Author Topic: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With a Cherry Stem)  (Read 46121 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline pixelpusher

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4177
  • Location: Tennessee - USA
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #100 on: Fri, 12 January 2018, 16:06:23 »
And like you said, we can easily file down matias housings since they are fairly cheap and easy to get.  I personally like the newly tooled Matias switches a lot, but I'm looking forward to getting some MX caps on my older boards I've been picking up lately.

How recent was their tooling change? I have some that get here on tuesday.

If you just bought them they should be the new ones.  I don't know that there is a way to tell if they are new or not physically.

The biggest difference is much less wobble. (I'd say 60-75% less wobble than before) I have a board with Matias click in them and replaced 10 of them to see the difference.  It is quite noticeable if you rest your fingers on the keycaps and wobble them.  I can even tell a difference when typing.  I've heard people say the problem with Matias now is still the chatter issue.  It's true I've had chatter on switches, but since I D.I.Y. everything it's no big deal for me to just swap those out. 

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #101 on: Sun, 14 January 2018, 16:52:06 »
Update:
I have sent out for a quote on the top housing, so I will know what pricing is in a few days. I am looking at either doing ABS or POM, as I believe the alps were some time of ABS from what I have read, but POM would also be a great material as it has a very low friction coefficient, which can make these even smoother than the original. Once the quote comes in, I will see what may need to be changed to either make it manufacturable, or to remove erroneous features. From there I will then order a small sample of prototypes as well, which will take another week and a half probably.

Something that I noticed while modeling the housing is that SKCM Black alps used a different mold than any other SKCM (pine or bamboo) I don't know why this was done but it was, so the housing will fit on pine or bamboo alps, not sure about SKCM Brown as I don't know if the housing was different to accommodate the different style click leaf/plate. If it is physically the same width and depth slot in the top housing as any other SKCM switch, then it should fit. I will be testing the prototypes on SKCM Blacks to see if they fit.

SKCM Black Top Housing:
186561-0

All other SKCM Except maybe Brown:
186563-1





This is what the top housing looks like at the moment, may change in the coming days.
186565-2

186567-3

186569-4

186571-5
« Last Edit: Sun, 14 January 2018, 16:54:19 by BlindAssassin111 »

Offline _haru

  • Formerly linuxfanatic
  • Posts: 390
  • Location: Perth, Western Australia
  • Back from the dead
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #102 on: Sun, 14 January 2018, 17:59:15 »
Perhaps consider buying a few random alps switches from someone here or r/mk. You can also buy some cheap Alps Yellow/Green/White boards off taobao for testing.
AMJ60 - 45g MX White | GH60 Rev. C - Ghost Gateron Blacks | DFK101 - Alps SKCM Cream | Filco Majestouch 2 TKL - 62g Vintage MX Ergo Clear

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #103 on: Sun, 14 January 2018, 20:05:40 »
Perhaps consider buying a few random alps switches from someone here or r/mk. You can also buy some cheap Alps Yellow/Green/White boards off taobao for testing.

Just bought a Northgate Omnikey Ultra T to do the testing on, look super clean from the pictures so I am happy to have picked it up for a fair price.

Offline _haru

  • Formerly linuxfanatic
  • Posts: 390
  • Location: Perth, Western Australia
  • Back from the dead
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #104 on: Mon, 15 January 2018, 07:28:59 »
Just bought a Northgate Omnikey Ultra T to do the testing on, look super clean from the pictures so I am happy to have picked it up for a fair price.

 :thumb:
AMJ60 - 45g MX White | GH60 Rev. C - Ghost Gateron Blacks | DFK101 - Alps SKCM Cream | Filco Majestouch 2 TKL - 62g Vintage MX Ergo Clear

Offline joelfong

  • Posts: 40
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #105 on: Mon, 15 January 2018, 08:22:55 »
Perhaps consider buying a few random alps switches from someone here or r/mk. You can also buy some cheap Alps Yellow/Green/White boards off taobao for testing.

Just bought a Northgate Omnikey Ultra T to do the testing on, look super clean from the pictures so I am happy to have picked it up for a fair price.

You can get a single brown SKCM switch here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/282503304994

orihalcon also sells a few other single SKCM and SKCL switches which could be useful in your testing. Prices are fair. He's also a geekhack user so you should be able to PM him and combine shipping or get a direct PayPal invoice from him if you prefer that.

