smack the bottom

[andrewjoy]

Hia again guys, girls and ripster.

I have been having fun on mechanical keyboards for several months now, I have a BWU, Northgate Ominkey Ultra(complicated white alps) and an ACER. I also have a Modle M , Compaq rackmount trackball  with browns and a Dell with black alps on the way.

now my question is . How do i teach myself to not bottom out, i find that when i press a key on the BWU or Northgate that the force needed to pass the tactile bump forces me to bottom out less so on the ACER however i dont use that as its a bit flaky with PS2 not always working and the e key being a bit broken, and was  only for me to practice modding and have spare alps caps.

Anyone any tips on how to not bottom out ? Should i try a light switch like reds to teach me to not bottom out ? Any ideas

[patrickgeekhack]

Anyone any tips on how to not bottom out ? Should i try a light switch like reds to teach me to not bottom out ? Any ideas

I have seen this question quite often. Just don't worry about bottoming out. If you think about it, is it really that important not to bottom out? In most cases, people bottom out. Over time, you'll get to know your keyboard better, and will learn to not bottom heavily.

On some keyboards, it's easier than on others, but swapping keyboards regularly will make things a bit harder.

[andrewjoy]

yeh i should stop doing that i use northgate for everything but when i game its on the BWU the white alps are just too heavy to game on

[patrickgeekhack]

My personal thinking is: use whatever makes you happy, and not worry about bottoming out. Like I said, it does not matter if you bottom out or not.

[Squelos]

Yeah, who cares if you bottom out ?
I find MX blues nice for not bottoming out, because you get the tactile bump and the audible *click*.

Next to blues would be brown i believe.

I never tried to learn not to bottom out.  
You just dont bottom out as much when you know your keyboard.

On bad rubber domes you HAVE to bottom out for the keypress to register. Sometimes it doesnt even register, even if you bottomed out ... That really is terrible.

[andrewjoy]

I just don't want to be so loud, I don't like the idea of 0 rings, and they are not an option on my beloved northgate.

[patrickgeekhack]

I just don't want to be so loud, I don't like the idea of 0 rings, and they are not an option on my beloved northgate.

I have not tried the O ring mod, nor do I want to. That said, I have never typed on a Northgate. Sometimes, keyboards seem louder to the person using it because they are conscious about it.

[andrewjoy]

the PCB on the northgate does move in the middle i keep meaning to mod the case so it does not do that possibly that could help

[andrewjoy]

if you like i can post the picture of me sitting on a 6 foot high plastic "man tool"

[HeavyArms]

I click on this thread and am most disappoint.

This thread needs Erotic Humiliation pics.

.

[RedTed]

My faulty memory tells me that when i was typing a LOT on Northgate Omnikey Ultra's and sort of thinking about speed and quiet, then I stopped bottoming out. It was mostly a matter of typing a LOT of characters while remaining slightly aware of trying to be a little less noisy - sort of like the way that runners are often coached to run with silent feet.

I found that I preferred the feel of typing without bottoming out, but that I also had to be typing a lot and frequently in order to sustain it. If I took a few days off, got tired, or slowed down then I went back to bottoming out and annoying the wife with the sounds.

[dimoniy]

Should i try a light switch like reds to teach me to not bottom out ? Any ideas

No, definitely not reds. Something tactile like blues or browns.

[1391406]

Personally, I could care less if I bottom out or not, and I've never understood the obsession with not doing so. Unless you bottom out so hard that you damage the keyboard, who cares? There are certainly ways to dampen the sound extraneous to adopting a new typing style.

[patrickgeekhack]

I just don't want to be so loud, I don't like the idea of 0 rings, and they are not an option on my beloved northgate.

Is this bothering you or others?

I find Alps keyboards to be louder than Cherry keyboards. I think most of the noise come from the keys bottoming out, but also from the keys going back to their initial position. I also tend to put something under the back of my keyboard to create a negative tilt. This tend to increase the sound level.

Dampened cream Alps are much quieter, but not everyone likes them, because to some they feel mushy. I happen to like them quite a bit, after having spent some time on them.

[ktkr]

Instead of trying to avoid bottoming out (it will most definitely strain your hands), you should learn a lighter typing style gradually. As a result, you will bottom out much less before you notice it.

I tried the o-ring (50A durometer) mod on my Leopold Red and it sucked to hell and back, imo.