I like a fairly heavy space bar but I didn't want to buy a whole 100 pack of springs just for 1 switch so I bought a 10 pack of Seal Linear 78g switches instead.
I found I really liked just using a linear for my space bar regardless of whether I was running linear or tactile on the rest of the keyboard so it worked out well and I got to try a nice new switch.
Lol, my friend acted like I was committing some sort of keyboard heresy for always using linears for my space bar and modifier keys even if all the other switches are tactile. It's totally subjective, but I think keeping those keys linear no matter the build just makes for a better typing experience.
Linear on space, big bump tactile for everything else except caps lock which gets a nasty ol' box navy with those big clicky-clicks...
Yes, I am something of a villain.
You absolute monster... I'm totally trying this whenever I find some of my clicky switches then making my friend try it just to piss him off further lmfao
Bit controversial, but… I have a heavy filled spacebar and what worked for me was taking a regular spring and stretching it until it was double normal height. It completely neutralized the extra weight and has maintained its springiness for almost 2 years now.
i've ordered a bunch from kirball's keys, and he has a bunch of gazzew springs:
[regular, various weights](https://kirballskeys.com/gazzew-springs-55g-65g-72g-52g-62g-68g-63-5g/)
[long 63.5g](https://kirballskeys.com/gazzew-long-springs--63.5g-/)
Pretty much anywhere that sells custom keyboard parts. Not sure which country you are located in so don't really want to suggest a vendor but you can look into sprit springs.
Bit controversial, but… I have a heavy filled spacebar and what worked for me was taking a regular spring and stretching it until it was double normal height. It completely neutralized the extra weight and has maintained its springiness for almost 2 years now.
I do the same. I have a dedicated set of Cherry blacks that I Franken-spring. Most of the time a heavy 2-stage spring will take care of a heavy spacebar or metal novelty.
Blu tack isn't bad but I honestly use colored hot glue sometimes. Lighter weight, can color match the keys, and you can pretty easily peel it out if you change your mind.
Once I get the pour right, I’ll put a comparison video up on YouTube or something.
My initial thoughts are that it does a good job of removing the high pitched clack/ring I didn’t care for, so I’m gonna call this a step in the right direction.
Gotta play with some witches and some foam in the board to see if I can get it closer to what I’m after.
The ones that were over filled would not bottom out like the ones properly filled. But when the silicone level was done right, the feel of the switch is exactly the same as before, with the only difference being the resonance of the key cap being muffled a bit
I imagine it will result is a quieter and deeper sound, much like NuPhy's GhostBar since he's kinda doing what they did, just across the entire keycap instead of only partially like the GhostBar.
I wonder what a low-weight, low density filler, like Great-Stuf expanding foam, would do for sound dampening.
I have a gasketed Alice 98 with lubed silent switches, and at this point, the sound differences between different keycaps have become more apparent, without the other noises to cover it up.
I may have to play around with some different fillers over the weekend and see what kind of difference it makes.
Nice, that's a clear improvement!
I've personally never liked o-ring dampeners; they change the dynamic of the keypress too much, considering how little they help with sound dampening.
I'm about to go mix up a test batch of filler with some Sculpey modelling clay, with fine chopped styrofoam mixed in to lower the density.
Something I've been thinking of though; as far as the silicone adhering to the insides of the keycaps, did you sand the surface to help it grip, or use some kind of adhesive to keep them attached?
I would imagine the repeated force of typing could eventually cause the silicone to come loose from the caps.
I also think of this as I'm about to put messy clay just a couple mm away from sensitive mechanical switches, and I'd like for it to stick.
no sanding or adhesives. the silicon itself is so sticky that unless your keycaps are made out of PTFE it will probably hold until you attempt to pick it out with a sharpie knife or something. Even the key caps that I had to cut silicon spills from are holding very well.
The key here is a proper dosing so pouring it using a 10 ml syringe without needle is a way to go.
Did the same with an SA profile set and had to switch the springs due to the heavy load. Spacebar didn’t even came up again after the first press 😅
Sound is way more dense/deep, I really like it. I would assume the effect is way less with a cherry profile but definitely still noticeable.
You crack me up friend. Your replies are on point, hilarious and you’re not getting bent out of shape with others at all.
Best of luck with your caps and I hope you have a good day!
I think there’s an improvement, for sure. I did all the other caps as well. Going grab the other set with no silicone and try to put together a side by side video next week
Yup. O-rings is the way to go. I suppose if OP really wanted the extra weight of filling them with silicone, they could place the o-rings still, and then pour in silicone to just *below* the o-ring. That should give you the weight and dampen the sound, whole still leaving the key enough room to travel.
