Author Topic: Dremel Cherry MX Keycap Stem Recessor / Grinder Attachment  (Read 5490 times)

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Offline KHAANNN

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Dremel Cherry MX Keycap Stem Recessor / Grinder Attachment
« on: Sat, 11 March 2023, 11:09:29 »
I made this recently, a simple idea, works quite well: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5899418

Opens up a lot of options with cheap keycaps, for example my main issue with ANSI US layout is mispressing Enter while going for "' - maybe either keeping Enter real high or drilling it down to the lowest point possible could be a solution for me. So as an idea, you can not just imitate regular row profiles, but go for 3D/grooved sculptures as well

I think the best use case is just drilling down every cheap SA keycap by 5-6mm

297300-0297302-1297304-2297306-3
Endgame | 1.25 Cmd for GMK Sets Please | Or Just 1.25 Blanks Like The Good Old Days

Offline fpazos

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Re: Dremel Cherry MX Keycap Stem Recessor / Grinder Attachment
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 11 March 2023, 15:24:14 »
Is interesting but it would be nice to see it in action or how does it works. I imagine it but not completely.
 

Offline pixelpusher

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Re: Dremel Cherry MX Keycap Stem Recessor / Grinder Attachment
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 11 March 2023, 16:41:42 »
No issues with housing collision?

Offline KHAANNN

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Re: Dremel Cherry MX Keycap Stem Recessor / Grinder Attachment
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 11 March 2023, 19:15:48 »
Best to measure the inner keycap length and travel, make sure the reduction is less than the difference, even if you go higher than this, you kind of end up inserting the keycap in an in-between state, it both touches the bottom and the enclosure on the bottom out

For linears it could be interesting clapping onto the enclosure instead of the barrel bottom if all the keycaps have the same inner structure that will allow that uniformly. But obviously it's a unique challenge inserting keycaps onto the switches, you'd need a hot swap keyboard and open up each switch to push the stem manually

Edit: Can't wrap my head around stabiliser dynamics in this scenario though, probably Cherry stabs won't work if the stem remaining is less than 4mm - which is the length of the switch stem's inserting part
« Last Edit: Sat, 11 March 2023, 19:21:51 by KHAANNN »
Endgame | 1.25 Cmd for GMK Sets Please | Or Just 1.25 Blanks Like The Good Old Days

Offline KHAANNN

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Re: Dremel Cherry MX Keycap Stem Recessor / Grinder Attachment
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 13 March 2023, 10:08:33 »
This is 2.45mm on XDA, one side has been grinded a bit, doesn't touch when pushed to full flex, the other side of the keycap is bare, can touch when pushed to full flex, this is for box keycaps

297403-0297405-1

2.2mm could be a safe limit for all keycaps without any modifications, could push 3.25mm by carefully grinding the inner keycap and with box keycaps, the original Cherry MX design has a slightly more cornered footprint that requires more grinding

Currently thinking of:
Standard (0.5mm) (f-row)
Standard (0.5mm) (number row)
1.75mm (tab row)
3mm (caps lock row)
2mm (shift row)
3.25mm (bottom row)
Endgame | 1.25 Cmd for GMK Sets Please | Or Just 1.25 Blanks Like The Good Old Days

Offline KHAANNN

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Re: Dremel Cherry MX Keycap Stem Recessor / Grinder Attachment
« Reply #5 on: Fri, 17 March 2023, 10:24:11 »
So I did it, and I think it turned out pretty good, arrow keys are unmodified and it can be seen how much the difference is - I became a bit conservative when I came down to the last and bottom row, could've gone 0.2-0.3mm higher to make it stand shorter than the Shift-row, they almost look the same height

The reason I became very conservative was the Caps-Lock row, at 3mm and with XDA keycaps, you're 0.2mm short from bottoming out onto the plate itself, so even if you clear the switch, you have the plate to worry about later on

Sound-wise it's completely uniform, and having a bit of a profile took away the confusion I first experienced when I switched from Cherry to XDA, it was just so weird all the keycaps being the same height and facing you, for XDA, my ultimate suggestion is:

Standard (0.5mm) (f-row)
Standard (0.5mm) (number row)
1.75mm (tab row) (no need to shave)
3mm (caps lock row) (need to shave)
1.75mm (shift row) (no need to shave)
3mm (bottom row) (need to shave)

Also not all XDA keycaps are the same, I had bought some XDA keycaps when they first came out, they are thin and flush stemmed, these ones I got are thicker and their stems are 0.5mm-ish recessed, it would be easier to work with the thin ones, they likely won't need any shaving at all

Recorded videos of the entire process for a single keycap, but it'll be some time until I share it

My next project is going to be a shortened SA one, but there are different challenges for SA's, the keycaps have inner supports for stems

297536-0297538-1
« Last Edit: Fri, 17 March 2023, 10:29:29 by KHAANNN »
Endgame | 1.25 Cmd for GMK Sets Please | Or Just 1.25 Blanks Like The Good Old Days