Good afternoon folks! It's been literally years since I've posted here or even really checked in, but that's because I'm still happy with my at work board which is an original GMMK with Gazzew Boba U4 Silents and /dev/tty keycaps. It's a great combo but it looks like I put this together 5 years ago (and I don't want to think about how long ago it was that I built my at-home board which is a Filco Majestouch that I swapped in Cherry Clear from a POS board and used some blue and grey PBT caps that I don't even remember where I got them from, I'm sure they came from China though. I probably put that one together close to 15 years ago now.)
Anyway, I really do need to pull the /dev/ttys and clean them, they're well overdue, so I was thinking about maybe changing them up. My wishes:
- MUST be PBT or an equally durable material. Cannot be ABS. My body chemistry destroys ABS. I killed a really nice set of Cherry black doubleshots in about a year because I didn't know.
- Don't care if top or side printed. I really like the profile of the /dev/tty but that is not necessary, I can deal with Cherry or whatever.
- Here's the one I'm having trouble with. I really would like the second layer printed on the numpad because I'm thinking of scratching a curiosity itch and going to an 1800 layout board but I never really learned the second layer for the numpad.
My current caps:
https://matt3o.com/about-mt3-profile-and-devtty-set/I found this set "Yong Qiu Two-Color 9009 Retro Mechanical Keyboard Keycaps — Cherry Profile"
https://www.yong-qiu.com/products/two-color-9009-retro-mechanical-keyboard-keycaps-cherry-profilehowever they do not list material and they look like double shots which makes me think they may be ABS. I did send an inquiry but have not received a response yet.
I also found some very similar ones on eBay, "150 Cherry Profile Retro Grey 9009 Dye-subbed Keycap Set with Classic win Key" seller "redesc" current item no. 326446445124 but I'm sure that won't last hence description. They are listed as dye sub PBT and the only difference I see style wise is the use of arrows and icons for backspace, return, shift, caps lock, etc. instead of text and no retro cool stepped caps lock key. The multi color windows logo is actually pretty cool even if I am grouchy and would prefer a "Super" key.
I guess another option is to drive to my storage locker and find the box that I know has a set of classic tan Cherry PBTs that I modded years ago.
Anyway the "9009" caps hit the spot for me, they're interesting while still maintaining a classic look that I can feel OK about in a professional office.
Would be open to other ideas, those are just the ones I found that I actually liked.
Opinions on the ones I've posted would be appreciated, as would other caps I might like. I really do like the /dev/tty set but the lack of the 2nd layer legends bothers me. Profile is awesome though. I could deal with anything with just a classic or even vintage cool look like the caps from an old Model M, especially the ones like one I have with multicolor legends, a Wyse terminal, a Dolch set, or something like that, if you have any suggestions that pop to mind. (I actually wish I knew where my Silicon Graphics PS/2 board went, that was a great work board, but it's in a very safe place after moving too many times)
I see PBTFans offers some sets with the 2nd layer on the numpad, although I kind of have to slog through their listings to find which ones those are. Any opinions on those?
No, I'm not taking my Model M to work. My coworkers will beat me over the head with it, and you know they're heavy
Edit: what about these? side print and backlit is super cool.
https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/products/ducky-black-backlit-108-key-cherry-side-print-double-shot-pbt
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