod shortly!

mtl · « **Reply #6 on:** Sat, 23 April 2011, 16:19:38 »

Harrison, I think you should be ok. You're right that the plate position is dictated by the tiny locking tabs on the lower half of the MX switch housing, and the PCB is flush with the bottom of the switches. I'd recommend just to be careful on the first few you solder back in, to make sure the switches sit flush on the PCB. Replacing keys in 2 passes (like I did with KL's board) makes this a non-issue.

The Filco tenkeyless doesn't appear to use any standoffs, other than the switches themselves.

harrison · « **Reply #7 on:** Sat, 23 April 2011, 23:04:26 »

Quote from: mtl;336302

Harrison, I think you should be ok. You're right that the plate position is dictated by the tiny locking tabs on the lower half of the MX switch housing, and the PCB is flush with the bottom of the switches. I'd recommend just to be careful on the first few you solder back in, to make sure the switches sit flush on the PCB. Replacing keys in 2 passes (like I did with KL's board) makes this a non-issue.

The Filco tenkeyless doesn't appear to use any standoffs, other than the switches themselves.

sounds good. my LEDs arrived in the US this past week, i'll be going to pick them up on monday. now i just need to figure out how to wire them up for 5v without exceeding the load on the USB.

keyboardlover · « **Reply #8 on:** Sun, 24 April 2011, 08:36:19 »

Glad this mod interests you harrison - I had a feeling it would from when you told me your mod idea before...

harrison · « **Reply #9 on:** Sun, 24 April 2011, 16:26:52 »

Quote from: keyboardlover;336500

Glad this mod interests you harrison - I had a feeling it would from when you told me your mod idea before...

which springs did you end up putting in the clear 'ergo' switches? were they the original blues?

RiGS · « **Reply #10 on:** Sun, 24 April 2011, 16:59:39 »

Congrats, good job!
Happy Easter!

keyboardlover · « **Reply #11 on:** Sun, 24 April 2011, 17:42:09 »

Quote from: harrison;336655

which springs did you end up putting in the clear 'ergo' switches? were they the original blues?

No, from cherry mx reds.

Quote from: RiGS;336669

Congrats, good job!
Happy Easter!

If you are serious, so far it's been the best Easter ever. Had an awesome time with family today and enjoyed PERFECTLY cooked lamb and ham as well as grilled sweet potatoes and asparagus and cannoli and pizzelle for dessert. My family does Easter right mmmmmmmmmmm. =)

keyboardlover · « **Reply #12 on:** Wed, 27 April 2011, 19:55:53 »

Got the keyboard today and I am LOVING it. To me, this is the perfect Filco (and possibly my favorite keyboard yet). I christened it by thanking mtl in PERMANENT INK!!

GeekHackers helping each other out to create something beautiful and unique?

Now that's a special thing.

[video=youtube;SafRzk8Wu4w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SafRzk8Wu4w[/video]

RiGS · « **Reply #13 on:** Wed, 27 April 2011, 20:02:32 »

How do you like the "guruishy lube handjob" so far? Do you feel any difference?

keyboardlover · « **Reply #14 on:** Wed, 27 April 2011, 20:05:22 »

It feels a little different (more smooth) than my other boards...not a whole lot. Very subtle; not super noticeable.

Still, I'm thankful for it =)

RiGS · « **Reply #15 on:** Wed, 27 April 2011, 20:14:40 »

How does that smoothness compare with your Topre. Does lubing eliminate the friction completely when you hit the switch off center?

The Solutor · « **Reply #16 on:** Wed, 27 April 2011, 20:42:43 »

Shuould be coosed as official gadget for the 150° anniversary...:wave:

keyboardlover · « **Reply #17 on:** Wed, 27 April 2011, 20:50:47 »

Quote from: RiGS;338393

How does that smoothness compare with your Topre. Does lubing eliminate the friction completely when you hit the switch off center?

I don't notice any additional "off-center" friction with these switches, lubed or not. However as I said they do feel a little smoother lubed.

I prefer these switches to Topres, lubed or not, because they are super smooth but the tactile bump is very noticeable.

Quote from: The Solutor

Show Image

Shuould be coosed as official gadget for the 150° anniversary...:wave:

Grazie mille! =)

Sono d'accordo!

mtl · « **Reply #18 on:** Wed, 27 April 2011, 21:49:05 »

I was pretty conservative with the lube on this keyboard, so that may be why the difference is subtle. I'm still trying to zero in on what is the right amount of lubricant. It seems to depend on switch type, and (to some extent) spring type. For instance, I lubed some Cherry blues and over-did it a little. These switches required some breaking in before they would reliably click. I imagine over-lubing browns may reduce the (already very mild) tactile bump and make them feel almost linear. Clear stems should be easier to lube without problems since they're more mechanically simple than blues and less prone to tactile "erosion" than browns. I'm hoping to do a mod post all about lubing MX switches after getting a better feel for it.

keyboardlover · « **Reply #19 on:** Wed, 27 April 2011, 21:51:41 »

You bring up a good point...there is such a thing as "too much lube". I know this from experience.

keyboardlover · « **Reply #20 on:** Sun, 08 May 2011, 10:39:20 »

I decided to put a mix of Cherry Corp. lasered PBT and Cherry Corp. vintage doubleshots on this board for comparison's sake. It doesn't look half bad! I'm curious if the Moogle patch kit from the doubleshot group buy will look better for the bottom row than these lasered keys.

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Zet · « **Reply #21 on:** Sun, 05 June 2011, 09:02:01 »

Forgive my ignorance \KL but, what's the difference between the Green for the lulz switch and the others? is it a dyed clear switch?

keyboardlover · « **Reply #22 on:** Sun, 05 June 2011, 10:10:16 »

No, it's an actual real cherry mx green switch. They are basically like a very heavy cherry mx blue switch.

I bought a whole bunch of them off a German dude:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ] 18887[/ATTACH]

I'm glad you asked...been meaning to post that photo!

Also, just FYI this is my current favorite keyboard.

SVC · « **Reply #23 on:** Sun, 05 June 2011, 11:06:24 »

So is Cherry still producing those green switches, or are they some of the last of their kind? I'm asking myself the same question for all the spacebar switches actually. I think the G80-3000 with blues also uses a blue for the space bar.

Then again this is not the right section. Great mod by the way. I hope one day there will be a way to order a keyboard and just choose a (cherry-) switch that can be fully configured with any stem and spring one likes...

keyboardlover · « **Reply #24 on:** Sun, 05 June 2011, 20:38:53 »

I think Cherry MX switches should be part of Portal 3. Anyone else agree?

guilleguillaume · « **Reply #25 on:** Mon, 06 June 2011, 02:14:53 »

I like MX Green on the Spacebar.

keyboardlover · « **Reply #26 on:** Mon, 06 June 2011, 02:19:24 »

Good call, I should try that...

keyboardlover · « **Reply #27 on:** Tue, 07 June 2011, 18:02:11 »

It blows the keycaps off all my other boards. Best keyboard evah!

keyboardlover · « **Reply #28 on:** Tue, 07 June 2011, 20:22:55 »

Is that why we didn't get a geekgirl?

The Solutor · « **Reply #29 on:** Tue, 07 June 2011, 20:39:10 »

BTW we have a lot of geekchilds:baby:

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Author Topic: KL and mtl's Kustom Filco Tenkeyless (Read 15088 times)

harrison

harrison

harrison