geekhack
geekhack Community => New Members => Topic started by: grapenutster on Tue, 13 May 2014, 18:30:48
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Hello everyone! This is my second post on GH. I've become interested in mechanical keyboards by way of a search for vintage peripherals for my modern PC setup. Because I do MIS for a local art college, I run a 2009 MacPro (yes, unlike most people, I see a Macintosh as a PC as in Personal Computer because it isn't a mainframe)as my main box and touch many hosts via vsphere, ssh and vnc. When my Logitech MX 5000 BT keyboard started dying, I remembered that the Apple Extended keyboards used to be pretty awesome so I picked up an AEK II M3501 and the griffin imate. Of course, the AEK II was pretty severely yellowed on the top case and spacebar, so I started looking around for ways to remediate the yellowing to the original color. I found deskthority and GH to be very useful resources and accomplished the goal of de-yellowing my Nimitz with hair peroxide! All along the way, I've discovered more about different switch designs. I'm not unhappy with the Mitsumi switches, and have got my hands on a demo set of Cherry MX switches for comparison. I found myself wanting more.
Lurking around the GH board, I've found a wealth of info regarding retail mechs, custom builds, group buys and the awesomeness of hall effect sensors(I thought they were only made for pots but I'm glad I was wrong!) Early on, I decided that some retail boards can be pricier than practical (like the Topre), so I decided that I'd like to explore designing/building a custom board (tactile, audible switches, beige case, beige cylindrical keys, Univers57 font, Mac modifiers, but I also dig 7bit's R4 SPH GB, too bad I didn't discover this 2 years ago!). However, pricing out switches proves to be way expensive! I found that Digi-Key has better prices by far than eBay, but does anybody know of any other suppliers that have more competitive prices on Cherry MX Blues?
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Welcome to the money sink that is Geek Hack.
There's always MechanicalKeyboards.com, often stock the rarer switches too.
http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=56
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Indeed, it's a deep rabbit hole!
If you really intend to get into DIY (and forgive me if this is not news to you), I cannot recommend a quality soldering station enough. Investing about $100 in a Weller or Hakko - the latter is my preference - as well as some good solder makes the entire process a joy, instead of a nightmare. It feels a lot more expensive that one time, then it pays dividends later because you want to engage in other projects.
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Welcome to Geek Hack, Trevor David
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yeah I have a Weller with adjustable voltage and different pencil / chisel tips and a pistol grip Weller which I only use for cutting polystyrene. maker faire was this past weekend but I opted to spend my admission money on keyswitches instead heheh.
Indeed, it's a deep rabbit hole!
If you really intend to get into DIY (and forgive me if this is not news to you), I cannot recommend a quality soldering station enough. Investing about $100 in a Weller or Hakko - the latter is my preference - as well as some good solder makes the entire process a joy, instead of a nightmare. It feels a lot more expensive that one time, then it pays dividends later because you want to engage in other projects.
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Welcome to the money sink that is Geek Hack.
Stay away.. I've only been here 3 weeks and am about $500 poorer when I am already poor. I lack self control.
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Yeah, I'm already exposing my friends to the disease :) I've tried a Rosewill, a Ducky, tried em, passed em on.. Staying with my Apple Extended keyboard though. So far I like MX Blues and Browns but I don't like cheap thin keycaps. I definitely prefer using the thick double shot keycaps like I have from my C=64. There are some SP GB's that seem interesting so far. Might think about a KMAC or a lightsaver, since my keyboard spending nets to only $70 for keycaps I got from wasd and commodore-cherry mx adapters I got from shapeways.
Welcome to the money sink that is Geek Hack.
Stay away.. I've only been here 3 weeks and am about $500 poorer when I am already poor. I lack self control.