you still got poisoned heavily haha

i got immuned to hypes for quite some time now, mainly because i already have builds that are very close to own expectations in real life. they are not fancy boards.

as long as you like what you have, it's actually good enough.

however, explore more if possible. there are plenty of details that we never mention publicly, but they are known by those who have used such parts before. for instance, stabilizer shims for 1.2mm pcb. by right they should be installed at the side where screws are installed, so that the stabilizer housings can sit flush on the pcb directly; in reality, you can place the shims on either sides.

e.g.,
polaris - https://info.ai03.com/books/polaris-build-g...and-stabilizers
vega - https://info.ai03.com/books/vega-build-guid...g-the-internals

you might need to keep looking. i think boards with low-pro switches are still scarce.

due to top surfaces with more scoop, i don't feel uncomfortable when i type on mg profile key caps, despite its similar heights as sa profile.



edit: also, found out that jwick black's housing + slider of gateron pro/x has minimal stem wobble (top/bottom; no wobble for left/right)

This post has been edited by horns: Jun 24 2022, 04:17 PM

to investigate a report about very high failure rates of sp-star linear switches (new batches of sp-star meteor white in grey-white color, and their luminous series), i bought some meteor white to try out.

since we have no way to identify batches, i used a dumb way to increase the chance of me getting the right ones: i chose a shop that restocked their meteor white fairly recently, then went for them.

i use them with no mods. hopefully symptoms will pop up sooner, since they were reported to have very high failure rates. note that this kind of things happened before in other brands, e.g., cherry mx retooled black. this is also why some people insisted on new molds and toolings.

previously i have built quite a number of builds with them (sp-star grey, sp-star white, sp-meteor white, sp-star luminous cyber). they are all working fine in my case.

all i can see is, when they work, they work :/

--

there is a fine detail on the wires of tx stabilizers. the wire tips are filed so as to reduce the chance of them hitting stem walls.

you can do the same with a grindstone hehe

this is a zt60 case, tray-mount, around 1.1kg.



it has case pings at the bottom. (fixable) it's currently sold out, but expected to have more color options in a month or so, when they restock.

55g linear rated spring is too light for you. i don't use spring weights that can cause accidental key presses.

my preferred spring weights depend on the switch and spring type used. for linear rated springs, 60g is my prefered bottom-out spring weight. (except for gateron ks-3) the lowest i can go comfortably without accidental key presses is 57g (sp-star white, sp-meteor white). usually, accidental key presses will happen when i go lower than that.

if you wanted to use lighter weights like 55g or below, you can try long or multi-stage springs. these springs have higher preload force, so they can support your fingers to prevent accidental key presses. maybe a wrist rest can help also.

aiyo :/ maybe swap the board temporarily until it's fixed.

desoldering with patience will not spoil the pcb. just stick to the 3-second rule at all times; move to the next if the current one is not successful.

to prevent this from repeating, always test the switches with a hot-swap first, until they're ready to be soldered permanently. i usually do this, unless i use the same switch and mods before.

i don't think handphone repair shops have such a desoldering gun with pump. the chances are higher with those that repair larger electronics that have through-hole components imo.

hahaha i tried this before, but my attempt lasted only few minutes. after that i just swapped the board lol

since then i bring only boards that i'm comfortable with to work haha

mantap

desoldered a build with cherry mx hg, 58g 2-stage long spring and fr4 plate, and replaced the plate with aluminum. the stabs are all in good conditions, so i didn't touch them. it feels better now. aluminum is always my favorite plate material.

here's a note on desoldering: patience is the key, and practice really makes perfect.

the main thing to do here is to remove solder as much as possible, so that switch pins are not attached to the pads. hence, the switch can be pulled out without any resistance, just like you pull out switches from a hotswap pcb.

however, sometimes shits happen. when you feel that there is resistance, but you still force the switch out, pads that are still attached to the pins will come out as well. imo other than prolonged exposure to ultra-high temperatures, this is actually one of the more common causes of lifted pads. when i was still new to desoldering i did have pads lifted, due to the same reason. (definitely not because of temperature being too high, or me putting the iron in contact with the joints for too long) note that these lifted pads can be fixed with wire jumping, so don't throw them away.

with a good soldering iron, 63/37 solder, and desoldering pump, always stick to 3-second rule per joint, and go to the next if the current joint is less optimal (come back to it later), you can desolder switches without causing harms to the pcb. also, pcbs like dz60, yd60mq, and cx60 have good-quality pads. as long as you do it right, the pcbs will be fine, even if you do soldering/desoldering for many times.

sweet

yes, it will feel heavy when you are back from switches with lighter springs. usually you will get used to the heavier ones after a while.

right, linear switches are relatively easier to help find 'faults'. anything that goes wrong in a build can be detected quickly, and be fixed before soldering. as for the misbehaviors of stabilizers, i'm not sure what cause the 'tactile' feel. in my case, mushiness due to untreated foam used for holee/epsi mod was the main problem for old builds. i am fixing them progressively.

in my case, rgb is pointless. the main use of rgb (per-key or underglow) is to act as indicator for capslock and layers. however, most setups that i like don't support light diffusion (e.g., switches with opaque housings; metal cases), so i either turn them off, or don't include such features in my firmware. luckily it contribute nothing to typing feels, so it's fine lol

a quick note: when you get anything in general, please at least take a look at the specifications first, so that they match what you need. i just noticed that kailh box v2 red has a flatter force curve compared to box, with a lighter bottom-out force. (box v2 red is 40gf starting force, 50gf bottom-out; kailh box red is 40gf starting force, 60gf bottom-out)

i was lucky that the 40gf starting force can still support my resting fingers, and doesn't cause mistyping. bottoming out is imminent, because 50gf bottom-out is light.

the lightest spring that i can use is 37g in aqua king v3. it's because the very tight tolerance of switch top and slider. however, the side effect is that the kick-back force is too light for me, not satisfied enough.

nice yeah i guess it's better to post this on mechmarket.

