I didn't know whuch subforum I should post this in, so I figured keyboards works - I am talking about a keyboard, after all, haha. This is my first keyboard write-up since joining the community back in June of ’16! I’ve acquired a good number of keyboards during my stay here, and today I’ll be talking about the Apple m0116.
In the seemingly unending search for a blue alps keyboard, I started doing some “click-mods” on a few of my tactile alps boards after watching Chyros’ video on how to do it. I started with an ALPS branded keyboard that looks similar to the AT101W but not as big – it had black tactile alps switches, so I removed the four tabs on the click leaf of each alpha-block switch to make them all clicky. It instantly became my favorite switch at that point.
I have a few white alps boards, but I don’t think I have any “good condition” white alps, so it’s hard to compare, but to me the clicky black alps were superior. The ALPS board was pretty so-so as far as build quality, so I knew my next click-mod had to be one something that felt a little bit more solid, and with a different switch.
Enter orange alps.
Surprisingly inexpensive on ebay, I picked up an m0116 and an m0115. After typing on them for a day or so, I decided that didn’t want to destroy the integrity of the two Apple classics I had just purchased. Luckily about a month later, another cheap m0116 came up so I snagged it for the sole purpose of click-modding it.
I wish I had thought of taking pictures to document the progress of the board, but unfortunately, out of pure oversight, I ended up just diving into the project that night as soon as my kiddo fell asleep. 77 switches (I left the spacebar, power button thing, and caps lock keys alone), a can of compressed air, some spray paint, and 308 metal tabs later – the board was done!
The paint job definitely sucks – let’s just get that out of the way. It was the first time I’ve ever painted a case – and actually, the first time I’ve ever spray painted anything… I don’t know if I want to fix it, though, I think it really gives off the novice vibe, with an ambitious undertone. Also, I didn’t want to remove the apple logo because I wasn’t sure If I’d be able to put it back on correctly, so I just taped over it with a thin strip of tape. I’m going to affectionately refer to the result as the “vintage stripe” – I actually kind of like it, haha.
The most interesting thing about the whole process was that the particular board I was working on had inconsistent switchplates. Most of the switchplates were white, which is what I expected, but some of them were the gray-colored ones that I assumed were only found on older alps switches – like SKCL green or SKCM blue. They seemed to be randomly placed in the board as well – I’m very curious if it was manufactured like this or if in its lifetime some switches had to be replaced.
As for my analysis for switch feel… 100% this is my new favorite switch. Hypersphere was saying something earlier this week about how when you put work into a project it makes the result that much more enjoyable, and I couldn’t agree more with that statement. I think even if I had won the auction for that ANSI blue alps board that sold for like $335 on ebay the other week, it wouldn’t have meant as much as this m0116 does now. Even If I try to be a little more objective with my opinion of this switch, I think typing feel and sound would still come out on top – but again, I base this only on the boards that I have, which doesn’t include a blue alps board. I honestly really want to compare the two sounds – but for now I’ll just keep bugging Chyros’ to click-mod a board full of orange alps and make a video comparing them to blues. =)
Thanks for reading! I’ve included an oddly-cropped video below that compares my two m0116s “side-by-side.” I should also mention that both boards seemed to have comparable switch quality at the start. Orange alps in general are awesome.
i don't know how to embed videos apparently
またね。
//gains.
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