Offline P1kas

  • Posts: 223
  • Location: Puerto Rico
  • AKA Crono
There is no such thing as "too much orange."

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #107 on: Wed, 17 January 2018, 19:25:33 »
Update:
Currently waiting on the prototypes to get here, the local weather delayed delivery so I am not sure if they when they will attempt delivery. As for interest we have reached the max for the GB, but I am working on something to sell these again. GB will consist of 11,000 sliders max, and final pricing will be announced once open. I had to upgrade to a more expensive tool steel in order to get the finish I was wanting, so pricing will reflect that, but it will only be a couple cents difference. That does mean that the new tool can produce more sliders, in fact it may be able to do a couple hundred thousand which means these may be for sale for those who miss the initial GB.

Working on finalizing the color choice for the slider, at this point I am thinking of doing a sapphire blue (Pantone color to come soon).

I will be testing these on my newly acquired omnikey ultra, and will have a typing video along with an unbiased description of the feeling, as I don't want to sell a product I don't believe in or think is high enough quality.

Thank you for the wait, hopefully the GB will open in the next week or two.

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #108 on: Fri, 19 January 2018, 13:35:11 »
Important Update in the original post, please read it and make sure to fill out the new IC form if still interested.
« Last Edit: Fri, 19 January 2018, 14:27:06 by BlindAssassin111 »

Offline Albatross

  • Posts: 33
  • Location: United States
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #109 on: Fri, 19 January 2018, 14:16:35 »
It's unfortunate that the sliders don't work for clicky switches. I might still buy some for a future alps builds, but I really anticipated using these on a blue alps board in particular :(

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #110 on: Fri, 19 January 2018, 14:21:11 »
It's unfortunate that the sliders don't work for clicky switches. I might still buy some for a future alps builds, but I really anticipated using these on a blue alps board in particular :(

I am very dissapointed myself, I was designing these so I can use them on my alps boards, which are all clicky...so even I have to come to terms with it for that fact.

But I am happy I found out now rather than after hundreds of click leafs were permanently deformed, That would have been terrible.

Offline Albatross

  • Posts: 33
  • Location: United States
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #111 on: Fri, 19 January 2018, 14:26:53 »
It's unfortunate that the sliders don't work for clicky switches. I might still buy some for a future alps builds, but I really anticipated using these on a blue alps board in particular :(

I am very dissapointed myself, I was designing these so I can use them on my alps boards, which are all clicky...so even I have to come to terms with it for that fact.

But I am happy I found out now rather than after hundreds of click leafs were permanently deformed, That would have been terrible.

Yeah, letting us know up front about the problem is great, I'd be even more devastated if I found out my sliders destroyed my precious switches!

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #112 on: Fri, 19 January 2018, 14:28:33 »
Yeah, letting us know up front about the problem is great, I'd be even more devastated if I found out my sliders destroyed my precious switches!

Imagine destroying a click leaf during prototyping...I was devastated and pissed that it had happened. Now I have to buy a new switch just to replace that leaf as I don't have any spares.

Offline azharkh

  • Posts: 30
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #113 on: Fri, 19 January 2018, 14:34:46 »
not being compatible with clicky alps is definitely a bummer, but at least now that box navies/jades exist we have a very good MX mount clicky switch.



Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk


Offline Techno Trousers

  • Posts: 908
  • ʘ_ಠ
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #114 on: Fri, 19 January 2018, 15:56:07 »
Quote
What happens is when the key is pressed and the clicky leaf moves towards the slider it gets caught underneath the stem on the cap and then will be bent pretty badly.

What a shame, but in hindsight it makes a lot of sense. Alps caps, with their stem inside the switch, leave plenty of space for the mechanism to work as the cap is descending.

Definitely glad this was discovered before mass production!

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #115 on: Fri, 19 January 2018, 16:26:49 »
What a shame, but in hindsight it makes a lot of sense. Alps caps, with their stem inside the switch, leave plenty of space for the mechanism to work as the cap is descending.

Definitely glad this was discovered before mass production!

I was definitely not expecting it to be a problem ever, but it does make sense that they would have it do that. Just unfortunate for us that it happened that way. It was definitely a small price to pay for me to lose one click leaf rather than everyone who installed them having issues and this project going down because of that.

I just hope no one does it by accident or without reading...can be a very bad day.

