Damn, you must be typing pretty hard.
I seriously doubt I am the only one who bottoms out cherry blue and browns.
Oh, I agree. I still bottom out mine on occassion, especially when typing fast. I was referring more to the "jarring" part than anything.
I wonder if you could add a foam sheet under all the keys, cutting out a square for each switch?
Does anyone know how close to the plate the keycap comes when the switch bottoms?
Maybe "jarring" was a little strong, but can you agree that the switch would benefit from a softer landing?
I wonder if you could add a foam sheet under all the keys, cutting out a square for each switch?
Does anyone know how close to the plate the keycap comes when the switch bottoms?
mp29k wrote on 6001 September 1993:
I seriously doubt I am the only one who bottoms out cherry blue and browns.
Lots of options. I've seen:
- Rubber O rings on the stem
- Japanese dude that put clay or some plastic goop into the key and then baked it
- Sorbathane (where did I put that sheet?)
- Felt would be good
I just stick the keyboard on a mousepad. That makes a difference.
I tend to bottom out even half a year later, which makes me think maybe Cherry MX browns aren't for me but I doubt I could get a quieter mechanical keyboard (silence being my preference).
I used 2mm foam sheet from the craft store. These donuts slip onto each keycap. It noticeably shortens the throw so you will likely bottom out always, by doing this mod.Show Image(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=3230&d=1247947829)
I do wonder about a softer and/or thinner dampening material...
weird i bottom out every time i press a key on my cherry brown board. but then again im not a good typist anyway. interesting O ring tech.
More details on the O-Ring method. (http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:5450&do=comments)
Show Image(http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=7822&stc=1&d=1265918804)
Bingo.
These should be just about perfect. 100 3/16" for $3.50 for heavy (http://www.jesorthodental.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=02&Category_Code=Elastomerics&Product_Count=2)Show Image(http://www.jesorthodental.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/non-latex-3-16-3.jpg)
I just saved some High Schooler from getting beat up.
I dunno what is best. Nobody can even agree what switch is best or whether Cherry Browns are noisy or quiet. The RAMS are considered Heavy. Here's the whole product catalog (http://www.ormco.com/index/cms-filesystem-action?file=Ormco-PDF/elasticspowerproducts-ormcocatalog.pdf) for the analytical types. Look at the "zoo packs".
They're cheap. Order Light/Medium/Heavy and report back.
Next time my kid goes to the orthodontist I'm stealing a few rabbit packs when the dentist turns his back.
They're cheap.
Hahahaha! This works. Had the idea long ago but I've never gotten around to trying it since I just use a Topre if I want quiet.The "orthodontist method" sounded so good I immediately tried it out on my model F AT (still had some bags of 9.5mm or 3/8" rings). These are exactly the width of the barrel, hence when you put them in a cap they'll rest on the barrel when you turn your keyboard proper side up.
Pluses:
- Cheap. After you've paid the $5k that is. I'd just steal them from your local orthodontist. They often keep some outside the office.
- Soft rubber so they give a nice Topre soft landing and keep things quiet
- Right diameter - you really want thin ones
Downside:
- A little oversize (at least these Ram ones) so I had to put it on with the keyboard upside down. Look for the Rabbit or Impalla for a smaller diameter.
- You may get arrested for stealing from orthodontists or beating up High Schoolers. That's what you get for believing what you read on the internet.
Ehr, I'm not talking about noise here, rather it was about the altering the hard landing on the F. The sound is fine as it is.
The orthodontist method seems to work nicely on all my "grey keys" - at least these keep activating when there is a rubber band on top of the barrel.
Oh right.Not much is required, you only have to take apart your keyboard.
Oh, and what's the deal with your spacebar mod? Did it work? What is required?
ocdonkb, besides shortening the travel, how does it feel bottoming out? I ordered some 3/16 medium bands, but looks like Rip didn't have good results. May spring for the O-rings if they're nice.
I'm in the middle of creating a Disco LED Trackball
That's neat.
I've been experimenting with some rubber inserts in the keycaps made from some ~1mm rubber sheet I have easy access to. The results were somewhat promising (softer, quieter landing, not much travel lost), but not even enough across keys. The sheet needs to be half a mm thicker to work right in the keycaps, but even then, it's a pretty messy solution.
