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geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: rsrogers4 on Thu, 01 July 2021, 12:03:02

Title: Advice on getting right keycaps
Post by: rsrogers4 on Thu, 01 July 2021, 12:03:02
I was fortunate enough to get a Frog TKL last night at the extras sale. This will be my first custom mechanical keyboard, and I need some help verifying that I'm getting the right keycaps. It is surprisingly complicated and I need a second set of eyes to make sure I get the right keycaps.

I got the Frog F12 TKL (silver) with the 86 Hotswap (North Facing) PCB (https://geon.works/SUPPORTED-LAYOUT-cb14194e0dc14c79a375dfee7361ac4e).

On the advice from some kind folks on BlackSimon's discord, I plan to purchase the SA-P Snowcap Keyset (https://pimpmykeyboard.com/sa-p-snow-cap-keyset-original/). I'll need the Alphas and TKL Text Adder. As a newbie, getting the correct modifier kits is a bit tricky for me. I am guessing on the Units for the keys since they aren't labeled on the Frog PCB diagram. It looks like I'll need:

Can someone smarter than me check on my analysis? It feels "off" to have to buy 5 different kits, but I see that the Geon hotswap 87 PCB appears to have a more "standard" TKL layout but the 87 hotswap PCB isn't available yet.
Title: Re: Advice on getting right keycaps
Post by: MIGHTY CHICKEN on Thu, 01 July 2021, 12:16:31
This does look to be the case of needing 5 kits, kitting for this set is just not the best, but its something done with SP as almost any extra keys is extremely expensive and is best to have as much kits as possible.
Title: Re: Advice on getting right keycaps
Post by: rsrogers4 on Thu, 01 July 2021, 12:43:14
Thanks so much for the review. I now understand better when BlackSimon talks about bad kitting decisions in his reviews. It is painful to have to buy so many kits! I guess on the plus side, if I reuse the keycaps for other keyboard layouts in the future, I'll have good coverage.
Title: Re: Advice on getting right keycaps
Post by: rsrogers4 on Mon, 12 July 2021, 09:28:34
I have a follow on question. For the Frog TKL (which has been shipped!), I'm getting the 86_Hotswap PCB (https://geon.works/SUPPORTED-LAYOUT-cb14194e0dc14c79a375dfee7361ac4e).

The layout shows a stepped caps lock. The keyset that I'm leaning toward (Signature Plastics DSS Tecla (https://pimpmykeyboard.com/dss-tecla-keyset-two-shot/)) doesn't appear to have a stepped caps lock available. Is this going to be a problem? I'd hate to blow $180 on keycaps only to find out that it is a problem.
Title: Re: Advice on getting right keycaps
Post by: clik_clak on Mon, 12 July 2021, 09:47:50
I have a follow on question. For the Frog TKL (which has been shipped!), I'm getting the 86_Hotswap PCB (https://geon.works/SUPPORTED-LAYOUT-cb14194e0dc14c79a375dfee7361ac4e).

The layout shows a stepped caps lock. The keyset that I'm leaning toward (Signature Plastics DSS Tecla (https://pimpmykeyboard.com/dss-tecla-keyset-two-shot/)) doesn't appear to have a stepped caps lock available. Is this going to be a problem? I'd hate to blow $180 on keycaps only to find out that it is a problem.

Yes, this will be a problem. You'll have to find a set with a stepped caps lock since there will be no way to modify the pcb to change it standard.
Title: Re: Advice on getting right keycaps
Post by: rsrogers4 on Mon, 12 July 2021, 10:01:07
Thank you!