Turning an ABS M1 Linear!

[erricrice]

So I got bored last night and decided that with all my new knowledge of keyswtiches from taking apart that Omnikey that I should really be having a little more fun with the 'boards that I have!  

So I decided to make my ABS M1 a linear 'board!

I have never really liked the feel of the ABS too much(better than rubber domes, but still not great IMO) so I decided that would be the best one to mess around with.



Nice pretty black ALPS copies!



Switch internals, standard for ALPS:  Tactile leaf, slider, case and spring.




And finally the actuator leaf, this is the part that actually makes the electrical connection, the two parts that you can see there get pushed together when the slider comes down.

Anyways, all you have to do to do this mod is take out the tactile leaf and put the switch back together.  Very simple.

After doing this, I found the keyboard to feel almost the same as it did before, only lighter.  This is mostly because of the fact that these ALPS actuate right near the top of the keystroke, so they almost feel linear unless you're trying real hard to feel the bump.

It did take the actuation force down from 60g to 40g.  That tactile leaf really added a lot of resistance it seems.

I can't say I really like the feel of the keys now any better than I did when they had the tactile leaf in it.  Like I said they are pretty much only lighter, although they do feel a little bit more smooth, less of a gritty feeling than before.  They are way too light for me, but I like me some heavy switches, so someone else may like them a lot!

Just a quick and easy mod, I did the whole alphanumeric area(including modifiers) in about 40 min.  That includes taking off the keycaps, which is easily the hardest part of this mod haha.  Them caps are tight!

Taking apart the switch is real easy, take a look at Welly's guide for taking a switch apart, very helpful!

Then you just take out the tactile leaf and put the switch back together.
Welly's idea about the grease on the spring is great, makes putting it back together much easier than it would be otherwise.  I used a different method though, since I don't have any silicon grease or any grease for that matter.  
If you just touch the end of the spring to your tongue, it transfers enough saliva to get the spring to stick in place on the slider for when you put the top of the switch back together.  
Since the spring isn't actually controlling any of the electrical parts, the saliva should not be a problem, and it dries within a minute or two anyway.  If anyone knows of any problems with this, please correct me, I just don't know of any :)

All in all not a really interesting mod, but something to do when you're bored!

[timw4mail]

Oh, this is a goood one.   I'm gonna try this one right now.  After playing around with a Black Cherry keyboard I realized that linear switches ARE perfect for gaming.

I'm gonna open up my $15 NIB Dell AT101W.  This is a much cheaper route than buying yet another keyboard just for gaming.

Not that the Dells were that impressive anyway. It seems like the Dell wouldn't be too bad for gaming as is.

[erricrice]

Not that the Dells were that impressive anyway. It seems like the Dell wouldn't be too bad for gaming as is.

Yeah, my big problem is that the dells will fail SD(space) so you can't jump diagonally.  Problem for pretty much every game ever made haha.

[timw4mail]

Yeah, my big problem is that the dells will fail SD(space) so you can't jump diagonally.  Problem for pretty much every game ever made haha.

Actually I can think of one game where I ever did that: Mirror's Edge.

[wellington1869]

hey nice pics

If you just touch the end of the spring to your tongue, it transfers enough saliva to get the spring to stick in place

thats brilliant!

Taking apart the switch is real easy

you hear that ripster?

ya I tried the linear alps at one point, I didnt like it too much either, tho black cherry fans might like it as a lighter version of a similarly linear switch.  Alps are nice to experiment with tho, you can also swap click leafs (for instance from a white alps board, turning tactile alps into clicky alps); you can swap sliders (dampened sliders from aekii); you can even turn non-clicky alps into clicky alps.  Very versatile and easily moddable switch.

[timw4mail]

Very versatile and easily moddable switch.

That may be, but I just want my switches to work. I haven't yet heard of a worn-out Cherry switch, but ALPS...that's a different story.

