I decided to do this mod after I had talked with Bro Caps about different silencing methods for the hhkb pro2. I first did a dental band mod to my hhkb pro2, and I really enjoy the feel and sound of what the 1/8" light dental bands and some lube did to the board.
However, I wanted to do something different to my RF87UB 55g, so I bought the rubber and the punches, and mixed up some lube ready to see how nicely this mod works.
The punches and silicone rubber arrived quickly enough at our house in Philly, but I wasn't going to get them for another few weeks when my wife was to arrive here in Oslo, Norway.
When they finally arrived with my lovely wife I still hadn't realized what I was getting myself into with this mod.
I also got some shelf liner to see if I could add a layer inside the case to dampen more of the sound. I had not read anywhere that there was room for this, but I still wanted to see. And the shelf liner will be great for my upcoming GH60 builds anyway, so it won't be a waste.
I ended up using the 1/2 inch hole punch for the outer ring and the 3/8 inch punch for the inner ring.
I decided to just punch the rings manually, and not to count any of the material I made just so I could mindlessly punch until I got tired of doing it.
It was a lot of work, and I would suggest looking into alternate methods of having this done because it was very time consuming too.
Punching the first circle wasn't difficult once I got the technique down. Punching the inner circle was a bit more challenging as I had to eyeball the positioning for the lack of a smarter idea.
I got into a rhythm, but had to take a break after a couple of hours because my palm was getting a little beat up.
Here you see some of the finished rings to the left, a few circles left to punch a center circle into and a lot of waste product that I didn't even bother thinking what to do with.
From then on I just had to pop out the barrels, clean the switch housing and case, and start positioning the rings.
Notice I have some krytox switch lube from techkeys on the bottom of that plastic bag, and my own mix sticking out at the top. I am so ready to be done with this mod by this point
Putting the rings in place was a satisfying feeling. Tweezers help a lot!
Finished product all ready for typing
I'm happy to report that the mod was a great success. The rattle that my RF87UB 55g had before the mod is completely gone, it's a lot more quiet now and it didn't compromise any of the feel of the switches for me.
I would recommend this mod to anyone with the time and will to do it. It was absolutely worth it all in all.