geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: snarfarlarkus on Wed, 08 November 2017, 01:50:02
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About to build my own keyboard and I'm just wanting to know how much do different plate materials and even case materials affect the keyswitch feel? Is it anything significant to even consider?Cheers
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Everything plays a role in the end result with a keyboard. Even the surface you put your keyboard on.
But most things are simply personal preference so what one person thinks is the best thing ever another person might think it feels like garbage.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
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It's pretty logical when considering materials. The harder and rigid materials like aluminum and stainless will make your board more rigid. Some say that bottoming out will feel a bit harsh, but I prefer a still keeb. Boards made with plastics will have a bit more give, and almost feel like bottoming out is cushioned.
It's exactly what you would expect.
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Some keyboard like cherry g80-8200 and g80-8113 have very long pcbs that are not plate mounted and the effect is really noticeable towards the middle. Most plate mounted keyboards are similar, since the plate and the PCB are braced against eachother through the switches and very difficult to bend (due to high moment of inertia). If you take the plate / pcb sandwhich out of the case you will see it is very difficult to bend.
Now one factor that a lot of people ignore is the mounting in the case. Some keyboards like skeldon/ kmac/ etc. the plate is bolted to the frame and the pcb is suspended from it. This allows for a bit more give, though not much. Another variation (lightsaver, orion, etc. It's very old but the fist I know of is the oneproduct poker case) the pate is free floating and the pcb is screwed to the case(which is like a tub). I have found that this is more rigid, and it makes sense, as the pcb is tightly coupled to the case which is very difficult to move and also to the plate, so it's quite rigid.
How this affects feel: Some people can feel it more than others. I feel spring weight and slider design more than this because I don't bottom out very hard. If you are coming off heavy keyboards like IBM or rubber dome, to a lighter design (cherry reds, etc) then you might bottom out more, and if you do then having a more forgiving design might be more comfortable.
Some keyboards feature just a PCB bolted to a case underneath, sort of like a lightsaver design but with no plate above the switches. The first I know of is the oneproduct poker case. Original poker is just PCB mount and the case was a lower aluminium plate (very thick, since the screws went into it) and it was glued into a tub to make the case. For several years I had one just bolted to the aluminium slab and as expected it was quite rigid.
Some keyboards feature an acrylic plate, One of the first I was hhkb-mx from korea ( https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=39699.msg781001#msg781001 ), then I think there were some OTD that had a partial (just modifiers) or full acrylic plate. I feel like these try to bridge the gap between rigid metal plate and a plateless design, but in practice I wonder how effective they are as most of them have the PCB still bolted to the aluminium case.
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My recent custom has an aluminum case with an aluminum plate. I've also put padding on the side of the case under all of it to reinforce any areas that hand any give. The keyboard is very stiff. I type pretty hard, bottoming out pretty well. The stiffness makes my linears basically sound like clicky switches. I like it.
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Plates made out of PETG are the best IMO. The sound and feel is much nicer than aluminium or such. You really hear the sound of the switch, not the plate.
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It's one of those things..
Do you think about the fact that your left shoe's sole is slightly more worn than the right?
Not something you notice unless you WANT to notice..
There's also no practical utility of the extra information gathered..
Long story short.. Yes, but if you're this bored, go read a book, or maybe use the keyboard to write something, like this useless critique of how people do useless examinations of thoroughly inconsequential details.
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I understand it makes quite a difference with dentures.
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Everything plays a role in the end result with a keyboard. Even the surface you put your keyboard on.
But most things are simply personal preference so what one person thinks is the best thing ever another person might think it feels like garbage.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Basically this, easy way to test is that even typing keyboard directly on your lap will feel different (funny enough I think typing on lap gives the best experience).
So I'm pretty sure different plate will change the feel.
However it's not something people have spent extensive time to test yet, so you might need to do some trial and error and I'm not sure if it's worth the effort.
It would take quite a lot of work to get the same plate in different material also imagine swapping out all the switches.
>_____>
I know some group buy offer carbon fiber plates and fiber glass plates. But at the same time not everyone likes softer or harder feel so at that point it's preference.
Good luck my friend.