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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Kevadu on Sat, 03 March 2018, 22:50:16

Title: 1959 Cherry Switch
Post by: Kevadu on Sat, 03 March 2018, 22:50:16

This (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvTSLRab7Kg) is super neat so I thought I would share.

The mechanism it uses is pretty interesting too.  Though I guess switches on a rotating arm wouldn't be great for keyboards...

Title: Re: 1959 Cherry Switch
Post by: chyros on Sun, 04 March 2018, 03:03:54

It's a Cherry mousetrap switch. HaaTa did some coverage of them a long time ago. Lots of fun to toy around with.

Title: Re: 1959 Cherry Switch
Post by: captsis on Sun, 04 March 2018, 03:39:55

(https://i.imgur.com/D871ppY.gif)

Title: Re: 1959 Cherry Switch
Post by: Daniel Beardsmore on Sun, 04 March 2018, 07:40:11

Switch: Cherry miniature open (https://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_miniature_open)

Computer Communications 303 (https://deskthority.net/wiki/Computer_Communications_303) is a keyboard with mousetrap switches, but the manufacturer of the switches is not known.

Title: Re: 1959 Cherry Switch
Post by: noSatellite on Sun, 04 March 2018, 08:27:59

That is very cool - thanks for sharing!

Title: Re: 1959 Cherry Switch
Post by: buckyballs on Wed, 07 March 2018, 06:18:55

It would be so cool if someone could make an entire typewriter-like keyboard with these switches.

Title: Re: 1959 Cherry Switch
Post by: Riverman on Wed, 07 March 2018, 16:29:16

My dad has piles of old Cherry microswitches that GTE used to use in telephone switching equipment back in the '60s and '70s.  That was back when Cherry was an American company, before they moved to Germany and started making keyboards.

Title: Re: 1959 Cherry Switch
Post by: Daniel Beardsmore on Wed, 07 March 2018, 16:33:14

Cherry gold crosspoint keyboard switches (later Serie M7) go back to 1969–1970. Cherry keyboards were made in Waukegan IL at one stage. The move to Germany came later, to save money if I remember correctly, and there was some overlap in production it seems, with 80s keyboards being made in both Illinois and Germany.

See Cherry catalogues (https://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_catalogues) for a lot of details.

Title: Re: 1959 Cherry Switch
Post by: ander on Sat, 10 March 2018, 03:51:23

[attachimg=1]


An earlier prototype.