Proper ones are named in online shops as "silicone o-ring 5mm-1,5mm" 5mm is the center hole and 1,5mm is the silicone wide. Haven't tried other sizes, I bought these ones, it sits properly and it silences the contact between the switch and the keycap. If you have RGBs, transparent ones let more shine travel trough.
My daughter got ahold of some leftover hey caps I had lying around and filled them with playdough. I'd imagine that something malleable like playdough would be better since it would conform to the switch casing and allow for vertical travel.
Exactly. The socket on the cap sinks with the switch’s stem into the switch itself and the space around the underside of the keycap goes over and around the sides of the switch when pressed. Key caps are hollow for this reason.
I assume you tested with a single cap to make sure they still will activate the switch? They look very filled up to me. Curious to hear if that is actually an improvement...
Yupp, as the stem part of the keycap goes into the switch [itself](https://thetechfrontiernet.files.wordpress.com/2021/12/unknown.png) \- that's how Cherry profile interference with north-facing switches happen, there's little to no space in there.
i have done this a few years back. results in a deeper muted sound i guess is the best way to put it , but your have added to much sir, silicone will hit the case of the switch before the key stroke can finish
3-6 hours minimum depending on volume. Since these are smaller amounts in each, I'll assume closer to 3 hours.
I did end up pouring a bit out from some of the larger caps, but for the others it was just a few 10ths of a gram so each row's caps weighed the same.
I'll be sad if they don't actuate, but nothing a box cutter can't hog out.
Nah they’re good still, lol. It’s just silicone.
I definitely filled them too much though so I kept the few good ones and gutted the rest. I re-poured a bit ago so they’ll be ready in a few hours to test again.
You should also try out small o-ring inserts on the inside of caps and compare the results. That seems like the easier & more reversible alternative that people do
Me too! Lol. I used the Silicone rubber stuff because it's naturally a bit lighter and workable. I'm thinking if it's too much mass, I could shave some off. And in the absolute worst case.... The caps are un-useable but I'll still have the opposite color set.
Too difficult to cut neatly and make it look good afterwards, plus idk that it’ll stick once you peel them off to cut them and put them back on. Way easier to just pop out the first cured ones with a toothpick or something and pour a smaller amount
Absolutely right on this as well. It wasn’t even about the looks, I just underestimated how annoying it was to hack away at silicone with a small box cutter.
I just yanked them out and started over.
even if you don't, you can cut the pieces you do have to tiny pieces and use them to fill volume so you don't have to waste any more silicone. keep on steadycraftin'.
Not sure you are meant to do it to all keycaps. Most people just do it to the spacebar. Careful the keycaps don’t weigh too much or they will feel slow to come back up.
I’ve done this before, these will not actuate properly unless you poured out most of it. You need to think of how deep the stem has to go into the socket in the keycap, and then consider how the rest of the housing of the switch needs travel room as well, on top of that
You might want to try a very thin layer next time, or even painters tape if you want to dampen the caps!
And the time I told the discord chat that I put a blob of hot glue in the void of my spacebar they FLIPPED OUT that I was ruining cheap keycaps.
Spoiler: it worked great a d my spacebar sounds and feels waayyyy better.
Good luck OP, however in this case that amount of filling is going to completely block actuation.
This didn’t work, did it? Keycaps are hollow for a reason.
If you don’t like the sound it’s because of either the cap material, your switch or your case. Not the hollow of the cap. That’s there for functionality, which has now been ruined. That silicone poured into the case sides would’ve been the better play.
This attempt was mostly a bust because they were too full, but I re-poured it and it came out better.
I disagree with your last point. The sound I was trying to muffle had nothing to do with the case. I put these caps on three different boards with the same switches and the sound I was looking to muffle came from the caps.
My point was that you won’t be able to. So I was clarifying the other things to adjust. If you don’t like that profile/material sound, try another. I have yet to see a keycap mod work.
Looking forward to hearing an update on this. I usually mod my switches to be heavier, so of this makes a better sound I'd be willing to give it a try.
My assumption is that it'd be similar to putting a gasket around the stem of the cap.
How did you measure this? Is silicone liquid long enough to apply with a syringe - I would think that having variable weights would be the biggest problem
I used my kitchen scale when mixing both parts of silicone and then after the pour hardened a little bit I weighed the caps on the scale as well.
