Quiet Linear Mechanical Keyboard
Switch
A non-click, ultra-low activation force mechanical
keyboard switch, for enthusiasts, by enthusiasts.
Hello, mechanical keyboard enthusiasts! We at the Open Steno Project are in the midst
of creating from scratch an entirely new keyboard for use by stenographers. Finding just
the right key switch to meet our keyboard’s exacting demands proved impossible, so we
worked with one of the world’s leading keyboard manufacturers to create a new key
switch to our specifications.
We’re happy to offer these switches for the first time ahead of the production of our
keyboard. In addition to being among the first people in the world to enjoy these key
switches for your own projects, you can help support our cause - all proceeds go back
into the development of an open source keyboard designed specifically to lower the
cost of entry to the amazing world of stenography.
Hardware Specifications
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Action: linear, non-click
Actuation force: 35 centi-Newtons
Longevity: 50,000,000 cycles
Key cap mount: Alps-style rectangular post
Backlighting: from below through clear housing [example]
Housing: standard Matias body [mechanical drawings][3D model]
Electrical contact: both sides gold-plated
PCB layout: footprint already added to KiCad standard library [GitHub]
Key Features
Get it? Key features…
Non-click
Our target users (stenographers) place an extreme emphasis on working with a quiet
keyboard. After all, stenography often takes place right in the middle of free flowing
conversation, such as in a courtroom or classroom, and the noise of rapid typing on a
normal keyboard would be too distracting. Even the so-called “quiet click” keyboards
are much too loud. Our key switch was specifically designed not to have any click
mechanism.
Low Activation Force
Stenographers often find themselves typing for many continuous hours. Every extra
effort to depress a key quickly adds up and can lead to serious injury. Our key switch
has, as far as we can tell, the lowest actuation force (35cN) of any mechanical key switch
on the market. This is 22% less force than required by the nearest comparable switch,
the Cherry MX Red.
Durable
We want our keyboard to last as long as anyone would want to use it, so our switches
have to stand up to millions of strokes. At least 50 million to be precise. This is achieved
by using high-quality, well-tested internal components.
For example, consider the two electrical contacts in the switch. When the two contacts
meet, an electrical connection is made and the key switch is considered to be “on.” The
standard way to make a great electrical connection is to cover the two contacts in gold.
Indeed, one of the contacts in our switch is completely covered in gold. The other
contact, pictured above, is gold-plated only on the small area that will actually physically
touch the other contact. The reason for this is simply that the process of gold plating
weakens the metal being plated, which would reduce the longevity of the key switch.
The extra complexity of coating only a small portion of the contact in gold maintains the
strength of the metal while at the same time providing just as good of an electrical
connection.
Hackable
Our key switches can be completely disassembled and reassembled without using any
tools, though tweezers help. This means that you can replace or modify any of the
pieces. Of particular interest is the spring: you could replace or modify the spring to be
more or less stiff to suit your exact touch. Even the color of the key switch can be
modified - because the housing of our key switches is clear, they can be easily backlit
without requiring a separate LED for each switch.
Critical for our keyboard is the requirement that custom key caps could be easily
manufactured to fit onto the key switches. Unlike the Cherry MX line of key switches,
which use a mounting post that requires a mating piece in the shape of a difficult-tomanufacture cross, our switches use an Alps-style mounting post that requires a simple
rectangular mating piece. The practical upshot of this difference is that we can now
create custom key caps by milling them out of metal, plastic, or other materials, without
the need for injection mold tooling or lots of manual labor to modify existing key caps,
both of which are expensive. The image below shows an example of some key caps
we’ve made for our switches.
Finally, you can start using our key switches in your projects right away - we’ve already
contributed a PCB footprint to the standard KiCad library of footprints, as shown in the
screenshot below.
Inexpensive
One of the primary motivations of the keyboard for which these switches were designed
is to make stenography financially accessible to a wide range of people. Keeping the
cost of key switches down is a critical piece of this. As it turns out, the least expensive
option that covers all of these features was for us to work with Matias to create our own
switch.
Cherry MX Red Comparison
If you aren’t a mechanical keyboard enthusiast, but want to learn more, check out this
guide to mechanical keyboards. If you are a mechanical keyboard enthusiast, you’ve
probably heard of or even used the Cherry MX line of key switches. Here’s how our key
switch compares along the axes we most care about:
Open Steno Project Key Switch
Cherry MX Red Key Switch
Durability
50,000,000 cycles
50,000,000 cycles
Actuation Force
35 cN
45 cN
Custom Key Caps
easy (rectangular mounting post)
difficult (cross mounting post)
Backlighting
easy (clear housing)
possible (clear housing on some models)
Availability
soon to be in regular production
out of common circulation
Price*
Manufacturing
To create our switches, we worked directly with Matias, a Canadian company with a long
history of shipping great keyboards. Among other things, Matias is famous for reviving
the Alps-style key switch used in the early Apple II mechanical keyboards. We
prototyped and sampled several variations until we found the perfect fit. Matias handled
all manufacturing. Matias has been a pleasure to work with and we’ve been lucky to find
such an established partner willing to take on our relatively small project.
Crowdfunding Campaign Motivation
While the minimum order quantity (MOQ) for the initial batch of switches is much
higher than the funding goal of this campaign ($1,000) would suggest, we plan to use
many of those switches to produce our own keyboard. We’re running this campaign to
simplify the logistics of offering our extra keys to other people. We look forward to
seeing the projects that end up using them. Thanks for your support and enjoy these
great key switches!
https://www.crowdsupply.com/open-steno-project/quiet-linear-mechanical-keyboard-switch 1-4-18