Mechanical Keyboards

...specifically to install spares I already have. Level with me, y'all. Do I have a problem?

Apparently they’ve pulled out of recent GBs they were set to be the US proxy for. They’ve set their discord to read only and deleted general chat. And their ticket system says it’s full and can’t accept new ones.

It would seem they are still selling and shipping in-stock products, but my two GBs thru them, GMK Moonlight and Hubble, haven’t had updates in quite some time.

Just bought my first mechanical keyboard, an Epomaker RT100 with Flamingo switches. Is it normal to be accidentally pressing keys (mostly shift and spacebar) while just resting my fingers on the keyboard? Is it because I've only used membrane keyboards up until now, and I'll eventually get used to the new sensitivity? Or should I swap the switches out for something heavier/clickier?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/337890

My Kaychron Q6 with 68g Boba U4T and 75g Zeal Clickiez.

And I didn't build it from the ground up, but I did change the keycaps on it, so that counts right? I've been running this gorgeous Keychron K10 for just under a year now and it makes using the PC an absolute dream. Still running the stock Gateron G Pro Brown switches, and to be honest I don't really think I'll change from that, in this board at least. I'm also using the Keychron wooden palm rest, which should probably come standard with these because God damn are they a strain to type on without it. Only modifications I've done are the coiled cable and the keycaps, and aesthetically I feel they add quite a bit to the board, especially the shine-through keycaps, they really make the unicorn vomit colour scheme its currently set to pop off the board. Eventually I'd like to delve in to making my own board, but that'll probably come after this one has served its purpose.

The only gripe I have is that I forgot to order it in aluminium, and instead got the plastic body. Not that it feels cheap or anything, I'd just have preferred the high end feel of the metal body.

Obligatory bongocat on the OLED.

Almost all my keyboards are white due to them being vintage, and they attract dirt and dust, especially between the keys. While I have a special plastic cleaner that is alcohol-free and easy to use on most surfaces with a microfiber wipe, I have problem with between the keys

Should I order some specialty kit, or just get some brush from some local hardware store? Makeup brushes don't work very well for this purpose in my experience.

How similar is the Glorious Panda switch to the Holy Panda? Been seeing it around and they sound fantastic. Back when the Holy Pandas came out I couldn’t afford the keyboard hobby but now I can.

#mechanicalkeyboards

I plan to buy my first split keyboard (forever) very soon and would like to hear y'all's opinions on the Glove80 (switch: Kailh Choc v1 Brown Tactile) and Moonlander (switch: Kailh Copper or Cherry MX Brown) two. I've already searched for threads and comments on the matter a few days ago through kbin, so any links to them you provide would probably be for others reading after the fact, which is fine.

I'm very interested in the Glove80's keywelling, but can settle for the Moonlander's sculpted blank keys if people think I'd enjoy the latter more. It'd be staying on my desk indefinitely regardless of which one I buy, but keep in mind that I use my keyboard for a bare minimum of 40hrs a week. >.>
Feel free to comment on the switches, btw. 👀

Current Keyboard: Aula BE FIRE SI-859 Wired Gaming Keyboard. Been using for 8yrs now and would like a quieter one since I've been told I'm a loud typer, but can settle for switches that have the same volume. I just like typing on this not quite mechanical mechanical-ass keyboard. 😅
Hands: ~7.25" long from edge of palm to tip of middle finger.

edit: Should clarify that I use Logitech's G600 and enjoy the 16(?) side buttons, especially with the customizable profiles.

edit2: I'm leaning towards the Moonlander for keyswitch reasons and would really like switch opinions. I've got no experience with switches, btw. Just regular keyboards and my Aula.

This is an industrial keyboard from around 1983 manufactured by Honeywell. It features an extremely rare tall stem variant of the Microswitch SC series switches. They're clicky tactile and utilize a capacitive sense system similar to the IBM Beamspring or Model F. The tactility is achieved with a spring over buckling plate setup similar to Alps SKCP.

Everything about the board is brutally industrial. Caps are thick, case is thick, cable is thick, etc. It should easily survive a nuclear winter without missing a keystroke.

I'm only aware of one other of these in existence. It seems to be in a museum and displayed alongside its original system (which I sadly don't have). https://all-andorra.com/modicon-584-hmi/

Fortunately this board shares some similarities with other Honeywell boards made around this time. Although none of them use tall stem SC switches, they shared a protocol so a QMK port from MMcM worked with barely any modification.

