Spacebar stem spacing on Realforce 86u [does anyone have an 86u?!?]

[intelli78]

Does anyone have stem spacing measurements for a 7x RF 86u spacebar?

I am thinking about acquiring an 86u and modding it with Novatouch sliders to make a Topre board that'll take winkeyless Cherry sets (caps lock excluded... will still have to use fulltouch).

I am trying to determine if, using a custom bent 7x stabilizer wire, I will actually be able to use original Cherry 7x spacebars on a RF86u -- or whether the spacing is completely different and thus I'll be restricted to using the original Topre 7x spacebar.

Long shot I know, but this would be really cool.

If not, I may not do the mod, or I may just use a more readily available 87u -- not as compelling to track down an 86u if I can't convert the 7x spacebar.

Any help is appreciated 

[intelli78]

Bump it up, can anyone help?

[intelli78]

Plox help...

[intelli78]

Thanks to Remdell for coming through... Looks like it won't work the way I'd hoped, but there are some interesting insights here...

http://imgur.com/a/zD67T

I took some quick shots this morning. The 86U's stem placement fits exactly for the 6x Topre spacebar.  However, to my surprise, the 7x Topre spacebar has an extra set of stabilizer holes beyond the placement of the 6x stabilizers.  I assume that there is a Topre board out there that accommodates the 7x stem placement.


From top to bottom, the spacebar order goes:
KBT Pure 6.25x
Tai Hao 7x
RF 86U 7x
RF Lime Green 6x

On the side view picture of the spacebars, I aligned the spacebars from their right edges.  However, the stems of the Topre spacebars make them float a bit.  Notice the curve and how much shorter the 86U space bar is in comparison to the 6x RF spacebar.

Although unrelated, it might also be worth noting that the 86U's left control key doesn't suffer the same odd switch housing as the 87U's.  Therefore, I'd say the 86U is great for the HiPro TKL mod.