Alps Appreciation Thread

[richfiles]

Awesome where do you make that plates?
never heard of alps amber at all bro is it that "good" and do you ever use alps blue switch?

LeandreN ran a plate prototyper/group purchase back in... I think it was around October. Used the keyboard layout editor and plate builder online tools to create the layout and the files for the manufacturer. I've got a thread here showing all the details.

Have you seen this? http://retroconnector.com/products/apple-ii/keyboard-shield-for-apple-iic-or-iic/

I made one on an experiment board and just used his firmware on a Teensy++, worked like a charm.

I saw that a while back. I'm an electronics guy, so I'll just save some cash and do my own wiring. Schematic to the keyboard is out there, but honestly, It can probably only manage 1-2KRO, as the matrix has no diodes. I'll cut traces and solder in diodes to each switch and take the matrix directly to a Teensy or equivalent controller.

Amber switches are quite a bit stiffer than blue switches, stiffness similar to early clicky white Alps or even slightly stiffer, with a much snappier and louder click. Blue switches are elegant and understated, amber switches get up in your face.

People who like white Alps, Matias clicky, Model F, amber Omrons, or Cherry MX green would probably like amber Alps. People who like blue Alps might or might not.

Ambers are indeed "up in your face". They have a bold click that's pretty noticeable. I've never had a keyboard with Alps Blue switches. I have keyboards with other Alps (Other Apple keyboards), but those are not clicky switches. What I did do, was make a comparison video between my Danger Zone custom 75% + 1 keyboard project with Gateron Blue switches, and my Apple //c keyboard with the Alps Amber switches. The Alps Amber definitely take more force to press passed the click. I personally like it. I used some Shapeways C64 to MX stem adapters and threw some Commodore 64 keys on my Danger Zone keyboard (since the Danger Zone key caps won't show up till next month).

[chyros]

Funny, those Gaterons don't sound like Cherries at all, is that because they're constructed differently or because of the massive keycaps?

As for the Ambers, they sound pretty good! Hard to say if they're louder of course, but they definitely don't sound any softer! xD

[richfiles]

They get WAY louder with those hulking clodhopper C64 keycaps clamped on!  )

When I first got the Gaterons, I was actually disappointed in the click, cause I thought it sounded too soft, but discovered that seem to be amplified by having a keycap attached to them. The sound is almost more pronounced by the keycap, than the switch with the Gaterons. I don't actually have any other switch types, or keycaps (I'm VERY new to this keyboard stuff), so I really have no other comparisons. The Alps Ambers... The pitch slightly increases, but the volume barely drops with the keycap removed. It's QUITE different from how the Gateron Blues are. It's like they need a keycap to act like a "speaker", while the Ambers speak in "caps lock" all the time! 

[umeboshi]

Question for any Alps folks who may have compared modified clicky orange Alps with blue alps?  Do they feel close enough to be a poor man's blue alps?

They’re definitely different. Different spring and noticeably different click leaf. Same “switchplate” assembly and housing though.

Thanks!  Was hard to tell there were differences from the pics that I could find.

I dunno about “poor man’s” – very good condition orange Alps switches are also very nice, and not all that easy to find.

That's true.  Was hoping if the clicky oranges were close enough then that might save me from entering the crazy bidding wars that go on for blue alps nowadays...  )

[phosphoric]

built an alps64 with an old aek ii's cream damped switches, but wanted something clickier so i removed the rubber dampeners on both sides of the sliders. the switch is much clickier and much crisper now, and it is an absolute pleasure to type on

if you haven't used stock cream damped switches, they feel kind of mushy and this modification makes them much more pleasant to use. if somebody wants to try it out themself, i have a couple more switches at home and can make a quick guide

[jacobolus]

I believe cream switches without the dampers have basically the same spring, click leaf, and switchplate as salmon switches. I haven’t done a detailed part comparison though, so there might be minor differences.

[phosphoric]

I believe cream switches without the dampers have basically the same spring, click leaf, and switchplate as salmon switches. I haven’t done a detailed part comparison though, so there might be minor differences.

oh really? this is quite intriguing - if it were, true, however, i'd imagine that the price of cream damped switches would skyrocket because taking out the rubber dampeners is not especially challenging or tedious when considering the simplicity of taking apart an alps switch

[nubbinator]

Question for any Alps folks who may have compared modified clicky orange Alps with blue alps?  Do they feel close enough to be a poor man's blue alps?

