UK ISO PBT (Ducky?)

[Ellis]

Looking to replace all of my keycaps on my Filco MJ2 (105 key) with some PBT caps, but ISO layout ones are not as easy to find as ANSI

Ideally I would have some that were black with some kind of lettering on the top. I've managed to find a side engraved set of Ducky keys, but I have a few questions.

Will the Ducky keys fit properly on my Filco?
Apparently these are 'thin' PBT - is this complete rubbish and thick PBT the only stuff worth buying, or what?
Does anyone know of a better place to get PBT in ISO layout, with lettering (I think I would get annoyed with blanks )

Since I'm going to be replacing all of the keys, it doesn't matter if they have a different font etc. but they obviously need to fit properly.

Thanks!

[IvanIvanovich]

Yes the Ducky keys will fit your Filco 100%. The Ducky PBT are better than the stock Filco keycaps. Thick PBT are better yet, but as of now they are only ANSI for new Asian production, only vintage Cherry are found in ISO right now. GB layout Cherry PBT dyesub set will set you back a hefty sum and have the older 102 layout. You can get lasered PBT from Cherry for pretty cheap often times though look for models like G80-3000L**GB.

[bazemk1979]

this board would be perfect for you Filco ISO, but the left shift key wont fit cause this board has the typical ansi left shift. Possible that you might have to find space bar too, but you can use ur own Filco space bar.

On another note keycaps are Double shots thick ABS http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHERRY-G80-8200HPBUS-2-PS2-POS-KEYBOARD-BLACK-/230884513332?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item35c1ca1634

[Ellis]

Yes the Ducky keys will fit your Filco 100%. The Ducky PBT are better than the stock Filco keycaps. Thick PBT are better yet, but as of now they are only ANSI for new Asian production, only vintage Cherry are found in ISO right now. GB layout Cherry PBT dyesub set will set you back a hefty sum and have the older 102 layout. You can get lasered PBT from Cherry for pretty cheap often times though look for models like G80-3000L**GB.

I'm sure those keycaps are lovely but that's a lot more than I want to spend

I had a look for the models you said but unfortunately there don't seem to be many on eBay. I can find G80-3000LSCGB-2 in black but they're new at about £60 and look like they may be ABS anyhow.

this board would be perfect for you Filco ISO, but the left shift key wont fit cause this board has the typical ansi left shift. Possible that you might have to find space bar too, but you can use ur own Filco space bar.

On another note keycaps are Double shots thick ABS http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHERRY-G80-8200HPBUS-2-PS2-POS-KEYBOARD-BLACK-/230884513332?pt=PCA_Mice_Trackballs&hash=item35c1ca1634

I should mention that I don't really want to spend more than £40, and that works out at £70 or so. Plus I think I might prefer PBT to even doubleshot ABS. I at least want to try it, the texture looks like it'd be really nice.

[IvanIvanovich]

Oh sorry I forgot to say something important. On Cherry models that have the first letter as L for laser, only the light color keycap are PBT, so model that end in -0 or -1. The black keycap on L -2 models is POM.

[Ellis]

Oh sorry I forgot to say something important. On Cherry models that have the first letter as L for laser, only the light color keycap are PBT, so model that end in -0 or -1. The black keycap on L -2 models is POM.

Thanks. I don't know anything about POM, how does it compare to PBT and ABS?

[baldgye]

Alright, so I've basically done the same thing, I have a fullsize UK ISO Filco MJ2 and wanted beige/white cherry DS's.. the problem is that 99% of all the cherry keys you see for sale arn't UK or ISO and I couldn't really either afford to spend that much on another keyboard just to harvest the caps.

So what I did was basically trawl though the ebay listings for cheap sets and the 4sale threads on here and DT looking for parts. You're probably not going to find a full set unless your willing to spend alot, so my advice would be to look for German sets, and/or ANSI sets and try and build up your complete set from those incomplete ones.
You can do it for cheap if you bag together the keys you don't need into sets and sell them off.

I now have a full set of ISO keys, though my number and @~¬ keys are US/GER... unless you want to pay a lot, you kinda have to accept that its going to be a work in progress for some months and when I did that I actually really enjoyed it


mine when I had boosts RBG mods



and yeah I know you want a diff colour but the same principal applies

[Ellis]

Alright, so I've basically done the same thing, I have a fullsize UK ISO Filco MJ2 and wanted beige/white cherry DS's.. the problem is that 99% of all the cherry keys you see for sale arn't UK or ISO and I couldn't really either afford to spend that much on another keyboard just to harvest the caps.

