Can I remove switches simply by desoldering them?

[Jamesbeat]

I bought a keyboard for work, and I'm doing a little modding to it.
It's a Cherry G80 8113 POS keyboard that I got for $42 shipped.

I was shopping on price alone for this board as I didn't have a lot to spend on a keyboard just for work, so there are a couple of things about it that I don't like.

One of them is the extra row of function keys.
Above the regular fuction keys is a row of programmable keys, laid out in the same way as the esc and function keys, ie. a single one on the left and then three groups of four.
I'm sure these keys would be very useful for some applications, but I don't need them on my work keyboard and they look a bit goofy.

I want to remove the keys completely and cover the holes with a strip of plastic.

I've never worked with Cherry switches before, and I know that some of them have wire links or diodes inside.

What I want to know is, can I just desolder the offending switches, or will I also need to insert links to reestablish the electrical pathways of the matrix?

[badcop]

4 points to desolder per switch.  2 for the switch and 2 for the diodes.  cherry keyboards are really easy to desolder cleanly.

[Jamesbeat]

Right, but if I intend to permanently remove the switch, do I have to install a wire link or reinstall the diode across two of the pads, or will the keyboard work ok with all four pads 'empty'?

[WhiteFireDragon]

Most keyboards only require to you desolder the two contact point for the switch pins. Although for cherry boards, mot of them have diodes on the inside of the switch, so you'll need to desolder those as well. Diodes are a little harder since they're smaller.

The switches are independent of each other, so you can desolder out the ones you don't like and it won't affect the matrix.

[Jamesbeat]

Awesome, thanks.
I had thought that it may be possible that the diode or wire link would have been necessary for the continuity of the matrix, continuing the circuit to the next switch.
Good to know that it should be quick and easy to get rid of those 13 unneeded switches.

[Jamesbeat]

Well, just goes to show you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet

After a couple of hours trying to work out why several keys on my keyboard stopped working and following a wild goose because I thought I damaged a ribbon connector, I discovered the problem.

Seems my particular keyboard DOES need the wire links in two places.
I looked carefully at the traces on the pcb, and discovered two places where the solder pads for the wire links were attached to traces on the board.
I soldered in some links, and hey presto, it works again.

I'm not angry, but I'm putting this here to warn others that, while it probably doesn't matter on the majority of keyboards, it certainly did on mine.