I just installed some modified clicky orange Alps into a minitouch, pretty much exactly like CPTBadAss did: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=71855.0, and it feels quite nice 

Click modded Orange are far more pleasant both in auditory and tactile feedback than Blue Alps to me, but it's all personal preference.

[chyros]

I believe cream switches without the dampers have basically the same spring, click leaf, and switchplate as salmon switches. I haven’t done a detailed part comparison though, so there might be minor differences.

oh really? this is quite intriguing - if it were, true, however, i'd imagine that the price of cream damped switches would skyrocket because taking out the rubber dampeners is not especially challenging or tedious when considering the simplicity of taking apart an alps switch

It's tricky. Even Alps switches that appear to have exactly or almost exactly the same parts can sound and perform quite radically different. Nowhere near as much as we'd want is know about this family.

Regardless, I don't think they would skyrocket. AEKs show up often enough, and are not really much more expensive than AEKIIs from what I've seen.

[phosphoric]

I believe cream switches without the dampers have basically the same spring, click leaf, and switchplate as salmon switches. I haven’t done a detailed part comparison though, so there might be minor differences.

oh really? this is quite intriguing - if it were, true, however, i'd imagine that the price of cream damped switches would skyrocket because taking out the rubber dampeners is not especially challenging or tedious when considering the simplicity of taking apart an alps switch

It's tricky. Even Alps switches that appear to have exactly or almost exactly the same parts can sound and perform quite radically different. Nowhere near as much as we'd want is know about this family.

Regardless, I don't think they would skyrocket. AEKs show up often enough, and are not really much more expensive than AEKIIs from what I've seen.

i was referring to the price of cream damped alps in general - they generally don't go for much. alps are a tricky switch and i still have so much to learn so youre probably right

[jacobolus]

oh really? this is quite intriguing - if it were, true, however, i'd imagine that the price of cream damped switches would skyrocket because taking out the rubber dampeners is not especially challenging or tedious when considering the simplicity of taking apart an alps switch

The prices are more about availability and weird herd behavior, not switch feel.

Salmon switches aren’t anything special, they’re just the tactile (non-clicky) version of early white Alps switches. Early white, salmon, and cream switches are all quite nice, but nothing anyone should be paying out the nose for.

There are a lot of old Apple AEK IIs out there, so pretty much anyone who wants one can have one, so the price is very cheap for what you get. Orange Alps boards are are harder to find, and blue Alps boards harder still, so the prices are steeper.

But anyway, I quite like cream switches, except I think they’re slightly too stiff. If you swap the spring for something a bit lighter, they’re really nice feeling.

The dampeners are a nice bonus feature, especially the top side that cuts the sound of the upstroke.

If you want a nice tactile switch and all you can find is Apple AEK IIs, I wouldn’t recommend removing the dampeners, that’s a waste. Instead, find a white Alps board (great condition white Alps boards are all over eBay), and swap the click leaves into the cream-slider switches, and the tactile leaves into the white-slider switches. You’ll end up with two nice sets of switches, and the dampened clicky ones are pretty unique and interesting.

[bocahgundul]

Awesome where do you make that plates?
never heard of alps amber at all bro is it that "good" and do you ever use alps blue switch?

LeandreN ran a plate prototyper/group purchase back in... I think it was around October. Used the keyboard layout editor and plate builder online tools to create the layout and the files for the manufacturer. I've got a thread here showing all the details.

Have you seen this? http://retroconnector.com/products/apple-ii/keyboard-shield-for-apple-iic-or-iic/

I made one on an experiment board and just used his firmware on a Teensy++, worked like a charm.

I saw that a while back. I'm an electronics guy, so I'll just save some cash and do my own wiring. Schematic to the keyboard is out there, but honestly, It can probably only manage 1-2KRO, as the matrix has no diodes. I'll cut traces and solder in diodes to each switch and take the matrix directly to a Teensy or equivalent controller.

Amber switches are quite a bit stiffer than blue switches, stiffness similar to early clicky white Alps or even slightly stiffer, with a much snappier and louder click. Blue switches are elegant and understated, amber switches get up in your face.

People who like white Alps, Matias clicky, Model F, amber Omrons, or Cherry MX green would probably like amber Alps. People who like blue Alps might or might not.