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #116 on: Sat, 20 January 2018, 20:23:06 »
Just wanted to say we are back up to 4800, which is nice for to see that so many still want this. Still need to get another 6,200 more to be back where we once were. I will then run the GB after we get there. Hopefully the 11,000 can be hit by this week as I would love to be able to place the order by early next month.

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #117 on: Mon, 22 January 2018, 19:22:35 »
Update:
Since I received the last prototypes and found the issue with clicky switches I have been looking at ways to possibly solve the issue and test to see if making the slider taller, so the cap doesn't go inside the switch housing as much, would fix the issue. I placed the order for another set of prototypes that I made taller and will hopefully have them by the weekend. Sucks that so much money has to be put into prototyping but I would love to fix this issue before anything is done.

I will have a video up soon as I want to show off where I am at this point, and to hopefully make people more excited about this. I will go over keycap fitment as well, and make an update when I test the new prototypes once I get them. I really hope this fixes the issue as I would love for my sliders to be used in all possible alps variants.

So currently we are at only 5700 sliders on the interest check, which is understandable given the blow of no clicky switches.

I will make sure to keep everyone updated on the current process, and give detailed results as well.

Offline pixelpusher

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4177
  • Location: Tennessee - USA
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #118 on: Mon, 22 January 2018, 19:34:48 »
Thanks for the update  :thumb:

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #119 on: Mon, 22 January 2018, 19:37:50 »
Thanks for the update  :thumb:

Thank you for you interest and help. This project has been fun and stressful and it is nice to see the so many people stand with me the whole time. I will make sure this product is perfect before the GB opens.

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #120 on: Thu, 25 January 2018, 11:17:58 »
Added a quick little video in the OP, that explains the current status as well as showing off the current prototype.

Offline macclack

  • Posts: 501
  • Location: San Diego, CA
    • Macclack
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #121 on: Thu, 25 January 2018, 15:26:56 »
Looks great. Did you file down the top housing of those Matias switches?

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #122 on: Thu, 25 January 2018, 18:20:35 »
Looks great. Did you file down the top housing of those Matias switches?

Yes, forgot to mention that. It is a pain as I only have some crappy files laying around. But it takes a minute or so per switch.

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #123 on: Tue, 30 January 2018, 17:28:12 »
Update:
The newest prototypes will get here tomorrow which means I can start testing clicky switches and make sure they work. Bad news is the board I was going to use to test seems to be lost in the mail and I don't know when it will get here, so that pushes the testing back to check the mounting of stabs. As well in that package is an SKCM Brown that I was going to use for testing to make sure everything works and is safe for all alps variants.

Plus I am in the process of building a new computer as my current build crashes randomly and even after a clean install it has had some issues. Which means I can't do any 3D modeling until the parts come in later this week. So I am waiting on packages mostly, and hoping my test board eventually finds its' way to my house...

If all goes well the GB will open either next week or the week after.

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #124 on: Thu, 01 February 2018, 18:22:25 »
Super important update in the OP, please check it out and rejoice!!!  ;D

Offline Lepidus

  • Posts: 148
  • Location: Brazil
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #125 on: Thu, 01 February 2018, 18:50:19 »
Super important update in the OP, please check it out and rejoice!!!  ;D

Ah, thats great to hear. Cant wait to see how you solved that ;D

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #126 on: Thu, 01 February 2018, 18:56:35 »
Ah, thats great to hear. Cant wait to see how you solved that ;D

Was stupid simple...but I was worried it would cause issues with stabs, but that will be explained in the video I make as it will be easier to show what I am talking about.

Offline Lepidus

  • Posts: 148
  • Location: Brazil
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #127 on: Thu, 01 February 2018, 19:05:24 »
Ah, thats great to hear. Cant wait to see how you solved that ;D

Was stupid simple...but I was worried it would cause issues with stabs, but that will be explained in the video I make as it will be easier to show what I am talking about.

Were you able to confirm if the sliders wont have any issue with thick cherry profile keycaps?

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #128 on: Thu, 01 February 2018, 19:48:01 »
Were you able to confirm if the sliders wont have any issue with thick cherry profile keycaps?

I did state it in the last video I made, but will go over it more in tomorrows video now that the sliders is basically done. All keycap profiles do work, no conformation on things like dev/tty or any other boutique profile that may be out there. But SA, DSA, DCS, OEM, GMK/Cherry, G20 and artisans made with the $ynth all work.

So the only issue now is what color and when to open the GB.

