Not sure yet, but I’ve heard it’s interesting and I can report back once I have it in a board. I only had the gasket mount set up with a PC plate and it’s great in both sound and feel.
Honestly can’t recommend @milktooth enough. Truly one of the best “Try Before You Buy” options out there.
Also, those prices are hard to beat and the descriptions are spot on, IMHO.
How so? When I reached out to their customer support a few weeks ago, I was told the Try-At-Home Program they previously offered was no longer a thing.
If you’re just referring to the larger switch selection and competitive prices, then yes, I agree.
I’ve only seen the spacebars kit on Iconlabs who ran the first GB (sadly no product page even exists any longer) and SwitchKeys as you stated. To my knowledge, all other vendors only offered the base kit with their in stock drops. It really sucks, but it’s something you’ll probably have to snag in the aftermarket.
Has anybody ever seen a board with a big dumb illuminated industrial pushbutton, possibly as the escape key? I’m wondering just how tall I’d have to make a battlecruiser to fit one in, or if there are some with slimmer guts behind the panel mount.
This feels like the sort of thing that’s probably been done, but my google-fu is failing me. I found a couple of projects to add USB to single buttons, and I saw a memeboard where somebody wired up a 60% made entirely of Arcade buttons, but I feel like I’m overlooking something simple or that’s just a little bit before my time in the hobby. If I have to, I might be able to fabricate something volumetrically reminiscent of a Saturn60 or this one-off from kbd.news.
Not “ordered” in the sense of “bought from a vendor”, but I just found a Chicony KB-5191 for a couple of bucks.
Not that I need (or actually want) it, I just bought it for the suspense
Those were made with such a variety of switches, that it feels like “switch-lottery”.
Let’s see what I get in the draw
FYI, this thread is not picky on what ‘ordered’ means.
It’s the reasoning behind making the decision to buy a product or not that this thread is intended to capture for sharing.
Yeah, sadly I barely even see any Emerald at all on mm. From what I could gather I think it was a Chinese set and the stateside gb was just trying to make it availabe here.
Will have to just keep looking, or mix and match somehow.
Just couldn’t say no to this board. I was going back & forth about it, then got reminded at the meetup earlier that today was the last day to order. Was looking at it at the bar afterwards & said “screw it, I’m pulling the trigger”!
I have a friend ordering an X-Bows Nature (after trying out the X-Bows form factor via an X-Bows Lite I sold her for cheap) and a set of key switches I recommended based on her preferences (HxG Silent Yellows) and sending them to me so I can swap the switches in and flash her board with VIAL for her. She’s paying me for the time by just buying a double complement of the switches she wants so I can have a set too barter!
Just ordered the basic supplies for my next build from AE. I’m going to tweak my “We Have Battleship at Home” layout, which has been rotting on KLE for months, to work as well as it can with the massive Akko MDA “building blocks” set I got for half-price from Amazon Resale. I think I’m still going to run it no-stabs, though I do have a small set of Costar style hanging around that could probably be wedged into the plate and work okay. We’ll see. Then, due to some of my other choices, I think this one makes sense to do as a hand-wire, but I reserve the right to change my mind on that, too. RP2040 as usual.
Specifically for this build:
- Rotary Encoder (I’ve never tried including one. It’s time)
- 25mm red anodized knob (I think I got the stem sizes compatible… pray for me)
- M3 Screws, heat-set inserts, and the soldering tip to put them in. I skipped the little drill-press looking thing to keep your angle, so we’ll see how that goes. I’ve always either had the screws go all the way through or had needlessly complicated captive nuts; this could be a nice change.
- Outemu dustproof green, because they’re still among my favorites (though below Box Navy and Jade), you can get 110 of them for under fifteen bucks, and TBH this thing is already dangerously close to a meme-board designed to amuse exactly one person. I guess I need to try some other green click-jackets, because so far I like these but I don’t care for Gaterons.
