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Author Topic: Cherry MX keycaps  (Read 10024 times)

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Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« on: Mon, 13 September 2010, 20:18:03 »
Hello,

 I'm looking for somewhere to purchase keycap sets for Cherry MX series keys. It seems that every time I find a supplier, the products get discontinued.

 I make keyboards for a machine tool control that is obsoleted. The keys are labeled a little different from a standard keyboard so I had stickers made. I can use blank or pre-printed keycaps, and just sticker over them.

 I started out with the deck blank  keycaps, they discontinued them. I switched to elite keyboards Filco replacement sets, and just found out they are discontinued.

I'm almost to the point to where I'm going to have to raise my prices, and buy a complete keyboard and rob the caps off of them.

I use almost every key from a 105 key set.

Thanks in advance.
« Last Edit: Mon, 13 September 2010, 20:47:29 by HMTR »
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Offline chongyixiong

  • Posts: 257
  • Location: South East Asia
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 13 September 2010, 20:59:39 »
http://www.armygroup.com.tw/shop/goods.php?id=4465
These guys ship worlwide and accept Paypal as payment.
Prices are in Taiwan Dollars (TWD)


These guys however require a bank transfer (or maybe Paypal, last I dealt with them was 1.5 years ago and they *might* have improved?)

Ducky blank keys
http://www.inpad.com.tw/goods.php?act=view&no=1617

Cherry G80 blank PBT keycaps
http://www.inpad.com.tw/goods.php?act=view&no=1021

Ducky Black on Black
http://www.inpad.com.tw/goods.php?act=view&no=1619
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Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 13 September 2010, 22:18:59 »
Wow!!! Thanks for the great info and fast response.

Now i just need a translator! Google didn't do a very good job translating the top link you listed, which is exactly what I need.
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Offline skartt

  • Posts: 60
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 00:54:44 »
carefully with the ducky tho, caps lock, scroll lock, F1-F12 may be different than what you expect.
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Offline elbowglue

  • Posts: 583
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 02:46:18 »
You guys think that last one on the bottom would fit a filco keyboard exactly?  
(this one:)
Ducky Black on Black
http://www.inpad.com.tw/goods.php?act=view&no=1619

Damn I can't seem to navigate to checkout (curse my english only speaking).. do you order straight from the website to ship to US or through a broker?  someone's gotta hold my hand through this heh :P
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My keyboards: Filco Cherry Blue Tenkeyless(daily home), Compaq MX11800 (modded to blacks), Compaq "MX 84u",  Wellington\'s Dampened Endurapro, Pinkalicious Filco Blue Cherry, Chicony KB-5191, Chicony KB-5181, Desko MOS 5023 UP "elbowglue" spos (modded to blues), Siig Minitouch (monterey blue), SMK-88 (blue cherries), Ricercar SPOS
Smallest to biggest keyboards in inches (Length X Height) - Length is most important for a midline mouse position
KBC Poker: 11.6 x 3.9 - HHKB: 11.6 x 4.3 - Siig Minitouch (Geekhack Space Saver): 11.6 x 6 - Deck/Tg3 82: 12 x 6 - Noppoo Choc Mini 12.4 x 5.3 - Compaq "MX 84u": 13.1 x 7.5 - Filco Tenkeyless: 14 x 5.3 - Cherry "ricercar spos" G86-62410EUAGSA: 14 x 7.75 - Topre Realforce 86u: 14.4 x 6.65 - Desko "elbowglue spos" MOS 5023 UP: 14.5 x 8.4 - IBM Model M Spacesaver: 15.3 x 7 - G80-1800: 15.9 x 7.1 - Adesso MKB-125B: 16 x 7.3 - Compaq Mx11800, Cherry G80-11900: 16.25 x 7.5 - Filco Standard: 17.3 x 5.4 - Unicomp Endurapro: 17.9 x 7.1 - Adesso MKB-135B: 18.3 x 6.0 - Cherry G80-3000: 18.5 x 7.6 - IBM Model M, Unicomp Customizer: 19.3 x 8.27

Offline lmnop

  • Posts: 574
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 06:25:56 »
Deck 2-Piece Blanks are still available at Performance-PCS.
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Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 06:50:50 »
I will gladly pay someone to order these for me.
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Offline lmnop

  • Posts: 574
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 07:44:32 »
I think Performance-PCS ships worldwide.
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Offline itlnstln

  • Posts: 7048
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 09:19:13 »
Man, they must have some stupid ducks if they fall for those decoys.  That's like getting arrested for solicitation by trying to pay for sex from a blow up doll.
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Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 15:19:31 »
Same problem here. I can't get the Filco key caps added to my shopping cart. I think the quality of the Filcos was a little better than the Deck sets. I'm pretty desperate right now, so I guess I'll grab a few deck sets and a copy of Rosetta Stone chinese and see if I can get some Filco's coming!
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Offline didjamatic

  • Posts: 1352
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #10 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 15:38:18 »
Quote from: lmnop;223094
Deck 2-Piece Blanks are still available at Performance-PCS.


