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Kinesis keyboards would be even more awesome with Cherry blue switches

Kinesis contoured keyboards are great, but the brown switches just aren't as nice to type on as the blues. I happened to have a spare Kinesis so I figured I'd just replace the switches myself !

Kinesis kindly obliged in selling me the replacement logic boards, but for the life of me I can't find ANYONE who wants to sell me the blue switches (part # MX1AE1DW).

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can get about 80 Cherry blue switches ?

( 4 comments | on HN )
Re:Kinesis keyboards would be even more awesome with Cherry ... by yrb on Thursday February 16, 2012 @06:03PM (#3601127)
Have you tried digikey? They don't seem to have the exact part number you are seeking. But they do have MX1A-E1NW which is a similar part but without the internal diode. Not sure what impact this will have with the Kinesis keyboard however.

http://search.digikey.com/us/en/cat/switches/pushbutton/1114...

Re:Kinesis keyboards would be even more awesome with Cherry ... by hairyharry on Thursday February 16, 2012 @06:07PM (#3601146)
Yeah they don't stock the specific switch needed and won't be getting it in.
Re:Kinesis keyboards would be even more awesome with Cherry ... by yrb on Thursday February 16, 2012 @06:23PM (#3601210)
Interestingly enough, the part number is not listed in the MX series datasheet. What is the PCB layout like, would you be able to splice in SMD diodes where they are needed :)

[1] http://media.digikey.com/pdf/Data%20Sheets/Cherry%20PDFs/MX%...

Re:Kinesis keyboards would be even more awesome with Cherry ... by mark-r on Thursday February 16, 2012 @06:16PM (#3601181)
I thought this would be a perfect chance to try http://octopart.com/ but no luck there. Sorry.