Cheap dental band O rings demonstration [VIDEO]

[eltocliousus]

I hope this is in the correct section, my apologies if it is not.

After someone recommended dental bands to me as a very cheap alternative to O rings, I thought I'd give it a try, and doubling dental bands on each other has given me the best key damping experience so far, keeping the lovely tactile feel and removing bottoming out almost completely. On top of that it feels a lot like a Topre keycap with just a little less "thud".

You can find the exact model here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-Carp-Pellet-Bands-1-8-3-175mm-Dental-Grade-Pure-Latex-Bands-Medium-Weight-/140887341224?pt=UK_SportingGoods_FishingAcces_RL&hash=item20cd8a38a8

[TotalChaos]

Did u actually buy and test both sets of these?

They seem to each be made of a different material.  One is Latex and the other seems to be that Amber silicone rubber 30A material.

I am writing this msg on a Rosewill RK-9000RE that is about 28 days old and this keyboard is totally freaking out!  It keeps pausing... lights keep flashing off an on. WTF?!  Either the connector is flaking out or the keyboard is going insane.

Back to my msg now:
Did u ever determine the durometer rating for either of these bands while conducting your research?

The Durometer rating is a scientifically objective way of determining the squishiness of Rubbery products.  For the ultimate typing experience you want 10A but nobody makes 10A O-rings so u need to make your own.

I am assuming all dental bands you linked to are 30A which is great, way way better than naked keycaps.  But 30A is not nearly as good as 10A.  If by some miracle these bands were constructed of 20A rubber it would be miraculously wonderful and I would want to know about it for sure.

[eltocliousus]

Did u actually buy and test both sets of these?

They seem to each be made of a different material.  One is Latex and the other seems to be that Amber silicone rubber 30A material.

I am writing this msg on a Rosewill RK-9000RE that is about 28 days old and this keyboard is totally freaking out!  It keeps pausing... lights keep flashing off an on. WTF?!  Either the connector is flaking out or the keyboard is going insane.

Back to my msg now:
Did u ever determine the durometer rating for either of these bands while conducting your research?

The Durometer rating is a scientifically objective way of determining the squishiness of Rubbery products.  For the ultimate typing experience you want 10A but nobody makes 10A O-rings so u need to make your own.

I am assuming all dental bands you linked to are 30A which is great, way way better than naked keycaps.  But 30A is not nearly as good as 10A.  If by some miracle these bands were constructed of 20A rubber it would be miraculously wonderful and I would want to know about it for sure.

I'll be completely honest, I have no idea, I don't have a durometer to test unfortunately, I have however used 50As and 40As and neither work as well as two dental bands do.

[TotalChaos]

I have however used 50As and 40As and neither work as well as two dental bands do.

That is why I am guesstimating the Dental Bands to be around 30A. 

A lot of ppl have said that the dental bands wear out and break after some time.  How long do your bands last under your keycaps?

When you put 2 bands on, how much is travel reduced?

p.s my Rosewill is making me mad...  It keeps freaking out as I type.  Like its demonically posessed or something...

[eltocliousus]

Travel wise, there's about 1mm after the initial click of the blue cherries, it feels a little soft but rigid, similar to that of my Topre, but with the tactile click of blue cherries. I've used these for only two days now so I cannot comment on the longevity of the dental bands, but they're $4-5 to replace for a full-sized keyboard so I'm not worrying.

[TotalChaos]

You should make urself some GhettO-rings sometime and compare which is softer: GhettO-rings or Dental Bands.  GhettO-rings are something for which we will never have a durometer rating for so its up to Keyboard Scientists such as yourself to compare them to other things to see which is softer.

Do it for Keyboard Science! 

[Vintage]

Did u actually buy and test both sets of these?

They seem to each be made of a different material.  One is Latex and the other seems to be that Amber silicone rubber 30A material.

I am writing this msg on a Rosewill RK-9000RE that is about 28 days old and this keyboard is totally freaking out!  It keeps pausing... lights keep flashing off an on. WTF?!  Either the connector is flaking out or the keyboard is going insane.

