Sexy Mechanical Keyboard Thread

[Warrgarbl]

Maybe I should have written exceptionally solid for a plastic keyboard

 

[tabascosauz]

+ GMK HyperFuse is legendary, was only run as a group buy once, and never comes below $300 second hand because it's rare, and this is a sale, not a group buy so I don't have to wait.
+ I won't be buying another keyset again.
- I am a weak-willed bastard, and seriously need help with this GMK addiction. My GMK Sky Dolch is a day away and my GMK Carbon doesn't ship until end of next month.
- My walletsays that we will never be buying another keyset again.

On the plus side, I can really now get around to selling the sets I don't need (all the sets that aren't in Cherry profile, all the sets save for EnjoyPBT and GMK and one or two SA sets for TPU giveaway).

They say "endgame" does not exist, but I know exactly where it is: somewhere between the letters G M and K.

 

[AsRock]

Their nice but they are not that nice, shit! 1/2 the functions of these really exspenive keyboards are missing for my needs.

 

[tabascosauz]

GMK Sky Dolch - 1 down, 2.5 to go.

There's a magnificent cyan glow to it that I cannot quite explain or capture.

 

[tabascosauz]

Will put up photos of GMK Hyperfuse, as well as GMK Carbon when it gets here, but stay tuned for something different this week (fingers crossed)!

I managed to catch an eBay deal for an old (but allegedly functional) Triumph Adler CE 700 DS typewriter. The keys looked rather dirty, but I will have denture cleaner on hand.

The CE 700 DS was a typewriter from either the 1980s or 1990s, manufactured by the venerable Triumph Adler GmbH. The keycaps are what makes it potentially highly valuable.
The high quality keys are in Cherry profile, made of PBT, and have dye-sublimated blue legends. They are compatible with Cherry MX switches, and certainly far superior to any dyesubbed Cherry profile PBTs to come out of China nowadays.

 

[sneekypeet]

GMK Sky Dolch - 1 down, 2.5 to go.

View attachment 79633

There's a magnificent cyan glow to it that I cannot quite explain or capture.

When you start into that 2.5 can I borrow one?

 

[jboydgolfer]

thats a gorgeous KB. Damn.Not a fan of TKL, but the scheme and coloring is spot on.

 

[tabascosauz]

When you start into that 2.5 can I borrow one?

If you live in SW of England, sure

 

[sneekypeet]

If you live in SW of England, sure

I do not Fair enough though!

 

[xvi]

Interested in everyone's thoughts on this news article.

German private investment company GENUI and the Cherry management has announced the acquisition of the international Cherry Group from ZF Friedrichshafen AG. Excellent growth prospects for the computer input device manufacturer and its employees will result from the investment.

"It was very important to us to find a new owner for Cherry that would offer the company and its employees a solid future with good prospects," explains Michael Hankel, ZF member of the Board of Management responsible for Cherry. "GENUI offers precisely such a future and is therefore an outstanding partner for Cherry." ZF will sell its 100-percent share in the subsidiary as it concentrates investment in its core business. The Cherry Group posted sales of roughly €80 million in 2015. It has 380 employees worldwide, 280 of whom work at the company's headquarters in Auerbach, situated between Nuremberg and Bayreuth.

 

[Ahhzz]

Interested in everyone's thoughts on this news article.

I'm always concerned whenever a smaller company is bought up by a larger one. It almost always ends in people losing jobs, and the original vision for the company being lost for "the big picture"....

 

[AsRock]

I'm always concerned whenever a smaller company is bought up by a larger one. It almost always ends in people losing jobs, and the original vision for the company being lost for "the big picture"....

Some leaders a proud and leave due to having the need of more cost cutting which all so cut's the quality of the product too.

Cherry are not made as well as they were but that's just like every thing these days.

 

[cornemuse]

 

[tabascosauz]

Interested in everyone's thoughts on this news article.

Interesting. A little while ago there was some fuss made about ZF getting Cherry Corp and how it might change. It didn't end up changing much, except that ZF wanted people to stop calling Gaterons and Kaihls Cherry switches and instead call them "MX-style mechanical switches" to distinguish them from the real thing. Which is quite ironic since Gaterons and Gateron-based custom switches have largely displaced "genuine" Cherry MX switches in terms of keyfeel.

Honestly, unlike GMK, Cherry seems to be having a hard time staying relevant in the face of Gateron. Furthermore, even GMK is starting to make its own keyboards (and high-quality ones at that with stellar keysets from none other than GMK, search for Uniqey), while Cherry hasn't really made any decent boards since the G80 series.

Their MX Board lineup didn't make a splash at all, and even the newer versions of G80s like the 3000, 3700, and 1800 come with cheap lasered keycaps, quite the departure from the classic thick Cherry profile doubleshots and dyesubs. Their switches have been inferior for many years ever since they switched to rougher-feeling materials in the 1990s. The only thing I can think of going for Cherry Corp is the fact that some manufacturers still make "genuine Cherry MX" a selling point of their keyboards.

snip

Likely only ticks half of the boxes. Those keycaps scream ergonomic rubber dome. This ain't the rubber dome club

 

[AsRock]

Interesting. A little while ago there was some fuss made about ZF getting Cherry Corp and how it might change. It didn't end up changing much, except that ZF wanted people to stop calling Gaterons and Kaihls Cherry switches and instead call them "MX-style mechanical switches" to distinguish them from the real thing. Which is quite ironic since Gaterons and Gateron-based custom switches have largely displaced "genuine" Cherry MX switches in terms of keyfeel.

