The O-Ring Mount – The Bootleg Gasket Mount for Any Keyboard
The custom mechanical keyboard market is continuously growing with more and more people dipping their toes into what ends up being an ocean of choices and customizations that they can implement in their custom builds.
Each choice for your keyboard build is equally important because all of them together will mold the sound profile and feel of your keyboard. The type of case you choose, the type of switches, the stabilizers, and even the type of keycaps you choose will impact the way your keyboard sounds and feels.
Something that is even more important in all of this is the amount of modding you do which also significantly improves the experience you will have with your board. You can lube your switches and stabilizers, add foam to every crack possible and do a lot of other weird tricks people came up with to improve the sound and feel of their builds.
The Roots of The O-Ring Mod
One such popular mod that has surfaced lately is called the o-ring mount which is an innovative way of trying to copy the feel of a gasket mount. The main reason you would even want to copy the feel of a gasket mount keyboard is simple – since the plate is not in contact with any of the other materials the typing experience feels cushioned and the overall acoustic experience is improved.
This works especially well on metal cases and metal plates which often produce hollow and metallic pingy noises. The gasket mount is usually accompanied by plenty of foam dampening both in the case and between the plate and the PCB to achieve the optimal experience.
An extra step you can take is to also choose muted switches like the Gateron Ink V2 and lube and film them for the optimal acoustic experience. The overall combination of the o-ring mod, noise-insulating foam, and muted switches will allow you to have a keyboard built with all metal components (which to many feel more premium and hefty) without having to deal with an acoustic profile that will give you nightmares.
The O-Ring Mount Mod
The best part about the o-ring mount is that like most other keyboard mods it is extremely cheap. All you need to do is purchase silicone o-rings for cheap from a store like Aliexpress and you are ready to go.
I have applied this mod to my Tofu 60 that has an aluminum case, brass plate (fits the all-metal build pre-requisite) and that uses lubed and filmed Gateron Ink V2 switches.
All you have to do is to open up your keyboard and put a silicone ring on each of the stand-offs inside the case. Afterward, you need to carefully place the PCB+plate sandwich back inside of the case without the o-rings falling off.
Then you take your screws and fit a silicone ring around each of them and put your screws back in place.
Do not overtighten your screws so the o-rings stay plush resulting in your PCB being squished between the o-rings from both sides. Once finished this mod will give you the gasket mount feeling along with the improved acoustics since there is no contact between your PCB+Plate and the metal case.
With the specially selected switches, amount of foam, and the o-ring mount you are guaranteed to improve the sounds of even the most metallic of builds allowing you to serenade your kittens to sleep with your majestic keyboard sounds.
