deskthority

As the title implies, I'm having a hard time finding a keyboard, which uses the Kailh Bronze switches or any of the box switches.

The bronze Kailh and the white Box switches from Kailh are the one I'm enjoying the most it seems.
However it seems no keyboard manufacturer uses them.

On a slightly other note: My DAS KEYBOARD Ultimate S is falling apart. The stems for the screws are partly broken off, and the clips which hold both sides of the plastic shell together are mostly gone. I was thinking, if I can replace or somehow replicate the shell, I might just swap all switches in that keyboard over to the Kailh Bronze or Box Whites.

However, I really need a decent keyboard for typing, and I'd love to have a new keyboard, fitted with Bronze or Box whites.

Any suggestions are fine, really, I'm gonna have a go at making my own case for the DAS KEYBOARD, see if I can make one out of sheet metal or aluminium or something, plastic, whatever...

There is yet to be a keyboard with Kailh Bronze or BOX White, though I think they might be coming quite quickly as I saw last week a sample... I hope I answered your question !

You will find that certain specialty switches are rarely found in production keyboards, and if you want to experience them, learning to solder may be a good investment of time.

Personally I use a hakko soldering station and a hakko desoldering gun, but you can get away with way less than that. However, as I am an electronics hobbyist, the investment was worth it to me.

However, if you plan to DESOLDER, I highly suggest a quality desoldering solution. The cheap solutions are good enough for minor changes, but not for desoldering an entire board of switches. I can desoldering an entire board of switches in 10-20 minutes with a hakko desoldering gun, for instance, while it would take me hours with a cheap desoldering plunger pen.

Soldering guns, however, show much less difference, and you only really need to pay up if temperature accuracy and consistency is critical, like when soldering sensitive equipment. Not necessary for keyboard switches.

Oh, if you are a beginner, I have one tip for you. Flux is your friend, and you can't use too much.

rich1051414 wrote: ↑You will find that certain specialty switches are rarely found in production keyboards, and if you want to experience them, learning to solder may be a good investment of time.

Personally I use a hakko soldering station and a hakko desoldering gun, but you can get away with way less than that. However, as I am an electronics hobbyist, the investment was worth it to me.

However, if you plan to DESOLDER, I highly suggest a quality desoldering solution. The cheap solutions are good enough for minor changes, but not for desoldering an entire board of switches. I can desoldering an entire board of switches in 10-20 minutes with a hakko desoldering gun, for instance, while it would take me hours with a cheap desoldering plunger pen.

Soldering guns, however, show much less difference, and you only really need to pay up if temperature accuracy and consistency is critical, like when soldering sensitive equipment. Not necessary for keyboard switches.

Oh, if you are a beginner, I have one tip for you. Flux is your friend, and you can't use too much.

I'm an electronics engineer by trade of 15 years, soldering is no problem. I have all the amenities I need in my lab.

I can swap the switches of the DAS KEYBOARD no problem, the problem is the plastic case. The top is made out of what seems to be smoked LOPS, it's slightly translucent, and if you do as much as put down a pen on it, it leaves a mark. I once wiped it down with window cleaner and a piece of cloth, and even that left tiny scratch marks. The bottom is ABS, but the stems of the self-tapping screws perished, because I opened up the case to clean it a couple times. It holds together for now, but only just. If I open it once or twice more, I can probably not put it back together, because by that time, the last screw stem and the last clip will have broken off. So, even if I swap the switches, I'd end up with a pretty much bare keyboard. Having a new case manufactured, plus the cost of a set of new switches, might be around 100 Euros, at which the cost of a new keyboard with the switches I want, will be only a bit higher, etc.

If the case of the keyboard was still intact, I'd just swapped the switches and be done with it, but since the case is falling apart quickly, there's only so much I can do.

I recommend a diy kit if you want to replace it. LOTS of choices for you, and typically not built down to a price like complete keyboards are.

I understand what you mean, if you could jump straight to the finish line with a keyboard with the switch you want, that would be nice, but alas, not much luck there. A DIY kit where you solder in your own switches would probably be better for you in the long run, as they are meant for people like you.

Not a fan of the DAS keyboard. The glossy plastic looks cheap, and your experience seems to confirm that bias.

I do own the Azio L80 though, and it has survived quite a number of switch replacements. I did not like the kailh browns though, not enough tactility.

The Azio keyboard is alright, except it has the Fn-key where a Menu key should go. Can that be switched to be a regular Menu button?

When it comes to glossy plastic: The DAS KEYBOARD is simply not that well made in that respect.
Whenever I took it apart, the top half wants to twist and bend, and it's so thin, it's super easy to snap it. It holds on to the bottom half with a couple clip snappers, it uses 12 of those, iirc. I think five have broken off by now, and it's only a question of time, when the rest will snap off. Additionally, the bottom and the top are screwed together with five screws. They're self-tappers, which is horrible in itself, but the stems are actually a tad thin. The way they failed is not that they broke off, but the thread of the screw simply cut through the stem, from screwing and un-screwing, and it basically turned into a swirly piece of plastic, before finally crumbling off. This happened to two of the five screw stems, so together with the ever failing plastic clips, it doesn't want to fully close on itself together, the case is always a bit loose.

There are decent glossy finishes, which are scratch and impact resistant, but the plastic they used on the DAS KEYBOARD, is sub-par. At least the top half, the bottom half is just regular, mediocre ABS. This is the DAS KEYBOARD Ultimate S, so not the latest version, so I don't want to discourage anyone from getting one of those, etc. The latest model seems to be a bit better, in that they now use the kind of matte plastic common everywhere. However, 170 USD for a pretty much regular keyboard, is a bit steep, I think.

As for the missing menu key: not having a menu key is kindof a deal breaker for me. The reason is, that I have Compose mapped on it. It's a bit silly, they put the Fn key there, why don't they shove the key into a dead spot, like next to the indicator LEDs, or so, is beyond me... They manage to put dedicated media buttons onto the top row, etc. I don't see a reason why the Fn-key cannot be one of those, etc.

My basic outline requirements are actually quite simple: no Fn-keys in the main block, full size, ANSI layout. It seems to be harder and harder to find a keyboard that fits these simple requirements nowadays...

The menu key isn't remapped to FN, the right windows key is.

My only gripe about it is the lack of removable USB cable. Also, the Macro/LED rebinding is confusing, but that is only an issue once.


The Bottom Row is:
[Ctrl][Win][Alt][ Space ][Alt][FN][Menu][Ctrl]

rich1051414 wrote: ↑The Bottom Row is:
[Ctrl][Win][Alt][ Space ][Alt][FN][Menu][Ctrl]

Can the [Fn] key be switched to be a [Super] / [Win] key? Because I have that mapped to another function, too.

No.