Your solution will surely produce better, more uniform results, with the added benefit of acting as a muffler inside the keyboard, reducing all sounds much like the pads underneath the keyboards some people use here.
I have a Filco now, and may buy an ISO G80-3000 soon, which would have the exact same layout as yours there. If I do, I will definitely pester you for a ready-for-printing image file. Maybe I'll use the 1mm rubber sheet for ultimate damping, or something a bit thinner so that I lose less of the travel.
By the way, how much biggger are the keycaps than the base of the switch? If they are, say, 3mm larger across, then there is a 1.5mm spacing on either side, which means you can afford to just make oversized cutouts for each switch (say, 0.5mm or 1mm larger than the base in all 4 directions) and still be sure all of the keycap will land on the mat. That buys you some room for error with the placement of the holes.
I'm not a fan of the rattling of the Filco, so the thicker caps on the Cherry, pcb mounting instead of plate mounting, plus a sheet inside the board and a mat underneat should work really nicely to muffle the clack-clack. I have browns in my Filco now and want blues, so these mods should at least make sure the new keyboard is not that much louder than the old one. Or so I keep telling myself.
This paper method looks very interesting! Reminds me of the rubber flooring on my Logitech Illuminated. I work in an office with 4 others, so softening bottoming out would be very very good.
I wonder what is easier in the end, modding the keycaps or using a sheet.
You can punch holes in some thin foam or rubber sheet, cut them out and put them inside the keycaps. A common office hole puncher works for that. I found the shorter travel more irritating than the hard landing though when I experimented with black Cherries a while ago.
The rubber mat would most likely be awesome for this. Where do I buy one that thin??
Thanks for posting your app intealls. I'll print out some templates soon and try it on my g80. For now I only have access to manilla folder type cardboard but if that works well then I'll move on to something better. What kind of material are you going to try next?
Interesting, thank you for making the program and sharing it with us. I believe cerial box cardboard would be a good thickness.
I've always wanted to try contact paper and cork paper: http://dcbcrafts.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=6002&zenid=bb79d3a12b0a41d1e2f2dea60c6d79ae.
Cork i think would give the best results but sanded poster board may work well too. I say sanded because it would give it a rougher texture which should absorb sound better then something smooth that soundwaves bounce off of easily.
I thought you already tried normal cardboard boxes but you found them to be too stiff. I suggested cereal box cardboard because its super thin.
Thanks for posting the png, intealls.
I just pulled the trigger on a G80-3000, so if I find it to be too loud, I may well get cuttin'... however, opening the case voids the warranty, right?
Another idea that might not work as well but would be easy to implement:
The vertical space between keyboard rows is the same right? Couldn't you use lines of foam/cardboard horizontally like this-
------------------
------------------
------------------
It could rest against the PCB. I'm not sure how easy it would be to make it homogeneous. The keycaps wouldn't come in contact with it on every side but enough to stop bottoming out. You could also then use a weaker kind of foam and get a very soft landing. And by filling the inter key spacing you'd achieve additional muffling. I guess you could also fill this space with the paper cutout method by stuffing tissues or something below it.
In the end I think I'd be most comfortable with rubber, since the idea of generating lots of particulates from paper/fabric that could make their way into the switches is a little bit unsettling.
Tomorrow I'll be printing off your cutouts and trying them out. :D I want to silence my Cherry Blues as much as is feasible - I'll see how much this route can buy me before I glue the stems in one piece.
Hoping that I'll pretty much be able to silence the MX blacks as well. The computer is in the same room that my g/f and I sleep in so I need a stealth keyboard. Logitech illuminated was pretty good for that before.
Thanks for posting the png, intealls.
Don't use that png for creating the cutout! Download the app and create a calibrated printout. Also, that png has got a very low resolution. The app generates images with much higher res, which makes for more exact printouts.
I got the program to work on my computer at work (Ubuntu) where I have access to a printer (and supplies!) I printed on some card but I need to get the calibration right - I didn't have a ruler with me at the office.
Later today I'll try again and see if I can make the printer work! Any tips for the cutting - how careful do you really need to be?
What do you mean by calibrated? As in calibrating the printer? I'm not sure if that's worth the hassle.