Yep, as mentioned above, I tried the jailhouse blues. One thing I noticed is that sound comes from three areas on the blue: the white bean on the plunger, the cap hitting the plate, and the plunger hitting the upper casing on the way back up. The jailhouse mod helped me lower the actuation height and kill the noise from the bean, and o-rings prevented the caps rattling against the plate, but there was still that pesky noise from the plunger-housing collision.
But, I solved it. Introducing:
Silent BrownsLike I mentioned previously, I want to reduce travel, both before and after actuation. I also want quiet keys. I realised that the easiest way to do this is to start with the plunger in a slightly lower position, and prevent it clacking against the housing. Here's how I went about it.
What you'll need:
- a brown switch (though doesn't have to be brown - any type will do, though you'll need ghetto brown mod for blue and green switches)
- a keycap
- silicon pads (like those used on the feet of furnishings for grip and ground protection
- an o-ring or two.
Silicon pads have adhesive backing:
We don't actually need anything near this size though, and the pads themselves are too thick. We actually only need a sliver:
Of which we only need a tiny rectangle's worth:
Then we use tweezers to remove backing and stick at top of upper housing slider grooves:
Once you've done that reassemble the switch. Chuck an o-ring or two (I prefer two for much reduced travel) on the keycap:
And there's your finished switch. Terrible photo here, but you can just about make out the two o-rings through the keycap:
The silicon pads in the housing push the plunger down about a milimetere causing it to actuate about as early as a jailhouse blue, without having to rig the blue plunger. They also prevent the sound from the plunger coming back up against the housing.
O-rings on the keycap serve to prevent cap hitting plate and reduce travel. Overall effect is almost no sound.
Videos coming up!
