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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: s0nia on Sun, 16 October 2016, 15:51:16

Title: Topre PBT Spacebar on plastic vs. metal mount
Post by: s0nia on Sun, 16 October 2016, 15:51:16: So I recently got my PBT spacebars in the mail, and I am really happy with the spacebar on my HHKB. The ABS spacebar sound and feel was always my least favourite part of the HHKB2, and swapping it out for a PBT spacebar makes it near perfect. The deeper thock, no more squeekiness, no more pings... So good.

BUT, for some reason, I really dislike the sound/feel of the PBT spacebar on my RF87U. The spacebar sounds REALLY loud, clangy, and out of place compared to the other keys. It bothers me so much that I switched back to using the stock spacebar on this keyboard.

Has anybody had a similar experience? I'm thinking that it might be due to the plastic plate vs metal plate mount.
Title: Re: Topre PBT Spacebar on plastic vs. metal mount
Post by: Macsmasher on Sun, 16 October 2016, 16:01:17: I have an HHKB, a 87U variable silent and an 87U 55g, all with PBT spacebars. They all sound great. No issues here.
Title: Re: Topre PBT Spacebar on plastic vs. metal mount
Post by: ika on Sun, 16 October 2016, 16:02:25: The metal plate in the Realforce is specifically why I hated it. It is an incredibly different typing experience from HHKB or even Novatouch.
Title: Re: Topre PBT Spacebar on plastic vs. metal mount
Post by: Polymer on Mon, 17 October 2016, 01:27:13: I have a PBT spacebar on both a RF and HHKB and I don't agree...

They sound different than each other but they're better than the ABS spacebars..

Part of that is they have a duller thud..which is good..and they clank around less because they're tighter on the stabilizers..which is also good....
Title: Re: Topre PBT Spacebar on plastic vs. metal mount
Post by: Erikdayo on Mon, 17 October 2016, 02:29:42: I hope I can get a good Topre PBT spacebar eventually. I ordered one on eBay from a Chinese seller, but it was warped. Was also extremely difficult to take off once I realized I wasn't happy with it. Thankfully didn't damage the keyboard at all.
Title: Re: Topre PBT Spacebar on plastic vs. metal mount
Post by: Polymer on Mon, 17 October 2016, 03:57:49: Quote from: Erikdayo on Mon, 17 October 2016, 02:29:42
I hope I can get a good Topre PBT spacebar eventually. I ordered one on eBay from a Chinese seller, but it was warped. Was also extremely difficult to take off once I realized I wasn't happy with it. Thankfully didn't damage the keyboard at all.

They're all fairly warped and difficult to remove....The originals I got from Massdrop, I think half of them, when fitted, didn't allow the key to come back up...

A hairdryer fixes it easily though...
Title: Re: Topre PBT Spacebar on plastic vs. metal mount
Post by: E3E on Mon, 17 October 2016, 08:06:42: Yeah, mine was warped, but I managed to get it to fit and it operates just well.

I was wondering about using heat to fix the warping, but I wasn't sure if it was safe or doable. I might give it a go after I strip my caps off again to lubricate the slider rails.
Title: Re: Topre PBT Spacebar on plastic vs. metal mount
Post by: Polymer on Mon, 17 October 2016, 23:31:14: If I didn't use a hairdryer all of mine would've been unsatisfactory and two would've been unusable...

Pretty happy overall...but that doesn't remind me that I might want to test out my other ones to see if they've stayed in the right position or if I have to redo them again..but either way, it is an easy fix and worth it for the PBT spacebar..