Does anyone make a TKL or TK Compact with PCB mounted clears?

[jamster]

Does anyone know who makes a keyboard that's either TK Compact or TKL, with MX Clears in a PCB mount?

My next board is either going to be ErgoClear (depending on how my current ErgoClear mod turns out) or I'm going to go with some other type of switch entirely (however non Cherry MX seem close to nonexistent where I live, so if ErgoClear is good enough, I'll stick with Cherry).

If I do another ErgoClear project I'm 100% certain not use a plate mounted board as desoldering was a huge pain in the arse and not an excercise to be repeated. Looks like most boards on the market are plate mounted- does anyone do PCB mount still?

[jamster]

Nobody has any suggestions?

So far I've manged to identify the Cherry 1800 boards as proabably PCB mounted (and TK Compact, which is a bonus), but they come with brown/red switches. If MX stems are interchangeable, that would be perfect. Well, except the boards seem to be a bit hard to find.

So, are the stems in MX switches interchangeable?

[Melvang]

Nobody has any suggestions?

So far I've manged to identify the Cherry 1800 boards as proabably PCB mounted (and TK Compact, which is a bonus), but they come with brown/red switches. If MX stems are interchangeable, that would be perfect. Well, except the boards seem to be a bit hard to find.

So, are the stems in MX switches interchangeable?

The only MX stem that is not interchangeble is the Lock switches but they are also a bit different housing on the inside.  Outside of that, all MX switches and parts are interchangeble

[munch]

there are a few older Cherry 1800 boards with MX Clear, and they are afaik PCB mounted with no plate.

you probably will have a hard time finding them though - one would be the awesome looking Skidata for example, which I think only comes in ISO layout.

[katushkin]

Mmm, all the ones I can think of are plate mount....

Can you not just take the switch tops off on a plate mounted switch?

[jamster]

Thanks guys. That clears things up considerably.

@katushkin, unless you're running a fairly esoteric plate designed for switch top removal, you have to desolder each switch off the PCB, then remove the plate, then remove the switch tops. At least, that's how it works with a KUL.

[Oobly]

AFAIK, there aren't any. I would not recommend getting a newer Cherry PCB mount board as they seem to be much lower quality than early ones. The two G80-3000 boards I bought with Clears are really flexible and don't feel good to type on.

It's worth the effort of desoldering the switches on a GOOD plate mounted board (like a KUL for instance) to turn them into ErgoClears, but I would recommend also adding "trampolines" (little silicone balls from IMSTO in the tubes) and stickers at the same time, while you have the switches open. Also shaving the mold lines on the stems and lubing them will improve the feel a lot, too. Then they become amazing to type on, IMHO, and doing it all at the same time means you only have to desolder / resolder them once.

I own two ErgoClear boards with SA profile caps on, one with stickers and one without, I can tell you that they DO have an effect. They stabilise the switch tops enough to be noticable with any profile cap, but markedly with tall keycaps like SA. And plate mount is also worth having.

[jamster]

Hm... interesting. Someone on GH helped me proxy an 1800 Cherry which I should be getting next month. Hopefully the flex doesn't bother me too much.

That said, the excercise that kicked off asking about PCB mounted switches involved a KUL and desoldering. I wouldn't want to ever do it again- took way too many hours and soldering setups at home really don't mix with little kids running around the house  :/.

I'm going to try PCB mounted Black, which should be easy to switch out springs on (though suddenly it looks like springs are hard to come by), and after this I suspect that alternative switches beckon for any further keyboard exploration efforts.

[KHAANNN]

AFAIK, there aren't any. I would not recommend getting a newer Cherry PCB mount board as they seem to be much lower quality than early ones. The two G80-3000 boards I bought with Clears are really flexible and don't feel good to type on.

It's worth the effort of desoldering the switches on a GOOD plate mounted board (like a KUL for instance) to turn them into ErgoClears, but I would recommend also adding "trampolines" (little silicone balls from IMSTO in the tubes) and stickers at the same time, while you have the switches open. Also shaving the mold lines on the stems and lubing them will improve the feel a lot, too. Then they become amazing to type on, IMHO, and doing it all at the same time means you only have to desolder / resolder them once.

I own two ErgoClear boards with SA profile caps on, one with stickers and one without, I can tell you that they DO have an effect. They stabilise the switch tops enough to be noticable with any profile cap, but markedly with tall keycaps like SA. And plate mount is also worth having.

shaving the mold seems like a great idea
is there a source for the stickers tho?

[jamster]

Possibly this, to tbh I still haven't figured out how stickers and those little silicone balls are supposed to work.

http://techkeys.us/collections/accessories/products/vinyl-switch-stickers