buckling spring with cherry on top

[matt3o]

This would be ALPHA-1, just dremel work + epoxy glue, but the result is promising. Next step would be 3d print. Final step would be production...

Enjoy.

[Nuum]

Nice! Very promising. All those Cherry MX novelty keycaps that people have could find a new home on a sweet Buckling spring board.

[Halvar]

Very nice, that would be so great to have. How much higher than a normal BS key does the top of the cap come out actually?

[Muirium]

Indeed, looks tall. Can we see it when pressed down?

When considering this before, I've also worried about the whole curved backplate issue. Caps will all be packed closer together the taller they get.

[matt3o]

the keycap should be almost at the same height of the original one, maybe a pinch higher, but I could dig a little deeper into the stem and have it flush with the original.

keycaps could be tilted slightly if they hit each other. I don't know yet since I sold my last buckling few months ago. I find them once in while in a junk yard near here (for free)

[ماء]

interest alps version

[quantalume]

Nice! Very promising. All those Cherry MX novelty keycaps that people have could find a new home on a sweet Buckling spring board.

Yes, this would be a good use for all those non-sculpted Cherry keycaps which are annoyingly pervasive across group buys.

[Muirium]

Like, oh, DSA? Hmm… a Kishsaver in Granite!

[Madhias]

When considering this before, I've also worried about the whole curved backplate issue. Caps will all be packed closer together the taller they get.

That's what i also thought instantly - i had this issue with not correctly seated keycaps, and also when i did my first bolt mod some keys were touching each other. As i found out it was rather a beginners mistake, but the caps are really packed close together.

The Model M caps i measured right now are on the bottom about 18,5 x 19 mm.

[matt3o]

I wanted to thank madhias who volunteered his Model M to the cause. I received the keyboard few days ago and I'm ready to 3d print the beta 1 of the slider Crossing fingers, let me know if you spot any issue.

[Muirium]

Beaut!

How deep is the MX "socket"?

[matt3o]

4.5mm

I think I should make the hole slightly bigger to better fit novelties

[Muirium]

Probably a good idea.

How many are you prototyping? And are you looking for testers? If they work well, these would be a bigger deal than MX on Topre for me and all my IBMs…

[chzel]

Maybe also make the "platform" smaller? Novelties seem to have a bit too thick walls.
Is the platform really necessary? I guess it helps with stability?

[Muirium]

If it can fit Mr. Beardsmore's wingnut, the chances are good it'll fit anything! That's one unique cap, I've found.

[matt3o]

the platform actually stops the key. The barrel hits the platform and stops the key travel. I believe it's pretty important, but I could do a version without it to see if it works anyway (in that case the barrel would hit the keycap itself.

I'll probably run a small batch of 20. I'll send some samples to selected parties

[snoopy]

I already dream of vader on one of my ibms...

[Madhias]

It will be very fascinating to try different caps on BS keyboards!

Without the platform you probably would have to use glue? A "you have to have balls" sliders edition?

[matt3o]

I don't know how it would feel without that platform. I don't think you need glue though

[Muirium]

Really looking forward to this. I wonder, now this is probably just crazy, if damping would make any sense whatsoever with buckling spring? You know what I'm thinking: something like and o ring on the way down and a Type-S Topre collar for the upstroke. Does this make any sense? I am probably just overthinking this, believe it or not…

[matt3o]

noise from BS comes from so many places that I wouldn't even know where to start from silencing it Definitely a buffer under the top platform would be a nice start

[Muirium]

Annotated image: Blue is downstroke, red is upstroke.

Dampers.png (65.45 KiB) Viewed 12039 times

I think damping the upstroke would be interesting, as I like the effect it has on Alps and Topre. Perhaps buckling spring would sound more snappy with damped clacks? I need to think about that.

[chzel]

Damping the upstroke is more complicated I believe, there must be some "slap" from the flipper contributing to the noise

[Muirium]

That's true. And we shouldn't forget about our good friend the spring! I am intrigued by all the different moving parts involved, though.

[matt3o]

the barrel hits the top platform only. The small step you pointed with the second arrow is just for reinforcement.

The upstroke needs to be dampened from the inside of the keyboard I think (and not from the slider itself). But noise also comes from the spring and the BS "pivot plate".

[Hypersphere]

This could be major. Looking forward to further updates!

[matt3o]

order placed. I'll let you know in 10 days or so.

[Muirium]

Another item for the list: Things That Shipped Before Round 5.

[quantalume]

order placed. I'll let you know in 10 days or so.

Who is doing the printing?

[matt3o]

shapeways