Actually, I did it to put sound-dampening o-rings under each key cap. I think it was 88 keys total and yeah, it took a good long while. I don’t recommend it as a hobby, unless you’re trying to learn patience and plenty of it.
I did this on the Cooler Master Masterkeys S keyboard I recently bought. It has red switches, which are allegedly quiet, but they are more “quiet” in practise, because while they don’t have the loud (and strangely satisfying CLACK) of blue switches, they definitely do make a distinct click when bottomed out. And my typing involves a lot of bottoming out. And the clicking has a vaguely unpleasant hollowness to it. I experienced some regret over the purchase, but decided to order a full set of o-rings after some testing with a set of six and now that I’ve cushioned all the keys, I can state a few things:
- the o-rings definitely have a significant effect on sound. The keys still click, but it’s much more quiet
- the o-rings also eliminate most of the hollow feel of the keys
- it’s still a mechanical keyboard and the keys feel very solid, though the 8 key is curiously shifted slightly up from the others:
I like it, but I’m still adjusting to it and honestly, I think I may prefer the CLACK of blue switches. The feel is just so weirdly nice.
So my keyboard kaos has settled down for the moment, but there may be one more keyboard in my future…
