Do Alps SKCC (green) switches fit Commodore 64 keycaps?

green-squid

26 Nov 2018, 21:56

Curious about that.

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PlacaFromHell

27 Nov 2018, 23:37

I think yes, but have no way to test it. Is for your chinese keyboard?

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Hypersphere

27 Nov 2018, 23:53

I am also interested in the answer to this. In fact, I would like to know of any keyboards out there (other than the Pingmaster) whose keycaps would fit SKCC green Alps switches. This is for my own "Pingmaster". I don't like the look of the relegendable keys.

EDIT: Just checked the DT Wiki. It lists the following two keyboards (in addition to the Pingmaster):

+ Heath/Zenith HTX-10
+ Toshiba Pasopia 700

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PlacaFromHell

28 Nov 2018, 00:26

Televideo keycaps fit well

Image

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zrrion

28 Nov 2018, 02:39

They do not fit unfortunately. You could maybe shave off a little from the very center of the cross on the commodore cap and get it to fit but I have not tried it.
I do have a set of SKCC caps from a very dead SKCC short cream board, but they aren't very useful for most people as the Q is a 1.5u key, so it wouldn't work with standard boards. I also have a set of caps from a silver reed typewriter that are compatible but the mount isn't centered on the keycap so they also aren't useful for most people as they wouldn't fin in the case either.

EDIT: I just got a set of caps in the mail and after shaving the center if the cruciform in the caps off they do fit on SKCC switches. So if you have some caps with a similar sized cruciform, shaving off the inner corners seems to work.

This got me thinking about the commodore caps, and as it turns out C64 caps fit without modification, but the fins of the cruciform are thicker so the caps fit a little looser on SKCC switches which results in caps that are not aligned properly. This could probably be fixed by putting a thin film or something between the slider and the cap to fill the gap.

cnrmsn

29 Nov 2018, 05:30

I made custom legends on my pingmaster custom so they would fit with the rest of the keyboard. Image

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PlacaFromHell

29 Nov 2018, 07:30

Nice job. How is the keycap itself compared to a normal two-piece model M keycap? I have some original IBM stickers from my m50 that may help.

cnrmsn

29 Nov 2018, 16:58

Well I'm not sure what m50 keycaps are like, but the 2 part pingmaster keys are made of abs plastic with a clear plastic top. In terms of texture they are completely smooth and not as nicely textured as the other keys. I would imagine they are very prone to yellowing in the future.

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zrrion

29 Nov 2018, 17:14

They don't have any texture, but if you use the board enough neither will any of the other keys. :p

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