Back to my msg now:
Did u ever determine the durometer rating for either of these bands while conducting your research?

The Durometer rating is a scientifically objective way of determining the squishiness of Rubbery products.  For the ultimate typing experience you want 10A but nobody makes 10A O-rings so u need to make your own.

I am assuming all dental bands you linked to are 30A which is great, way way better than naked keycaps.  But 30A is not nearly as good as 10A.  If by some miracle these bands were constructed of 20A rubber it would be miraculously wonderful and I would want to know about it for sure.

I don't know how you can say 10A is the "ultimate" hardness for typing. It's entirely subjective, like everything else with keyboards.

[TotalChaos]

Did u actually buy and test both sets of these?

They seem to each be made of a different material.  One is Latex and the other seems to be that Amber silicone rubber 30A material.

I am writing this msg on a Rosewill RK-9000RE that is about 28 days old and this keyboard is totally freaking out!  It keeps pausing... lights keep flashing off an on. WTF?!  Either the connector is flaking out or the keyboard is going insane.

Back to my msg now:
Did u ever determine the durometer rating for either of these bands while conducting your research?

The Durometer rating is a scientifically objective way of determining the squishiness of Rubbery products.  For the ultimate typing experience you want 10A but nobody makes 10A O-rings so u need to make your own.

I am assuming all dental bands you linked to are 30A which is great, way way better than naked keycaps.  But 30A is not nearly as good as 10A.  If by some miracle these bands were constructed of 20A rubber it would be miraculously wonderful and I would want to know about it for sure.

I don't know how you can say 10A is the "ultimate" hardness for typing. It's entirely subjective, like everything else with keyboards.

If you think the preference to crash your car into a concrete wall at 10 mph instead of 40 mph is "entirely subjective" then you just are not being scientific, or you just don't care about human health.

[Polymer]

If you think the preference to crash your car into a concrete wall at 10 mph instead of 40 mph is "entirely subjective" then you just are not being scientific, or you just don't care about human health.

That is a bad example...because 10A would probably be so soft you wouldn't feel anything and your keys would bottom out like it was nothing. 

If you were crashing into a concrete wall at 30 mph, would you want a barrier of soap bubbles or a barrier of foam rubber?

[TotalChaos]

On your advice, I just bought $250.00 of super soft 10A silicone rubber.

This rubber is very hard, firm, dense, heavy and not very squishy at all.  I basically just wasted $250.00

I will use 1 sheet anyway... It has to be a bit better than just the hard plastic keycaps... but it is nothing like you describe.  If I had to guess I would say it felt like 30A since it is a little bit softer than 40A O-rings.

This is nothing like what I need.  I will have to keep searching for other materials.

[Polymer]

10A is softer than a rubber band (20-30A).  It is the equivalent to Shore 55 (00).  Chewing gum would be 20 (00). 

[TotalChaos]

Chewing gum isn't very springy at all.  If u mash it down it stays down.  Anything like that would be completely useless for me.

Rubber bands are very springy (at least when they are long and thin.)  But if you just layed a rubber band flat on a key I don't think it would absorb all that much shock...

There must be some other measurement other than Shore A Durometer that would be useful for making shock absorbers for keyboards.

I need something either A) More spongier / springier  or B) Something like that gel substance they use in shoe insoles.  That stuff rox.

[fuus]

I admire your patience to do this, it's epic

[AGmurdercore]

I don't know how you can say 10A is the "ultimate" hardness for typing. It's entirely subjective, like everything else with keyboards.

Yup i totally agree with you. When i got he WASD sampler pack i found out that i like the hardest o-rings the most (50A-R a.k.a the black o-rings). The other just felt like doing close to nothing for me. So yeah it is quite subjective.

Edit: I have do some home made ghetto o-rings from old rubber dome keyboard (you can see the video in another thread here in the forums about how to make them) and they are softer then the black o-rings from WASD but they are almost twice as thick so they feel about the same. So yeah even if you get the perfect hardness of the rubber the thickness will be important too!