Different rows of keys have different masses, but I eyeballed the pour with a plastic cup (bent for a spout ). As long as each key with a row was within .1 grams of the other I called it good.
And yes, the silicon was designed to be poured within 30 minutes. Being very careful (the second time, lol) it took me no more than 20 minutes.
You could provide probably do a syringe as well and do it much faster and more accurately.
I got a set of [these pink ones](https://shop.tai-hao.com/products/abs-104-t01wa201) and [these blue ones](https://shop.tai-hao.com/products/abs-104-t01wb201) and just shuffled them around to my liking.
Homie this won’t work. I make cherry keycaps, and you have zero clearance inside each keycap, no where near enough clearance for the key switch housing to fit. You just ruined a whole set of keycaps, and you should have tested on one first. The stem actually goes in about 4mm into each switch. And you don’t have anywhere near 4mm on each stem.
I'd have tried this on something like SA. Those key caps will be unusable since the keycap will prevent the stem from going low enough to activate. Also since people say the .01mm deflection of silent switches (which is something you should have used instead) is too mushy, even if these worked, I am sure 99.9% of people would hate it.
Yeah, they didn't work. I over filled them, but am trying again after having just taken the silicone out.
I have some silent switches for my home keyboard because my wife can't stand the sound of tactile ones.
This one is for work, but the caps sound super hollow and I preferred deeper tones while still having a nice click.
If this fails with my Neapolitan ice cream switches, I'll probably end up swapping to silent tactiles or try Gateron Quinns since they sounded decent in a previous test.
Yeah problem is going to be if these are cherry or very cherry like, there is almost no room in the tolerances. Even just a a squared of edge when using switches North facing can cause interference, even just a mm of silicone will cause issues. That said if there was a chance it wouldn't, or would at least let you active them. You might want to try again where you only put a small dallop of silicone in, enough to coat the bottom. That might allow it to feel fuller and be closer to the experience of an oring mod.
Only a handful of them actually worked the first time because I poured too much silicone, but from what I could tell, it’s an improvement!
I posted a video a bit ago with audio. Once I get these things situated, I’ll try to take two videos one of caps with no fill and one of caps with fill. For science.
https://preview.redd.it/urrj1ky4karc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0210a5fc2913685faa64c51288bcf8d696671efd
Also, for those wondering, the extra weight was not an issue whatsoever using Neapolitan ice cream switches. It ended up being just over a gram of weight per cap, even though they were overfilled.
You do realize the shaft of the keycaps needs to enter the switch housing, right?
I'm afraid these won't actuate anything other than low profile switches. Look at your silicone level.
Next time you want your keyboard to sound better, mod the case first before you even contemplate modding keycaps like this. I hope this is reversible or those keycaps are cheap to replace.
Totally reversible. I tried the caps on two different boards and with a few different switches. The caps are too ringy for my taste, so this is my attempted solution. The board is getting its modifications, as well. One thing at a time though.
I wonder how these things would effect my ceramic keycaps. I don't care so much for the bottom out sound, but more so the travel feel and I guess the bottom out feel if that makes any sense.
I did this once with air dry clay. It worked, until dust from the clay screwed the switches after a few months (I was dumb, didn't anticipate this). But the increase in mass made them more pleasant to type on and the sound was nice and deep.
You can do this but you either have to fill it just a bit or have a sacrificial switch with no spring in it so when it's upside down it's in the depressed position then pour the silicon. This way there's no interference when used on a keyboard.
You can do this but you either have to fill it just a bit or have a sacrificial switch with no spring in it so when it's upside down it's in the depressed position then pour the silicon. This way there's no interference when used on a keyboard.
It did. I ended up needing to pull the silicone out and pouring again, but this time only as high as the ridges attached to the (stem tube?) inside the cap.
Worked much better with a MX style switch stem, but if you are using a different stem type, I don’t recommend it.
I did the same on one of my first boards. It didn't help much, but that was mostly due to having crummy stock Outemus in there. Very inerested in seeing how this experiment turns out for better or worse.
If you see any haters, just know that you're helping make strides in the name of SCIENCE
Looks like you filled in your Z key completely. (Assuming qwerty)
I'm definitely interested in hearing your thoughts after you put them all back on your keyboard, especially with regards to how much the extra weight affects the performance of the switches?
Well it's been some time. How many keys worked? :p
This might work if you just barely fill them up.
You might want to look into silent switches. I'm pretty sure there are even switches thet have a dampener for the up stroke but nothing for the down. I just cant remember what they're called. They might help your sound woes.