--

here is another note about linear switches that i'm interested in, based on housing materials:

1. fff, h1, and matcha are identical; the housing material is PA66, a 'harder' type of nylon; in terms of typing feel, it feels more 'firm' than normal softer nylon housing, and they sound different as well;
2. epsilon is identical to jwk alpaca.

previously i tried to get more fff, but it's not available anymore. hence i look for alternatives that provide housings that are made of identical materials.

the latest addtion of my reference build collection is a new batch of sp-meteor white. this one took me a while, because i spent few weeks to test the new batch of stock sp-meteor white for the reported faults. well, nothing happened. i guess the vendor has fixed the reported key-chattering/stuck stem issues (afaik the incident that was similar to their kon momo)

compared to the previous sp-meteor white build, i don't use switch pads this time (previously ymdk poron 0.5mm switch pads), the lube for switches is 205g0 (previously home-brewed 101 + 205 mix), and the stabs are tx clip-in. there are differences in typing feel, mainly due to the the lube used. the effects of switch pads is not obvious if you used plate foams in a build, in terms of typing feels.

for now, the case used is a new tofu case (with 'kbdfans' engraved inside the case). they have also included silicon covers/cups for standoffs.

most of us came across this common plate-mounting cheatsheet.



source: https://thomasbaart.nl/2019/04/07/cheat-she...ounting-styles/

once you go through all of them, you will find that in terms of plate mounting styles, in their base forms, with respect to their effects on typing feels, custom kits can be grouped into two main categories:

1. 'firm/hard' typing feels: almost all plate mounting styles are in this category, except for gasket-mount kits.
2. 'soft' typing feels: in their original forms, gasket mount is the only member in the category.

usually, most kits support one of these base plate mounting styles only. however, there is a trend in the recent designs of more advanced kits. they can support multiple plate mounting styles. e.g., high65 supports leaf spring (tray mount), top mount, and gasket mount.

note that this is not new. however, it's good to see that designers are starting to pay attention to kit designs, and provide as many combinations as possible with a single kit. of course, on top of these common base plate mounting styles, designers can still implement enhancements to change typing feels, e.g., flex-cut and thinner pcb/plates. so, during kit selections, you should pay attention to the details of each part, so that you can get the right combinations for yourself.

edit: the truth is that kit selection will become easy after you have gone through basic stuff, and ways that parts/mods interacting with one another in mkb first-hand. it takes time to achieve this, mainly because you need time to get familiar with them. hence, just do this at your own pace.

This post has been edited by horns: Jul 19 2022, 12:17 PM

uh? how come? there are more users with split boards at mymkb.

for desoldering, it's fairly common to have solder leftovers. in my case,

1. i will feed new solder, then desolder. repeat a few times if necessary. usually flux in new solder is sufficient to help clear the leftovers.
2. alternatively, use flux in addition to new solder.
3. wick might also be able to help.

i use a cheapo cn-made soldering iron with t-12 tip (max desoldering temperature set to 300c), a pump (engineer ss-02), and 63/37 solder. i have desoldering wick and flux also, just in case. however, option 1 is usually sufficient in my case, which means the outcome is that i can pull out switches like using hotswap pcb.

another trick is to touch the joints with active soldering iron when you pull the switch out. this will help as well, but do it with caution, at least after you have done the above options.

note that i do all the above while sticking to basic rules of soldering/desoldering. patience is key, do not rush.

edit: also, make sure that you clean the desoldering pump up from time to time, especially when it cannot remove solder normally. usually i do a full maintenance after a job for a 60% to 65%.

This post has been edited by horns: Jul 22 2022, 12:02 PM

i meant fb/mechmarket. .. and discord also; you just reminded me haha

yeah split builds are niche, but i think there are always those who are interested in them. it's a good build, with good parts.

haha yeah i guess discord is a better place for you

i think asa profile is proprietary and owned by akko. i guess it's up to them to make something that you like in the future.

i got a mw65.q with pc plate, https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=675722485015

- the pcb is a 1.2mm flex-cut hotswap pcb with encoder support that can be used as a replacement pcb for kbd67lite, and vice versa.
- the encoder and knob are not provided, but can be purchased separately
- due to chip shortage, the revised pcb uses apm32f103 as mcu now.

the kit includes a poron plate foam, ixpe switch foam, and a poron case foam. via is working fine. it will detect the pcb automatically.

remember to stick the poron strips on the case instead of the plate. this way you don't need to get poron strips for each plate.

at that price point, it's a good deal to me.

edit:

the original post about behaviors of stock firmware, and previous failed attempts of firmware updates are in the spoiler.

since i thought it's very likely the incompatibility between firmware and bootloader caused the failed firmware updates, i gave another try with some mods in codes, based on https://github.com/zhaqian12/qmk_firmware/t...ds/zhaqian/gh60 (they have identical implementations, since the mcus used are clones of stm32f103)

i have fixed the qmk codes. with the mods, esc + plugging in cable and reset (QK_BOOT) are also fixed hehe



This post has been edited by horns: Jul 26 2022, 11:23 AM