Clicky Clears?

[DrinkTea]

I like MX blues and I recently got a keyboard with MX whites, which I like so far... but apparently I have wuss pinkies. So, if I type a lot on it, my pinkies will need a short rest until I toughen them up. But that's got me wondering, is there anything out there with actuation force between that of a blue and a white but is also clicky? So I guess that'd be a clicky clear? And if there isn't, has anyone modded it? And if so, what would it take for me to get my grubby hands on it?

[Jocelyn]

Swap the springs with 65-67g springs

[DrinkTea]

I figured someone would say something like that. But that takes me down a time and commitment rabbit hole that I may not want to descend and may never escape. Although, how long would it take to do realistically. And how much to pay someone to do it?

[CPTBadAss]

Jdcarpe, GupGup, SmallFry, WhiteFireDragon, and Alaric all do modding. There are others but I know that these people have done or do modding regularly. I'm not sure as to everyone's rates though.

SmallFry charges $35 for soldering services. I don't know his rate for modding.

As for DIY, it depends on your board and level of experience w/ soldering/keyboard work. I would imagine it takes somewhere between 45 mins to 2 hours for me to just desolder switches. I've never opened a switch so that'd probably take me between 1-2 hours to figure out and open all the switches. And then hopefully the soldering process goes faster so another hour to solder. So it looks like its half a days work for myself. And I'm someone who is confident with soldering but has never fully modded a mechanical keyboard before.

[The_Beast]

Jdcarpe, GupGup, SmallFry, WhiteFireDragon, and Alaric all do modding. There are others but I know that these people have done or do modding regularly. I'm not sure as to everyone's rates though.

SmallFry charges $35 for soldering services. I don't know his rate for modding.

As for DIY, it depends on your board and level of experience w/ soldering/keyboard work. I would imagine it takes somewhere between 45 mins to 2 hours for me to just desolder switches. I've never opened a switch so that'd probably take me between 1-2 hours to figure out and open all the switches. And then hopefully the soldering process goes faster so another hour to solder. So it looks like its half a days work for myself. And I'm someone who is confident with soldering but has never fully modded a mechanical keyboard before.

This sounds right for someone who's a noob, no offense

[CPTBadAss]

I am totally a noob when it comes to modding. Cant be offended if thats the truth

[DrinkTea]

Jdcarpe, GupGup, SmallFry, WhiteFireDragon, and Alaric all do modding. There are others but I know that these people have done or do modding regularly. I'm not sure as to everyone's rates though.

SmallFry charges $35 for soldering services. I don't know his rate for modding.

As for DIY, it depends on your board and level of experience w/ soldering/keyboard work. I would imagine it takes somewhere between 45 mins to 2 hours for me to just desolder switches. I've never opened a switch so that'd probably take me between 1-2 hours to figure out and open all the switches. And then hopefully the soldering process goes faster so another hour to solder. So it looks like its half a days work for myself. And I'm someone who is confident with soldering but has never fully modded a mechanical keyboard before.

This sounds right for someone who's a noob, no offense

Ok, but that's not exactly constructive. If you're going to say that, you might as well give a time estimate for someone with experience. Please?

[WhiteFireDragon]

SmallFry charges $35 for soldering services. I don't know his rate for modding.

This sounds right for someone who's a noob, no offense

HAHA

Sorry I just had to take that one out of context.

[WhiteFireDragon]

Ok DrinkTea, to be more contructive, you're looking at ~5 hours of work for your first time. This is basically a detailed process of what you have to do to swap out the stems and springs on your keyboard. You need some basic equipment too. There is an index in the video description to jump around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ_2GxeR4Es

[The_Beast]

Jdcarpe, GupGup, SmallFry, WhiteFireDragon, and Alaric all do modding. There are others but I know that these people have done or do modding regularly. I'm not sure as to everyone's rates though.

SmallFry charges $35 for soldering services. I don't know his rate for modding.

As for DIY, it depends on your board and level of experience w/ soldering/keyboard work. I would imagine it takes somewhere between 45 mins to 2 hours for me to just desolder switches. I've never opened a switch so that'd probably take me between 1-2 hours to figure out and open all the switches. And then hopefully the soldering process goes faster so another hour to solder. So it looks like its half a days work for myself. And I'm someone who is confident with soldering but has never fully modded a mechanical keyboard before.

This sounds right for someone who's a noob, no offense

Ok, but that's not exactly constructive. If you're going to say that, you might as well give a time estimate for someone with experience. Please?

I guess it's slightly off topic but it give you an idea of what someone new to modding might expect for a mod in terms of time.

