How Can You Repurpose Monterey Blues?

[JinzoDefiler]

Switches are switches. Alps and MX are both simple "ohmic" switches (as Xwhatsit calls them, to distinguish them from capacitative switches like Topre). That means they conduct when pressed down, and insulate when they're not. Nothing complex about it.

But drilling? What??

I thought it was a mounting issue in being you know a wrong size. If the pinout is different Id make a custom PCB with some veroboard.I am also talking about board mount. as in they all have to link together somehow. I've drilled out pcbs before with no issue also to get rid of solder too stuck in holes. I had to do it recently on an old Technics receiver with flat pinned transistors to fit more modern ones that had the exact same stats electrically.

[Magna224]

If you want something in the shape of the M0116, buy one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/301862008680

The “made in Taiwan” type have tactile white SMK (“monterey”) switches.

The only downside is that the double-shot keycaps they used have stems which are too fat, causing SMK switches to bind. If you can find one of the “made in Japan” orange Alps version of the same keyboard, the dyesub keycaps from those work much better with SMK switches, while the double-shot caps work fine on Alps switches.

@jacobolus So are these the caps you're thinking of that might accommodate the Monterey Blue switches? I'm hoping I can transplant the SMK blues onto this board (are those SMK whites--along with a sod farm from the '80s).

I just did that swap. I didn't like the whites. I'm not sure if it was because they were old and dirty or if whatever makes the click that adds the better feel.

[E3E]

Are they electrically the same to alps? Cause if its an issue of fitting in the mounting holes you can always buy a pcb drill bit and dril; them to fit. If you can go this route make sure you buy extras cause you will break these bits if you use a hand drill. I use a piece of wood and rest the edge of the drill on that vertically. makes the hole straight and you wont put as much tension on the bit.

https://www.adafruit.com/products/2118
All youd have to do after is make scrape a little solder mas off.

I've used a dremel drill press and carbide bits for the four hotswap Alps mods I've done on my boards, the Duck Eagle, another Duck Eagle, a Duck Orion v2 w/ Alps PCB, and a Duck Lightpad. The holtite sockets that are large enough to allow hotswapping for Alps pins are too big for the through holes so you have to bore them out.

I also created extra layout positions on the Duck Eagles since a standard bottom row and HHKB style right shift + 1 were not supported. Also ensured EVERY stepping variety for the Caps Locks were supported.

What I'm trying to say is that it's not too hard to drill new positions in the PCB and get everything working. You just need patience. Make sure that you don't accidentally connect the ground plane to the pins, or you'll be having a lot of headaches.

I was actually inspired by someone on reddit who modded their TK QFR to use Monterey switches and manually drilled the positions for them. Kudos to him!

[elecplus]

What are Duck boards?

[jacobolus]

Drilling an MX PCB to support SMK switches seems like a lot of work. If you can’t get an SMK-compatible PCB, It would be easier to just hand wire IMO.

[E3E]

Drilling an MX PCB to support SMK switches seems like a lot of work. If you can’t get an SMK-compatible PCB, It would be easier to just hand wire IMO.

Yeah, it definitely is hell to do the hotswap mods, but that's even more work in and of itself. Drilling wouldn't be as bad except for the possibility of the switches not being secure and ripping out if you pull a cap (unless SMK switches have secure retaining tabs). Holtite modding a PCB, at least when you have to widen holes can be really tedious and frustrating. I had to troubleshoot a ton before everything worked 100%, every time.

You're right though. I think you'd be better off using an MX plate and handwiring. Convenient too, since SMK and MX can fit in the same plates.

What are Duck boards?

They are custom produced boards from Korea that come in heavyweight aluminum cases and are usually a bit flashy:









This is a PCB from one of the Duck Eagle boards, but it was put in a Hammer case, which was a custom designed cased produced in China. High quality, but there were a lot of knock offs sold after the legitimate group buy. This one is genuine though.



This last one is a different PCB (still a Duck Eagle) and plate itself; I still need to find a proper case for it. It's been sitting stored away as I've been waiting for a particular case to become available.

I didn't have any of the original Duck cases for the Eagles, I just bought the PCBs because they had Alps compatibility + backlighting, really.

[elecplus]

Beautiful boards!

[E3E]

Beautiful boards!

Thanks, Cindy! I don't have as big of a custom collection as some, but I'm very happy with what I have.

[Redmaus]

What was the numpad in the first image? Is the Orion you have alps or cherry?

All really nice boards, currently attempting to do something similar with a V80 since its PCB is LED compatible.

[E3E]

What was the numpad in the first image? Is the Orion you have alps or cherry?

All really nice boards, currently attempting to do something similar with a V80 since its PCB is LED compatible.

Thanks! Oh, they are all Alps aside from the Octagon with Jukebox which uses Vintage MX Blacks w/ 62g SPRiT springs. Dyed Dell AT101 PBT caps on the black Orion and the keypad (Duck Lightpad).

The Hammer Alps board has all backlit SKCL Green and the other two have Alps SKCM Blue w/ SKCL Brown for the in-switch indicators LEDs.

They're all hotswap modded except the Octagon, but I'm pretty much just using the mod for ease of maintenance at the moment. It is nice if you want to eventually swap out all of the switches and try something new. but I'm really happy with the current switches that are in the boards.

The Orion v2 Alps PCB is actually not LED compatible aside from the indicators and RGB LEDs, so it's a much darker board than my Hammer Alps 60%.

The Lightpad could use backlighting on each switch though, but with the blues, I'm only keeping it to the numlock and layer indicators.