geekhack

geekhack Community => New Members => Topic started by: wlhlm on Tue, 24 February 2015, 14:55:52

Title: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: wlhlm on Tue, 24 February 2015, 14:55:52
Hi, I'm currently an EE student from Germany. I found the community via LinusTechTips and started out on /r/mk (https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/), which is where I'm the most active. My first mechanical keyboard, and at this point my only is a Poker II which I promptly modded to Ergo Clears ("mod log" (https://imgur.com/a/czu1t) - WARNING!! SHOE INSIDE).

Picture:
More
(https://i.imgur.com/VZGUvEH.jpg)

I initially came to geekhack to participate in sprit's spring group buy (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=55888.0) (which seems to be stalled at the moment - I hope sprit's just on vacation and will resume it soon). I'm new to the "classic"-style forum (like geekhack is), because I don't like it very much (the software, not the community itself). The actual content to whole page ratio typically is way to low with lots of empty spaces, blinking avatars, hideous animated smileys and huge signatures that distract from reading the actual conversation. These are the reasons why I prefer reddit's comment system, not only because of the voting.

Though reddit also has it's weaknesses, mainly because it's nearly impossible to have more long-drawn conversations, because posts nearly disappear after they fall off the front page after 2-3 days. This why I feel like geekhack is a better place for asking niche/special questions (and I had quite some success (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=68265) with it). Another point of geekhack for me are the group buys and classifieds, where I recently got some pretty good deals.

My plan is to make my own keyboard (including case/plate manufacturing, firmware hacking, and maybe PCB design). Currently, I'm working on a Quickfire stealth/ninja mod (blank keycaps, matte case, sound dampening, custom controller). I also read KatzenKinder's intro to custom cap making (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=62696.0) and found it pretty tempting, but that's more in the future for me.

Planned contributions to the community: I want to improve the wiki content on Deskthority (http://deskthority.net/wiki/Main_Page) as well as /r/mk (https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/wiki/index). I also like helping newbies.

I also would like to use this thread to ask a couple of random question, which aren't worth their own threads:

Drama aside, I like the positive and helpful feedback I got from this community so far.
Have a nice day, Wilhelm.
Title: Re: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: bowji on Tue, 24 February 2015, 15:18:55
Welcome on board!

You made the right choice being more active here since many find it a "family-like" community with tons of awesome members.
Smart of you to mod your Poker with ergo clears, you should check out the "Post you Poker!" thread in the geekhack media section.
As for the springs, you can always try pm Sprit to see if he has any springs available/left.

For your questions...
It seems like Quickfires are one of the more easily available boards out there in the standard TKL layout. Instead of buying an aluminum case that can cost a fortune many resort to modding their own case, since its cheaper and modifiable to personal preference.
As for browsing the forum, the search function works like a charm along with the advanced search function. Thats what I use. I also always have the "Spy" tab open to see the most/recent active threads and lurk  :p

Hope that helped
And again, welcome!!!
Title: Re: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: wlhlm on Tue, 24 February 2015, 15:29:33
Quote from: bowji on Tue, 24 February 2015, 15:18:55
As for the springs, you can always try pm Sprit to see if he has any springs available/left.
sprit was last active here 2015-01-12, so he probably collected quite some PMs and I hesitate to send one. I'll probably see it in the group buy thread, when operations resume.

Quote from: bowji on Tue, 24 February 2015, 15:18:55
For your questions...
It seems like Quickfires are one of the more easily available boards out there in the standard TKL layout. Instead of buying an aluminum case that can cost a fortune many resort to modding their own case, since its cheaper and modifiable to personal preference.
As for browsing the forum, the search function works like a charm along with the advanced search function. Thats what I use. I also always have the "Spy" tab open to see the most/recent active threads and lurk  :p
Thank you for the tips!

Quote from: bowji on Tue, 24 February 2015, 15:18:55
Hope that helped
And again, welcome!!!

Thank you.
Title: Re: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: wlhlm on Tue, 24 February 2015, 18:40:38
Just added another question: How long is New Year Holiday in China normally? I made couple of purchases via my Taobao agent and they have been stalled for two weeks now.
Title: Re: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: meow a cat on Tue, 24 February 2015, 18:59:00
Quote from: wlhlm on Tue, 24 February 2015, 15:29:33
Quote from: bowji on Tue, 24 February 2015, 15:18:55
As for the springs, you can always try pm Sprit to see if he has any springs available/left.
sprit was last active here 2015-01-12, so he probably collected quite some PMs and I hesitate to send one. I'll probably see it in the group buy thread, when operations resume.

