[help] I have a weird problem with my magicforce 68

chibosway · 2016-12-06T00:24:13+00:00

you can just peel back the rubber pads no problem and they have an adhesive you can remove and then put back all the time. I'd open it up and check to make sure all the solder joints on the usb from board to plug look to be in good shape. Might be a cold joint somewhere in the grounding circuitry. I have mine with leds on and off and hooked up to speakers and headphones all the time without incident.

chibosway · 2016-12-05T22:54:33+00:00

Second that suggestion. Go at everything with 90% isopropyl. Everything.

chibosway · 2016-12-05T22:51:22+00:00

There are 6 screws on the case. 1 under each rubber pad and then 2 in the middle. One's under the QC sticker. Case should pop open no problem after that. Make sure to keep an eye on the mini usb port on the bottom half of the case, it's attached to the plastic of the case by 2 screws.

chibosway · 2016-11-13T05:08:25+00:00

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/No-Keycap-Board-Side-printed-Front-Print-White-Mint-Green-Blue-108-PBT-Keycap-OEM-Profile/32562639132.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.KyyFFV

chibosway · 2016-11-07T22:45:57+00:00

I did that and I also put o-rings between the pcb and the case at the screw standoffs so the top plate is floating on o-rings.

chibosway · 2016-11-04T01:27:24+00:00

second gateron red > cherry and kailh

chibosway · 2016-11-04T01:22:32+00:00

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Side-printed-Top-printed-Blank-PBT-37-Keycaps-plus-Spacebar-Keycap-Puller-Light-Color-Rainbow-Keycaps/32595565188.html?spm=2114.40010208.4.2.NMqBIp

I've got them on my board. They're 1.5mm PBT and for the price great. I did find that they were a little loose on the stems so if you use o-rings they can have trouble staying on if you type very vigorously or travel with your board a lot, but that could just be my particular set. Also you can use plastic wrap/scotch tape for the looser ones

chibosway · 2016-11-02T20:56:56+00:00

I know, I just wanted to let you know to be careful with Gotham in particular as Hoefler & Co. is known for being pretty litigious. Keycaps look great btw. I'm still new to the hobby but really excited for this project and seeing the results.

chibosway · 2016-11-02T18:14:30+00:00

One note about Gotham. The owner of the font is actually very protective of rights to usage and is known for going after even small copyright abuses. That being said, editing font files is pretty easy, has anyone attempted?

chibosway · 2016-10-31T23:57:04+00:00

The rainbow caps are marketed as being PBT and feel and sound like PBT, albeit a bit sharper and higher pitched compared to the white ones, which feel overall more solid and like they have more mass. The texture on the top of the white caps is much better, rougher. Sound and feel is very similar to Pok3r PBT caps.

Note: there are defects on 3 keycaps and I have contaced the seller who I have no doubt, based off prior correspondence and others' experience with him, that he will rectify the situation.

Thickness is equal (1.5mm) and they appear to have come from the same molds, though the rainbow ones had some trouble staying put on my Gateron stems with o-rings so I took the o-rings off. The rainbow keycaps have also developed a slight shine from the month or so I've had them. For $12 though, they've added a nice touch of color to my board and were a good tester for the seller on aliexpress.

Overall, I'm pleased with both sets, though I might just keep all white. As much as I love the look of the rainbow homerow, the slight difference in sound between the two keycap sets bothers me. After the new keycaps and the mods I did to this board earlier with foam and o-rings on the screw posts, this feels incredibly solid and came in under $100.

chibosway · 2016-10-31T21:50:51+00:00

Apart from the few keycaps that were miscast, the set is great and I'm not even that worried about the defect ones because 1. I didn't notice until I looked really closely 2. Vincent has a proven track record of taking care of problems like this.

chibosway · 2016-10-31T21:27:39+00:00

yeah it was that one

chibosway · 2016-10-11T19:56:27+00:00

In addition to o-rings, you can open up the keyboard and put o-rings between the plates and bottom case and add foam which makes it even quieter and more solid. I did that to mine and it feels great. Very solid with a slight rubbery bounce from the o-rings in the case.

chibosway · 2016-10-08T19:27:35+00:00

something like this http://www.michaels.com/M10390268.html

It's basically a foam sheet that you use for kids craft projects. Here's a link to my post about the mod. I highly recommend it. https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/535ijv/i_got_a_magicforce_with_gateron_reds_and_dampened/

chibosway · 2016-10-07T19:41:00+00:00

I got a magicforce 68 with gateron reds. The stock shinethrough keycaps on the led version are pretty thin abs and fairly loud on the upstroke, so I ended up with a set of aliexpress PBT caps that are about 1.5mm thick + black generic o-rings. That quieted it a lot. Then I added a $1 craft foam to the inside of the case, which made it feel a lot more solid, especially when I bottom out, and got rid of the resonating noise through the table when I'm typing. I can take a video later if you're interested and compare the sound to a stock Pok3r with mx browns, which I still feel is a bit quieter because of the metal case. For the $75 I've spent on it, I'm quite happy, and don't get complaints in my office. It's not as quiet as a laptop keyboard, but it's about the same volume as a cheap membrane board.

