/* Nowadays I think about how I used to laugh and scoff at the idea that something that had a rubber dome could ever feel better or just as good as my true mechanical cherry mx switches.
Even with the meme of calling it "rubreh domeh" that I do myself and amongst friends, these buttery smooth feeling switches are something I could never live without. */
/* Sure I love my Mod-M FC660M, that thing was a dream I had built up after realizing that I wanted to really go crazy and modify a board completely.
The tactility of the stems, the weight of the springs, Mod-M I was sure was going to be the only switch I would ever truely love ...
Then I snagged a Norbatouch off the mechmarket.
The Novatouch with MX Topre compatibility, if I was going to give topre a shot there was no way I wasn't going to use the caps I had already accumulated over time.
It felt ... meh, all I could think was there's no way this is what all the hype is about.
I knew that the Novatouch had already been called out online as lacking the true Topre feel, even more so with the Hyperspheres I had.
Was my experience then lessened when I went full Topre in buying a FC660C?
Hell no, immidiately I felt what every Topre enthusiast was talking about.
The breaking of the bubble at the top of the switch, the buttery smooth press all the way to the bottom out.
They feel like a dream to type on, even with the stock caps.
It didn't take much getting used to for understanding where the switch would acuate and how to type well on the board.
The sturdy structure of the steel plate inside the FC660C I thought was a nice touch to the riggidity that Leopold was shooting for in the board.
Every bit of the board felt great and well worth the price tag. */
/* So why modify it?
Many belive that you shouldn't, pure Topre is best Topre.
My belief is, well, why the hell not?
In going with that belief, I decided that this board would be my heavily modified Topre board.
MX Sliders to use the beautiful and simple GMK 9009 set.
Hypersphere to quiet down some of the clack of the plastic on plastic upstroke.
Lubing, cause come on, always lube. */
/* Upon tearing apart the board we journey down the typical Topre modding adventure.
I hate to admit, but this required doing some damage to the board.
Leopold went with a latching system for the top to attach to the bottom.
This results in using a screw driver and digging against the plastic case to wedge the two pieces apart.
I was pretty afraid of completely destroying the case and snapping it.
With the slightest bit of delicousy, you can make the seperation without breaking anything, but it will leave marks in the case.
These marks aren't visible when sitting at your desk though, so no real worries there. */
/* First modification is to remove the stems and use my KBDFans Sliders.
Not going to harvest the Novatouch, that recieved some BKE Light domes to resolve issues with its feel.
Not necessarily pertanent to this review, but currently with the newest batch from KBDFans, the 2u sliders are slightly to big for the stablizer housings.
This put a damper in my mood, being very unhappy with what I was about to do, I reluctantly sanded down the sliders on a few sides to get it to actually slide.
Miraculously, I'd like to report that with some lube I don't even notice the sanding.
For those who had this issue, I'd recommend sanding paper at or higher than 220 grit, as well as a nice clean up of the sliders after.
Putting in the sliders is a no-brainer, simply pop the old ones out and the new ones in and you're done.
Unfortunately there's still no solution for the spacebar when it comes to the FC660C layout, so I'm stuck with the one it came with.
Fortunately, the color is so close to 9009 that I was completely okay with this.
/* Looking forward to someone resolving that issue, if I don't do so myself. */
Althought the plate maybe steel, the housings and the stems of Topre are usually plastic, that remains true with this board.
Best option is to Hypersphere, and while some say it removes the tactility, I didn't notice it so much.
The board still feels absolutely fantastic to type on, and it doesn't bug the shit out of any of my coworkers around me.
Putting the Hyperspheres on the MX Sliders and making sure they didn't get stuck to the housing was tedious.
Rather would make sure everything was perfect though before closing up the case and finding something wrong.
With every step of these modifications I was constantly checking and rechecking to make sure everything was just right.
Still to this day I love that I installed these, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who finds their Topre board too loud. */
/* -- to be continued -- */