Author Topic: Keycap profiles are confusing  (Read 5607 times)

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Offline mielouk

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Keycap profiles are confusing
« on: Wed, 15 May 2019, 08:04:26 »
After I've revived my DasKeyboard Ultimate with new switches, I've been looking for new keycaps. The old ones got shiny and as a result, quite sticky.

First things first, I'm looking for a full set of keycaps. They should be thick, blank, ISO keycaps with a 6.25 spacebar and should have a relatively rough surface on top that doesn't wear as fast as the old ones did. (AFAIK DasKeyboard uses thin ABS caps with a Cherry profile?) 
After some research I thought that the SP DCS profile would fit my needs, but it apparently fell out of favour because of the thin keycaps. The sculpted SP SA caps look gorgeous, but they have a smooth top and the top row seems be difficult to reach.

So why not stick with the cherry profile, which I've been quite happy with up till now. https://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/keycap-set/105-key-iso-cherry-mx-keycap-set.html but the shipping cost is nearly the cost of the keycaps themselves.

Do you have suggestions on what keycaps to choose?

Offline LightningXI

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #1 on: Wed, 15 May 2019, 08:05:30 »
After I've revived my DasKeyboard Ultimate with new switches, I've been looking for new keycaps. The old ones got shiny and as a result, quite sticky.

First things first, I'm looking for a full set of keycaps. They should be thick, blank, ISO keycaps with a 6.25 spacebar and should have a relatively rough surface on top that doesn't wear as fast as the old ones did. (AFAIK DasKeyboard uses thin ABS caps with a Cherry profile?) 
After some research I thought that the SP DCS profile would fit my needs, but it apparently fell out of favour because of the thin keycaps. The sculpted SP SA caps look gorgeous, but they have a smooth top and the top row seems be difficult to reach.

So why not stick with the cherry profile, which I've been quite happy with up till now. https://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/keycap-set/105-key-iso-cherry-mx-keycap-set.html
Just use Cherry profile. It's the best.

Offline mielouk

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 15 May 2019, 08:10:16 »
And where would I get thick, blank, ISO, Cherry keycap sets in the EU. Ordering from WASDkeyboards is quite expensive. Especially as I'm not convinced of their quality, yet.

Offline LightningXI

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 15 May 2019, 08:11:17 »
And where would I get thick, blank, ISO, Cherry keycap sets in the EU. Ordering from WASDkeyboards is quite expensive. Especially as I'm not convinced of their quality, yet.
Just look up on eBay of your country, there could be some interesting finds.

Offline dexie

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 16 May 2019, 00:12:39 »
In EU you might check kbdfans for cheap cherry keycaps. Other from that there are some EU-based mk shops. https://mykeyboard.eu/ and
https://candykeys.com/ are the biggest ones. http://www.ukkeycaps.co.uk/ might have a lot of interesting keycap sets
ISO Life

Offline mielouk

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 16 May 2019, 12:10:41 »
In EU you might check kbdfans for cheap cherry keycaps. Other from that there are some EU-based mk shops. https://mykeyboard.eu/ and
https://candykeys.com/ are the biggest ones. http://www.ukkeycaps.co.uk/ might have a lot of interesting keycap sets

Thx for the info. I knew of Mykeyboard and Candykeys (bought my switches there), but both don't have what I'm looking for. UKkeycaps is new to me, but they don't have what I want either. Kbdfans seems interesting and the 15$ DHL express shipping is also not excessive, but it's still China. Is there sufficient evidence that they are a trustworthy company?

yaa there are ots of those available on ebay..i just now checked it....Infact lucrative offers are available on almost every of them

Well, on eBay I find enjoyPBT offerings from China (again from kbdfans!?) or MAXKeyboard from California. None from Europe. Is it prevalent for keycaps to be bought internationally?


So what it boils down to is MAXkeyboard VS enjoyPBT. As I'm looking for a non-translucent blank keyset I would go with the higher quality PBT ones from kbdfans, if they are a reliable source. MAXkeys blank keysets are made of ABS and the translucent PBT ones look really ugly.
 


Offline dexie

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #6 on: Fri, 17 May 2019, 00:01:30 »
In EU you might check kbdfans for cheap cherry keycaps. Other from that there are some EU-based mk shops. https://mykeyboard.eu/ and
https://candykeys.com/ are the biggest ones. http://www.ukkeycaps.co.uk/ might have a lot of interesting keycap sets

Thx for the info. I knew of Mykeyboard and Candykeys (bought my switches there), but both don't have what I'm looking for. UKkeycaps is new to me, but they don't have what I want either. Kbdfans seems interesting and the 15$ DHL express shipping is also not excessive, but it's still China. Is there sufficient evidence that they are a trustworthy company?

yaa there are ots of those available on ebay..i just now checked it....Infact lucrative offers are available on almost every of them

Well, on eBay I find enjoyPBT offerings from China (again from kbdfans!?) or MAXKeyboard from California. None from Europe. Is it prevalent for keycaps to be bought internationally?


So what it boils down to is MAXkeyboard VS enjoyPBT. As I'm looking for a non-translucent blank keyset I would go with the higher quality PBT ones from kbdfans, if they are a reliable source. MAXkeys blank keysets are made of ABS and the translucent PBT ones look really ugly.

KBDFans is probably the most recommended vendor out there, super cool guys with flawless customer support. You can also get ePBT through KBDFans!

About MaxKeyboard. I own one keyset from them, and if I had to compare it to any other cheap keycaps I have (kprepulic, ePBT, kbdafans) MAXKeyboard would be on the last place.
ISO Life

Offline tex_live_utility

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #7 on: Fri, 17 May 2019, 02:07:49 »
Yes, it's totally normal to buy stuff internationally. Some people in the West even use proxy services to shop on China-only sites like Taobao.
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Offline Surefoot

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #8 on: Fri, 17 May 2019, 04:20:58 »
There are quite a few good sources for PBT keycap sets in China. They are definitely improving in quality, too.

Offline mielouk

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #9 on: Fri, 17 May 2019, 05:12:34 »
KBDFans is probably the most recommended vendor out there, super cool guys with flawless customer support. You can also get ePBT through KBDFans!

About MaxKeyboard. I own one keyset from them, and if I had to compare it to any other cheap keycaps I have (kprepulic, ePBT, kbdafans) MAXKeyboard would be on the last place.

Yes, it's totally normal to buy stuff internationally. Some people in the West even use proxy services to shop on China-only sites like Taobao.

That is very good to know! Thx!

There are quite a few good sources for PBT keycap sets in China. They are definitely improving in quality, too.

Could you name a few? I'd prefer an European source, because of possible customs issues and buyer security.

Offline Surefoot

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Re: Keycap profiles are confusing
« Reply #10 on: Fri, 17 May 2019, 06:13:34 »
Krepublic, Mechanical Primitive, Dongguan Kuangtai PBT (their XDAS sets are excellent)