geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: flurryvelvet on Wed, 21 August 2019, 20:07:01
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If optical keyboards, or opto-mechanicals, were to be popular today, what is the best design for a tactile one?
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Theoretically, if someone would build it:
Buckling rubber sleeve in combination with a spring that has a steep force curve.
Rubber can add tactility without adding scratchiness.
I found that vintage Key Tronic foam-and-foil with buckling rubber sleeve actually felt very nice when taken apart and typed without the foam, albeit being maybe a little stiff. Replace that foam with a cushioning spring instead, but one which does not dampen the rubber's impact on feel too much, i.e. has a steep force curve.
In real life, among switches that exist:
Sorry. They all suck. Gateron's work like MX. Clicky Flaretech is hardly noticeable.
Interesting things that perhaps could achieve what you are looking for but are not optical:
• I would like to try putting vintage Key Tronic rubber sleeves into Leopold's new foam-and-foil keyboard (which has different foam than vintage switches, supposedly)
• Input.Club Silo Command (https://plot.ly/~haata/636) hall-effect switch.
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Theoretically, if someone would build it:
Buckling rubber sleeve in combination with a spring that has a steep force curve.
Rubber can add tactility without adding scratchiness.
I found that vintage Key Tronic foam-and-foil with buckling rubber sleeve actually felt very nice when taken apart and typed without the foam, albeit being maybe a little stiff. Replace that foam with a cushioning spring instead, but one which does not dampen the rubber's impact on feel too much, i.e. has a steep force curve.
In real life, among switches that exist:
Sorry. They all suck. Gateron's work like MX. Clicky Flaretech is hardly noticeable.
Interesting things that perhaps could achieve what you are looking for but are not optical:
• I would like to try putting vintage Key Tronic rubber sleeves into Leopold's new foam-and-foil keyboard (which has different foam than vintage switches, supposedly)
• Input.Club Silo Command (https://plot.ly/~haata/636) hall-effect switch.
I remember a AT&T magnetic separation switch can work as a optical switch, but I'm not sure if it can work with Bloody's LK design.