Honestly, unlike GMK, Cherry seems to be having a hard time staying relevant in the face of Gateron. Furthermore, even GMK is starting to make its own keyboards (and high-quality ones at that with stellar keysets from none other than GMK, search for Uniqey), while Cherry hasn't really made any decent boards since the G80 series.

Their MX Board lineup didn't make a splash at all, and even the newer versions of G80s like the 3000, 3700, and 1800 come with cheap lasered keycaps, quite the departure from the classic thick Cherry profile doubleshots and dyesubs. Their switches have been inferior for many years ever since they switched to rougher-feeling materials in the 1990s. The only thing I can think of going for Cherry Corp is the fact that some manufacturers still make "genuine Cherry MX" a selling point of their keyboards.



Likely only ticks half of the boxes. Those keycaps scream ergonomic rubber dome. This ain't the rubber dome club

Well they could be fake = rubber dome HAHA.

 

[xvi]

Likely only ticks half of the boxes. Those keycaps scream ergonomic rubber dome. This ain't the rubber dome club

..and what kind of layout is that? Worse than Dvorak.

 

[AsRock]

..and what kind of layout is that? Worse than Dvorak.

Layout is called feely touchy, but get permission before using as it "may" come with a slap.

 

[jboydgolfer]

can someone hand me a key cap puller please?

 

[AsRock]

can someone hand me a key cap puller please?

Yes as some ones obviously put 2 keys over the mini joysticks.

 

[tabascosauz]

As I promised, here are the vintage (well, circa early 1990s) Triumph Adler caps:

Ebay buyer delivered as promised an impossibly filthy but operational TA SE 700 DS typewriter with Cherry MY switches. The typewriter sucks big time because of those MYs, but the caps are super nice. Thick dyesubs in Cherry profile, beautiful navy blue legends on grey. Took me a while to wash off the grime though. A few keys like T were completely black from grime.

Goes well with GMK Purple Mods.

 

[tabascosauz]

Stockpiling parts for my next project building my first custom keyboard in December, a beautiful 60% B.face X2 from the one and only Winkeyless:

(well, technically I am using only the PCB from the B.face, but it's still a B.face).
It's not going to be the build to end all builds, but I am putting effort into making it the best board I've used yet. Selling my old POK3R and one of the V60s to fund these parts.

- FMJ case: I have a black FMJ case coming in from originative; it's an extremely rare and high quality CNC aluminium 60% case, super pumped for it to arrive.

- Cherry MX Reds: although Gaterons are smoother, I opted to roll with stock MX Reds due to reports of incompatibility between certain Gateron batches and GMK keycaps, which is a deal-breaker since I don't use anything other than GMK these days. Too lazy to open up all 61 switches and lube them up, so they'll be stock. I don't actually mind the roughness. And I have the switches already.

- B.face PCB: as said before, there's nothing better on the custom 60% market than the B.face. And I'll finally get to say that I have a Korean keyboard I'll be going for a classic layout, so "winkeyless" bottom row (1.5 + 1 + 1.5 + 7 + 1.5 + 1 + 1.5), and stepped capslock.

- Blue anodized aluminium plate from UKKeycaps, it's exactly what it sounds like

- GMK Carbon: my GMK Carbon keyset from the earlier group buy finally shipped from Massdrop earlier this week. Super pumped for its arrival; the GMK collection is coming along nicely with Carbon soon joining Sky Dolch and Hyperfuse. Just waiting for GMK Originative to ship in January, which will be the best complement colour-wise to the FMJ case.

Just gotta get through this grueling law coursework and I'll be putting together this board in no time. Collecting some soldering equipment right now, all I gotta do is take it slow, steady and by the book, and there should be no problems.

 

[jboydgolfer]

As I promised, here are the vintage (well, circa early 1990s) Triumph Adler caps:

View attachment 80321

View attachment 80322

Ebay buyer delivered as promised an impossibly filthy but operational TA SE 700 DS typewriter with Cherry MY switches. The typewriter sucks big time because of those MYs, but the caps are super nice. Thick dyesubs in Cherry profile, beautiful navy blue legends on grey. Took me a while to wash off the grime though. A few keys like T were completely black from grime.

Goes well with GMK Purple Mods.

thats one beautiful KB

 

[R-T-B]

As I promised, here are the vintage (well, circa early 1990s) Triumph Adler caps:

View attachment 80321

View attachment 80322

Ebay buyer delivered as promised an impossibly filthy but operational TA SE 700 DS typewriter with Cherry MY switches. The typewriter sucks big time because of those MYs, but the caps are super nice. Thick dyesubs in Cherry profile, beautiful navy blue legends on grey. Took me a while to wash off the grime though. A few keys like T were completely black from grime.

Goes well with GMK Purple Mods.

You make my baby unicomp (with original IBM keycaps) cry.

Trump had better make my America great again, so I can make my keyboard great again.

 

[tabascosauz]

You make my baby unicomp (with original IBM keycaps) cry.

Trump had better make my America great again, so I can make my keyboard great again.

Did you used to have a Vortex board with DSA?

Buckling springs are awesome. Nothing compares (I'd kill to have one of those hefty Model Fs though). The Triumph Adler keycaps here are super nice, but the typewriter itself was garbage Cherry MYs (MYs are like typing on stiff, wet newspaper), filth, weird keysizes, filth, super heavy, filth, yellowed, filth...

 

[R-T-B]

Did you use to have a Vortex board with DSA?

Buckling springs are awesome. Nothing compares (I'd kill to have one of those hefty Model Fs though). The Triumph Adler keycaps here are super nice, but the typewriter itself was garbage Cherry MYs (MYs are like typing on stiff, wet newspaper), filth, weird keysizes, filth, super heavy, filth, yellowed, filth...

xvi has the Vortex now, I could not afford two keyboards, lol...