new keycaps for Space Invaders boards

griffonner

28 Sep 2021, 07:49

Storytime...a few months ago, on a wild whim, I asked my Buy Nothing group on FB if anyone had some old keyboards lying around. Somehow, I managed to get my hands on an NMB RT101+ - came with an adaptor! Everything working! except the missing BA enter keycap...and thus began my on-and-off search for that one missing keycap to render the board 100% useable. I've tried classifieds, mechmarket, messaging a random person on eBay...seems these things are in short supply, and judging from the results of my Google search, I've got plenty of company.

That being said, I'm curious if people have attempted to just...DIY a solution? Anyone try to 3D print one of these things or do some kind of crazy mod on like...an Enter keycap from one of NMB's rubber dome models? At this point, I am open to creating some kind of abomination so I can just. use. my. free. keyboard. (Of course if anyone happens to have a spare BA enter keycap for NMB space invaders, that would be great too!)

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Muirium
µ

28 Sep 2021, 08:53

The NMB rubber dome hacking route sounds the most promising to me, besides harvesting from another bigass space invader directly of course! Mind, I’ve never actually had my hands on one of their dome boards so maybe they’re very different in ways unfriendly to a good chop and glue mod… maybe.

NMB made real nice caps. The space invader boards are among my favourites. (They vary though. I’ve a really classy ISO UK one which is a good bit nicer than my Big Ass second. (XMIT has a very similar one to that here.) But the profile is the same.) I’ve long dreamt of custom caps for them but never saw any.

Edit: XMIT’s well detailed photo thread has a nice shot of the very cap you’re after. There’s a lot going on under Fatso, I see…

Image

I reeeally dislike Big Ass Returns because of those doubled up stabilisers. Gimme ANSI or ISO any day, not the awkward superimposition of both!

Findecanor

28 Sep 2021, 13:16

Does the "big-ass" key feel weird?
Other switch types don't get doubled stabilisers under the BA Enter keys, so those are wobblier.

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Muirium
µ

28 Sep 2021, 13:41

I’ve an Alps integrated dome board with double stabbed Big Ass. The Zenith Supersport SX laptop keyboard, documented by the venerable Beardsmore here:

wiki/Zenith_Supersport_SX

His comment on the key’s reassembly is entirely correct!

As for how they feel: no worse than a typically stabbed Return, far as I remember. I’ll put out the Space Invader when I’m at my desk and see if you’ve ruined it for me! :lol:

griffonner

29 Sep 2021, 07:32

Muirium wrote:
28 Sep 2021, 08:53
The NMB rubber dome hacking route sounds the most promising to me, besides harvesting from another bigass space invader directly of course! Mind, I’ve never actually had my hands on one of their dome boards so maybe they’re very different in ways unfriendly to a good chop and glue mod… maybe.
Yeah I did just see an NMB rubber dome for sale on eBay with some missing caps (which inspired me actually), so maybe I could convince the seller to just sell me the enter keycap...hopefully would be a cheap experiment. I'm warming up to the idea the more I think about it.

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Muirium
µ

29 Sep 2021, 12:03

Well you’ll want to see what that key is like underneath. I’ve no idea.

I also don’t know if NMB’s dome caps have the same profile as their mechanical caps. Hopefully they do. But I’ve never had one of their dome keyboards so it’s just wishful thinking so far.

Verify!

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Muirium
µ

29 Sep 2021, 16:03

Findecanor wrote:
28 Sep 2021, 13:16
Does the "big-ass" key feel weird?
Other switch types don't get doubled stabilisers under the BA Enter keys, so those are wobblier.
So I've been typing on the BAE NMB today. Does our pal Big Ass Enter feel weird? Not stabilisation wise, no. It sits a little high, as the profile NMB gave it—and the Shift keys—is quite banana shaped. They all bow upwards at both ends. Horizontally extended keys all get the same treatment, *except* the spacebar, thank goodness! Big Ass's upper section lies nice and flat actually, it's purely a key-shape thing, not the stabs.

Is it balky? Chalky? Rough on the stroke? Actually no. It's really quite a nice gliding key like all the rest—except for heavy spacebar, which is sprung hard to feel like a Model F! Pressing Big Ass is just like pressing Shift below it, and not much heavier than the teeny-weeny single unit Backspace key above.

That little guy is what's bugging me about this board. I keep hitting \ when making edits! Typical Big Ass awkwardness. :roll:

So in all: double stabilised Return keys—on NMB space invaders at least—are really quite nice, in my opinion. Doesn't feel any the worse for it. They're just a bitch to attach!

Rayndalf

29 Sep 2021, 20:35

Dome with slider NMB boards have a noticeably different profile. In fact it's the best way to identify a SI vs. DWS NMB board.

griffonner

30 Sep 2021, 18:44

Ah thanks...stopped me before I went too far down the rabbit hole and found out myself but also short some $$. The quest for a spare will continue.

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Muirium
µ

30 Sep 2021, 20:07

Boo! They could have at least made those domes into good parts mules, like Cherry so kindly did with all those tasty dyesub MY keyboards.

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