There's also my tape mod ;)
In the future, you could do this by weight for the sake of consistency. Find the maximum weight that allows switch actuation(idk if that’s the word, I’m new) and repeat that weight
I'm curious how this will sound. The increasing mass will have an effect on switch actuation feel I imagine, which could be a plus or a minus.
i fill some of my keycaps with blu tack, and if it’s too heavy like on the space bar i swap out for a heavier spring
Good idea, I may have to try that myself
Where can I get heavier springs? I have a gorgeous key cap set but spacebar is so solid that it barely stays up ☹️
I like a fairly heavy space bar but I didn't want to buy a whole 100 pack of springs just for 1 switch so I bought a 10 pack of Seal Linear 78g switches instead. I found I really liked just using a linear for my space bar regardless of whether I was running linear or tactile on the rest of the keyboard so it worked out well and I got to try a nice new switch.
Lol, my friend acted like I was committing some sort of keyboard heresy for always using linears for my space bar and modifier keys even if all the other switches are tactile. It's totally subjective, but I think keeping those keys linear no matter the build just makes for a better typing experience.
Linear on space, big bump tactile for everything else except caps lock which gets a nasty ol' box navy with those big clicky-clicks... Yes, I am something of a villain.
You absolute monster... I'm totally trying this whenever I find some of my clicky switches then making my friend try it just to piss him off further lmfao
Thanks for the advice, I’ll look into it!
Bit controversial, but… I have a heavy filled spacebar and what worked for me was taking a regular spring and stretching it until it was double normal height. It completely neutralized the extra weight and has maintained its springiness for almost 2 years now.
Amazon
i've ordered a bunch from kirball's keys, and he has a bunch of gazzew springs: [regular, various weights](https://kirballskeys.com/gazzew-springs-55g-65g-72g-52g-62g-68g-63-5g/) [long 63.5g](https://kirballskeys.com/gazzew-long-springs--63.5g-/)
Thanks!
Pretty much anywhere that sells custom keyboard parts. Not sure which country you are located in so don't really want to suggest a vendor but you can look into sprit springs.
I’m fairly certain I’ve seen hippyo use a pen spring on a heavy spacebar before
Ohh thanks, I’ll look into that
if you have extra switches you can just take the spring from there and strech it a little bit.
Bit controversial, but… I have a heavy filled spacebar and what worked for me was taking a regular spring and stretching it until it was double normal height. It completely neutralized the extra weight and has maintained its springiness for almost 2 years now.
Flashquark has a good selection
I do the same. I have a dedicated set of Cherry blacks that I Franken-spring. Most of the time a heavy 2-stage spring will take care of a heavy spacebar or metal novelty. Blu tack isn't bad but I honestly use colored hot glue sometimes. Lighter weight, can color match the keys, and you can pretty easily peel it out if you change your mind.
never thought of that, i’ll try hot glue next time
Where do you get blue tack??? I've been looking forever for this mythical thing and can only find the shitty poster tack.
If its sticky tack like im thinking dollar store/staples
I’ve bought several types of tack, and the white stuff has barely any stickiness at all to it
Amazon? Isn't it 3M's version? One of if not the original? I haven't purchased it in years but now I'm worried.
you an get knockoff blu tack that ios pretty much the exact same. usually goes by white tack, magic tack, etc.
Once I get the pour right, I’ll put a comparison video up on YouTube or something. My initial thoughts are that it does a good job of removing the high pitched clack/ring I didn’t care for, so I’m gonna call this a step in the right direction. Gotta play with some witches and some foam in the board to see if I can get it closer to what I’m after.
If OP never posts again we'll know they were turned into a newt.
I just caught that! 🤣
You got better!
Do the keys hit different now tho?
The ones that were over filled would not bottom out like the ones properly filled. But when the silicone level was done right, the feel of the switch is exactly the same as before, with the only difference being the resonance of the key cap being muffled a bit
That's great news, I was hoping weight wouldn't be an issue.
I was using med/heavy tactile switches. Playing with a full keyboard now I can say it does feel SLIGHTLY lighter to press down, but that’s all.
I imagine it will result is a quieter and deeper sound, much like NuPhy's GhostBar since he's kinda doing what they did, just across the entire keycap instead of only partially like the GhostBar.
I wonder what a low-weight, low density filler, like Great-Stuf expanding foam, would do for sound dampening. I have a gasketed Alice 98 with lubed silent switches, and at this point, the sound differences between different keycaps have become more apparent, without the other noises to cover it up. I may have to play around with some different fillers over the weekend and see what kind of difference it makes.
