Alps plate spring custom build log (finished)

[Sup]

please pin this.

[scottc]

I want to lick it.

What chassis is that, btw?

edit: LZ CLS apparently, nice!

[snacksthecat]

Beautiful!

edit: requesting typing vid!!!!

Let me see if I can lube these in place. They bind like crazy right now.

[snacksthecat]

This is my crude method of lubing

Laugh if you want but there's no way I was going to open all these switches. I opened a few out of curiosity and it is not something I wanted to do 86 times!

[ZedTheMan]

This is the method I used with some really scratchy SMK vintage linears. It can be surprisingly effective.

How's it helping those Alps plate springs?

[snacksthecat]

This is the method I used with some really scratchy SMK vintage linears. It can be surprisingly effective.

How's it helping those Alps plate springs?

It helped quite a bit on these as well! Here's a typing video

[Laser]

Cool stuff! You need to redo the typing demo after @scottc licks it!

[snacksthecat]

I'm unfortunately still not happy with the binding issue. The PTFE spray stuff helped a little but it's still very noticeable.



I'm going to double down on the lube approach and try another kind. I really don't want to have to resort to opening these up if cleaning is needed. I also am not familiar with how these switches feel at their best. The board I desoldered them from was quite dusty which should have been an obvious red flag for me. Oh well, more fiddling.

[snacksthecat]

This time I'm using this "Smooth Kote" gun lube stuff. Some post I came across on one of the forums recommended this (or gun lube in general... can't recall).



It has a nice fine needle applicator which makes it really easy to get into tight spots. One downside to this stuff, though, is that it is black so if you're attached to the clean look, this may not be for you.

[Polecat]

This time I'm using this "Smooth Kote" gun lube stuff. Some post I came across on one of the forums recommended this (or gun lube in general... can't recall).

It has a nice fine needle applicator which makes it really easy to get into tight spots. One downside to this stuff, though, is that it is black so if you're attached to the clean look, this may not be for you.

Beware of any lube, wet or dry, that contains graphite (which is dark gray or black). Graphite is conductive, and may cause erratic switch behavior. I'd suggest to test first by applying some lube to a scrap of paper or cardboard and checking it with an ohmmeter. If you get a reading less than "infinite" your lube is conductive!

[snacksthecat]

I'm working on a new PCB, modified to support multiple layouts this time. The problem I'm having is that sometimes the pads are intersecting, and I'm not sure if that's okay.

This is Hasu's APS footprint:


Does anyone know if the circled solid pads functionally do anything? Again, sometimes these pads are intersecting w/ pads 1 and 2 in my PCB layout and I want to figure out if this is an okay design decision or if it will create an issue.

THANKS!

[pizza_is_a_lie]

No rest for the wicked. Love this stuff mate.

[EnthusiastDude]

So did the "smooth kote" lube solve the binding issue? I own a P70 keyboard which was very clean when I bought it, but I notice a tiny bit of binding as well and I wonder if lubing completely solves this or just helps with more dirty switches.

[EnthusiastDude]

And did the lube affect the sound in any way?

[andrewjoy]

Would love to know how your lube worked .

[snacksthecat]

Sorry for necro.

Sorry for spam.

Sorry for filesize.

Sorry, sorry, sorry!!!

Now that that's out of the way, here's a pretty gif of this keyboard getting some fresh air.

[kelvinhall05]

Snacks, I got a question for ya...making my own (much simpler) plate spring build/pcb, and I am planning on using pcb-mount switches. How would I handle stabilizers? Do these just use normal Alps stabs? How do I add those to the PCB? Thanks

[snacksthecat]

Snacks, I got a question for ya...making my own (much simpler) plate spring build/pcb, and I am planning on using pcb-mount switches. How would I handle stabilizers? Do these just use normal Alps stabs? How do I add those to the PCB? Thanks

Hmm, that's a interesting question, and it's really going to depend on what your specific plans are. For me, I took everything from a keyboard that had plate mounted switches, so I didn't really give it any thought at the time. But if you're using PCB mount, I believe you have two options:

#1. Use whatever mechanism PCB mount APS keyboards use (I'm sorry I don't know ). I'm pretty clueless as to what those boards used, but I'll look a bit online and see if I can find some info. Or someone else can chime in and drop some knowledge on us.

#2. A different approach for doing the build with the PCB mounted switches is to still have a plate. The switches aren't clipped in, since they don't have clips. But you'd add aligned cutout holes between the PCB and plate in order to do a bolt mod. I like this approach for a few reasons. First of all, a plate feels nice IMO. It also enables you to have plate mounted stabilizer clips. Here is an example from user Delirious

Did you harvest these things from a keyboard yourself, or did you buy everything in parts? Just wondering what option #1 might look like.

[kelvinhall05]

Snacks, I got a question for ya...making my own (much simpler) plate spring build/pcb, and I am planning on using pcb-mount switches. How would I handle stabilizers? Do these just use normal Alps stabs? How do I add those to the PCB? Thanks

Hmm, that's a interesting question, and it's really going to depend on what your specific plans are. For me, I took everything from a keyboard that had plate mounted switches, so I didn't really give it any thought at the time. But if you're using PCB mount, I believe you have two options:

#1. Use whatever mechanism PCB mount APS keyboards use (I'm sorry I don't know ). I'm pretty clueless as to what those boards used, but I'll look a bit online and see if I can find some info. Or someone else can chime in and drop some knowledge on us.

#2. A different approach for doing the build with the PCB mounted switches is to still have a plate. The switches aren't clipped in, since they don't have clips. But you'd add aligned cutout holes between the PCB and plate in order to do a bolt mod. I like this approach for a few reasons. First of all, a plate feels nice IMO. It also enables you to have plate mounted stabilizer clips. Here is an example from user Delirious

Did you harvest these things from a keyboard yourself, or did you buy everything in parts? Just wondering what option #1 might look like.

Well I actually got a loose pcb mount switch in from SneakyRobb with an M0116 and loved it so much I just built a pcb around it. I already had a PCB made ("focus58"; focus layout, wkl, 60%, Alps SKCM/SKCL only) so all I did was make a copy of that, change the switch footprints, and reroute the traces.

Anyway, it seems like I will likely only be able to use PCB mount, and I would love to be able to use the keycaps and stabs from a Focus 2001 or similar.

[snacksthecat]

Well I actually got a loose pcb mount switch in from SneakyRobb with an M0116 and loved it so much I just built a pcb around it. I already had a PCB made ("focus58"; focus layout, wkl, 60%, Alps SKCM/SKCL only) so all I did was make a copy of that, change the switch footprints, and reroute the traces.

Anyway, it seems like I will likely only be able to use PCB mount, and I would love to be able to use the keycaps and stabs from a Focus 2001 or similar.

That's cool, but really wondering what options you have for stabilizers if that's the case. I mean, you could try cutting/drilling the PCB, but I don't have experience with that so can't say how difficult it is. Or you could glue the stabilizer clips to the PCB I suppose. It's a bit of a hack but would probably work fine. In any case, I look forward to seeing how it turns out

[SneakyRobb]

These are the stabilizers on the broken PCB P70 I got.

I could remove them and then model them for 3d printing from something like Shapeways.

The original ones are plastic melt riveted but you could have ones that clip in. That way they would be optimal height

[snacksthecat]

Robb: *gives actual solution*
Me: durrrr use glue t(〃⊙౪⊙〃)/

[SneakyRobb]

Robb: *gives actual solution*
Me: durrrr use glue t(〃⊙౪⊙〃)/

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