- While I demurred on getting a giant 65mm E-Stop switch or something vintage from eBay, I did get an industrial-ish 30mm red aluminum mushroom pushbutton with a big LED in the center. I expect it’s going to look like a sunburned nipple, and I kind of don’t care.
I wonder how close it will be to the JTK Emerald color. It’s translucent caps. I’m not hopeful but maybe the spacebar wont look too bad with the JTK set…
Also thinking of another Tofu60 2.0. I most likely won’t buy another but I sure like to think about ordering lol
Actually, I might know what you ordered last month, at least regarding switches. Here is the August part of my series featuring community favorite switches based on real sales data provided by vendors:
I have stumbled upon this interesting IBM Model M, that would need quite some restoration but I think It’s worth the price (?).
I’m able to only partialy read the part number. It’s either:
- 1391408
- 1391406
You think It’s worth $65 ( but in local currency ) and the effort to restore? Always wanted one in the collection.
Depends on where you are of course. I recently got a couple of later, less desirable Model M’s for about USD40 or 50 each, so this is a pretty good deal if it’s in working order. It looks like a pretty standard UK ISO, and it seems to do something when plugged in and it has all its keycaps and keytops, so that’s all promising. You have some yellowing on the ABS spacebar, but at least that probably means it’s straight. Do you know what kind of connector is on the other end of that removable cable?
If everything is in working order, you might just make or buy a Soarer or Hasu converter and wash the keytops in soapy water and maybe a soft toothbrush. I was lucky enough to be able to stop there. The dye sub should hold up fine. If any of the keys don’t work, however, you could be looking at repairs that are costlier and/or more time consuming, like a bolt mod or acquiring replacement parts.
The seller says It’s in all working condition, all switches register when using a USB converter. It’s PS2 connector.
edit: I’m decided to go for it. Never seen one go for such price locally so even if it requires some work I think It’ll be a nice addition to the collection.
Neat! For what it’s worth, it’s probably a 1391406, as the 1391408 looks to be basically the same board but with Hebrew keycaps. Nothing scratches that nostalgia itch for me like an old IBM. Of course, dim memories of Models M and F are why Blues are still a default choice, when even most clicky folks don’t prefer them.
My 1392595 has lost a few plastic rivets on the membrane, but I am not messing with it until and unless it actually stops working right.
Urg. KPRepublic on Aliexpress cancelled my order of the last All In One DMK Hush set they had for <$100.
Of course they cancel it a week later and I can’t reorder bc it’s all sold out. I bet they had kept that listing up by mistake and either have run out of stock and/or don’t want to honor the sale price. Either way, feels bad.
I actually ordered the non-transparent version of Domikey Hush more than a year ago, during a similar sale. [Discounts stacked].
It has pretty decent kitting, and the tripleshot is impressive [came with free doubleshot alphas, too.] However, the sound is pretty thin and plasticy, and there are no dotted or scooped homing keys, just barred.
The surface texture is about equivalent to $99 GMK mass-produced sets, that is to say flat plastic. [By comparison, some of the nicer GMK sets have a grippy eggshell texture, like a porous pebble.]
I find that the Domikey Cherry-profile are good for low-tactility switches, where you don’t want to dull them even further. I have a set on some lubed RARA V2 on a POM MK870. It’s okay. The Domikey doesn’t modify the sound profile or tactility much. So it’s pretty neutral.
It was easy to augment the set with a couple of extra kits afterwards, so now I will be able to use it on an M87 Pro with KTT tactiles.
I actually had the opportunity to get the semi-transparent version of Domikey Hush, specifically the accents, for $22 CAD during an “early-bird” discount. Unfortunately, I did not purchase them, and they were priced at $29 during the “sale.” Too bad.
I bet you could even use Domikey Hush accents with certain GMK sets that have white legends, such as Honeywell. Domikey should provide “stealth” accents compatible with common GMK sets.
[I should have included photos in this post, but then I would have to dig out my RARA V2 MK870 from a closet].
I’ve never noticed or heard of GMK sets having different finishes (at least intentionally)? What are some examples?