Problem with my Realforce 45g variable keyboard

[lt1camaro]

Hi guys,
I picked up a Realforce 45g variable yesterday and I noticed that the a,z,x keys feel completely mushy compared to the other side of the keyboard. Does anyone who has this keyboard think this is normal or does my keyboard have a defect?

[002]

Hmm well, first you should clarify if you have a 45g uniform board, or a variable board. There is actually no such thing as '45g variable'.

It sounds like you have a variable board which does indeed have lighter weights for the far left and far right keys, including the keys you mentioned.

[Hypersphere]

I concur with 002.

[lt1camaro]

by the 45g variable i meant the variable board. I do know that as u approach the end of the keyboard from each side the keys get lighter to 30g. However, the a,z,x feels way lighter and un-topre like compared to the .,/," keys on the other side of the keyboard that are also 30g.

[002]

Despite Topre's reputation for quality, their tolerances on switch weights are actually pretty crap compared to the likes of Cherry. Each switch can be within 15g (either way) of its advertised weight, so for a uniform 45g switch to pass QA, it can actually fall between 30g and 60g. Usually this is *not* the case though, but I have certainly seen extreme examples, such as the issue Kurk had with his "uniformly" weighted board.

Inside the variable boards, the lower weights are actually achieved by different cuts of rubber, so there are strips of domes presumably taken from other sheets placed either side of the main uniform section in the middle of the board. I've actually wondered whether Topre variable boards came about because of dome sheets that came out that were well outside their target weight, and they just re-cycled these light sheets to create a new product.

Anyway, if you bought the board brand new, you might be able to weigh the switches and provide your findings to the seller and see if they will offer you a replacement. That is what Kurk did, and his replacement board was much more accurate. I would be interested to know how much lighter the far left section is compared to the far right.

[Findecanor]

I have instead read somewhere that Topre did not assign a distinct weight to each key on the variable but made rather like a gradient - and that that gradient can be a bit fuzzy.