« previous next »
Pages:  [1]     Go Down

Author Topic: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?  (Read 2235 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline kolonelkadat

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 180
  • Location: the vicinity of an area adjacent to a location
    • Force Project X
Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« on: Mon, 28 October 2013, 19:51:10 »
I got my first mechanical keyboard a few days ago and the capslock has been driving me up the wall. On membrane keyboards I always shave the cap down so its just the square peg that goes in the slot. Since I have cherry reds now i figured i could just pop off the caps. but now im thinking that will let dirt and such get in and ruin the switch.

Can any of you gurus give me any advice on this?

I currently have removed the caps from tab, capslock, and tilde. In case that matters. Tab is the only one im likely to ever use.
Logged
"Obviously, windows are central to Windows. But what is a window?"

Offline CPTBadAss

  • Woke up like this
  • Posts: 14365
    • Tactile Zine
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 28 October 2013, 19:52:33 »
Would a stepped caps lock work for you? Or does it have to be removed?
Logged

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 28 October 2013, 20:01:39 »
Or just put a 1x keycap on there to stop dust dropping down into the switch.
Logged
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline kolonelkadat

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 180
  • Location: the vicinity of an area adjacent to a location
    • Force Project X
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 28 October 2013, 20:16:30 »
I dont think stepped would help much. With the way I tend to dangle my pinky off to the side, I think I really need a full on gap.

The 1x might work if I can stiffen it up with a great big spring or something i guess.
Logged
"Obviously, windows are central to Windows. But what is a window?"

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 28 October 2013, 20:20:35 »
Quote from: kolonelkadat on Mon, 28 October 2013, 20:16:30
I dont think stepped would help much. With the way I tend to dangle my pinky off to the side, I think I really need a full on gap.

The 1x might work if I can stiffen it up with a great big spring or something i guess.


SP has "key lockouts" which prevent a MX switch from being pressed (if you want to stop it from being pressed at all, and who uses Caps Lock these days anyway?).

http://www.keycapsdirect.com/marketplace.php
Logged
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline IvanIvanovich

  • Mr. Silk Underwear
  • Posts: 8199
  • Location: USA
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 28 October 2013, 23:21:11 »
Or, like you could just disable key in the OS to do nothing which is super easy and free.
If you're on Windows:
Code: [Select]
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Keyboard Layout]
"Scancode Map"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,3a,00,00,00,00,00
Logged

Offline nullstring

  • Posts: 267
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #6 on: Mon, 28 October 2013, 23:36:03 »
I recommend using something like autohotkey to remap the key to something more useful.
It's in prime realestate afterall.
Makes a fantastic ESC key, imho.
Logged

Offline RaVNzCRoFT

  • * Commercial Vendor
  • Posts: 56
  • Location: Raleigh, NC
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 29 October 2013, 00:07:58 »
Colemak layout changes caps lock to backspace.  Although I don't use Colemak, I've heard very good things particular aspect of it.
Logged
<<< Click to view

Offline Linkbane

  • Posts: 1534
  • Location: Houston, TX
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 29 October 2013, 11:01:53 »
Well, to be the brutally honest, if you're not going to ever use it, who cares if it gets dirty?
I mean, it might be aesthetically unpleasant, but better than accidentally caps-locking.
Logged
Quickfire TK MX Blue Corsair K60 MX Red Ducky Shine 3 Yellow TKL MX Blue Leopold FC660C
Current best: 162 wpm.

Offline MKULTRA

  • Posts: 1197
  • Location: IN
  • telling it how it is
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 29 October 2013, 11:40:29 »
To answer your question, no it is not a big deal.  A lot of pro gamers do it.  Not really a big deal.
Logged

Offline kolonelkadat

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 180
  • Location: the vicinity of an area adjacent to a location
    • Force Project X
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #10 on: Tue, 29 October 2013, 21:26:33 »
thanks for your input guys! I decided I didnt want to totally lose the key - never know when I might come across a long macro\const name - and I was starting to really hate the look of the missing cap.

The lockout clip gave me a seemingly decent idea though. I found a random compression spring that fit well enough under the cap. I just hope now that this doesnt ruin the key from the constant upward force.
Logged
"Obviously, windows are central to Windows. But what is a window?"

Offline SpAmRaY

  • NOT a Moderator
  • * Certified Spammer
  • Posts: 14667
  • Location: ¯\(°_o)/¯
  • because reasons.......
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 30 October 2013, 04:13:22 »
What keyboard is it that your using?
Logged

Offline terran5992

  • Posts: 1485
  • Location: Singapore
  • One With The Cup Rubber
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 30 October 2013, 05:31:29 »
I doubt anything will happen
Logged

Listokei Custom  |  HHKB Pro 2  |  Topre Realforce 103UBH  |  Armageddon MKA-3

Offline kolonelkadat

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 180
  • Location: the vicinity of an area adjacent to a location
    • Force Project X
Re: Is it safe for switches to not have keycaps on?
« Reply #13 on: Wed, 30 October 2013, 07:15:27 »
Quote from: SpAmRaY on Wed, 30 October 2013, 04:13:22
What keyboard is it that your using?

corsair k95 (mx red)
Logged
"Obviously, windows are central to Windows. But what is a window?"
Pages:  [1]     Go Up
« previous next »