The board

Keycap removed

Connector

Case is 5-10mm thick cast aluminum

"Engineering Keyboard Prototype"

Controller

Dirty switches

Tall stem SC

Monstrous caps

Backing and capacitive membrane removed

Buckling plate (think hair barette)

USB bulkhead I printed

Nice and sturdy

Simple converter

Anemic port in comparison to the original

Cleaned and good to go!

The conversion to USB/QMK is reversible should I ever come across an OG system.

6 variants, 1 unit per color

Product Details

• Epoxy resin cast
• MX stem; each cap is fit tested

Product Images

• Imgur
• Stem

Pricing

• Price: $20-35 USD
• Product link: https://vkeycaps.art/products/valknut-artisan-keycaps-random-batch-1

Shipping

• Shipping internationally with tracking

• Delivery time:

  • 15-30 days - 0
  • ~14-17 days - 0 (partial tracking)

• Keycaps will be shipped from Ukraine

• Please note that shipping delays may occur but I am doing my best to avoid it

Payment Methods

• Payment method: PayPal

Get in Touch

• Website: https://vkeycaps.art
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/vkeycaps/
• Discord: https://vkeycaps.art/server

Order Information

• All orders will be shipped within 7 days
• Please note that shipping delays may occur but I am doing my best to avoid them. I appreciate your understanding!

This is my IBM 4979 terminal. It's part of the IBM Series/1 minicomputer ecosystem which launched in 1976 although my terminal was made 1979 or 1980. It features a 66 key IBM beamspring that was unfortunately suffering from the usual material degradation. The CRT was also non-functional with an apparent HV issue.

Before

Dirty internals

Keyboard

Triple shot keycap

Cap backside

The terminal was available in a number of different languages with many of them having extra keys for an extended alphabet. Mine being a boring US English model had several blank caps with blockers underneath the switch to prevent actuation. Fortunately the blockers can be removed and the switches are fully functional.

Blockers

I went about the cleaning and rebuild as normal for a beamspring.

Silicone pad leeching oil

PCB backside

PCB front side

Dirty switch array

Plastic degradation with glass fiber exposed

Spacer foam turned to tar

Disassembled

Cleaned plate and new foam

Dirty stems

Cleaned stems

Ready to assemble

Assembled stems

Cleaned switch grid

Keyboard sans caps

Keyboard sans caps 2

Keyboard good to go

I won't go into too much detail about troubleshooting and repairing the CRT unless anyone asks. Short story is that some resistors didn't age well. Some fresh modern ones and it's good to go.

Open resistor

The protocol is a pretty basic parallel bus with a secretarial caps lock handled by the keyboard logic. I was able to whip up some QMK code and a converter to speak to it.

Reverse engineering

Captured waveforms

Matrix logical layout

Quick and dirty converter

Internals cleaned

It's alive!

Absolutely no modifications were made to the terminal other than cleaning, repairing, and replacing aged materials with archival grade equivalents. Conversion was done entirely with a plug and play connector that interfaces with the terminal as if it were a real Series/1.

Right now it's plugged into a Raspberry Pi, boots up to a login prompt, and works perfectly! This is without a doubt the best way to experience a text adventure game if you ask me.

Nothing super exciting, just a choc spaced QAZ. Using the new set from fkcaps.com to get all the needed sizes.

Open Source

Ordered a Keychron K2 which should be arriving next week, but I wasn't really feeling any of the keycap selections on their website

where do y'all buy keycaps?

I'd prefer to get some with MacOS style media keys, but not a deal-breaker

Hi, quick question. I am from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and we usually use letters like ČĆŽŠĐ :) I wonder whether anyone knows about the mechanical keyboard supporting my alphabet: South Slavic Latin.

And yeah, it should be something you would recommend. Thanks a lot!

#mechanicalkeyboards

Current daily driver - Lily58

Anyone else love splits?

#mechanicalkeyboards

Durgod Venus board, Gateron RGB Red switches, Glorious keycaps, cheap eBay wrist rest.

Can't go back to anything larger than 60%

Driftmechanics Austin R3 Purple
Alu plate
Gateron Oil Kings L+F
Staebies
GMK Posh
Plate foam + case foam from stupidfish