Ambers are indeed "up in your face". They have a bold click that's pretty noticeable. I've never had a keyboard with Alps Blue switches. I have keyboards with other Alps (Other Apple keyboards), but those are not clicky switches. What I did do, was make a comparison video between my Danger Zone custom 75% + 1 keyboard project with Gateron Blue switches, and my Apple //c keyboard with the Alps Amber switches. The Alps Amber definitely take more force to press passed the click. I personally like it. I used some Shapeways C64 to MX stem adapters and threw some Commodore 64 keys on my Danger Zone keyboard (since the Danger Zone key caps won't show up till next month).

Did you like the gateron better?

[richfiles]

Did you like the gateron better?

The Gaterons are nice and they are certainly very smooth.
For that, I like them, but I absolutely LOVE the Alps Amber click.
The Gaterons feel downright weak in comparison.

[bocahgundul]

Did you like the gateron better?

The Gaterons are nice and they are certainly very smooth.
For that, I like them, but I absolutely LOVE the Alps Amber click.
The Gaterons feel downright weak in comparison.

So you like big phat click eh  )

[chyros]

Did you like the gateron better?

The Gaterons are nice and they are certainly very smooth.
For that, I like them, but I absolutely LOVE the Alps Amber click.
The Gaterons feel downright weak in comparison.

So you like big phat click eh  )

Who could possibly resist the sound of clicky Alps?

[CPTBadAss]

****.....all this talk about Amber Alps. I gotta get my hands on some!

[Blaise170]

****.....all this talk about Amber Alps. I gotta get my hands on some!

Exactly what I thought! I bought some switches from a guy on eBay that is supposed to come from an Apple IIc so we'll see once it arrives.  )

[bocahgundul]

****.....all this talk about Amber Alps. I gotta get my hands on some!

CPT you like big phat click too eh? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[E3E]

****.....all this talk about Amber Alps. I gotta get my hands on some!

Exactly what I thought! I bought some switches from a guy on eBay that is supposed to come from an Apple IIc so we'll see once it arrives.  )

I'm probably one of the few who does not like Amber Alps. I tried them on one of my hotswap Eagle builds not too long ago, and they just weren't for me. I ended up trading them for more SKCM blues.

Here's a typing video of them in the Hammer.

They were incredibly tactile, but I think the carbon fiber plate and really solid case had more to do with it, perhaps. I just didn't like the click sound compared to blues. It's not as refined, but it might be a bit louder, indeed.

I might have been influenced by the fact I only had 26-27 loose SKCM blues at the time and desperately wanted to fill by Hammer Alps board with them, but only had enough for the alphas. Using them on the same board together, with Ambers placed everywhere other than the alphas and mods (SKCL browns there), I really did not like them side by side against blues.

[n__dles]

Haha, thanks man! I thought I saw another Hebrew set, but it ended up being this exact same board, haha.

I've seen 2 Hebrew Alps sets, one being your set, in multiple places ). I regularly search ebay with location set to Israel for 'keyboard' and מקלדת. Mechanical boards are very scarce, in a live auction I've only seen Model Ms. However, there are quite a few Quantum branded rubber domes from that time period.

I'm not sure if not many were made or if they just don't make it onto the interwebs. If anyone has anymore pics or info, please share.

[bocahgundul]

What about we use the amber alps for modifier and blue alps for alpha?

[E3E]

What about we use the amber alps for modifier and blue alps for alpha?

This is not a bad idea actually.

Haha, thanks man! I thought I saw another Hebrew set, but it ended up being this exact same board, haha.

I've seen 2 Hebrew Alps sets, one being your set, in multiple places ). I regularly search ebay with location set to Israel for 'keyboard' and מקלדת. Mechanical boards are very scarce, in a live auction I've only seen Model Ms. However, there are quite a few Quantum branded rubber domes from that time period.

I'm not sure if not many were made or if they just don't make it onto the interwebs. If anyone has anymore pics or info, please share.

Haha, I know! I am spreading the love for my FAME quite a bit, and then of course, there is the board that they came from, an APC Th-5539, which is a relative of the FAME itself. The board was ridiculously flimsy, but the caps were ace.

Hebrew does seem really hard to find OG, so that's why I'm staying off the FAME and just keeping it as a mantle piece. If I could find a way to display it, I would!