Welcome to GeekHack!

If you can't get ahold of Sprit, send Zeal a PM. He stocks the Sprit gold springs in his store at www.zealpc.net (http://www.zealpc.net). He can hook you up with what you need, I'm sure!

I've dealt with Zeal a few times, and he's a pleasure to do business with. Really professional, and answers any and every question I can think up. He gets a solid vouch from me.  :thumb:
Title: Re: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 01 March 2015, 00:08:40
Welcome to Geekhack!

You can disable avatars and/or signatures by editing your profile.  Click on Profile on the menu.  Then Modify Profile - Look and Layout.

The QFR top cases were heavily branded, and CM started producing replacement cases that were plain black (although still rubberised).  Someone on GH made a deal with CM to obtain a relatively large number of cases at a fair discount, and part of that was a sort of "competition" to see who could make the best custom QFR with one of the replacement cases.  The original thread was to track people's progress.
Title: Re: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: wlhlm on Sun, 01 March 2015, 03:07:29
Quote from: rowdy on Sun, 01 March 2015, 00:08:40
The QFR top cases were heavily branded, and CM started producing replacement cases that were plain black (although still rubberised).  Someone on GH made a deal with CM to obtain a relatively large number of cases at a fair discount, and part of that was a sort of "competition" to see who could make the best custom QFR with one of the replacement cases.  The original thread was to track people's progress.
Thank you for the explanation!

Looks like they removed most of the branding from the QFR, my board has only one logo at the back.

For my stealth project I want to paint my QFR matte black to get rid of the rubber coating and to remove the last remaining logo. Do you know if these cases are still available, just in case I destroy mine, because this would be my first time painting plastic. Coolermaster has the case available in their US-online store, but they don't ship internationally.
Title: Re: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 01 March 2015, 03:20:18
Quote from: wlhlm on Sun, 01 March 2015, 03:07:29
Quote from: rowdy on Sun, 01 March 2015, 00:08:40
The QFR top cases were heavily branded, and CM started producing replacement cases that were plain black (although still rubberised).  Someone on GH made a deal with CM to obtain a relatively large number of cases at a fair discount, and part of that was a sort of "competition" to see who could make the best custom QFR with one of the replacement cases.  The original thread was to track people's progress.
Thank you for the explanation!

Looks like they removed most of the branding from the QFR, my board has only one logo at the back.

For my stealth project I want to paint my QFR matte black to get rid of the rubber coating and to remove the last remaining logo. Do you know if these cases are still available, just in case I destroy mine, because this would be my first time painting plastic. Coolermaster has the case available in their US-online store, but they don't ship internationally.

You will need to sand the rubber coating off - apparently paint does not stick very well to it.

According to this post (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49487.msg1641019#msg1641019) someone was able to purchase a case top from the CM store.
Title: Re: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: wlhlm on Sun, 01 March 2015, 03:25:22
Quote from: rowdy on Sun, 01 March 2015, 03:20:18
Quote from: wlhlm on Sun, 01 March 2015, 03:07:29
Quote from: rowdy on Sun, 01 March 2015, 00:08:40
The QFR top cases were heavily branded, and CM started producing replacement cases that were plain black (although still rubberised).  Someone on GH made a deal with CM to obtain a relatively large number of cases at a fair discount, and part of that was a sort of "competition" to see who could make the best custom QFR with one of the replacement cases.  The original thread was to track people's progress.
Thank you for the explanation!

Looks like they removed most of the branding from the QFR, my board has only one logo at the back.

For my stealth project I want to paint my QFR matte black to get rid of the rubber coating and to remove the last remaining logo. Do you know if these cases are still available, just in case I destroy mine, because this would be my first time painting plastic. Coolermaster has the case available in their US-online store, but they don't ship internationally.

You will need to sand the rubber coating off - apparently paint does not stick very well to it.

According to this post (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49487.msg1641019#msg1641019) someone was able to purchase a case top from the CM store.
They are only available in the US-store (http://www.cmstore-usa.com/quickfire-rapid-replacement-top-panel/).
Title: Re: Hello, my name is Wilhelm and I'm relatively new to the keyboard community
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 01 March 2015, 03:30:50
That's sad :(  Australia is not listed either.

Your next step would be to find a proxy.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=37277.0

That list looks old - some of those members do not post much, if at all, any more.  But might be somewhere for you to start.