Experience varies between everyone. WFD might be a master desolderer but is terrible at changing springs. Jdcarpe could be a master spring changer and can do it in half the time of WFD....

[SmallFry]

I'd be willing to help whoever. I have finals next week though. I also do trades as they work to my benefit as well as yours as you don't have to deal with PayPal.
In other news, seems that yet another person has it out for me on the forum. Where do I sign this petition against myself? I'd love to sign up... /sarcasm

[DrinkTea]

How about trades for services? If any of your finals are in math or statistics, I can help you there.

[SmallFry]

Well, a couple things I'm really looking for at the moment are an HID Liberator, a Birch POS board (which is $10 or so above my normal budget, so I could cover shipping on one end or something) or a OTG Cable from MiMiC Cables (TJCaustin now). Please PM me if you are interested.
Broken down for you an HID Liberator is about $25-$35 depending, a Birch POS board is $45 or so, and a MiMiC Cable from TJ will run you about $15.

[fohat.digs]

Any new task takes a ridiculous amount of labor and frustration the first time, then gets much easier the next few times, but after a few iterations it starts to become routine.

If you are sloppy and don't care about the result, the first few times will go a lot faster.

And after you get the hang of it, both speed and quality usually attain a good level.

This is true almost anywhere in life.

[DrinkTea]

Yes, but that assumes I want to do this regularly. I just want to try a bunch of different types until I find a few that I like and then check in every now and then to see if anything better has some along to try.

However, wouldn't an easier modification just to be putting REALLY heavy keycaps on some of the white switches. I know the feel wouldn't be exactly the same, but does anyone know if this is possible? The current caps weigh about 1.3 grams. Does anyone even sell 10 gram or so caps?

[CPTBadAss]

You can try getting zinc or aluminum caps but a full set won't be cheap.

[DrinkTea]

Fun fact I just learned. These caps are PBT and weigh 1.3 grams. That means they're 1 cm³ in volume. Aluminum is too light (only 2. but zinc is above 7 and steel is even better. Does anyone make steel keycaps, preferably coated in some kind of plastic?

[badcop]

Swap the springs with 65-67g springs

get some mid weight springs and try them. 

[Larken]

I think the last set of full metal keycap set I saw went upwards of 600 bucks, but don't quote me on the price.

You're better off getting a pcb mounted board or something with a custom plate that allows for spring/stem swapping without needing to desolder. Then you could try out all the combinations you want, provided you have the springs and stems.

[SpAmRaY]

I think the last set of full metal keycap set I saw went upwards of 600 bucks, but don't quote me on the price.

You're better off getting a pcb mounted board or something with a custom plate that allows for spring/stem swapping without needing to desolder. Then you could try out all the combinations you want, provided you have the springs and stems.

I'm not even sure that was an entire set either.

[Tym]

Was scarface steel? Long weight has a set of those but wants 600$, and someone said the original price was $300

SmallF. Says they were cast Aluminium, my bad.

[Larken]

Was scarface steel. Long weight has a set of those but wants 600$, and someone said the original price was $300

ah yes. couldn't put a name to either the owner or the keycaps. thanks.

[SmallFry]

Was scarface steel. Long weight has a set of those but wants 600$, and someone said the original price was $300

Scarface was cast aluminum actually.

[The_Beast]

I think the last set of full metal keycap set I saw went upwards of 600 bucks, but don't quote me on the price.

You're better off getting a pcb mounted board or something with a custom plate that allows for spring/stem swapping without needing to desolder. Then you could try out all the combinations you want, provided you have the springs and stems.

I'm not even sure that was an entire set either.

Cast aluminum

[badcop]

Was scarface steel. Long weight has a set of those but wants 600$, and someone said the original price was $300

the reason why it was so high was because it was shipped international.

[The_Beast]

Was scarface steel. Long weight has a set of those but wants 600$, and someone said the original price was $300

the reason why it was so high was because it was shipped international.

And long wanted to make some money on a rare set, or that's how much he paid for it.... anyways

[fohat.digs]

I have 4 "pewter" (not sure but I think that it is his own blend) IBM buckling spring key caps from osrix and they are GREAT !

Love to have a full set but it would be ridiculously expensive and he doesn't have legends.

A gamer might think that the momentum of the mass makes them slower, but I don't game.

[sleepy916]

I have 4 "pewter" (not sure but I think that it is his own blend) IBM buckling spring key caps from osrix and they are GREAT !

Love to have a full set but it would be ridiculously expensive and he doesn't have legends.

A gamer might think that the momentum of the mass makes them slower, but I don't game.