I have seen Hebrew Alps caps one other time on an F XT or F AT layout 83-84 key keyboard.

[bocahgundul]

What about we use the amber alps for modifier and blue alps for alpha?

This is not a bad idea actually.

Haha, thanks man! I thought I saw another Hebrew set, but it ended up being this exact same board, haha.

I've seen 2 Hebrew Alps sets, one being your set, in multiple places ). I regularly search ebay with location set to Israel for 'keyboard' and מקלדת. Mechanical boards are very scarce, in a live auction I've only seen Model Ms. However, there are quite a few Quantum branded rubber domes from that time period.

I'm not sure if not many were made or if they just don't make it onto the interwebs. If anyone has anymore pics or info, please share.

Haha, I know! I am spreading the love for my FAME quite a bit, and then of course, there is the board that they came from, an APC Th-5539, which is a relative of the FAME itself. The board was ridiculously flimsy, but the caps were ace.

Hebrew does seem really hard to find OG, so that's why I'm staying off the FAME and just keeping it as a mantle piece. If I could find a way to display it, I would!

I have seen Hebrew Alps caps one other time on an F XT or F AT layout 83-84 key keyboard.

If the hebrew printing is dyesubs it will be perfect

[E3E]

What about we use the amber alps for modifier and blue alps for alpha?

This is not a bad idea actually.

Haha, thanks man! I thought I saw another Hebrew set, but it ended up being this exact same board, haha.

I've seen 2 Hebrew Alps sets, one being your set, in multiple places ). I regularly search ebay with location set to Israel for 'keyboard' and מקלדת. Mechanical boards are very scarce, in a live auction I've only seen Model Ms. However, there are quite a few Quantum branded rubber domes from that time period.

I'm not sure if not many were made or if they just don't make it onto the interwebs. If anyone has anymore pics or info, please share.

Haha, I know! I am spreading the love for my FAME quite a bit, and then of course, there is the board that they came from, an APC Th-5539, which is a relative of the FAME itself. The board was ridiculously flimsy, but the caps were ace.

Hebrew does seem really hard to find OG, so that's why I'm staying off the FAME and just keeping it as a mantle piece. If I could find a way to display it, I would!

I have seen Hebrew Alps caps one other time on an F XT or F AT layout 83-84 key keyboard.

If the hebrew printing is dyesubs it will be perfect

Oooh, yeah. You'd have to look to Acer keyboards, or the original Dells (very annoying to track down outside TaoBao, and then you have stupid shipping costs) or SGI granites for that, if you want standard profile that is. I like AEK caps, but I'm also kinda meh about them due to their odd profile. It's nice, but it doesn't fit the other vintages, literally and aesthetically.

These Tai Hao caps are nice though, mainly because the FAME has a short right shift, and so it fits (I also ANSI-modded mine and eliminated the BAE because I wanted it to be exactly what I wanted and the top of the BAE had no stabilization ).

The only short shift PBT caps I know of for sure are from the IBM 5140. This one might also be PBT, judging by the case's yellowing. Not gonna lie, I'd love the 1u key beside the short shift to say "Turbo," that would be sick.

I hear the pad printing on these is very resilient though, and hell, people really like GMK's alt legend keys like Cyrillic, and they are pad printed.

I do agree though, dye subbed PBT would be the best set up for this, and I would also be less scared of shining them. Would be really hard to find though. This one is scarce enough!

[bocahgundul]

What about we use the amber alps for modifier and blue alps for alpha?

This is not a bad idea actually.

Haha, thanks man! I thought I saw another Hebrew set, but it ended up being this exact same board, haha.

I've seen 2 Hebrew Alps sets, one being your set, in multiple places ). I regularly search ebay with location set to Israel for 'keyboard' and מקלדת. Mechanical boards are very scarce, in a live auction I've only seen Model Ms. However, there are quite a few Quantum branded rubber domes from that time period.

I'm not sure if not many were made or if they just don't make it onto the interwebs. If anyone has anymore pics or info, please share.

Haha, I know! I am spreading the love for my FAME quite a bit, and then of course, there is the board that they came from, an APC Th-5539, which is a relative of the FAME itself. The board was ridiculously flimsy, but the caps were ace.

Hebrew does seem really hard to find OG, so that's why I'm staying off the FAME and just keeping it as a mantle piece. If I could find a way to display it, I would!