Offline P1kas

  • Posts: 223
  • Location: Puerto Rico
  • AKA Crono
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #129 on: Thu, 01 February 2018, 22:43:12 »
How much taller are the new stems?

I'd like to see pictures of a switch with the new stems mounted on a high profile case, if possible.

Thanks.
There is no such thing as "too much orange."

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #130 on: Thu, 01 February 2018, 22:54:47 »
How much taller are the new stems?

I'd like to see pictures of a switch with the new stems mounted on a high profile case, if possible.

Thanks.

They are exactly 1.15mm taller. I don't have a high profile case to show these on, only have 3 keyboards at the moment and none are a custom.

Offline pomk

  • Posts: 470
  • Location: Finland
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #131 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 01:41:08 »
How much taller are the new stems?

I'd like to see pictures of a switch with the new stems mounted on a high profile case, if possible.

Thanks.

They are exactly 1.15mm taller. I don't have a high profile case to show these on, only have 3 keyboards at the moment and none are a custom.
I’m pretty sure that all vintage alps boards are ’high profile’. As in the switch plate is recessed into the case.

Offline P1kas

  • Posts: 223
  • Location: Puerto Rico
  • AKA Crono
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #132 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 06:18:00 »
...only have 3 keyboards at the moment and none are a custom.

As mentioned above, placing them on your current vintage alps board would suffice. Just want an idea of how much the keycaps would stick out
There is no such thing as "too much orange."

Offline garbo

  • Posts: 124
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #133 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 10:06:22 »
I’m also a little concerned at the idea of raising the height too much, but will reserve judgement until the prototype is shown. It might be a good demonstration to mount the same keycaps side by side on nexus slidered Alps switches and standard MX ones.

Offline bluesclera

  • Posts: 177
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #134 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 10:08:21 »
Maybe separate designs? one for non-clicky and one for clicky?

Offline sncbraxsc2

  • Posts: 367
  • Location: Florida
  • ⭐Domesticated Dweeb⭐
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #135 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 10:10:28 »
Were you able to confirm if the sliders wont have any issue with thick cherry profile keycaps?
SA, DSA, DCS, OEM, GMK/Cherry, G20 and artisans made with the $ynth all work.

Thats awesome!

My vote for the color would be for gold, like the protoss nexus in starcraft

Offline ZayaCaps

  • Posts: 27
  • Location: Boston, MA
    • Instagram
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #136 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 10:41:40 »
Awesome to see you got the sliders to work with clicky alps! Great work  :thumb:

Offline Techno Trousers

  • Posts: 908
  • ʘ_ಠ
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #137 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 13:02:34 »
Congrats on overcoming the issues with click switches!

Offline SJHL

  • Posts: 274
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #138 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 14:01:23 »
Best Update So Far:
My sliders are once again compatible with clicky switches and in fact work with stabs. I will make a video maybe tomorrow going over what was found out. As well they work with SKCM Brown beautifully.

Great news. Thanks for your hard work.

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #139 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 21:30:13 »
Update:
Uploaded a new video going over everything about the sliders, sorry for the late upload, was busy trying to build my new computer and had to edit the video 5 times because the software kept messing the video up before export.


Offline P1kas

  • Posts: 223
  • Location: Puerto Rico
  • AKA Crono
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #140 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 22:03:07 »
Looks good!

The added height is a bit of a bummer, but having slightly taller caps won't be a problem for me.

There is no such thing as "too much orange."

Offline pixelpusher

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4177
  • Location: Tennessee - USA
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #141 on: Fri, 02 February 2018, 23:04:26 »
I don't mean to ruffle feathers, but what would the difference in height be between these slider adapters (now that they are raised up higher) and the alps to MX inserts that some people have been using?

Like these:
https://www.shapeways.com/product/9J3P8UFW7/alps-to-mx-120-stems



Offline garbo

  • Posts: 124
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #142 on: Sat, 03 February 2018, 02:47:50 »
I don't mean to ruffle feathers, but what would the difference in height be between these slider adapters (now that they are raised up higher) and the alps to MX inserts that some people have been using?

Judging by this picture, it is an improvement. It’s still sort of a dealbreaker for me, to be honest—though I’ll probably get a few anyway just to mess around with.

Ideally, both kinds could be run, but it seems unlikely there’d be enough interest to justify splitting MOQs across two products.

Offline derzemel

  • Posts: 165
  • Location: Bucharest, Romania
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #143 on: Sat, 03 February 2018, 02:59:15 »
Is the compatibility with Green linear Alps and issue?