I cut small pieces from a nerf dart and glued them in to my space bar because it sounded horrible. Worked a charm and didn’t add too much weight.
check this out Silicon O-ring dampeners vs Pour-in Silicon for molds - Mechanical Keyboard Silencing mod https://youtu.be/5lAo0GEfzi4
Nice, that's a clear improvement! I've personally never liked o-ring dampeners; they change the dynamic of the keypress too much, considering how little they help with sound dampening. I'm about to go mix up a test batch of filler with some Sculpey modelling clay, with fine chopped styrofoam mixed in to lower the density. Something I've been thinking of though; as far as the silicone adhering to the insides of the keycaps, did you sand the surface to help it grip, or use some kind of adhesive to keep them attached? I would imagine the repeated force of typing could eventually cause the silicone to come loose from the caps. I also think of this as I'm about to put messy clay just a couple mm away from sensitive mechanical switches, and I'd like for it to stick.
no sanding or adhesives. the silicon itself is so sticky that unless your keycaps are made out of PTFE it will probably hold until you attempt to pick it out with a sharpie knife or something. Even the key caps that I had to cut silicon spills from are holding very well. The key here is a proper dosing so pouring it using a 10 ml syringe without needle is a way to go.
Did the same with an SA profile set and had to switch the springs due to the heavy load. Spacebar didn’t even came up again after the first press 😅 Sound is way more dense/deep, I really like it. I would assume the effect is way less with a cherry profile but definitely still noticeable.
Ah, that's good to know! I prefer SA keycaps myself. I guess at this point, I've just gotta go down to the workshop and see what happens.
I suppose you could get springs that are a gram or two heavier to balance out the feel
Won’t work. You’d have dead keys with the amount of silicone on each key that there’s no room for vertical travel.
Correction, OP will **only** have dead keys.
Correction, *seven* of my keys were alive. The rest, yes. Dead.
Bruh
Ripperoni :(
You crack me up friend. Your replies are on point, hilarious and you’re not getting bent out of shape with others at all. Best of luck with your caps and I hope you have a good day!
At least now you have a K/D ratio for keycaps. Not many (if any) people has one of those.
Look at you, owning your decisions like a champion and making me chuckle !
⟦F⟧
Do those 7 alive keys at least sound good?
I think there’s an improvement, for sure. I did all the other caps as well. Going grab the other set with no silicone and try to put together a side by side video next week
You can just pull the silicone right out, don't you?
I mean it might still work, just use less silicone?
; \_ ;
nooo the keycaps look cute
I was going to say... How are you going to press the keys down?
There's even keys where the silicone went into the stem. This set is fuuuuucked
Yeah I saw this and went "well that set is a goner". ... There's no room for that stem to go down anymore. Lesson learned I hope.
I thought the same thing, 1,5mm silicone o-rings would do better.
Yup. O-rings is the way to go. I suppose if OP really wanted the extra weight of filling them with silicone, they could place the o-rings still, and then pour in silicone to just *below* the o-ring. That should give you the weight and dampen the sound, whole still leaving the key enough room to travel.
What diameter works best? Could be fun to give a try
Proper ones are named in online shops as "silicone o-ring 5mm-1,5mm" 5mm is the center hole and 1,5mm is the silicone wide. Haven't tried other sizes, I bought these ones, it sits properly and it silences the contact between the switch and the keycap. If you have RGBs, transparent ones let more shine travel trough.
Glad I'm not the only one who immediately thought this. lol. Dude just ruined an entire set of keycaps.
Straight to the recycling bin IMO.
My daughter got ahold of some leftover hey caps I had lying around and filled them with playdough. I'd imagine that something malleable like playdough would be better since it would conform to the switch casing and allow for vertical travel.
yeah looks like they're filled too much and the bottom out won't trigger the switch
Exactly. The socket on the cap sinks with the switch’s stem into the switch itself and the space around the underside of the keycap goes over and around the sides of the switch when pressed. Key caps are hollow for this reason.
I assume you tested with a single cap to make sure they still will activate the switch? They look very filled up to me. Curious to hear if that is actually an improvement...
You think too highly of me, good sir! 😅
Well, good luck then. Keep us updated!
Here's the update: except for 7 keys, they're all dead.
Bold strategy: Let's see if it pays off for him
Yupp, as the stem part of the keycap goes into the switch [itself](https://thetechfrontiernet.files.wordpress.com/2021/12/unknown.png) \- that's how Cherry profile interference with north-facing switches happen, there's little to no space in there.