I have seen Hebrew Alps caps one other time on an F XT or F AT layout 83-84 key keyboard.

If the hebrew printing is dyesubs it will be perfect

Oooh, yeah. You'd have to look to Acer keyboards, or the original Dells (very annoying to track down outside TaoBao, and then you have stupid shipping costs) or SGI granites for that, if you want standard profile that is. I like AEK caps, but I'm also kinda meh about them due to their odd profile. It's nice, but it doesn't fit the other vintages, literally and aesthetically.

These Tai Hao caps are nice though, mainly because the FAME has a short right shift, and so it fits (I also ANSI-modded mine and eliminated the BAE because I wanted it to be exactly what I wanted and the top of the BAE had no stabilization ).

The only short shift PBT caps I know of for sure are from the IBM 5140. This one might also be PBT, judging by the case's yellowing. Not gonna lie, I'd love the 1u key beside the short shift to say "Turbo," that would be sick.

I hear the pad printing on these is very resilient though, and hell, people really like GMK's alt legend keys like Cyrillic, and they are pad printed.

I do agree though, dye subbed PBT would be the best set up for this, and I would also be less scared of shining them. Would be really hard to find though. This one is scarce enough!

All alps caps profile are OEM right? and nope I would not get those ugly AEK caps

[henz]

here is my humble alps64 with matias clickers. It needs a new case(need more angle because im not able to flip the space), hopefully something beefy

[jacobolus]

All alps caps profile are OEM right? and nope I would not get those ugly AEK caps

Really I think it should be called “Alps cylindrical profile”, rather than “OEM profile”. It was copied by Tai Hao and others who were making Alps-compatible keycaps, and only later used for MX-compatible caps.

The Apple/AEK keycaps are a fantastic shape. People have mixed feelings about the legends, but I like them. They’d also be great dyed solid black though.

I also like the keycap shape from the Apple IIGS keyboards, which is even more aggressively stepped.

Standard Alps cylindrical dyesubs:


Tai Hao MX-compatible doubleshots:


“OEM” backlit caps from a gimmicky “gamer” board:


AEK II:


Apple IIGS keyboard:


(compare to various other profiles at https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=68550)

[klennkellon]

Hey, I just tried cleaning a couple of my switchs (complicated whites) on my FK-2001, when I put them back together they are completely linear, does anyone know why this is? I put it back together perfectly.

[n__dles]

Hebrew does seem really hard to find OG, so that's why I'm staying off the FAME and just keeping it as a mantle piece. If I could find a way to display it, I would!

I don't think I could resist using them, but would regret it later.

I have seen Hebrew Alps caps one other time on an F XT or F AT layout 83-84 key keyboard.

I've seen more IBM's than anything else. I actually went with knock of IBM Hebrew caps from Unicomp. I'm glad I couldn't find a set of Imsto's or OG Alps and ended up with the Unicomp, because I'm really happy with this board, but wrong appreciation thread.

True storey, while looking for Hebrew Alps kbds I found this Alps touch-tone keypad from a vendor in Israel.

Coincedentally, I needed a touchtone keypad for a project 

[E3E]

All alps caps profile are OEM right? and nope I would not get those ugly AEK caps

They are closer and closest to DCS, i'd say. Tai Hao is a little different. They are not 1:1 with either at all. The cap "walls" are much lower on the switch than DCS, which "float" more as they are a bit more shallow.

There was that odd instance of some Alps caps on the Keytrak keyboard that seemed very similar to Cherry doubleshots because of its profile and legend. Now I have seen boards with cherry profile caps, notably the Monterey K101 and NTC 6151N, and I do see them on others, but the legends are different. The lower profile actually gives an incredibly smooth type-feel to Alps, smoother than Alps OG or Tai Hao, though I think those look nicer.

This is also true for AEK caps, I'd say. They are lower profile and the angle makes the type feel very smooth.

I really want to try some spherical Hipro-style Alps caps from the IBM Multistation, but those are rather hard to find. They do come up every so often though.

There's also DSA-like sphericals on certain laptops and I think the TRS-80 as well. Bondwell 8T laptop has them, as well as a certain Toshiba I think.