I'm getting used to typing without legends. I'm no touch typist by any means.

[esoomenona]

I have 4 "pewter" (not sure but I think that it is his own blend) IBM buckling spring key caps from osrix and they are GREAT !

Love to have a full set but it would be ridiculously expensive and he doesn't have legends.

A gamer might think that the momentum of the mass makes them slower, but I don't game.

I'm getting used to typing without legends. I'm no touch typist by any means.

Show Image

I used to consider myself a touch typist. But after typing on a blank keyboard, I realized I was using legends as a crutch. Going completely blank is the best way to really learn.

[DrinkTea]

Since the keyboard in question has PCB mounted switches (KBT Race) does that mean it would be easier to change the springs? Could I just do it without removing the switches?

[Photoelectric]

Since the keyboard in question has PCB mounted switches (KBT Race) does that mean it would be easier to change the springs? Could I just do it without removing the switches?

If there is no plate, yes, you can open up the switch tops (very carefully) and swap springs to lighter ones.  No need for desoldering then.  There are videos on youtube on how to open up PCB-mounted switches.

[The_Beast]

Since the keyboard in question has PCB mounted switches (KBT Race) does that mean it would be easier to change the springs? Could I just do it without removing the switches?

Yes, since it's PCB mount, spring changes can be made without desoldering

[DrinkTea]

Cool! Now, uh, where do I buy the springs? And it it easy to return to stock springs or will the never be the same once I open them up?

[The_Beast]

Cool! Now, uh, where do I buy the springs? And it it easy to return to stock springs or will the never be the same once I open them up?

www.originativeco.com

Yes, you can change springs back to stock

[Photoelectric]

Cool! Now, uh, where do I buy the springs? And it it easy to return to stock springs or will the never be the same once I open them up?

The switches are held together by 4 small plastic tabs.  You just prop them open, outwards, to disassemble.  Unless you are being crude and bending the plastic roughly, there's no reason the switches won't be the same as before you opened them.  Just keep the springs you take out in a labeled ziplock bag and swap them back in if you want to go back to stock.

What country are you in?  There are a number of places to get springs, including Originative in the U.S.

[DrinkTea]

Thanks for the tips! I'm in the US. Is that the best place to buy? And are all springs generally equal or do I want to avoid some particular kind of cheapo versions? I was thinking about trying something with different weight springs in different parts of the keyboard. How do people like that who have tried it?

[Photoelectric]

Any of those springs on Originative are fine.  The are Korean springs and rated by Bottoming Out force.  So 62g springs are slightly heavier than springs in MX Reds / Browns / Blues (which have bottom-out force of ~60cN / grams).  55g springs are lighter than Reds / Browns / Blues.  If you want something closer to MX Black force, pick a 65g spring.  <-- corrected as per Ivan's post below.

[CommunistWitchDr]

I have 4 "pewter" (not sure but I think that it is his own blend) IBM buckling spring key caps from osrix and they are GREAT !

Love to have a full set but it would be ridiculously expensive and he doesn't have legends.

A gamer might think that the momentum of the mass makes them slower, but I don't game.

I'm getting used to typing without legends. I'm no touch typist by any means.

Show Image

I used to consider myself a touch typist. But after typing on a blank keyboard, I realized I was using legends as a crutch. Going completely blank is the best way to really learn.

Or incorrect legends. Switched to colemak and couldn't look at the board if I wanted to.

If you're fixed on qwerty, you can switch them around (keeping them on the same row, and keeping f/j in place) for the effect of blanks until you learn.

[DrinkTea]

Any of those springs on Originative are fine.  The are Korean springs and rated by Bottoming Out force.  So 62g springs are slightly heavier than springs in MX Reds / Browns / Blues (which have bottom-out force of ~60cN / grams).  55g springs are lighter than Reds / Browns / Blues.  If you want something closer to MX Black force, pick a 65g spring.

So would the 80g springs on Originative be closest to what's in the clears? Also, I assume there's no straightforward conversion between bottoming out force and actuation force since the actuation point is determined by the stems if I understand correctly?

[IvanIvanovich]

Those 80g springs are approximately the same as stock black springs. Stock clear springs are about 100g. If you want either of those weights probably easy to get them from someone elses switch modding pulls for cheap around here.

[DrinkTea]

What are the stock white springs by that metric? Also, is there no site where I can order springs in the weight I want. And if anyone sees this and wants to sell...

[DrinkTea]

I'll probably order some black and clear springs form someone on the classifieds here who is selling them. Or are there any advantages to the Korean style ones I should know about?