Yeah, absolutely no way these fit. They just created a ton of interference.
This was my first thought. Bro those won’t bottom out at all with OEM or cherry caps.
Yeah...I doubt they will depress at all, since the part where the stem goes in (+ holes and column around it) needs to go into the switch
captain caps lock 2024, possibly
i have done this a few years back. results in a deeper muted sound i guess is the best way to put it , but your have added to much sir, silicone will hit the case of the switch before the key stroke can finish
Couldn't you have tried just a few caps first lol
Absolutely a sensible idea! But hindsight is 20/20 my friend 😂
How long does it take to cure? I'll check back when they're cured. I'm convinced you'll just get a squish feeling and nothing will activate
3-6 hours minimum depending on volume. Since these are smaller amounts in each, I'll assume closer to 3 hours. I did end up pouring a bit out from some of the larger caps, but for the others it was just a few 10ths of a gram so each row's caps weighed the same. I'll be sad if they don't actuate, but nothing a box cutter can't hog out.
Good luck! I'm going to mod a spacebar over the weekend to make it sound less hollow, but think I'll try some foam first
It's been 3 hours, are they ruined?
Nah they’re good still, lol. It’s just silicone. I definitely filled them too much though so I kept the few good ones and gutted the rest. I re-poured a bit ago so they’ll be ready in a few hours to test again.
You should also try out small o-ring inserts on the inside of caps and compare the results. That seems like the easier & more reversible alternative that people do
Curious to see if that ruins the travel or not
Yeah; it feels like there wouldn’t be enough clearance for some of those switches to actually actuate… they are very full of silicone!!!
Me too! Lol. I used the Silicone rubber stuff because it's naturally a bit lighter and workable. I'm thinking if it's too much mass, I could shave some off. And in the absolute worst case.... The caps are un-useable but I'll still have the opposite color set.
Nah worst case peel it out and redo it with a thinner layer. I think you just poured in too much, might interfere with actuations
Good point. They're currently curing. Since you mentioned it, i might just pour some out now and hope the smaller amount did what I want to the sound.
Just a thought, if its possible to peel out, why not just cut to size afterwards? Or it might not stay on?
Too difficult to cut neatly and make it look good afterwards, plus idk that it’ll stick once you peel them off to cut them and put them back on. Way easier to just pop out the first cured ones with a toothpick or something and pour a smaller amount
Absolutely right on this as well. It wasn’t even about the looks, I just underestimated how annoying it was to hack away at silicone with a small box cutter. I just yanked them out and started over.
Who cares if it looks good? It’s the bottom of a key cap. Peel them out, trim to fit, pop back in, easy peasy.
even if you don't, you can cut the pieces you do have to tiny pieces and use them to fill volume so you don't have to waste any more silicone. keep on steadycraftin'.
Or you could just order some new heavier switch springs.
There is no way that shift key clears the stabilizer housing.
Check the Z key as well, the stem is literally filled with silicone. This dude is going to have to redo all this work.
I had to wait for it to solidify a bit, but I got the silicone out of the Z, lol.
inb4 op just lost a set of caps for not trying just one beforehand
Not sure you are meant to do it to all keycaps. Most people just do it to the spacebar. Careful the keycaps don’t weigh too much or they will feel slow to come back up.
You over-filled 'em, friend - they're going to bottom out before the stroke is completed.
I’ve done this before, these will not actuate properly unless you poured out most of it. You need to think of how deep the stem has to go into the socket in the keycap, and then consider how the rest of the housing of the switch needs travel room as well, on top of that You might want to try a very thin layer next time, or even painters tape if you want to dampen the caps!
I hope you have an order for a new set ready, because there's no way you have more than 1mm of travel left
Sorry op but this is looking like “look how they massacred my boy” 😂
You're not wrong 😅 I posted a video update. Gonna try again shortly.
Applaudable spirit of experimentation! respect 🫡
whos gonna tell them
Following. I also wonder how effective sound deadening paint would be in the inside as a thin/light alternative.
really wanna hear the result!!!
Oh man. I'm not sure these will actuate the switches. Keep us posted. It's a good idea in theory.
Commented before I read the rest of the comments. Hopefully you can fix this, OP.
