Keyboard O-rings

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Serious question. If an o-ring is 1.8mm thick as in heigth, how much travel reduction does that o-ring reduce?

 

[Fallen Kell]

Depends on the o-ring material. Some are more compressible that others. Also, don't interpret the travel reduction in terms of activation of the keystroke (an o-ring will not change that). What it will reduce is the travel to bottom out the key-stroke as well as soften the the stop (for o-rings that are compressible).

 

[Dranoche]

Most 1.5 to 2 mm o-rings reduce travel by about 0.2 to 0.4 mm depending on the hardness.

 

[DigDog]

oh .. well, it should reduce the travel by 1.8mm exactly. You don't really want the key to travel that far anyway - if you are mashing your buttons so hard that you are bottoming out, you need to learn how to type.

 

[SamirD]

if you are mashing your buttons so hard that you are bottoming out, you need to learn how to type.

But with linear switches like cherry blacks and reds that seems to be the only way to use them as the actuation point is 'invisible' to your hands (hence why I like clicky switches). We actually have some cherry blacks on an industrial control board and it's designed where they expect you to bottom out when pressing the keys.

 

[DigDog]

But with linear switches like cherry blacks and reds that seems to be the only way to use them as the actuation point is 'invisible' to your hands (hence why I like clicky switches). We actually have some cherry blacks on an industrial control board and it's designed where they expect you to bottom out when pressing the keys.

frankly i do not know how reds and blacks have managed to get a reputation of being good switches. I strongly recommend you try either cherry clear, or any "modern" cherry clone, like cherry panda, or any of the Glorious switches, anything that is tactile, they are vastly superior when it comes to both typing and gaming. I mean, you can get used to ANY switch, but it's better to just start out with a good switch.
Don't go crazy on the tactility, you don't want Kailh Box Royals (although they might be fun for typing), just anything where you can feel the actuation point with your fingers.