Keycaps for Novatouch?

NecromanX · 15 Nov 2016, 13:12

infodroid wrote: ↑ Welcome to Deskthority! Making an announcement on the vendor board is probably a good start.

Done. Thanks

the_marsbar · 28 Apr 2018, 13:04

Sorry for bringing this back up. I bought some blank OEM profile PBT keycaps from GeekKeys, but I would prefer the caps to be a bit thicker.

Now that I'm looking at other keycap sets I notice that most of the nice PBT ones seem to be Cherry profile, which apparently doesn't work that well with the Novatouch. I'm not that interested in experimenting too much with keycaps, but I'd like some nice quality PBT keycaps, to make me use the Novatouch more. Based on this, I have become interested in knowing more about this incompatibility (there are also reports of no issues, e.g., here). I am not sure I have fully understood what would cause the incompatibility with the Novatouch. Can someone explain this to me, maybe with a photo? Particularly I'd like to know where I would have to remove or add some material to avoid noise issues (due to the keycap hitting the surface of the keyboard)?

I actually bought a set of Gateron keycaps recently, but I returned them again, because I decided not to take a chance with Cherry profil keycaps for now.

the_marsbar · 28 Apr 2018, 16:10

Alright, I'm still interested in knowing why Cherry profile keycaps aren't a good match for the Novatouch. However, I tried putting the GeekKeys caps on the keyboard again, and it's actually better than I remembered (and they are OEM profile). So I think I'll return those Gateron keycaps and put money aside for a DSA keycap set instead. I guess one black set of keys is enough.

the_marsbar · 01 May 2018, 19:32

Hmm. The spacebar does not fit. It's like it has shrunken or something. I have seen other reports of similar issues with (cheap-ish) PBT spacebars. It turns out to be a bit difficult to find a decent 6.25u PBT OEM profile spacebar, so I think I might just go ahead and buy a couple from Hot Keys Project, unless I stumble upon something else before I decide to go ahead and order them. Last year I bought some blank keys for my HHKBs, including some spacebars, and they are really awesome. Recently I put one of the spacebars on the HHKB I have at the office, and it made such a big difference compared to the stock ABS one.

Laser · 01 May 2018, 22:25

For what it's worth, I used Leopold PBT keycaps in Cherry profile on my Novatouch with no problems. Here's an older picture from when I was moving the keycaps from a QFR to the Nova:

Starck · 02 May 2018, 08:46

I don't have any experience with cherry profile. But OEM profile Tai Hao have a good fit. I am using a black with grey lettering PBT doubleshot set now and the spacebar was a tight fit (and after clipping the extra mounts).
The ABS doubleshot sets have the same tight fit on the spacebar, but the rest of the keys are fine.

the_marsbar · 02 May 2018, 09:16

Thanks Laser. From what I understand, it seems to be hit-or-miss with Cherry profile keys on the Novatouch. I'm still not sure exactly what causes the incompatibility.

Starck; thanks for the suggestion. However, yesterday I came across some posts about poor quality control. I think so far I'll stick with the blank OEM profile keycaps that I already had. I just need a spacebar that will fit on the board. However, I did consider Tai Hao for keycaps with letters, but for now I don't need that.

Starck · 02 May 2018, 09:59

Yes quality is hit and miss with Tai Hao caps.

I have 3 sets and all have some kind of spots, blemishes or molding marks on the side of the caps.
For the price its acceptable, but it is noticable.

andrewjoy · 02 May 2018, 13:13

Any caps that will fit a fico or similar will fit a novatouch.

the_marsbar · 12 May 2018, 20:13

I managed to find a set of thick blank Ducky PBT keycaps in blue/grey. I hope I'll receive them next week, and I'll be happy by then.

the_marsbar · 17 May 2018, 19:48

I can relax for a bit now, I think.

Laser · 17 May 2018, 20:39

Indeed & nice

the_marsbar · 18 May 2018, 07:43

Does anyone have more information about the Cherry profile/Novatouch incompatibility? I'm also curious why some people do not have any issue (maybe due to different keysets) with Cherry profile keycaps.

Myoth · 18 May 2018, 09:09

I've never had any problems with cherry profile keycaps on my novatouch, not sure what you're talking about ?

the_marsbar · 18 May 2018, 09:24

An example can be found here: keyboards-f2/what-is-the-best-keycap-se ... 11558.html

Hypersphere wrote: “The sets I tried included thick dye-sub PBT from Imsto and others. These were Cherry profile, and at least some keys, such as the Enter key, were making contacts on the down-stroke resulting in bottoming-out noise. I tried the very handsome Leopold PBT sets -- same result with the Leopold profile.”

I get that Cherry profile keycaps are lower than OEM profile keycaps. Does the issue arise because the stem is not equally short?

Myoth · 18 May 2018, 09:31

what is it making contact with ?

what is a bottom out sound ?

every keyboard makes a bottom out sound, I'm not sure what he meant, I've had problems with south facing switches and thick cherry profile (which hits the housing of the switch) but never encountered something of this sort on my novatouch with either thick cherry profile, thin cherry profile, DCS or even SA.

oheim · 18 May 2018, 12:04

I have an ISO Novatouch and some gmk cherry profile key sets. The ISO enter, backspace and right shift do hit the switch/stabilizer housing and make an unpleasant high pitch "klack" sound. It is espacially noticable if the board is silenced.
You can either hone down the inside of the keys or the edges of the stab housing.
I did not want to damage either the board nor the keycaps so i just added some foam under the keys between the switch housings. The foam just slightlly prevents the bottom out and does not affect the key travel as much as o rings would do.

the_marsbar · 06 Jun 2018, 19:33

Received these two Hot Keys Project x MiTo spacebars today:

They do not seem to be OEM profile, but I checked, and they work fine with the Novatouch. I think they'll look good with the blank black PBT keycaps that I have.