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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: phorx on Fri, 23 February 2018, 13:51:16

Title: mech switch for kids?
Post by: phorx on Fri, 23 February 2018, 13:51:16
My daughter wants me to build her a keeb of her own and I'm only too happy to have someone enable my new hobby :)).  She's still little, and finds my old Mx green KB tough to type on and too noisy.  I was thinking of trying out 62g Zilents, but I'd like to hear other opinions as well to throw in a tester for her to try before buying a full set of switches.
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: jdcarpe on Fri, 23 February 2018, 14:07:08
White Alps, of course...

(https://i.imgur.com/av2ieUD.jpg)
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: Puddsy on Fri, 23 February 2018, 14:50:05
gateron browns might be good, if she likes tactiles

or one of the kailh speed options, since they're cheap and readily available

kailh bronze would be my personal recommendation

or kailh copper if you don't want her using clicky switches because we all know what happens if you give kids something that makes noise
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: emenelopee on Fri, 23 February 2018, 15:51:37
The Kailh Box are water/dust resistant with what I think is a drain hole down the middle. Not sure about juice and jam though.
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: Puddsy on Fri, 23 February 2018, 16:29:47
The Kailh Box are water/dust resistant with what I think is a drain hole down the middle. Not sure about juice and jam though.

ah yeah, i forgot about the drain hole

box probably the way to go
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: phorx on Sat, 24 February 2018, 12:01:51
Thanks for all the suggestions!  I’m not too worried about juice spills, as there will be no food/drink near this board.  Too much of a risk for this kind of financial investment.
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 24 February 2018, 14:32:34
No, just ignore her, and hand her an SAT book..  That's how modern middle class parenting is done.
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: p_blaze on Sat, 24 February 2018, 14:46:29
No, just ignore her, and hand her an SAT book..  That's how modern middle class parenting is done.

this hits too close to home
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: tp4tissue on Sat, 24 February 2018, 14:56:30
No, just ignore her, and hand her an SAT book..  That's how modern middle class parenting is done.

this hits too close to home

Did you get the Red one, or the Blue one.. hahahahahaha
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: p_blaze on Sat, 24 February 2018, 15:09:14
No, just ignore her, and hand her an SAT book..  That's how modern middle class parenting is done.

this hits too close to home

Did you get the Red one, or the Blue one.. hahahahahaha

I used khanacademy for SAT
I had AP books instead :/
In hindsight AP history and english classes were a waste of time, only good for college credit. Get job experience and internships, not hard classes kids
Title: Re: mech switch for kids?
Post by: davkol on Sat, 03 March 2018, 06:00:38
No, just ignore her, and hand her an SAT book..  That's how modern middle class parenting is done.

this hits too close to home

Did you get the Red one, or the Blue one.. hahahahahaha

I used khanacademy for SAT
I had AP books instead :/
In hindsight AP history and english classes were a waste of time, only good for college credit. Get job experience and internships, not hard classes kids
That's a great way to become a Fachidiot (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fachidiot).

On-topic: smaller key spacing is [empirically] very helpful for kids (and not only them), and so I'd look at Cherry G84-4100 first. It can be very cheap on eBay/fleamarket and if you find a model with PBT keycaps, those can be dyed easily (fun!).

Obviously, if the goal is to assemble a keyboard from scratch, the switches could be harvested from the aforementioned G84, or you could start with modern low-profile switches like Kailh Choc [Mini] series. I haven't followed the market with compatible keycaps, though; it might be necessary to make custom ones. (Which reminds me of kurplop's builds. *wink*)