Overall, I really like OG Alps as it stands. It's my favorite overall, even if the weird Cherry profile ones and AEK add a really nice smoothness.

here is my humble alps64 with matias clickers. It needs a new case(need more angle because im not able to flip the space), hopefully something beefy

Show Image

I like this! Nice SGI caps. :D

Apple IIGS keyboard:

Show Image

(compare to various other profiles at https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=68550)

Still have my caps from the Apple IIc. I call them top hat caps, haha. I don't like their appearance, but that sculpt is insane!

[E3E]

Hebrew does seem really hard to find OG, so that's why I'm staying off the FAME and just keeping it as a mantle piece. If I could find a way to display it, I would!

I don't think I could resist using them, but would regret it later.

I have seen Hebrew Alps caps one other time on an F XT or F AT layout 83-84 key keyboard.

I've seen more IBM's than anything else. I actually went with knock of IBM Hebrew caps from Unicomp. I'm glad I couldn't find a set of Imsto's or OG Alps and ended up with the Unicomp, because I'm really happy with this board, but wrong appreciation thread.

True storey, while looking for Hebrew Alps kbds I found this Alps touch-tone keypad from a vendor in Israel.

Show Image

Coincedentally, I needed a touchtone keypad for a project  :cool:

That keypad is brilliant! I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

Glad to hear about the Unicomp. I hate using any boards I'm not totally satisfied with.

Hey, I just tried cleaning a couple of my switchs (complicated whites) on my FK-2001, when I put them back together they are completely linear, does anyone know why this is? I put it back together perfectly.

Did you make sure the slider is facing the right way (this shouldn't matter much)? Did you put the click leaves in correctly? D:

[jacobolus]

Hey, I just tried cleaning a couple of my switchs (complicated whites) on my FK-2001, when I put them back together they are completely linear, does anyone know why this is? I put it back together perfectly.

You might have bent the click leaf out of its normal shape, or put the switch back together incorrectly.

If you carefully take apart one of the altered switches and one of the still normal switches, you might be able to figure out the difference between them.

[CPTBadAss]

More

What about we use the amber alps for modifier and blue alps for alpha?

This is not a bad idea actually.

Haha, thanks man! I thought I saw another Hebrew set, but it ended up being this exact same board, haha.

I've seen 2 Hebrew Alps sets, one being your set, in multiple places ). I regularly search ebay with location set to Israel for 'keyboard' and מקלדת. Mechanical boards are very scarce, in a live auction I've only seen Model Ms. However, there are quite a few Quantum branded rubber domes from that time period.

I'm not sure if not many were made or if they just don't make it onto the interwebs. If anyone has anymore pics or info, please share.

Haha, I know! I am spreading the love for my FAME quite a bit, and then of course, there is the board that they came from, an APC Th-5539, which is a relative of the FAME itself. The board was ridiculously flimsy, but the caps were ace.

Hebrew does seem really hard to find OG, so that's why I'm staying off the FAME and just keeping it as a mantle piece. If I could find a way to display it, I would!

I have seen Hebrew Alps caps one other time on an F XT or F AT layout 83-84 key keyboard.

If the hebrew printing is dyesubs it will be perfect

Oooh, yeah. You'd have to look to Acer keyboards, or the original Dells (very annoying to track down outside TaoBao, and then you have stupid shipping costs) or SGI granites for that, if you want standard profile that is. I like AEK caps, but I'm also kinda meh about them due to their odd profile. It's nice, but it doesn't fit the other vintages, literally and aesthetically.

These Tai Hao caps are nice though, mainly because the FAME has a short right shift, and so it fits (I also ANSI-modded mine and eliminated the BAE because I wanted it to be exactly what I wanted and the top of the BAE had no stabilization ).

The only short shift PBT caps I know of for sure are from the IBM 5140. This one might also be PBT, judging by the case's yellowing. Not gonna lie, I'd love the 1u key beside the short shift to say "Turbo," that would be sick.

I hear the pad printing on these is very resilient though, and hell, people really like GMK's alt legend keys like Cyrillic, and they are pad printed.

I do agree though, dye subbed PBT would be the best set up for this, and I would also be less scared of shining them. Would be really hard to find though. This one is scarce enough!

The Acer 6311 caps I have are some of the nicest PBT dyesub caps I've ever used. I usually shy away from PBT too. Highly recommended.