Anyone use those blank ones?  I like them quite a bit.
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IBM F :: IBM M :: Northgate :: Cherry G80 :: Realforce :: DAS 4

Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #11 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 15:43:02 »
I kinda buy in volume. One of the keyboards I make requires 16 1X1.5 keys. I ordered them in bulk from Signature Plastics. Great company!!!!

 The problem is the rest of the keys are onesie-twosie stuff on the keyboard sets, and I have to order a bunch of them to get a decent price, with the exception of the 1x1's.

 I am however going to put together a list of what I need and take a run at Signature Plastics.

I didn't really do enough research on this stuff before I went down this road. I thought getting keycaps would be the easy part of the deal, and the electronics part would be the hard part! After my first batch of keyboards came in from the electronics shop, I got really depressed when I realized how expensive it is to have custom keycaps made, or even stickers for that matter!
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Offline didjamatic

  • Posts: 1352
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #12 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 15:47:53 »
Have any pics of your keyboard?
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IBM F :: IBM M :: Northgate :: Cherry G80 :: Realforce :: DAS 4

Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #13 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 16:18:00 »
Here is an unfinished set. I am lucky that another board on the control does the decoding of the keyboard. I just had to reverse engineer the matrix and lay it all out.
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Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #14 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 16:49:42 »
The deck blanks seem kind of cheap. The top of the keycap is just a tiny bit smaller than the other brands, requiring me to get my stickers centered perfect so they don't hang over the edges. Major pita, but it's better than nothing. Also the factory space bar on the keyboards that I make is like a 1X8, so I made it into three different keys. Not a problem since nobody ever uses the space bar on these machines.. I have to paint the decks to get rid of the hideous white centers on my space keys.
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Offline washuai

  • Posts: 410
  • Location: SF
    • http://home.earthlink.net/~haruai/
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #15 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 17:04:44 »
Oh, you use stickers on the Deck Blanks.  I guess that is better/easier than stencils and industrial sharpies.
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⌨(home)Realforce 87U ⌨(backup) Filco Majestouch 104 Brown ⌨(backup)Cherry G80-8200LPDUS ⌨(work)Leopold FC200RT/AB
☛CST L-Trac-X ☛Logitech Wireless Optical Trackman ☛ Razer 3500 dpi ☛MS Explorer DeathAdder
Lay-a-bouts:  ⌨Full 109 Key Virtually Indestructable  Keyboard ⌨Compaq Radio Quack GYUR84SK
Wishlist: ⌨KBDmania Pure ⌨Déck 82 ice/frost/toxic/royal ⌨Ricercar spos G86-62410EUAGSA ☠ ✞⌨miniGuru(s) ☠
 ✐Intuos or Cintiq

Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #16 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 17:08:37 »
Yeah, I had Datacal make me stickers. Very high quality. Pretty pricey if you have a custom layout like I did. This manufacturer mixed up some of the shifted keys. Like a shift-2 gives you a ", a shift -8 gives you (

It was much cheaper than having custom printed caps made. You have to order like 100 of each key to get the price even close to reasonable. I might ship 10-20 of these units a year, and try to keep the cost down so the smaller mom-pop type machine owners can afford them.
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Offline ricercar

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Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #17 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 19:34:22 »
What does your custom-keyboarded machine do?
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I trolled Geekhack and all I got was an eponymous SPOS.

Offline WhiteRice

  • Posts: 850
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #18 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 20:05:11 »
Quote from: ricercar;223415
What does your custom-keyboarded machine do?
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Offline a_fluffy_kitten

  • Posts: 59
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #19 on: Tue, 14 September 2010, 20:09:57 »
Quote from: WhiteRice;223433
Show Image


Can't be that; those only need one button...
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2x Filco Blue Tenkeyless (and boy are they nice)

Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #20 on: Wed, 15 September 2010, 07:26:36 »
These keyboards fit Acramatic 950 controls. They are used on machine tools (lathes, mills). Cincinnati Milacron made them in the beginning, then later they sold their controls division. Typical story, the company that bought it also made controls, and they don't always want to support the older equipment.

 The control can be found on some of the biggest machines in the world, or it may be found on a machine in someone's garage.
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Offline HMTR

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  • Posts: 10
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #21 on: Wed, 15 September 2010, 22:21:21 »
Woo-Hoo!!!! I made some progress!!! https://www.armygroup.com.tw let me add the filco's to the shopping cart. Must have been some site problems the last couple of days. After I put 5 sets in my cart, I was sure it would take me straight to a paypal page. NOPE! It takes me to a page to login or create an account.
Once again lost since google translate will not translate that page at all.
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Offline didjamatic

  • Posts: 1352
Cherry MX keycaps
« Reply #22 on: Wed, 15 September 2010, 22:29:14 »
Cool board, thanks for posting.

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IBM F :: IBM M :: Northgate :: Cherry G80 :: Realforce :: DAS 4
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