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geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: tbc on Tue, 29 October 2013, 14:57:27

Title: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: tbc on Tue, 29 October 2013, 14:57:27
traditionally, do metal keycaps tend to have poorer fits?

list of issues with my recent metal keycap order:

-the stem cavity is bent inward; it 'pinches' WAYYYYY too much for any hope of the switch fitting inside - tried it with a spare switch I had and on the keyboard (4 legs)

- the stem fits way to loosely and I can push the keycap sideways till it starts hitting the keys next to it (w/ 4 legs)

- it never fits properly in the first place; the esc key just  falls off the stem if I push it (standard - circle with '+' inside)
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: esoomenona on Tue, 29 October 2013, 15:00:17
Are these the stems with four legs on them?
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: tbc on Tue, 29 October 2013, 15:21:33
updated OP with legs details :)
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: CPTBadAss on Tue, 29 October 2013, 15:23:36
I've had a mixed experience with metal keycaps. Some of my metal StarCraft 2 caps have weird fits and the brass cap Photekq sent me has a weird fit. They eventually stay on but it's always a bit of a struggle.
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: Photekq on Tue, 29 October 2013, 15:25:12
I've had a mixed experience with metal keycaps. Some of my metal StarCraft 2 caps have weird fits and the brass cap Photekq sent me has a weird fit. They eventually stay on but it's always a bit of a struggle.
Yeah, that was the V1. It had a bad fit. Also, it was super heavy so it always felt like it would topple over.
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: CPTBadAss on Tue, 29 October 2013, 15:26:30
Shouldve been most specific in my post. We've talked about it and you said you would fix it in V2 so that's cool :D. Just pointing it out that it had a weird fit is all ^__^.
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: Photekq on Tue, 29 October 2013, 15:28:13
Shouldve been most specific in my post. We've talked about it and you said you would fix it in V2 so that's cool :D. Just pointing it out that it had a weird fit is all ^__^.
No worries ;D
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: esoomenona on Tue, 29 October 2013, 15:32:28
First two: have legs, adjust them as necessary. They're bendable metal legs; it's not like they should be condemned for possibly moving out of exact tolerance during packaging, shipping, etc.

Third: Put a piece of tissue or plastic ziploc bag or something over the stem, then put the cap on it. Holds.
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: tbc on Tue, 29 October 2013, 17:24:19
not condemning them lol.

just wondering if it's normal and I should EXPECT to have to adjust the legs on a full set of zinc keys.
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: Puddsy on Tue, 29 October 2013, 17:58:01
I should hope you don;t have to adjust a whole set. 6ish might be reasonable, but certainly not a whole set.
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: tbc on Tue, 29 October 2013, 18:28:08
so, people just use their fingers?
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: YoungMichael88 on Tue, 29 October 2013, 18:54:19
I have multiple sets of the Zinc caps. V1 and V2. V1 were all too tight. Every one of them. For these I just pushed them very firmly onto my switches (risky, I know). Once I forced these tight caps onto the switches I had to be very careful to pry them off (another frightening process) but now that they have been on and off a few times they fit nicely on my switches (maybe it's the plastic switch that actually changed who knows I only use the zinc caps on this board ever). Now, my V2 zinc caps were all extremely loose when I put them on. They would move around quite a bit and some would even fall right off if I turned my board upside down or quickly pressed and released the switch. To fix this, I cut small squares of green painters tape and placed them on the caps stems with the sticky side facing in. I had to double the tape as well so one square on top of another on the stem. I then pressed them onto the switch and the tape works itself into the stem effectively holding the caps in place. I know it's a pain in the ass and is really upsetting to know your nice metal caps don't fit properly but it's just the nature of the beast.

TIP: Make sure you don't cut the tape too big or you're switches will stick when pressed.
Title: Re: fitting metal keycaps
Post by: divito on Sat, 02 November 2013, 20:11:39
The zinc alphas that I got from feng were a strange fit at first, but they basically just needed to be settled. I haven't noticed much weird or bad about the fit of them.