HHKB 55G Dome and Key swap thoughts

[tkim]

Hi everyone, I thought I would share something that I had come across when interchanging the parts between these two boards.

As with many things keyboard related some of these points my be subjective so I will be keen to hear if you have different opinions, thought I would just outline in dot points for reading ease.

- Purchased the HHKB (blank/black), used the board for about 2 years stock then subsequently purchased the RF (charcoal grey/black) for the 55g domes
- Used RF in stock form for half a day, excellent excellent board, just amazingly sturdy and smooth and refined. "Typing machine" was the first words that come to mind.
- Interchanged the domes so that at minimum both boards had the 55g on the alphas
- Interchanged the keycaps on alphas and numeric just out of curiosity and for a change
- Used the HHKB next day at work, and was thoroughly disappointed, couldn't understand why the keyfeel switch feel had changed so much, it was hard to describe but basically the keys felt "rusty?" dropped almost 10wpm using the HHKB and also had some problems actuating some of the keys. Chalked this up to the fact I had swapped the domes. Perhaps I needed to get used to the setup. Started thinking perhaps I needed to start looking at lube.
- Used the RF and found that I had actually gained WPM, typing on the RF was smooth and felt so much easier than the HHKB?.
- 3 days later I decided to swap back the keycaps on the alphas because I only needed to see the symbols on the HHKB
- Immediately the smoothness to the HHKB returned, a very very minute level of snapiness returned to the RF that I had noticed in the first afternoon of use.

TL:DR -I've read that the HHKB key sizing is slightly different to the RF keycaps so this could be the reason but I found personally RF keycaps on HHKB adversly affect keyfeel switch feel/speed less noticeable for HHKB keycaps on the RF

Some pictures of the due process http://imgur.com/a/BEJtQ

Unfortunately much of this post is subjective, happy to hear from other people who may have experience something similar/different.

[Signature]

I do think that this is rather due to the wear and tear of the hhkb keycaps which causes a more smooth surface. Of course there is a small difference from keyset to keyset but it shouldn't matter too much. 

[tkim]

Sorry I should have used the word switch feel, not key feel  i'll edit the original post.

[rowdy]

An interesting experience, especially that you decided to keep the modified RF too.  Most are simply sacrificed and then sold as semi-variable.

I also haven't heard about differences in keycaps between HHKB and RF - have you got the link for that please?

[Jokrik]

Would it be due to layout changes that you might experienced?

I mean I rotate between layouts so often that I dont care about dropping wpm anymore. But currently in love with hhkb layout and pretty sure I type better with it

[Moistgun]

An interesting experience, especially that you decided to keep the modified RF too.  Most are simply sacrificed and then sold as semi-variable.

I also haven't heard about differences in keycaps between HHKB and RF - have you got the link for that please?

Are you saying variable topre boards are only because the domes have been swapped? Like variable isn't a real thing? I never knew

Sent from my local payphone

[dario]

TL:DR -I've read that the HHKB key sizing is slightly different to the RF keycaps so this could be the reason but I found personally RF keycaps on HHKB adversly affect keyfeel switch feel/speed less noticeable for HHKB keycaps on the RF

I just remembered this old topic.

I'm putting HHKB blanks on my Realforce right this moment, and there is no chance in hell I could tell any difference, be it in size, sound or feel. And I'm really in a mood for nitpicking about tiniest details, but still can't find anything.

Can anyone either confirm or deny this from their personal experience?

[Puddsy]

TL:DR -I've read that the HHKB key sizing is slightly different to the RF keycaps so this could be the reason but I found personally RF keycaps on HHKB adversly affect keyfeel switch feel/speed less noticeable for HHKB keycaps on the RF

I just remembered this old topic.

I'm putting HHKB blanks on my Realforce right this moment, and there is no chance in hell I could tell any difference, be it in size, sound or feel. And I'm really in a mood for nitpicking about tiniest details, but still can't find anything.

Can anyone either confirm or deny this from their personal experience?

HHKB Pro 2 and all Realforce boards use exactly the same key sizing. The only issue is that the HHKB has much fewer keys.

People used to use Realforce spare sets on their HHKBs all the time.