deskthority

What would be the best method for you Model M experts to suppress the spring reverberance and reduce overall noise? I'm pretty fresh to Model Ms and the noise they give off is louder than any other keyboards I own (and I own a tactile modded Dell bigfoot which was pretty loud for me). I've seen methods such as floss/string being inserted in the springs to silence them when they buckle, but I've also seen more common methods used on other boards which is to place a sheet of dampening foam underneath the backplate to absord the vibration.

Are either of these reliable and viable to do for Model Ms or are there more suitable methods I'm unaware of?

PS. I'm using a Unicomp [New] Model M.

I think the floss mod would make the biggest difference. If the floss is just the right length, it removes the "twang" in the switch completely. The floss mod is also reversible.
You can't make the click sound more silent though, at least not without affecting the key feel.

I've seen someone put sheets of bitumen (for vibration-absorption in cars) into empty bottom cavities of Cherry MX keyboards, but not yet into Model M. That adds serious weight.

A better mod is to take a thin foam sheet, like you'd get in a shipper, or the kind you'd use to create the inner foam of a Model F, and cut it into strips that are the same length and width of the floss. Foam naturally deadens sound, and doesn't fray or dislodge itself from the spring over time like the floss does.

Weezer wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 19:53 Foam [...] doesn't fray or dislodge itself from the spring over time like the floss does.

I wasn't aware that this was an issue that the floss had?

I think this one works good

viewtopic.php?t=23394

XMIT wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 20:18

Weezer wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 19:53 Foam [...] doesn't fray or dislodge itself from the spring over time like the floss does.

I wasn't aware that this was an issue that the floss had?

Maybe it was the floss I used, but I had to open the keyboard back up after a couple months of use because the pinging had started to come back on some of the keys and I found that the floss had started to fray.

anthonymak wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 20:32 I think this one works good

viewtopic.php?t=23394

This looks very promising, I'll see if I can get the tools as listed by the author.

Weezer wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 20:47

XMIT wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 20:18

Weezer wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 19:53 Foam [...] doesn't fray or dislodge itself from the spring over time like the floss does.

I wasn't aware that this was an issue that the floss had?

Maybe it was the floss I used, but I had to open the keyboard back up after a couple months of use because the pinging had started to come back on some of the keys and I found that the floss had started to fray.

Did you use the "canonical" Oral-B Superfloss?
I've floss modded both my Model F and one of my Model Ms and I only have positive things to say about it.

Fwiw, I tried the yarn mod and hated it. It ruined the delicious snap of buckling springs. Tried the grease mod on the F10 key, that was pretty blah too.

Good luck on your methods though

Bjerrk wrote: 05 Apr 2021, 09:01

Weezer wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 20:47

XMIT wrote: 04 Apr 2021, 20:18

I wasn't aware that this was an issue that the floss had?

Maybe it was the floss I used, but I had to open the keyboard back up after a couple months of use because the pinging had started to come back on some of the keys and I found that the floss had started to fray.

Did you use the "canonical" Oral-B Superfloss?
I've floss modded both my Model F and one of my Model Ms and I only have positive things to say about it.

Yeah, I did. Foam just works a lot better in my opinion. The how to made by inmbolmie that was posted in this thread by anthonymak is basically what I did, except I used longer thinner strips of foam.

Has anyone tried the rubber/silicone mod or the 'loom band' mod where you use one of these instead of floss? They appear to be a much more elegant and cheaper solution than the foam mod.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=71208.0