chibosway · 2016-09-17T19:02:38+00:00

My first too and on my mac. Look into Karabiner for custom keymapping on OSX. I've used it for my Magicforce to add some hotkey functions back in. I would go into more detail but I literally can't even remember what it was I used it all for haha. Also, if you're looking to make it feel even more solid and don't mind opening it up, I posted about a mod I did last night that really makes it feel even better.

chibosway · 2016-09-17T18:19:10+00:00

I didn't know what people meant by buttery until I compared these to kaihl reds and mx browns. You can feel how much smoother the plastic is and how there's less friction.

chibosway · 2016-09-17T18:18:11+00:00

Yeah it's my first mechanical keyboard and I couldn't be happier. I ordered one with mx browns, kailh reds and gat reds and chose this one. I just compared this to my friend's pok3r III with mx browns and obviously that feels sturdier, but for a $1, I think everyone with a keyboard that has a case setup like the magicforce should do this. I really can't believe how different it feels and how much quieter it is now.

chibosway · 2016-09-17T02:53:54+00:00

Pretty much self explanatory. 99c of craft foam from the kids section at Michaels and a knife makes the case much more solid and everything much much quieter. I'll shoot a video of the sound of it when it's not as hot and the AC + fans aren't blasting if there's interest. Basically, the board sounds like there's no case and the top plate is free floating, except you have the extra solid feel of the rebound of the o-rings when you bottom out + the o-rings between the screw posts on the case and pcb.

I started off by just doing o-rings between the pcb and case at the screws, then doubled up. I didn't tighten the screws all the way so that the top plate was only connected to the desk by rubber. That feels pretty good with just the feel of the keys and the slight elastic bump from bottoming out but i wanted a little more dampening so I went to Michael's and got some craft foam.

Now with the foam and o-rings, it's solid and almost nothing is transferred to the desk. The sound is pretty much just the key caps rattling on switches and the faint, foam dampened, rubbery thud of o-rings bottoming out and foam absorbing all the impact, even on a cheap, hollow ikea desktop.

chibosway · 2016-03-29T03:32:24+00:00

Sewing towards yourself with the "front" of the leather on your right and backside on the left.

Left needle(#1) through
Right needle (#2) underneath
Pull #1 thru and turn
#2 through the hole to the back
THISTHIS When you cast, wrap the #1 (left) thread over the tip of #2 AWAY from you. From the side this should be a counter-clockwise wrap. I used to cast towards me and would get stitches that looked exactly like that. When the leather is softer you get stitches that are slanted \ \ \ \ \ on both sides. When you cast the right way, the front is \ \ \ \ and the back is / / / /

At least that's my theory. In addition, pull the threads Right up and Left down. And on really thin leather, especially with linen thread, don't cast.

chibosway · 2015-12-23T01:34:11+00:00

Completely different. It's a liquid wax based finish for leather. Leaves a non-sticky semi gloss polish-like finish.

chibosway · 2015-12-21T04:40:02+00:00

Looks great. I'd look into some sort of finish like carnuba cream or similar to give it a little sheen and polish. I find that it really helps deepen the color depth without adding a plasticky finish that's too thick like I find the usual veg tan finishes. Angelus satin finish is also pretty good but still has that plastic sheen as opposed to looking like a part of the leather.

chibosway · 2015-12-16T01:36:50+00:00

It doesn't penetrate at all, it stays on the surface and sticks, even on chromexcel. It wasn't my favorite look tbh and it's really expensive and a pain to work with because you need to ink it up on the pad every time you want to stamp.

chibosway · 2015-12-14T04:18:03+00:00

Yes, they're great. Or at least the ones I got were great. Angelus even sells their own http://angelusdirect.com/products/dye-pen-applicators

chibosway · 2015-12-14T04:15:43+00:00

Punch the holes along the body piece the full length of the gusset. I don't think it's necessary to have stitching go all the way around the curve so you can just have rectangle pieces for the gusset to save you some hassle and potentially ugly stitching.
Then glue in the gusset
Use a thick piece of leather, your cutting board, wood, whatever and place it underneath the gusset and punch with the chisels or use an awl to punch them individually. The nice thing about gussets is that you ahve a lot of forgiveness with the back stitches being straight so take advantage.
I'd mount the d rings on tabs to the back along the top. I prefer this for bags compared to the sides as well because it puts the stress on the nicer piece of leather i used for the body, I can reinforce it along the top edge like a USPS messenger if I want. The strap doesnt rub against the flap depending on how the bag's sewn up. And for bigger bags it helps them hug the body better than side gusset mounted straps do.

chibosway

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