deskthority

hey everyone,

i found a set of amazing keycaps. just look at them! the destroyed typewriter they were attached to was filthy and i have no idea what model or even switch type that was. but i got all the caps! they kinda looked like they were cherry mx compatible, but it turns out they are quite a bit bigger, here is a comparison next to cherry mx and alps. can someone tell what kind of switch it could be?

i tried fiddling around with plastic wrap to make them stick to the mx stem, but that's not really working well. i need a more permanent solution. also, i'd much rather convert these bad boys to alps.

but i also want to keep it reversible. i don't want to mess around with glue guns, dremels or epoxy. do you think some 3d-printed keycap adapters that fit both sides could work? i've no experience with printing things, would the material be strong enough to not snap and get stuck in the alps stem? and precise enough to fit snugly? i need at least 61 of them, what price range would that be if i order them from somewhere? also, where does one order something like that in europe?

thanks for looking! any advice would be appreciated.

cheers & have a nice sunday!

Looks like Futaba MD caps. You can still get those switches NOS for less than cherry prices and they are pretty good. You should grab the switchplate out of the typewriter and make it into a custom keyboard.

i actually went back there today, but there wasn't much left to salvage. as i said, the typewriter itself was in a really bad condition and i'm quite happy i got all (?) the caps.. but i think you were right, the futaba pictures from the wiki look a lot like mine. thanks for your help!

I had some extra futaba caps from an Apple II keyboard I got for parts. You can modify the caps by removing the cross braces and using a dremel to cut down the mount till it fits and slides inside the switch. If you use a 3d printed adapter, they stick out really high and are rather wobbly - remember when pressed they will bottom out just above the switch. I had two adapter made by a co-worker, the alps one works better, as it can go deeper into the switch, the mx one was terrible. I'd recommend hard modding the caps so that the switch goes inside tbh.

hmm that's very good to know before i go ahead and order a bunch of wobbly adapters, thank you!
would you happen to have a picture of your modified switches? i don't quite understand what you did exactly..