Hello!
I would like to introduce my jailhouse mod to everyone. It is easy, inexpensive, quick and fairly standardized. You don’t need much skill for it.
I believe this is my single greatest contribution to geekhack. I’m happy, so I don’t have many other experiments to try out after this. This is the most silent switch mod for Cherry MX. It is very tactile. It feels great. The activation point is high. It is more responsive than other MX tactiles. It is also lighter because of the higher activation point. I consider it vastly superior to Topre. I don’t want to bother trying any other switch type after this. It’s perfect - my Endgame!
My mod has actually been around for months but I was worried that the orthodontic bands being used might break or move, so I wanted to test it before introducing to all geeks. After 6 months of about half use (ie I used other keyboards about half the time, which is still pretty decent usage because I use the keyboard a lot every day), I have found my mod still ok. In the meantime I perfected it and now I can say it is pretty reliable.
I was originally going to make a video, but didn’t have the right equipment. Then I wanted to take photos, but my phone has problems connecting to computer now. But since I can’t control myself and have been introducing jailhouse mods to everybody who bought from me, I decided I had no choice – better introduce the mod now so that people can benefit from it earlier.
For the sake of being cautious I would recommend that the mod only be used on a switch moddable plate or a PCB mounted plate. I have not tested it for my preferred 2 years, and do not know if the orthodontic bands will break over or after this timeframe.
Firstly, you need tactile clicky MX stems. Blue, white or green will do.
Then, you need this.
http://www.dentsply.com/en-ca/catalog/product.dir.html/Orthodontics/Elastomerics/Intraoral/Latex/Latex-Intraoral-Elastics/p/GAC-11-102-04.html Please note the specs. H4 Elastics, 4mm, 3/16”, Heavy 4oz. Manufactured for Dentsply GAC International under the code ‘Switzerland’. It sells for just six bucks CONUS shipped. (I had to get mine at considerably higher unit cost, thank you Singapore government for making this the ‘best’ country in the world for expats.)
http://www.amazon.com/ORTHODONTIC-GAP-TEETH-BANDS-HEAVY/dp/B0086HTWH6I somehow missed this ad the last time, but you can try it out and post your review here.
http://www.amazon.com/ORTHODONTIC-GAP-TEETH-BANDS-PACKS/dp/B00C7FOSOU/ref=pd_sim_bt_11?ie=UTF8&refRID=1H3JJT0XJT2A6VNQBHT1$16 for pack of 3, 3 sizes to try out. Looks promising but I don’t need these anymore.
There are cheaper versions that I have not tried out. Such as these clear rings
http://www.amazon.com/Clear-16-4-5-Oz-Orthodontic/dp/B00A2YCR5K/ref=pd_sim_bt_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0JDR87DG78640C38D5C6Buy at your risk.
Regardless of what you buy, do not buy over 3/16”. The fit has to be precise.
Also, be mentally prepared to discard some (maybe 5%) of your bands. Due to the tolerances, sometimes a band won’t fit your stem well.
Loop the band over your stem. Don’t twist the band as it will affect fitment.
After all bands are placed, put in the springs. You should ‘screw’ or ‘twist’ the spring in. Make sure the spring is held firmly by the rubber bands so that when you hold up the stem by the stem top, the spring will not fall off. DO NOT GET LAZY AND PUT THE SPRING IN THE SWITCH HOUSING AND THE JAILHOUSED STEM ON TOP. THE MOD WILL NOT WORK.
After ensuring that spring is held by the bands, do a visual examination. If any part of the band is poking out, push it gently in with your fingernail. The tolerances are pretty tight, so if only a bit of rubber band it sticking out it will jam the stem mechanism when you actuate the key.
Now put the stem+spring into the switch mechanism. Drop the switch cover over them. I always drop the switch cover because I have to make sure that it doesn’t get caught by a bit of rubber band sticking out. If the cover gets caught, it means that when you are actually using the keyboard the stem will get caught during actuation and you don’t want that. If the cover can’t fall lightly into place, take the stem+spring out and gently press in the rubber bands so that they don’t stick out. Occasionally this doesn’t work because the band is slightly too thick to fit nicely, in which case you should just remove the orthodontic band and try another band.
If you are not using this mod on a switch moddable board, please make sure the switch is actuating smoothly before soldering! To avoid having to redo or adjust this mod in the future, I would strongly recommend a switch moddable keyboard.
There! You’re done! Enjoy your awesome and silent new jailhoused mods! Due to the higher actuation points, I recommend using heavier springs. You will never need to bottom out on these!
BTW if you guys are wondering why no photo – my damned Sony Xperia is showing ‘USB device malfunctioned’ everytime. I’ve tried reinstalling the USB port, restarting the computer, using other USB cables and other USB ports and no luck.
Shameless plugs:
I am selling the parts and well as some switches in hopes of promoting this mod!
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=62920.msg1474545#msg1474545