Took some time last night to swap some of the switches in my Das keyboard. I had hoped I would just be able to swap the stems without desoldering, but wasn't so lucky.
I had 5 reds and 3 blues. All 3 blues and 1 of the reds were the pcb-mounted style so I ended up swapping their base with the base of the switches I desoldered instead of trying to trim the stems.
![](http://static.inky.ws/image/3609/itbegins.jpg)
It begins. These keyboards are extremely solidly built and harder to open up than a mac mini! It took an hour just to open the case, but I managed to do so without breaking any of the clips.
![](http://static.inky.ws/image/3606/IMG_20130110_223927.jpg)
Not too bad soldering work, if I do say so myself. The board looks a little singed, but it all still works.
![Smiley :)](https://cdn.geekhack.org/Smileys/solosmileys/smiley.gif)
Swapping the keys took probably about 2-3 hours.
![](http://static.inky.ws/image/3605/IMG_20130110_223845.jpg)
The reds.
![](http://static.inky.ws/image/3604/IMG_20130110_223839.jpg)
The blues (I also have one blue on the scroll lock, which I used as my initial test).
![](http://static.inky.ws/image/3608/IMG_20130110_225113.jpg)
And finally, 8 browns... The aftermath. 4 of the browns are plate-mounted, anyone need any switches? I'd love to trade for some other types of switches, especially blacks or clears, although I wouldn't mind a red or a blue for a keychain or something.
![Cheesy :D](https://cdn.geekhack.org/Smileys/solosmileys/cheesy.gif)