More

****.....all this talk about Amber Alps. I gotta get my hands on some!

Exactly what I thought! I bought some switches from a guy on eBay that is supposed to come from an Apple IIc so we'll see once it arrives.  )

I'm probably one of the few who does not like Amber Alps. I tried them on one of my hotswap Eagle builds not too long ago, and they just weren't for me. I ended up trading them for more SKCM blues.

Here's a typing video of them in the Hammer.

They were incredibly tactile, but I think the carbon fiber plate and really solid case had more to do with it, perhaps. I just didn't like the click sound compared to blues. It's not as refined, but it might be a bit louder, indeed.

I might have been influenced by the fact I only had 26-27 loose SKCM blues at the time and desperately wanted to fill by Hammer Alps board with them, but only had enough for the alphas. Using them on the same board together, with Ambers placed everywhere other than the alphas and mods (SKCL browns there), I really did not like them side by side against blues.

I love all things Alps and since I've never tried the Amber switches, I really really want to. Really glad that even after being into Alps switches for years there's still so much more to discover.

[jacobolus]

CBA: did you see this thing?


For $38 shipped I couldn’t pass it up; I haven’t seen many multilingual old Apple boards. It should arrive middle of next week.

Also, itzmeluigi bought:

Hopefully he’ll take some more pictures when he gets it.

[CPTBadAss]

Is that a Chinese layout AEKII?!?! That's so cool . And I like that Cyrillic layout too. Great finds

[jacobolus]

Can pit it in a head-to-head fight against your Taiwanese Acer 6311. The AEK II is definitely heavier though, so maybe not a fair fight.

[CPTBadAss]

Can pit it in a head-to-head fight against your Taiwanese Acer 6311. The AEK II is definitely heavier though, so maybe not a fair fight.

But the 6311 was slim and had a metal backplate. Might fit better in hand and be a better weapon.

[chyros]

The Acer 6311 caps I have are some of the nicest PBT dyesub caps I've ever used. I usually shy away from PBT too. Highly recommended.

The caps on western 6311s were thin dyesub ABS, are you sure those are PBT? XD

[CPTBadAss]

The Acer 6311 caps I have are some of the nicest PBT dyesub caps I've ever used. I usually shy away from PBT too. Highly recommended.

The caps on western 6311s were thin dyesub ABS, are you sure those are PBT? XD

Pretty sure. I shine ABS caps up really fast. These don't have any shine on them yet.

[Blaise170]

CBA: did you see this thing?

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For $38 shipped I couldn’t pass it up; I haven’t seen many multilingual old Apple boards. It should arrive middle of next week.

Also, itzmeluigi bought:

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Hopefully he’ll take some more pictures when he gets it.

Let us know if those secondary/tertiary legend are pad print or dye sub. If dye sub I might be looking for my own Chinese AEK II!

[chyros]

The Acer 6311 caps I have are some of the nicest PBT dyesub caps I've ever used. I usually shy away from PBT too. Highly recommended.

The caps on western 6311s were thin dyesub ABS, are you sure those are PBT? XD

Pretty sure. I shine ABS caps up really fast. These don't have any shine on them yet.

Shine is a really unreliable way to determine ABS tbh. Some ABS shines up quite slowly and some PBT shines up pretty quickly. It also depends on environmental conditions, inherent texture, plastic formulation, etc. You're way better off with an acetone test, it's the only real way to determine it.

[E3E]

The Acer 6311 caps I have are some of the nicest PBT dyesub caps I've ever used. I usually shy away from PBT too. Highly recommended.

The caps on western 6311s were thin dyesub ABS, are you sure those are PBT? XD

Pretty sure. I shine ABS caps up really fast. These don't have any shine on them yet.

Shine is a really unreliable way to determine ABS tbh. Some ABS shines up quite slowly and some PBT shines up pretty quickly. It also depends on environmental conditions, inherent texture, plastic formulation, etc. You're way better off with an acetone test, it's the only real way to determine it.

This might be slightly unrelated, but in my opinion, shine is almost a misnomer of sorts. At least when it comes to vintages. Most of the reason caps shine is due to a loss of texture, and so I'd imagine more surface area that your fingers can polish up upon brushing past them with an innumerable amount of keystrokes. Otherwise, in caps that are still mint, you might see some shine, but only on the raised areas of the textured surface that are actually making contact with your fingers.

Another case in point being that I can use a polishing cloth to remove shine from caps, only to have the shine come back in a few hours because the texture is already worn on the keys.

