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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: litster on Sat, 13 August 2011, 16:43:08

Title: What switches are these?
Post by: litster on Sat, 13 August 2011, 16:43:08

A friend showed me these keyboards.  What switches are these?  The white one looks like cherry, but it is not.  It feels like cherry blue.

The keyboards are kind of beat up though.

Title: What switches are these?
Post by: r4pture on Sat, 13 August 2011, 17:38:25

Left could be Blue Alps the stem looks a little thin, right looks to be Cherry MX Clear

Title: What switches are these?
Post by: litster on Sat, 13 August 2011, 17:45:17

It looks like clear, but it is not.  It is most likely a clone from late 80s or early 90s.  It is light and clicks like real MX blue. The keycaps is doubleshot though (black colors).  Other colors look like they are printed on.

Title: What switches are these?
Post by: Arcanius on Sat, 13 August 2011, 17:48:33

Those are vintage Cherry White switches, the original clicky switch from Cherry. EDIT: Actually, the housing looks different from modern cherries.
The Blue switches are Monterey switches
Check the Cherry and ALPS wikis for more info.

Title: What switches are these?
Post by: DaemonRaccoon on Sat, 13 August 2011, 17:59:03

Judging by the housing on the second one, it's a clone (probably Taiwan's White Axis).

Title: What switches are these?
Post by: litster on Sun, 14 August 2011, 00:33:04

I bought the cherry clone keyboard for next to nothing from the friend (well, friend of a friend).  I had one like this one long ago, before I gave it away...  :-(  The monterey one is very beat up, some keys are misaligned.  So I didn't buy it.  The Cherry clone has double shot keycaps.  So it is worth it just for the caps.  They are SP-thin though.  The keycaps and the case are very yellow though.  Will Oxyclean them later.  

I may have to get some nickels action going later, since it is kind of an rare, unknown switch.  Maybe I should desolder one to see what's inside.  Oh, and it is plate-mounted.

Title: What switches are these?
Post by: Findecanor on Sun, 14 August 2011, 05:51:47

That's right. I have keyboards with both types of switches.
The blue ones are "Monterey" -- nobody here knows which company that made them, only that they were found in keyboards from a keyboard manufacturer called Monterey, and that name stuck.
The white ones are copies of Cherry MX Blue. The feel a lot like Cherries but are made cheaper.
Both switches were probably made in Taiwan.