[orders closed] 2x unit Plate mount Cherry stabs

[HzFaq]

If anyone is interested I got some 1.6mm wire in today and have successfully (after a fashion) made myself a 6unit spacebar wire so if anyone wants me to make them one I can include it with your order. They are a little delicate but seem to work fine.

pm me or let me know here in the thread if you want me to add one to your order, no charge, and I'll make them to order.

[Muirium]

Awesome! Reckon you could do 4.0 units? I have a couple on order in Round 5…



Until now, I hadn't a plan for stabilising them. Obi-wan, you're my only hope!

[Pipe]

I need one 7u wire for a spacebar, but I don't want to bother you making one just for me.

[HzFaq]

I'll have a go at both tonight, are the dimensions for the 4 unit one anywhere?

[Pipe]

Thanks, HzFaq.

[Muirium]

Thanks indeed. And good question. I don't have any yet to measure, so I'll ask 7bit to see if he has a clue. What I do have is another small space bar from the same SA family, which is for non-matrix Tipros. Perhaps it'll be a fair guide, I'll dig it out.

[HzFaq]

The dims are in the wiki, I was just being lazy and didn't look. Worst comes to the worst I'll just send you a length of wire and you can make it yourself, they aren't all that hard as long as you get the bends lined up.

[Muirium]

Ah, phew. Good to see we're spared guesswork!

Checking my Round 5 order I actually have 4 of these 4.0u space bars ordered (gotta catch 'em all…) and a single 4.5u just for the OCD of it. So if you get into a groove, I can give them a good home!

By the way: do Cherry plate mount stabs take different wires from Cherry PCB mount stabs? I have a few of the latter already. But none with oddball lengths, of course.

[HzFaq]

The only difference that I can see is (on the spacebars) that the plate mounted wires don't have a little kink that goes around the switch casing (you can see the kink in Ripsters picture halfway down the page in the link below). I found out that this is because the kink will either interfere with the PCB or plate (depending which way the wire is) and is the reason that I looked at getting some wire to make my own!

The 2unit plate mount wires look identical to the PCB mount ones, and actually, the inserts that the wire goes into on the newer stabs is the same as well, it's only the outer casing that clips into the plate that is different.

I have some older plate mount stabs that use a different insert that doesn't have the little supporting legs that are present on the (newer) plate mounted stabs and the standard PCB mounted ones; presumably they changed to using the same inserts as a cost cutting excersise at some point. The little supporting legs are the ones that are cut off in this thread and is a mod that I would highly recommend as it totally changes the feel of Cherry stabs, making them super awesome IMO.

[Muirium]

I see, this kink:



You know me: I'm doing this for custom builds. With plates and (this time) pcbs that are built for purpose. So I'm flexible. What I'm up to is keeping options open.

About the clipping mod: you say it makes the stabs feel super sweet. How? Do they slide more like Costars do or is it something quite different?

[HzFaq]

Thats the kink yeah, and sorry, I didn't realise that thread was as cluster-fucky as that, I guess it shows the healing power of time...

The pic should help show the mod and what it does.



The insert on the right has 2 legs per side, the one on the left has had the legs clipped. These legs are there to lower the impact of the stabilizer insert on the PCB when typing so intentionally "mush" the bottom out on stabilized keys so that the inserts aren't slamming against the PCB all day. If you cut the legs off, the mushyness goes away and the stabilized keys feel (more or less) exactly the same as the non-stabilized keys.

The 2nd part to the mod is to put some gaffa tape either on the bottom of the insert or on the PCB itself to reduce the impact damage to the PCB, but to be honest, I never bothered with that and have been using boards with this mod done on them for ages with no ill affect.

[Muirium]

Gotcha. I'll give it a shot on one and see how it goes. Applies to PCB mount only, I assume? As without a PCB to sit on, they are just vestigial.

How do plate mount Cherry stabs feel then… insta-awesome?

[HzFaq]

Applies to both; PCB mount stabs sit directly on the PCB whereas the plate mount ones hang off the plate and the base rests on the PCB more or less. It's kind of hard to describe, but the PCB mount stabs are mounted directly on the PCB and stand up a little, whereas the plate mounted ones sit flush with the plate and hang down towards the PCB (think of it like stalactites and stalagmites).

I was running a combination of plate mount Cherry's and Costar on my Phantom and I couldn't really tell the difference whilst typing; the Costars are a little more rattley and the Cherry was a little smoother I found but aside from that the difference is minor (as long as the legs are clipped on the Cherry's of course ).

[Muirium]

Seeing as I like standard PCB mount Cherry stabs over Costars too, I'll be happy either which way. The convenience every time you change caps wins for me. So I'll definitely have a shot. Cheers Hz!

[rindorbrot]

I'd take one of each of the following lengths, if you make them: 4u, 6.25u, 7u, thanks!

Also modded Cherry stabilizers are my favourite, too!

[Muirium]

Actually, good point. I'd like a regular old 6.25 for plate mount in the mix too, please!

[collector of junk]

I used copper wire from ring mains the lighting one its a bit thinner works well enough
plus copper easy to put right if you go wrong
or use the copper ones as templates for the steel ones !!

[HzFaq]

Good shout CoJ, the stuff I'm using is crafting wire which...well, is soft as shite to be honest. It's the right thickness, fits in both the inserts and the clips perfectly, just not rigid enough for my liking.

I can make a wire that fits, and does the job of stabilizing the switch but I'm kind of worried about repeated cap-swaps which is why I'm not charging anything for these. I'm moving house in the next month or so, so any further experiments won't be until after then, but hopefully with the repeated trips to DIY stores associated with the move I can find something a little more suitable.

[HzFaq]

Right chaps, sorry for the lack of movement on this, had a few A&E trips this week (nothing serious) so I've been a little pre-occupied. I've got all the orders bagged up, packed and ready to go out and I should have an afternoon off this week to get the stuff posted.

[HzFaq]

Ok, everyone's packets went out today, Royal Mail first class except for Muirium's because I couldn't find a tape measure for the 4u wire...

Let me know when they start turning up.

[Muirium]

Thanks, Hz. No rush on mine. They're waiting on Round 5 to come to see some action!

[collector of junk]

me too in no hurry always good to have spares
many thanks for this gb

[rindorbrot]

mine arrived today, thanks HzFaq!

[Broadmonkey]

I've also got mine, thanks a lot HzFaq! I can't wait to finally get try these out!

[HzFaq]

Glad to hear it guys, don't forget to trim those legs off for extra awesome.

[Broadmonkey]

Ah yes, regarding clipping the stabilizers. If you haven't already read it in the thread HzFaq linked to, I found that I preferred the spacebar stabs to retain some of the protruding legs, like this:

[thoast]

Mine arrived yesterday - thanks a lot HzFaq!!

[Kurk]

Arrived. Thanks for organising this!

[collector of junk]

mine too
many thanks for this mini gb .I wound do it again if anyone "needs help" etc

[scottc]

Hey HzFaq, would it be possible for you to make a couple of 6U Costar-compatible wires in this way?