Hey guys,
The nice people at WASD made me a replacement Cherry-mount F11 for my K101. The profile was a bit high—but fortunately, while the Mitsumi Miniature's mount is the same shape, its stem is shorter, so I was able to Dremel 2mm off of the keycap's channel to make it the right height. The color isn't an exact match, nor the printing (a bit of space after the
F would've been nice), but it withstands a casual inspection:
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100469-0](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100470;image)
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100471-1](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100472;image)
I wiped the keys down with alcohol, but there wasn't a bit of grime on them—so even though it wasn't in a box, this KB doesn't seem to have been used.
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100473-2](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100474;image)
The keys turned out to be double-shot:
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100475-3](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100476;image)
...except for the F-keys and Esc, which are dye-subbed—however, the blank "macro" key (between L Ctrl and Alt)
is double-shot, go figure!:
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100477-4](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100478;image)
Lots of stabilizers, including
two on the big-ass Enter, going different ways:
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100479-5](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100480;image)
Rather than using hooks molded into the keys' bottom edges, the stabilizers attach to the keys via separate little brackets that fit into the keys' extra channels.
I thought it was funny how L Shift was completely double-shot, but R Shift only half (maybe this is common?):
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100481-6](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100482;image)
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100483-7](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100484;image)
Here's the tenkey area showing stabilizer brackets and guides. I'm not sure how that LED got bent, but they must fit back into tiny lock-light slots shaped like the skinny ends of the LEDs... That took a bit of time 'n' patience.
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100485-8](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100486;image)
(I did get the plate quite clean, BTW, but this camera picks up every speck of dust!) PCB, as long as I was here:
![Monterey K101 w/odd switches – photos & video added 100487-9](https://geekhack.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69285.0;attach=100488;image)
As promised, I've made
a short typing video for you. (Watch without guilt!)
It's fun having a board with switches that actuate at the top (after a slight bump); much different from my other mechanicals, but enjoyable. I feel lucky to have found fresh examples of this rather uncommon switch.
Special thanks to Dorkvader for the IDI USB converter he provided me—for some reason, other converters didn't work with this board.