Of course you can pad all the way across multi-post keys:
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To do that, I don't bother measuring; I line up the key with the foam and mark the punching and cutting points by eye. But it takes a bit more time to get them right, and I don't know if it makes much of a difference... Feel free to try it and compare (I know you guys are into detail!).
I like my switches clicky and my keyboards thunderous. K65 with box navies swapped in and zinc keycaps still isn't pingy enough for me. If only the plate supported Costar stabilizers too.
This is all pretty cool though. Thanks for sharing. I think I saw a video recently that mentioned somebody did a similar thing by pouring silicone into each cap. I'm sure the resulting sound and feel are different, but that's also got to be a more lazy/easy approach. I do wonder how much of a difference there is between doing something like this and just using a different material cap and/or caps of a different thickness, and different combinations of both. Not that I put much emphasis on any of that myself anyway.
I haven't used a Cherry-style keyboard in many years, but when I tried landing pads with blue switches, it did take away much of the annoying noise.
When we type on MKs, bottoming-out sounds often drown out the nice sounds the switches' mechanisms actually make. This mod lets you hear them better.
Oh, and I left out one thing (though it may be obvious): Typing on pads feels a lot better. Your fingers don't have to absorb all that shock. It doesn't feel mushy, just easier.
I would argue that there are no "nice sounds" associated with MX blue. I'm sure it keeps the rattle from sounding so much like crinkling plastic grocery bags though, unless that's something somebody likes. Gateron or Outemu blues might benefit?
I actually prefer bottoming out hard on really stiff plates, and I don't exactly type gingerly either. No discomfort at all either way. That said I don't necessarily dislike certain nicely dampened switches either. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
for the record, MX switches do not bottom out against the keycap. typically it's either on the pole at the bottom of the slider or against the bottom of the legs that actuate the contacts...
Yes, they normally bottom out there. When you add the bit of foam, it stops the travel just short of that, and the top of the switch casing becomes the place where the key stops. And no matter if it's a key or a switch plunger making noise, it's still just plastic on plastic, or plastic on plate—it's generic, not switch-specific. That's my point.
So considering the end result, it's splitting hairs, isn't it? I realize that's one of the things we do so well here, though, so that's okay.
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this may be less of an issue here than with o-rings, since the foam compresses and likely stays mostly compressed, but this is probably still most viable on uniprofile keysets.
I don't see what key profile has to do with it. If there's slightly more or less space between key tops and switch cases in some rows, obviously it wasn't considered a problem or they would've changed the key's inner dimension to compensate, right?
In any case ("case" get it?), people should try it themselves first, on just a few keys, to see if they like it. As with all things keeb-related, whether it's a "good" or "bad" idea is entirely subjective.
it's not a problem when you're not bottoming out on the keycap, but with o-rings at least it's very noticeable when you are.
I don't think this market would exist if splitting hairs wasn't a thing. we'd all be happily hunting and pecking on $15 rubber domes.
I absolutely agree that it's worth a try though, just pointing out a potential caveat.