GMK keycap profiles

[Special K]

I was looking at a current GMK keycap set on Massdrop:

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/gmk-sky-dolch

and noticed that both of the bottom rows are listed as R4.  The Triumph Adler set was the same way:

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/triumph-adler-gmk-keyset

Does that mean if I were to install either of those keycap sets on a Filco, the bottom two rows would be exactly the same height?  If so, is that typical for all GMK keycap sets?  I'm looking at my stock keycaps now and there is a definite step down from one row to the one below it.  I think it might feel weird to suddenly have the bottom two rows be at the same height when they never were before.

[GSimon]

The TA set the bottom arrow keys and the bottom row of the Numpad are R5, unlike Sky Dolch which is R4

R5 is uncommon, most GMK won't have R5 keys. Sky Dolch is how most GMK sets are, with the bottom 2 rows being R4.

To answer your question though I really doubt it would feel weird in anyway. The DCS signature plastics produces is the same: http://www.keycapsdirect.com/pdfs/DCSFamily.pdf with the bottom 2 rows being R4. It's impossible to say to for sure, because there are people with really particular preferences, but it's unlikely it'd be a factor.

[Special K]

The TA set the bottom arrow keys and the bottom row of the Numpad are R5, unlike Sky Dolch which is R4

That's even weirder than having both of the bottom two rows be R4.  Why only have a few keys in one row be R5?

[GSimon]

The TA set the bottom arrow keys and the bottom row of the Numpad are R5, unlike Sky Dolch which is R4

That's even weirder than having both of the bottom two rows be R4.  Why only have a few keys in one row be R5?

Lol, you're not the first to question that, there's a whole thread on it with people going back and forth about it https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=70278.0

Basically the colors/design of the TA keyset are imitating an older keyset, so in an effort to be as accurate to the original as possible they made those keys R5. You'll notice also that some of the extra keys are R5 (Ctrl/Alt) so if you have a keyboard that uses those keys the bottom row will actually be all R5, although most don't have that layout.

[user 18]

There is still the impression of a 'step down' from R4 to R4 because the R4 keys have a negative slope -- the side of the key which faces the F-row is shorter than the side of the key which faces the typist. If your keyboard has a positive slope (filcos do), the step down may be slightly exaggerated.

If you have a key puller, pull one of the keys off of each of the bottom two rows of your filco, and look at them from the side. You should see the slope I'm talking about.

[Special K]

There is still the impression of a 'step down' from R4 to R4 because the R4 keys have a negative slope -- the side of the key which faces the F-row is shorter than the side of the key which faces the typist. If your keyboard has a positive slope (filcos do), the step down may be slightly exaggerated.

If you have a key puller, pull one of the keys off of each of the bottom two rows of your filco, and look at them from the side. You should see the slope I'm talking about.

I see what you're saying.  Thanks for the clarification.

[KHAANNN]

IMO, the cherry/OEM profiles are what makes mechanical keyboards worth it

Haven't seen R5 in person yet, but as far as I see, it's more steep, which makes the situation worse

Instead of a R5, I think a R3.5 bottom row would make sense, compared to D/SA, the bottom row is very uncomfortable, this is especially clear when you first switch from D/SA to Cherry/OEM (In my case DSA to GMK Cherry)

This is the reason why a lot of people flip their spacebars, it's not a major issue, but I think it's something that would cause long-term damage to the thumbs, maybe cause nails to shrink and get deformed etc.

If I had the ability to shape/modify/improve the profile, I would just round down the edge of the bottom row a bit

[IvanIvanovich]

Back in the early times, each row had a different profile actually. At some point the row F extra tall for the top row fell out of use in favor of a second row of E. Towards the end of the 80's and early 90's the row A largely fell out of favor to be substituted for a second row of B. Now we have most common to have the profiles coming from top to bottom as EEDCBB which result with the modern flatter arrangement. The reason for mix profile on some set, is it is to be replica type of earlier set style and not all key sizes are available in each profile. Some sizes were never made in a particular profile before. Having new mold for key is very expensive. It would be a large undertaking for us to crowdsource that cost.
Offering duplicates of lots of keys makes the set too expensive and people don't want to pay for it. So we have a compromise for some keys being different.

[Special K]

You'll notice also that some of the extra keys are R5 (Ctrl/Alt) so if you have a keyboard that uses those keys the bottom row will actually be all R5, although most don't have that layout.

Why is there no R5 spacebar in that case?  Then you could make a complete lower row in R5 on a standard layout.  Which layout were you referring to?

[jonathanyu]

You'll notice also that some of the extra keys are R5 (Ctrl/Alt) so if you have a keyboard that uses those keys the bottom row will actually be all R5, although most don't have that layout.

Why is there no R5 spacebar in that case?  Then you could make a complete lower row in R5 on a standard layout.  Which layout were you referring to?

Spacebar only have one profile