HHKB Novatouch Stem Swap Question

[slushi]

Hey guys,

I was reading an older thread and saw the following comment:

Yeah, swapping in the stems is that easy but IIRC there is something you have to do to stabilized keys.

IIRC people mentioned they had to drill holes in the HHKB but it is a mistake. You can take out the whole stabs housing on both board and just swap them.

Yea. I remember reading something similar.

Dont do any drilling for the stabilizers on the smaller keys!

I think the only problem left is the 6x spacebar on the hhkb. The stabilizers dont match up without drilling (or getting really creative) on the spacebar. I think the stems on most 6x mx spacebars dont match up to the hhkb too well either. (I could be slightly off in my reasoning. Maybe someone else on GH can add info to the spacebar issues on the hhkb.)

I opened up my HHKB last night and the housing for those modifiers are part of the top case so I am a little confused. Can anyone help clear this up? Was there a change to the design recently? I want to make sure I swap correctly for the small modifiers. I don't plan on swapping out the spacebar.

Thanks!

[Bromono]

If you dont plan on switching the space bar then you should be fine. no drilling needed.

And the modifiers on the hhkb have always been part of the case, besides the space bar, which has 2 removable ones.

You only need to replace the stem and not the housing on the smaller modifiers.

[slushi]

If you dont plan on switching the space bar then you should be fine. no drilling needed.

And the modifiers on the hhkb have always been part of the case, besides the space bar, which has 2 removable ones.

You only need to replace the stem and not the housing on the smaller modifiers.

Ah thats what I figured. The novatouch is coming in today so I didn't get a chance to look in person but from pictures online, don't the small mods have the side stems? Wouldn't they need to be sanded down to fit the HHKB or are they separate pieces from the main stem?

Here is what I am talking about:


Thanks for the help in advance!

[Bromono]

Nothing needs to be sanded. it should fit fine under the HHKB housing.



Though I dont know how well the key would depress to be honest. I never did this mod but have opend up a lot of HHKBs.

Since most cherry modifiers have the extra 2 nubs on the bottom, I dont know if that will interfere with the housing.

[slushi]

Ah okay. Thank you so much for the info!