Both can shine up very quick if the texture is lost. I've got both PBT and ABS examples of this.

I agree, an Acetone test would be best.

Speaking of which, did the guy on Deskthority who ran that mini GB for those small Greek Nan Tan 6581 keyboards ever get back to anyone on whether or not the MCK-101FX he had was actually doubleshot PBT? chzel I think his name was.

[CPTBadAss]

Seems like a lot of work to answer a question that won't change much. I'll just keep calling it dyesubbed PBT because there's no shine and it feels rough like all the other PBT caps I've used. I'm ok with being wrong )

[E3E]

Seems like a lot of work to answer a question that won't change much. I'll just keep calling it dyesubbed PBT because there's no shine and it feels rough like all the other PBT caps I've used. I'm ok with being wrong )

Love the PBT life, live the PBT life, no matter what you type on! 

[chyros]

The Acer 6311 caps I have are some of the nicest PBT dyesub caps I've ever used. I usually shy away from PBT too. Highly recommended.

The caps on western 6311s were thin dyesub ABS, are you sure those are PBT? XD

Pretty sure. I shine ABS caps up really fast. These don't have any shine on them yet.

Shine is a really unreliable way to determine ABS tbh. Some ABS shines up quite slowly and some PBT shines up pretty quickly. It also depends on environmental conditions, inherent texture, plastic formulation, etc. You're way better off with an acetone test, it's the only real way to determine it.

This might be slightly unrelated, but in my opinion, shine is almost a misnomer of sorts. At least when it comes to vintages. Most of the reason caps shine is due to a loss of texture, and so I'd imagine more surface area that your fingers can polish up upon brushing past them with an innumerable amount of keystrokes. Otherwise, in caps that are still mint, you might see some shine, but only on the raised areas of the textured surface that are actually making contact with your fingers.

Another case in point being that I can use a polishing cloth to remove shine from caps, only to have the shine come back in a few hours because the texture is already worn on the keys.

Both can shine up very quick if the texture is lost. I've got both PBT and ABS examples of this.

I agree, an Acetone test would be best.

Speaking of which, did the guy on Deskthority who ran that mini GB for those small Greek Nan Tan 6581 keyboards ever get back to anyone on whether or not the MCK-101FX he had was actually doubleshot PBT? chzel I think his name was.

No, as far as I know this is still a mystery...

Seems like a lot of work to answer a question that won't change much. I'll just keep calling it dyesubbed PBT because there's no shine and it feels rough like all the other PBT caps I've used. I'm ok with being wrong )

xD

[Dernubenfrieken]

Seems like a lot of work to answer a question that won't change much. I'll just keep calling it dyesubbed PBT because there's no shine and it feels rough like all the other PBT caps I've used. I'm ok with being wrong )

I was under the impression that only PBT could be dyesubbed am I misinformed?

[FrostyToast]

Have people forgot that ABS floats in water and PBT sinks?
I mean... that's the oldest trick in the GH book.

[chyros]

Have people forgot that ABS floats in water and PBT sinks?
I mean... that's the oldest trick in the GH book.

Yup, and it doesn't work! My first ever youtube erratum was because I believed in that nonsense .

Seems like a lot of work to answer a question that won't change much. I'll just keep calling it dyesubbed PBT because there's no shine and it feels rough like all the other PBT caps I've used. I'm ok with being wrong )

I was under the impression that only PBT could be dyesubbed am I misinformed?

It's still not completely sure. I did cut open an ABS cap from a 6312 once though and I showed a picture of how the printing was below-skin, strongly suggesting it was dye-sublimed.

[jacobolus]

I don’t think regular ABS can handle the dye-sublimation printing process, its melting temperature is too low. If you try to heat ABS to 400 °F or whatever, you’ll end up with a little plastic puddle.

Those dyesub Acer caps might not be PBT, but if not I’m not sure what plastic mix they are. Maybe something unique.

[chyros]

I don’t think regular ABS can handle the dye-sublimation printing process, its melting temperature is too low. If you try to heat ABS to 400 °F or whatever, you’ll end up with a little plastic puddle.

Those dyesub Acer caps might not be PBT, but if not I’m not sure what plastic mix they are. Maybe something unique.

ABS is available in many mixtures, maybe it's something related to that. If I still had access to the DSC and TGA I cold find out easily xD .