Rebuilt an aesthetic favorite this evening that I wasn’t otherwise satisfied with:
Mode Envoy
- Green case, copper weight, walnut accent
- ePBT Acadia
- Salvun artisan in copper for GMK Zooted
- BSUN Pine tactiles
- Carbon fiber plate, solid mounting blocks
- Designer Studio Adaptive stabilizers
- Plate foam yes, case foam no
I tried a few configurations before landing on this one, which I’m pretty happy about. Snappy, poppy, and satisfying. Edit: sound test here
More
Some day I’ll post well-lit photos. Not today
Before I’d had slightly-too-heavy-for-me linears paired with the soft lattice mounting blocks - the latter of which had settled into a permanently-compressed state. I’ve kept the keyboard stored in its case in the house, and it seems the squishy 3d printed bits just don’t age all that well. The solid ones feel similarly weird and slightly sticky like the lattice ones now do, but seem to retain plenty of bouncy firmness. I also had some TX stabs on here that were a bit over-lubed with Nyogel.
Honestly not the worst of them. I loved the feel of the lattice blocks when fresh, but they all collapsed to a greater or lesser degree, especially the front ones. I do appreciate the inclusion of backup / alternative solid blocks that I’m using now.
Previous config that I loved the look of but didn’t actually enjoy using despite a smooth feel and a great sound; Prevail Epsilons, TX AP with Nyogel, DCX Skiidata
Between those overlubed stabs, the switches, and the kind of high shoulder height of this keyboard, it just didn’t feel right. A kind of mushy. DCX Skiidata looked good on it, but I wanted to try something else. I tried MT3 Jasmine which looked nice and was plenty tall, but the space bar wasn’t flat - unfortunately my only real complaint with MT3 is that this seems common. Next I started trying SA 1965 before realizing I didn’t have the right kits. After that I tried GSA Retro High Lights but the greens clashed. Then I remembered Acadia, which even jived with the Pine switches I’d decided to use.
With this setup it’s gone from feeling like a limp handshake that’s still somehow too heavy to feeling snappy and assertive, even with the short front-end of the flipped Cherry profile space bar landing flush with the front lip. The caps look and feel great with the rest of the build with some real forest ranger aesthetics. It’s extra loud, though.
Still loving these Designer Studio Adaptive stabilizers. With linears they can have a sort of resting state they break out of the first time you press them after the keyboard has been sitting for a while, much like some silent switches have. A tiny bit of resistance that disappears once you break through it the first time. On this build with the punchy tactiles, it’s pretty much imperceptible.
The uh… Japanese Maple keycap was an afterthought, but ended up being the keystone that ties it all together with the two-tone green and copper to match the keys, case, and weight.
It’s a keyboard about trees