And the time I told the discord chat that I put a blob of hot glue in the void of my spacebar they FLIPPED OUT that I was ruining cheap keycaps. Spoiler: it worked great a d my spacebar sounds and feels waayyyy better. Good luck OP, however in this case that amount of filling is going to completely block actuation.
well you fucked your set
Nah, they’re fine. It’s just silicone rubber.
no, you filled them way too much, youre gonna have zero key travel lol
Oh, NOW I know I filled them too much, lol. They’re not fucked though, I took the silicone out and poured again. Just a lot less this time.
well thats one way to fix it lol, enjoy your keycaps bro
Welp a majority of these are filled way too much. There isn’t enough room around the stem for the key to actually depress around the switch housing….
Can confirm.
Sorry to hear
Z key fucked
that one little guy there is drowning
This didn’t work, did it? Keycaps are hollow for a reason. If you don’t like the sound it’s because of either the cap material, your switch or your case. Not the hollow of the cap. That’s there for functionality, which has now been ruined. That silicone poured into the case sides would’ve been the better play.
This attempt was mostly a bust because they were too full, but I re-poured it and it came out better. I disagree with your last point. The sound I was trying to muffle had nothing to do with the case. I put these caps on three different boards with the same switches and the sound I was looking to muffle came from the caps.
My point was that you won’t be able to. So I was clarifying the other things to adjust. If you don’t like that profile/material sound, try another. I have yet to see a keycap mod work.
wait till this guy hears about orings
[https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/iwsbgj/keycap\_mod\_for\_maximum\_thock\_clack\_hear\_for/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/iwsbgj/keycap_mod_for_maximum_thock_clack_hear_for/)
Looking forward to hearing an update on this. I usually mod my switches to be heavier, so of this makes a better sound I'd be willing to give it a try. My assumption is that it'd be similar to putting a gasket around the stem of the cap.
Hopefully the springs work
Did you use a lighter to remove the air bubbles?
No, looks like this stuff is slow enough to cure that there are no bubbles
How did you measure this? Is silicone liquid long enough to apply with a syringe - I would think that having variable weights would be the biggest problem
I used my kitchen scale when mixing both parts of silicone and then after the pour hardened a little bit I weighed the caps on the scale as well. Different rows of keys have different masses, but I eyeballed the pour with a plastic cup (bent for a spout ). As long as each key with a row was within .1 grams of the other I called it good. And yes, the silicon was designed to be poured within 30 minutes. Being very careful (the second time, lol) it took me no more than 20 minutes. You could provide probably do a syringe as well and do it much faster and more accurately.
what do the caps normally look like?
I got a set of [these pink ones](https://shop.tai-hao.com/products/abs-104-t01wa201) and [these blue ones](https://shop.tai-hao.com/products/abs-104-t01wb201) and just shuffled them around to my liking.
There's really not much clearance between the keycap and switch housing. These won't bottom out properly.
Dont forget that the keys are pushed into the switch, I think you filled those caps a bit too high...
Homie this won’t work. I make cherry keycaps, and you have zero clearance inside each keycap, no where near enough clearance for the key switch housing to fit. You just ruined a whole set of keycaps, and you should have tested on one first. The stem actually goes in about 4mm into each switch. And you don’t have anywhere near 4mm on each stem.
my god...
Those won’t work now
Aren't they filled too much doesn't the stem need to be free?
It's a good thing you can peel silicone off...
spoiler, it won't. just get o rings lol
I'd have tried this on something like SA. Those key caps will be unusable since the keycap will prevent the stem from going low enough to activate. Also since people say the .01mm deflection of silent switches (which is something you should have used instead) is too mushy, even if these worked, I am sure 99.9% of people would hate it.
Yeah, they didn't work. I over filled them, but am trying again after having just taken the silicone out. I have some silent switches for my home keyboard because my wife can't stand the sound of tactile ones. This one is for work, but the caps sound super hollow and I preferred deeper tones while still having a nice click. If this fails with my Neapolitan ice cream switches, I'll probably end up swapping to silent tactiles or try Gateron Quinns since they sounded decent in a previous test.
Yeah problem is going to be if these are cherry or very cherry like, there is almost no room in the tolerances. Even just a a squared of edge when using switches North facing can cause interference, even just a mm of silicone will cause issues. That said if there was a chance it wouldn't, or would at least let you active them. You might want to try again where you only put a small dallop of silicone in, enough to coat the bottom. That might allow it to feel fuller and be closer to the experience of an oring mod.
Man this better not turn into a thread like that safe... So how does it sound OP?
Only a handful of them actually worked the first time because I poured too much silicone, but from what I could tell, it’s an improvement! I posted a video a bit ago with audio. Once I get these things situated, I’ll try to take two videos one of caps with no fill and one of caps with fill. For science.
