geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: Torious on Tue, 25 December 2012, 08:13:41
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(hopefully this is the right section, I'm new here)
I'm curious if anyone here has built a keyboard using microswitches of the type usually used in mice?
One such project I found is http://mykeyboard.co.uk/microswitch/ (http://mykeyboard.co.uk/microswitch/) , which uses very low-force switches, which sounds appealing to me. The Data Hand uses very low activation force as well, so maybe it'll be more ergonomic.
Or would the different type of switch be not ergonomic for other reasons? (like instantly "bottoming out" perhaps? I'm a newbie in this area).
Thanks!
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I don't. But has anyone made a mouse based on keyboard style switch?
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tried that... i have 100 ibm scrollpoint mice i bought for hacking with. (for the trackpoints mainly)
the click down, click up of the mouse switches gets annoying fast for typing...
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Typing on mouse switches would be really bad for your fingers. Basically like bashing your fingertips on a solid surface due to the tiny travel distance. Would possibly harm the nerves, etc.
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I don't. But has anyone made a mouse based on keyboard style switch?
There's leetgion hellion mouse which has cherry mx blue side button
http://www.leetgion.com/products.php
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There were some old chicklet style keyboard with not quite mouse switch but, these which are somewhat similar in feel...
(http://store.fundamentallogic.com/ecom/bmz_cache/8/8fcea61b5889eb76b41c400fc8677a7d.image.274x325.jpg)
They felt truly awful to type on for more than a few minutes.
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That microswitch is used in some mice, but is not as common.
Some mice have also some kind of lever effect in the design of the "key cap" which increase the travel.
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Typing on mouse switches would be really bad for your fingers. Basically like bashing your fingertips on a solid surface due to the tiny travel distance. Would possibly harm the nerves, etc.
What you say is true, but if you look at the video about the switches on this Tim Tyler's website, the switches he uses are like 5 times the size of a regular mouse switch, like the typical Omron switches found in say, a Razer or Logitech mouse. The give is much more ... giving, with the switches he uses. He actually noted in the summary video that he would want to work on decreasing travel distance, were he to design another keyboard.
The thing about this idea is, the concept of the switches he is using, is on a very high level, similar to buckling springs. A piece of metal has pressure applied to it until it "buckles" therein actuating the contact. These switches look VERY easy to bend / mess up somehow, and definitely don't look as durable as regular BS switches.
That being said.... If somebody really liked buckling springs, but just wanted a lighter actuation force, this is probably the closest to that dream as you can get.
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I like the idea of actuation high up, but I also like a long stroke before bottoming out.
Most touch typists are able to stop somewhere between actuation and bottoming out, and like it that way.
Although I am not a gamer, it seems to me that this concept would be more attractive to gamers than typists.
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Monterrey keyboard switches feel very close to high-quality 'lever' mouse switches.