SMRT Gadget Metal Typewriter Novelty Keycaps Discussions | Drop

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SMRT Gadget Metal Typewriter Novelty Keycaps

Feb 18, 2018

Received mine. They are a bit smaller overall than I imagined. As in, the diameter of the top is roughly the width of the top of a keycap. This is decidedly small because there is no taper beyond that dimension, so the ideal dimension it shouldn't have been based on would be closer to the width of a bottom of a keycap. Obviously I have no idea what they based the dimension on, but I do hope they try out an increased diameter since these are already round, making for even bigger gaps between them.
They are also incredibly hard to get on. I'm sure its possible that their tooling just wore down throughout the process (tiny end mills don't last very long) but brass has no flex, so the stem needed to maintain some critical dimensions. Wasn't the switches either, as I attempted to mount them on every variety I have on hand (Cherry, Gateron, Kailh, and others). Overall, they are well made at least. If I were to make a suggestion, batch check every 10-25 with a gauge block in the future to get a better grasp on tooling wear. Or possibly switch to using two prongs instead of all 4 to reduce the chances for tolerance changes (only needing to maintain the diagonal dimension between the two).

Feb 18, 2018

SMRTGadget

190

Feb 27, 2018

CyphreHi,
We actually did try different fitting sizes and drill bits. We could make it a bit loser but are concerned about the grip for wear and tear. What dimension do you think that is ideal for future versions? We really appreciated your feedback and business, will continue improve on the product lines. Thanks!
Custom Support Team

Feb 27, 2018

Cyphre

2708

Feb 27, 2018

SMRTGadgetOne minor problem overall is that the MX "+" pattern has two different thicknesses. The vertical is 0.043" thick while the horizontal is 0.049" thick (at least on the Cherry switches I have on hand). If a keycap doesn't have a direction, you will run into issues mounting a keycap if the orientation of the stem doesn't match what you are mounting to. Unless both slots are wide enough to fit the horizontal. Metal just happens to have a lot less 'give' compared to other plastic keycaps.
Overall diameter? I'd say somewhere around 0.650"-0.700" as the bottom of a typical keycap appears to be around ~0.710".

Feb 27, 2018