Those have an LED cut out in them and there might be people that may want to add the LEDs
« Last Edit: Sat, 03 February 2018, 03:00:56 by derzemel »

Offline bluesclera

  • Posts: 177
  • Location: Toronto, Canada
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #144 on: Sat, 03 February 2018, 05:30:43 »
The increase height is a deal breaker. The whole point was to avoid any added height that an adapter would add.

Offline cdn-mini

  • Posts: 67
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #145 on: Sat, 03 February 2018, 06:25:29 »
If this mod is going to add height then its basically just a ALPS to MX adapter, which is already available on the market.
I thought the whole point was to avoid any added height? 1.5mm is considerable.
I'm in if you stick with the original design.

Offline joelfong

  • Posts: 40
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #146 on: Sat, 03 February 2018, 09:04:05 »
Thanks for the update and video!

I think I have to agree with some of the others in that the extra height is a big deal breaker for me as a tactile alps user.

I suspect a lot of people using tactile/linear alps would very much rather the nexus slider without the extra height (wasn't this the whole point of a custom slider?). But some clicky alps users might be willing to accept this height compromise for MX keycap compatibility.

You might want to do another poll or something.

I don't think you can just go for this updated slider at this point and assume that it will meet the minimum order quantity just because it works with clicky alps.

Ideally it would be best if you can work something out with the factory and have both sliders produced so both camps can be happy. Maybe also try and see if there are vendors willing to stock up extras for sale. That way perhaps we can all make this a great success.

Offline pixelpusher

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4177
  • Location: Tennessee - USA
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #147 on: Sat, 03 February 2018, 10:20:51 »
Perhaps a new IC or straw poll to see if the raised height to accommodate clicky switches is desired.  I don’t think I would want to use the new, taller design. That’s my personal opinion. 

Offline BlindAssassin111

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1106
  • Location: Behind you
  • I design keyboards and stuff.
    • Viktus
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #148 on: Sat, 03 February 2018, 11:14:44 »
I am surprised at how many people are apposed to the increased height. It is only 1.15mm, which isn't really anything to worry about and it is much smaller than any alps to mx adapter that you can just 3d print, and those are a minimum of 3.6mm taller.

I don't think it would be possible to get enough people to order for both designs to be made, so I can't reasonably do that.

As for green alps, the top housing is not compatible in its current form as the cutout for the LED would prevent a cherry stem from entering the housing. You would either have to use a sacraficial SKCM top housing, or buy one of the redesigned ones that I plan on selling, which would sadly not be compatible with LEDs.

EDIT: Can GH posts have a straw poll? I have never personally seen how, or if, it can be done.
« Last Edit: Sat, 03 February 2018, 11:16:21 by BlindAssassin111 »

Offline pixelpusher

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4177
  • Location: Tennessee - USA
Re: [IC] Nexus Slider (Alps Slider With Cherry Stem)
« Reply #149 on: Sat, 03 February 2018, 12:28:05 »
The added height, even though slight, raises eyebrows.  Here are my best guesses why.  Everything here is pure speculation, based on my personal opinion.

Floating keys have been a thing in our community for years.  This design was also made mainstream on gaming keyboards.  Many enthusiasts here are now adverse to this look. 

Custom keyboards have mostly started reverting to a more traditional look with inset keycaps. I’ve seen 3 recent group buys actually proudly stating that their keycaps are properly sunken into the frame (retro60, the doyu custom, and Leandren’s builds).  If you browse the comments in other custom board interest checks you’ll often see people asking how far up the keycaps sit.  It’s just a sticking point for many.  (Not all, but many).

Also, Cheaper (not cheap but not exorbitantly priced) boards often seem to miss the mark, with the keys not “floating” but also not recessed enough... leaving about a 1.15mm gap between the top of the case frame and the bottom of the keycaps.  Hence, your sliders make an alps board somewhere in line with cheaper Chinese custom builds.

Old alps boards and cheaper Chinese manufacturing don’t sit right on my mind. 

I believe these are some of the lurking factors surrounding the adversity to slightly raised keycaps.

I own all kinds of keyboards. Vintage, handmade, cheap Chinese boards, $500 custom boards.  I like all of them for different reasons.  I’m not saying that your new design is bad or wrong.  I’m just trying to help you understand the logic behind 1.15mm being a factor.