Topre with MX Stems and G20



Got a whole bunch (500) Topre to MX stems from AliExpress. Look to be the same ones used on keyboards like the Royal Kludge RC930. Even has the same silencing rings on them.



Quick install of them in my Realforce. Threw on some random keycaps that I had laying around. Overall they went in easy. But there are a few issues. First, they don't even fit in the modifiers that use stabilizers. Looks like the stems on those keys are slightly smaller and so is the hole. I've heard reports that these are more scratchy feeling then the Topre stems. I can maybe see why. But looking at the Topre stems, they seem to have a little bit of lube on them. So maybe Topre lubes them stock which is why they are so smooth. So lubing these would probalby help even things out. But overall I don't think it's bad.



G20s on Topre? Yes we can! I'm also liking the silencing rings. They don't really feel any different and the reduced noise is nice. A few of the keys still have some noise. But I think it's coming from the plastic housing that holds the stem. Some feel a little looser on the back plate and I think the noise is from them rattling. Wasn't noticable before as the unsilenced Topre stems already made noise on the return which covered it up.



The control key uses a slightly different stem. Probably because of the LED. So I had to cut off and sand down one of the stems to make it fit.



Here you can see how the control key stem differs. From left to right we have a normal MX stem, my modified control key stem, original Topre control stem, normal Topre stem.



I was able to make the spacebar work. Pulled out the Topre stabilizers, set a Cherry plate mount stab in there. It's loose but it fits. Also had to cut a little bit off of the Topre housing for the stabalizer bar. Once you get the spacebar on, it holds together pretty well.



And here is the Realforce with some Signature Plastic G20 keycaps I just picked up. Everything worked pretty well except the 2U stabalizer keys. (more on that below) The bottom row actually ends up working pretty well. The Topre 1.5U + 1U + 1.5U on the left makes for evenly spaced keys so the normal 1.25U keycaps fit in the same approximate space. Same for the alt/ctrl keys on the right side. But I still had to use 1U Win and Menu keys which leaves a little bit of a gap between the smaller alt/ctrl keys. The smaller size of the two alt keys means the 6U Topre spacebar can be replaced with a normal 6.25U spacebar.



Just a quick view of the G20s from the side. I'm glad I finally have a full set of these things.



What I came up with for the 2U stabalizers was I removed the 1U housings from the Pause, Scroll Lock and Print Screen keys and put them in the positions of the left/right shift and backspace. I'm leaving the enter key for now although I could always grab the F12 key if I wanted. I don't ever use that one. The 1U housing can move around a little. But after I put some Costar stabalizers in there, which fit pretty well, it holds together nicely.



One final look. I'm using my G20s on my Atomic which I use primarily. So I put in my Devlin L keycaps from my Cherry MX Board 3.0. You can see the missing Pause, Scroll and Print Screen keys.