[wellington1869]

That may be, but I just want my switches to work. I haven't yet heard of a worn-out Cherry switch, but ALPS...that's a different story.

I've heard of worn-out cherries Try getting an old MX11800 on ebay, and you may see the difference between new and old cherries  My first cherry board was a brown cherry 11800 and it was seriously worn out (as I found out when I tried newer browns later). The worn out ones were much lighter and the tactiity was all but gone.

Like most mechanicals the alps are going to last a decade or more. Thats more than my money's worth if you ask me.

[wellington1869]

Original ALPS are easy to take apart.  It's the simplifieds that are a pain.

Forgot about the N-Key thing.  Now I'm less enthusiastic.

ya as someone was saying before, it may be that the old alps and bs arent suited for nkey, though I care less about nkey; i just dont want them to transpose. If they can handle that, i'm pretty happy with them.

[wellington1869]

So, is this a "Oh yeah, it's a common mod" or is this a "My God, why didn't I think of that".    Remember, a "GeekGirl Approved" is riding on this.

well its been done before (there was some discussion of it in one of my mix-n-match threads; IIRC chloe did this mod and liked it a lot for a while, I think on an at101w), tho its not been documented in this way with pics and a specific dedicated write-up of an experience.

[erricrice]

Yay!  GG approved for my first mod!  And I just did it 'cause I got bored!

And aren't the fukkas in the M1 considered simplified?  I know the N-key on it sucks, but I was just wondering about the simplifieds being difficult to take apart!  Which ALPS were you referring to when you said that Rip?
Here, I'll even list the types for you:



Real Complicated Original ALPS
Fake Complicated ALPS
Real Simplified ALPS
Fake Simplified Somewhat-Original ALPS
Real Simplified Complicated Original ALPS
Complex ALPS-Style Simple Fukkas with Complicated leaves
Just Plain ALPS
The ALPS of Switzerland
Kinda-like ALPS


lol

[wellington1869]

i think ripster is referring to the ease with which the delicate switch on the real-simplifieds can get smushed if you're not careful when replacing the housing.  Altho this can happen on pretty much any alps if you squish the housing back on without the switch having correctly aligned itself into its "slot" on the housing.  Just have to be gentle when replacing the housing, thats all. Sounds like you had no problems there.  If the contact is smushed you basically have to take a toothpick and tweezers and re-mold the delicate switch back into its shape. Time consuming tho not impossible.

congrats on the GG approval

[erricrice]

i think ripster is referring to the ease with which the delicate switch on the real-simplifieds can get smushed if you're not careful when replacing the housing.  Altho this can happen on pretty much any alps if you squish the housing back on without the switch having correctly aligned itself into its "slot" on the housing.  Just have to be gentle when replacing the housing, thats all. Sounds like you had no problems there.  If the contact is smushed you basically have to take a toothpick and tweezers and re-mold the delicate switch back into its shape. Time consuming tho not impossible.

congrats on the GG approval

Ahh yes, I could most definitely see this being a problem.  I came across it a few times where I caught myself JUST before I pushed down on the foil haha.

And it appears that these fukkas like to fukka up everyone's expectations more than we originally thought!  They don't have the two sections the way that other casing does and the contacts are not quite as wide as the switch casing!  Didn't think much of it before, but it looks like they are different!




Unless I don't have fukkas lol

[wellington1869]

hey eric, you do have fukkas; you're right that the fukka housing doesnt  have the double slot as clearly as in ripster's pic (ripster's pic I believe is a housing from either the XM double slot casing or the gray strongman double slot casing (you can see both double-slot housings in my old article here). (most likely thats a pic from XM's since gray strongmans are hard to find these days).

The fukka housing does have a double slot of sorts, but its not as obvious to see from the outside; its very subtle, there basically seems to be a "guide" molded deep into what appears on the outside to be a truncated single slot.