So what I did was basically trawl though the ebay listings for cheap sets and the 4sale threads on here and DT looking for parts. You're probably not going to find a full set unless your willing to spend alot, so my advice would be to look for German sets, and/or ANSI sets and try and build up your complete set from those incomplete ones.
You can do it for cheap if you bag together the keys you don't need into sets and sell them off.

I now have a full set of ISO keys, though my number and @~¬ keys are US/GER... unless you want to pay a lot, you kinda have to accept that its going to be a work in progress for some months and when I did that I actually really enjoyed it

Show Image

mine when I had boosts RBG mods



and yeah I know you want a diff colour but the same principal applies :P

Yeah, this may be the best way actually. So are most/all of your keycaps Cherry thick PBT?

The only thing is that I can get a front printed set from Ducky Nordic, which is less hassle as it's available on eBay UK. I may be able to wait and get a set with legends on the top as well. But having never tried PBT before I don't know if I would be disappointed with thin :|

Don't really mind them being front printed to be honest, though I would rather have legends on the top.

Decisions, decisions!

[baldgye]

nahhh they are all DS's I don't know really what PBT keys are and the difference between them and DS's

[Ellis]

nahhh they are all DS's I don't know really what PBT keys are and the difference between them and DS's

ABS and PBT are the type of plastic used, whereas pad printing, laser etching, dyesub, doubleshot etc. are different methods of applying lettering to the keys.

[baldgye]

nahhh they are all DS's I don't know really what PBT keys are and the difference between them and DS's

ABS and PBT are the type of plastic used, whereas pad printing, laser etching, dyesub, doubleshot etc. are different methods of applying lettering to the keys.

Yeah I know that lol, I mean more actually what the diffrence is when using them, I've only really used WASD key's, stock filco ones SP's DS's and then these cherry DS's

[Ellis]

nahhh they are all DS's I don't know really what PBT keys are and the difference between them and DS's

ABS and PBT are the type of plastic used, whereas pad printing, laser etching, dyesub, doubleshot etc. are different methods of applying lettering to the keys.

Yeah I know that lol, I mean more actually what the diffrence is when using them, I've only really used WASD key's, stock filco ones SP's DS's and then these cherry DS's

Well ABS "shines" after a while of regular use, I guess PBT will do the same eventually but it takes a lot longer. Since with DS (both of them) the lettering goes through the whole key, it means that as the key wears out, the lettering won't, whereas if it were printed on the top then it would wear eventually. They also produce higher quality letters and so on.

So I guess it comes down to durability, and some people prefer using ABS or PBT etc. due to the different textures. Is that what you meant?

[baldgye]

yeah, I have no reference for the diff texture and how the thickness of them feel (for me) etc etc... I'm pretty new to the whole scene and DS's work and feel pretty damn good to me and come in the colour scheme I wanted

[mattics]

Check out CCL online for Ducky stuff, I know they have at least 4 sets, I would link but I am on my phone.

I had some Ducky front laser etched on my Filco TKL. They were a great improvement over the stock caps, the only issue I had was that Ducky have an Fn key instead of the right context key and media icons (for use with the fn key) on 5 or so keys on the F row. Obviously this is only an aesthetic issue, I even got a key mapper (will link when I remember what it was) and made those keys work.

If I were buying now I would try to wait for the new range of thick PBT from Ducky, but I don't know how long they will be, or if it will take even longer to be sold separately. There is a PR thread on DT in the marketplace from DuckyNordic which has a bit of info and pics.

[Ellis]

Check out CCL online for Ducky stuff, I know they have at least 4 sets, I would link but I am on my phone.

I had some Ducky front laser etched on my Filco TKL. They were a great improvement over the stock caps, the only issue I had was that Ducky have an Fn key instead of the right context key and media icons (for use with the fn key) on 5 or so keys on the F row. Obviously this is only an aesthetic issue, I even got a key mapper (will link when I remember what it was) and made those keys work.

If I were buying now I would try to wait for the new range of thick PBT from Ducky, but I don't know how long they will be, or if it will take even longer to be sold separately. There is a PR thread on DT in the marketplace from DuckyNordic which has a bit of info and pics.

From the thread on DT:

The new thick PBT's are scheduled to arrive in 2 weeks (and no white color there, nor engraving as those sets are dyesub).

Sounds nice, if I can get them with UK legends.