Author Topic: Are those switches dampened white alps?  (Read 2518 times)

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Offline Latakerni

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Are those switches dampened white alps?
« on: Mon, 17 July 2023, 12:02:14 »
Are those genuine alps? They're in a Apple Extended Keyboard II, 1995 Ireland.
I am not sure if it's ivory or white (I just know that they'll need a good clean and lubing). They look white-ish, or at least what I think white should look like after nearly 30 years, but they seem to have tiny slits, smaller than the deskthority pictures
https://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCM_Cream_Damped vs https://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKBL/SKBM_series, and alps logo is barely visible, without raised edges
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Are those switches dampened white alps?
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 17 July 2023, 12:38:13 »
Those are white. Probably most if not all that are as late as 1995 are white.
"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30

Offline Findecanor

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Re: Are those switches dampened white alps?
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 17 July 2023, 12:54:16 »
Yes, Damped White Alps have no slits.
https://deskthority.net/wiki/File:Alps_SKCM_--_damped_comparison,_1.jpg

I think the brown spots could be mostly rust.
« Last Edit: Mon, 17 July 2023, 12:56:40 by Findecanor »
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Offline Latakerni

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Re: Are those switches dampened white alps?
« Reply #3 on: Mon, 17 July 2023, 13:41:47 »
Those are white. Probably most if not all that are as late as 1995 are white.

Thank you! Are those worth anything? I don't plan on selling them, just curious as I tried my luck with a promising looking keyboard

Offline LavenderB

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Re: Are those switches dampened white alps?
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 18 July 2023, 05:24:14 »
Thank you! Are those worth anything? I don't plan on selling them, just curious as I tried my luck with a promising looking keyboard
Since these could still feel good after a proper restoration and possibly some modding, they could be of interest to someone who doesn't want to buy more desirable alps switches at their current high prices.
Safa | 1993 UK ISO-DE Model M  | Frog TKL | 3d printed bakeneko | Akko 5075s

Offline Rhienfo

  • Posts: 764
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
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Re: Are those switches dampened white alps?
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 18 July 2023, 17:44:01 »
Thank you! Are those worth anything? I don't plan on selling them, just curious as I tried my luck with a promising looking keyboard

yeah white alps along with black alps are probably the cheapest alps. They are cheaper because most people want to get blue alps after one European saying they are the best (or at least his favourite switch)

I've never used alps but the common consensus is that blue alps are a more refined version of white alps, but white alps are still better than most mx style clickies but dirty alps are really bad to type on.
keyboard collection - fjell
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cherry blacks - unlubed - filmed and springswapped with tx 55g mediums - alu Plate | pretty happy with this, the blacks were cherry picked so they weren't that scratchy to begin with, but currently breaking them in, may lube them with a dry lube like ro59 or ptfe powder.
| hhkb bt
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lubed with tribosys 3203 | like topre a lot, prefer it lubed but did make less tactile but that might have been a skill issue. probably will get more tactile over time as the domes age.
| m0115
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bad orange alps lol | definitely needs a restoration. planning on wax boiling them and maybe a replacement pcb because the board has only 2 key rollover apparently.
| praxis
More
gateron yellows - lubed with 205g0 - 62g tx mediums - pc plate | probably my favourite keyboard already, feels super nice and sounds pretty good, it's got a great layout as well. probably gonna build this with mx browns, I feel like it would suit the board more.
| camo filco
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stock with silent reds | Pretty cool looking board, the silent reds are actually good, they are smooth and I don't mind the mushiness (it's not even that mushy as well). the layout is pretty weird, but is useable. will probably mod this in the future. maybe a pcb and plate swap, change the keycaps to something dolch like, and also spring swap the springs in the silent reds.
| ibm model f at
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stock, needs a cleaning and probably replacement foam. Do plan to change layout so it has split bs and rs, as well as ansi enter.
| baebae tkl
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Built with new nixies on pc half plate. Love this board already, probably the best looking board I own, those brass accents are so mint. Really like it as is, but I do want to try an alu build (probably with nixies as well) just to experiment with that.

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Offline Findecanor

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Re: Are those switches dampened white alps?
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 18 July 2023, 18:46:24 »
I've never used alps but the common consensus is that blue alps are a more refined version of white alps, but white alps are still better than most mx style clickies but dirty alps are really bad to type on.
You're confusing the two types of white Alps. These are called "White Damped Alps". They are tactile but not clicky, and they are sound-damped: both on bottoming out and topping up.
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Offline Rhienfo

  • Posts: 764
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
  • Why is everything I want here so expensive :(
Re: Are those switches dampened white alps?
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 18 July 2023, 20:25:28 »
I've never used alps but the common consensus is that blue alps are a more refined version of white alps, but white alps are still better than most mx style clickies but dirty alps are really bad to type on.
You're confusing the two types of white Alps. These are called "White Damped Alps". They are tactile but not clicky, and they are sound-damped: both on bottoming out and topping up.

Oh yeah didn't see that my bad, I just saw the alps and thought they were traditional whites. Dampened alps are also really cheap as well from looking, and you find a lot of them from my experience especially compared to the original, I think that's because a lot of the computers that these boards came with were more budget oriented and for families so I think they are more common but not 100%. Plus the AEK 1 is more desirable because it has orange/salmon alps which people want)

Probably gotta pay attention more because If I'd read the post completely I would have seen that it was an AEK II and knew it was dampened alps (and also the link as well lol) , because I was looking to getting an AEK I before, but stopped because shipping boards here is extremely costly (it's like half sometimes the full price of the board so I gave up)
keyboard collection - fjell
More
cherry blacks - unlubed - filmed and springswapped with tx 55g mediums - alu Plate | pretty happy with this, the blacks were cherry picked so they weren't that scratchy to begin with, but currently breaking them in, may lube them with a dry lube like ro59 or ptfe powder.
| hhkb bt
More
lubed with tribosys 3203 | like topre a lot, prefer it lubed but did make less tactile but that might have been a skill issue. probably will get more tactile over time as the domes age.
| m0115
More
bad orange alps lol | definitely needs a restoration. planning on wax boiling them and maybe a replacement pcb because the board has only 2 key rollover apparently.
| praxis
More
gateron yellows - lubed with 205g0 - 62g tx mediums - pc plate | probably my favourite keyboard already, feels super nice and sounds pretty good, it's got a great layout as well. probably gonna build this with mx browns, I feel like it would suit the board more.
| camo filco
More
stock with silent reds | Pretty cool looking board, the silent reds are actually good, they are smooth and I don't mind the mushiness (it's not even that mushy as well). the layout is pretty weird, but is useable. will probably mod this in the future. maybe a pcb and plate swap, change the keycaps to something dolch like, and also spring swap the springs in the silent reds.
| ibm model f at
More
stock, needs a cleaning and probably replacement foam. Do plan to change layout so it has split bs and rs, as well as ansi enter.
| baebae tkl
More
Built with new nixies on pc half plate. Love this board already, probably the best looking board I own, those brass accents are so mint. Really like it as is, but I do want to try an alu build (probably with nixies as well) just to experiment with that.

collection in pixel art
More

Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Are those switches dampened white alps?
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 18 July 2023, 21:54:21 »

I was looking to getting an AEK I


That is a very good keyboard and deserves a place in a collection, if you want to fill the slot for tactile Alps. Personally I think they are not very appealing lookers, especially since they are almost always badly yellowed, but they are very well made and both switches and key caps are excellent.
 
"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30