In a way that makes fukkas more tricky to replace cuz it may look like the foil is going into the slot correctly but in fact the foil needs to be separated so it actually goes into two slots deep inside the housing. At least, as near as I can figure it, thats the case (pun intended).

Bottom line IF the fukka's dont work when you replace the  housing, chances are you have to fiddle with the foil's shape and separate out the inner foil from the outer foil, as discussed a little bit in the stukka fukka thread.  (or more specifically, a screwdriver trick here).

But again it doesnt sound like you had any issues here A natural, as ripster says

[erricrice]

Ahh, I see!

And yeah, it seems lucky that I didn't have any problems then haha.  Good thing since I didn't know there was a division at all and I wouldn't have known how to fix it, although I'm sure you would have helped me out haha.

[erricrice]

So I'm returning to this mod now, and I actually really like typing on it!  Recently I've been typing on mostly cherries, so my liking for light switches has gone way up.  

I really like typing on these linear blacks because it actuates at about 1 mm(so really early compared to others) and there is actually a bit of a cushion before the key really bottoms out so even if you press it too hard past the actuation point, you get a bit of a reminder telling you you can let go.  It also has very little in the way of hysteresis so repeating keystrokes is really easy.

This 'reminder' bump is because of the way that the actuation leaf works.  The leaf has an angled piece that comes out from the main leaf, and it actuates when the slider touches the very top of that angled piece so the pressure gradually builds after actuating(to maybe 50g or so, nothing huge) and then lets go and allows you to bottom out after the 3mm point or so.

Overall, it's a very very different feel from any other switch I have used before, and other than the one problem I have noticed(resting my fingers on the keys occasionally actuates them since it's only 40g to actuate) they are really a cool feel.

Only consider really trying this mod if you have been typing on blue or brown cherries or topres for a while, otherwise you won't be able to really appreciate what's happening because of heavy fingers(I say this from experience, the first time I tried this mod, BS had been my daily driver for about 4 months.)

The clack that the M1 is known for is also considerably quieter since it's easier to keep from bottoming out(still makes noise if you wobble the keys though, so not completely quiet).

[erricrice]

Ahh, yeah sounds like he's stuck the actuators together, about a ten minute fix even for the whole 'board, welly's post explains it pretty well.

I'll post the fix on OCN later if no one does while I'm at work.

[ch_123]

This was complete with a load of post from OCNers reacting like the guy had bought a NIB Industrial SSK and rit-dyed it pink.

[erricrice]

This was complete with a load of post from OCNers reacting like the guy had bought a NIB Industrial SSK and rit-dyed it pink.

Heh, yeah I found that funny.  I should show them what I did to my first ABS...

[aynjell]

I just finished this mod on the main typing cluster. I left the other buttons with the tactile leaf, mostly because they're usually full hand presses (the associated hand leaving home row) as opposed to single finger presses (hand still at rest on home row). To explain that, by full hand presses I mean, you have to move your hand to another part of the keyboard, and typically you get more arm weight behind your press thus making the press much easier. The numpad is a notable exception and I think I may do that later, but after the main cluster, I'm pretty much worn out.

I think this mod will be perfect for my girlfriend, but I guess I'll find out tomorrow when I wake up if she hates it or not.

Personally, it's better, but it's still not good. The throw distance is really short and initial resistance is really light leading into a very rapidly increasing rigidity. They're still a really weird key. Stock the key press on the M1 is only describable as "rough" to me. Just feels like it's got a bunch of sand inside the switch. Afterwards, a lot smoother but still not what I'd call "smooth". Browns are some of the smoothest switches I've used, next to blacks (which are worse than browns in my opinion because of the resistance). They're not quite up to browns in terms of smoothness, but much closer to what is my preference. Oh well, got this board for 15$, and if this is an improvement for her, the hour and a half was well spent!

as a note, a few switches didn't work initially, but I found that like the others, it was simply an issue with the strike plate and switch portion being so close that they lodged into the same side of the housing.