Author Topic: BBC Micro style keycaps  (Read 2428 times)

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Offline lrochfort

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BBC Micro style keycaps
« on: Sun, 24 April 2016, 17:08:53 »
Hello all,

My first post here.

I'm wondering if there are any keycaps available that are similar to those found on the BBC Micro? I'm an Emacs user so I really only need a 60% or TKL keyboard.

I haven't got any further than that so far, but I would like the caps to fit onto keys that have a tactile click but are quiet.

Cheers,
Laurence.

Offline rowdy

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Re: BBC Micro style keycaps
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 24 April 2016, 19:32:59 »
Welcome to Geekhack!

The BBC colourway comes up from time to time, but I don't recall anyone having actually made such a set.

It was discussed here a while back, and has some colour codes should you want to try to get something made.

Quiet tactile clicky switches are not common - you might be looking at something like Matias quiet click switches, which have Alps mounting, making it even more difficult to find a custom set to suit.
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline lrochfort

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Re: BBC Micro style keycaps
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 25 April 2016, 03:23:35 »
Welcome to Geekhack!

The BBC colourway comes up from time to time, but I don't recall anyone having actually made such a set.

It was discussed here a while back, and has some colour codes should you want to try to get something made.

Quiet tactile clicky switches are not common - you might be looking at something like Matias quiet click switches, which have Alps mounting, making it even more difficult to find a custom set to suit.

Thanks very much, rowdy.

So, it sounds like the answer is either put my wallet where my mouth is or be less fussy?!

To be honest, whilst I'd love a replica of the Beeb keys, what I really would like is something similar to that key shape. I think it's similar to the selectric in many ways and I know there was a short run of the selectric modern keyset a while back.

Is there any commonly produced key cap with a similar shape to the Beeb keys?

Offline rowdy

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  • Missed another sale.
Re: BBC Micro style keycaps
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 25 April 2016, 22:18:12 »
Welcome to Geekhack!

The BBC colourway comes up from time to time, but I don't recall anyone having actually made such a set.

It was discussed here a while back, and has some colour codes should you want to try to get something made.

Quiet tactile clicky switches are not common - you might be looking at something like Matias quiet click switches, which have Alps mounting, making it even more difficult to find a custom set to suit.

Thanks very much, rowdy.

So, it sounds like the answer is either put my wallet where my mouth is or be less fussy?!

To be honest, whilst I'd love a replica of the Beeb keys, what I really would like is something similar to that key shape. I think it's similar to the selectric in many ways and I know there was a short run of the selectric modern keyset a while back.

Is there any commonly produced key cap with a similar shape to the Beeb keys?

One picture I found seems to show the BBC Micro had something like uniform SA profile keycaps.

The Modern Selectric set seems a fairly close match, but is a sculptured set, whereas I suspect the BBC had uniform profile keycaps.  It's been a very long time since I last used a BBC, and I cannot now recall.
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