geekhack Community > Keyboards
Naked Alps
xsphat:
The part of the key cap that bottoms out is top of it [the underside] where the spacers are. So I don't think you can do much to prevent that from happening.
And for the record, I misread the post about gluing keys to the sliders. I would not do that, ever. I would cut the hell out of the keys and use the stem on each keycap to glue the new key to.
Nonmouse:
--- Quote from: Whiskey in the Jar-o ---The soft click unobscured by any other sound... Tis bliss I tell ya's. But while my finger joints are much relieved by this new (to me) form of typing, my fingertips are quite the opposite. A few more weeks of this and I will have no fingerprints (or fingertips). I could probably get some of those finger condoms that clerks use, but that still leaves the problem of having the Alps all exposed to the (dusty) elements. I'll let the board rest for now... When I have the time, I shall mould new keycaps out of rubber or soft plastic. Then I shall rule the keyboard realm for real.
P.S.
Another idea came up. After recapping the sliders with new mininmal caps, why not add another plate at the level of the switch, so that just the sliders stick out above its plane? It would be like a MacBook keyboard with real switches. The space between the planes and the switches filled with foam to stop it from becoming an echo chamber.
--- End quote ---
What, are you guys peeking in my workshop? I'm going to fill the space between the switches on my mod with felt, and then top it off with leather at the level of the switch tops, so it'll have a level, firm-but-resilient deck with the keys resting ~1/4" above it.
The nekkid keyboard and the keys I'm going to use:
Here's a pic of the keycaps, and one of the board pre-discomboobulation:
As you can see, the bottom of the cap has four rails that level it when it bottoms out. That's where most of the annoying plastic CLACK comes from on the ALPS switches. I suppose I could cut the sides off and glue the keys to the cap, but then I'd get the CLACK, which I don't want. The bit that slips into the sliders is rectangular, about 1 x 3 mm (I don't feel like schlepping out to the garage to grab a micrometer atm). If I can source a metal or plastic bar that size, I could cut lengths off and glue or solder that to the keys,so they'd be easily removed, or alternatively, cut the top of the caps off and then file off the balancing rails. I don't think I want to spend that much (cutting and filing) effort and time just on mounting the keys, though. If I can find a bar that size, or a round bar that I could use two of side-by-side, I'll prolly do that, maybe with a thin pad of highish-density rubber on the bottom of the keys to give a little cushion and reduce noise.
I definitely want the keys lower than Jake has on his board, or than Datamancer has on the boards he's selling:
Whiskey in the Jar-o:
--- Quote from: Nonmouse ---
As you can see, the bottom of the cap has four rails that level it when it bottoms out. That's where most of the annoying plastic CLACK comes from on the ALPS switches. I suppose I could cut the sides off and glue the keys to the cap, but then I'd get the CLACK, which I don't want. The bit that slips into the sliders is rectangular, about 1 x 3 mm (I don't feel like schlepping out to the garage to grab a micrometer atm). If I can source a metal or plastic bar that size, I could cut lengths off and glue or solder that to the keys,so they'd be easily removed, or alternatively, cut the top of the caps off and then file off the balancing rails. I don't think I want to spend that much (cutting and filing) effort and time just on mounting the keys, though. If I can find a bar that size, or a round bar that I could use two of side-by-side, I'll prolly do that, maybe with a thin pad of highish-density rubber on the bottom of the keys to give a little cushion and reduce noise.
I definitely want the keys lower than Jake has on his board, or than Datamancer has on the boards he's selling:
--- End quote ---
I don't have any Cherry MX switches to compare with, but don't you think that the Cherry switch design is more "stable" than the Alps?
Nonmouse:
--- Quote from: Whiskey in the Jar-o ---
I don't have any Cherry MX switches to compare with, but don't you think that the Cherry switch design is more "stable" than the Alps?
--- End quote ---
I haven't got a Cherry keyboard on hand to compare it to, but I've got a couple MX-8100's (I think they should have the white sliders) coming this week, so I can compare 'em. Let you know this weekend.
Whiskey in the Jar-o:
Damn, this is frustrating. It's only been a day since the end of my commando experiment, and I already miss the prickly little guys :cry: . Must work something out. Their feedback is simply perfect.
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