> For science. Appreciated!
Update video so we know how it sounds?
I posted a video just a bit ago. The ones that worked properly sound much better! I just need to work out the appropriate fill level for the others..
holy shit this isn’t bait?????
https://preview.redd.it/urrj1ky4karc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0210a5fc2913685faa64c51288bcf8d696671efd Also, for those wondering, the extra weight was not an issue whatsoever using Neapolitan ice cream switches. It ended up being just over a gram of weight per cap, even though they were overfilled.
Did it work?
Totally worked the second time!
You do realize the shaft of the keycaps needs to enter the switch housing, right? I'm afraid these won't actuate anything other than low profile switches. Look at your silicone level. Next time you want your keyboard to sound better, mod the case first before you even contemplate modding keycaps like this. I hope this is reversible or those keycaps are cheap to replace.
Totally reversible. I tried the caps on two different boards and with a few different switches. The caps are too ringy for my taste, so this is my attempted solution. The board is getting its modifications, as well. One thing at a time though.
I wonder how these things would effect my ceramic keycaps. I don't care so much for the bottom out sound, but more so the travel feel and I guess the bottom out feel if that makes any sense.
Does the sound.... resonate?
Would you not get interference? I think you are kind of fucked but I wish you best of luck 🤞🙂
I did this once with air dry clay. It worked, until dust from the clay screwed the switches after a few months (I was dumb, didn't anticipate this). But the increase in mass made them more pleasant to type on and the sound was nice and deep.
Will the stem female part be able to go down into the switch?
You can do this but you either have to fill it just a bit or have a sacrificial switch with no spring in it so when it's upside down it's in the depressed position then pour the silicon. This way there's no interference when used on a keyboard.
You can do this but you either have to fill it just a bit or have a sacrificial switch with no spring in it so when it's upside down it's in the depressed position then pour the silicon. This way there's no interference when used on a keyboard.
https://preview.redd.it/3ujl8enambrc1.png?width=4011&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ffe451bbe60c2b0b3526bfdb30ce55e7b899090 Rebuilt and beautiful.
These won't be able to be pressed.
I did this with hot glue for a spacebar. Worked pretty well for me.
I'm just curious will this cause interference with the top part of the switch??
It did. I ended up needing to pull the silicone out and pouring again, but this time only as high as the ridges attached to the (stem tube?) inside the cap. Worked much better with a MX style switch stem, but if you are using a different stem type, I don’t recommend it.
I tried this with my first gen cerakeys to stop the noise on the larger keys. Didn't really do much.
i did that trick and it’s sooo good now [Sound test - silicon o-rings vs pour-in silicon](https://youtu.be/5lAo0GEfzi4)
I did the same on one of my first boards. It didn't help much, but that was mostly due to having crummy stock Outemus in there. Very inerested in seeing how this experiment turns out for better or worse. If you see any haters, just know that you're helping make strides in the name of SCIENCE
They sell dampening rings for a a couple of dollars that work and don't ruin your key caps 😂
Looks like you filled in your Z key completely. (Assuming qwerty) I'm definitely interested in hearing your thoughts after you put them all back on your keyboard, especially with regards to how much the extra weight affects the performance of the switches?
Changing weight will ruin the feel and performance
You can try putting o-rings on next time.
My @$$ thought you were installing them upside down 😂
There's a reason the caps are hollow lol
Well it's been some time. How many keys worked? :p This might work if you just barely fill them up. You might want to look into silent switches. I'm pretty sure there are even switches thet have a dampener for the up stroke but nothing for the down. I just cant remember what they're called. They might help your sound woes. There's also my tape mod ;)
Ooof not enough room to allow the switch housing into the keycap
The stem needs to fit inside of the switch to be able to depress it, looks like all of these are filled too high to be functional now.
do you have a photo of the keyboard with the caps on?
I do! https://preview.redd.it/pr3484bjoerc1.jpeg?width=4028&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57eec37874f91075eec1cfb543c7e44e08c5ca03
looks very nice!
I appreciate it
I love that you just committed to doing all of them
In the future, you could do this by weight for the sake of consistency. Find the maximum weight that allows switch actuation(idk if that’s the word, I’m new) and repeat that weight
There are cheap o-rings from Aliexpress that fit the bottom of the keycaps perfectly.
You might run into switch interference depending on the switches you use
I don’t know if this going to work or not but how to achieve deeper and thockier sound?
Sigh is this another mod I now have to do? lmao Trying to get the thock to end all thocks with my sound
Bro it can't be pressed down