I Think My Switch Is Stuck! - The Tale of Cherry MX Locks
Over the years of collecting mechanical keyboard switches, I’ve been lucky enough to have encountered dozens upon dozens of rare and unique ones that have stuck in my mind to this day. Prototypes, factory errors, and even a few switches so rare that there is literally zero documentation about them anywhere in the world all fill that personal list from top to bottom. However, I realize that talking about switches so far outside of most people’s reaches, and even sometimes my own grasp, doesn’t make for the most exciting of articles about switches. To this newest generation of keyboard enthusiasts, though, there is one pretty rare MX-style switch which has made its way to the top of everyone’s “must try” lists – Cherry MX Locks. These often undiscussed and even more rarely seen switches are something that few people have seen and even fewer have had the chance to try at a meetup before. However, the list of people who really know how these unique Cherry switches work is even shorter...
Jul 23, 2024
The expansion The Workman layout was introduced in 2010, Norman about three years later, and then the DH revision of Colemak in 2014. Keycaps were added to support more layouts, and various kit names were used to reflect the increased coverage. Let's use Colevrak+ here. The kit render below illustrates why various keycaps were added. Additional support did not necessarily follow the order listed here.
Wide mod is not a unique layout, but rather a modification intended to improve ergonomics by increasing the gap between hands. I've shown it first because it works for all alt layouts mentioned above, with the exception of Dvorak. It can even be used on QWERTY. Only two unique keycaps are needed, one of which is already included for Dvorak.
ColemaQ is Nyfee’s rearrangement of Colemak DH.
Workman was introduced by OJ Bucao in 2010.
Niro was introduced by kessentchaz in 2021. It uses Workman’s R2 D.
Norman was introduced by David Norman in 2013.
QWPR was introduced by chema_quinn in 2013. It uses Norman’s R2 K.
QGMLWY was introduced by Martin Krzywinski in 2010. It requires the addition of R2 M and homing A.
Programmer Dvorak was developed between 1997 and 2012 by Roland Kaufmann (see here and here). While it uses 19 keycaps from standard Dvorak and one from Colemak, TKL support requires an additional 15 unique keycaps: R2 at/caret, R4 apostrophe/quote, and 13 R1 keycaps with unique legends. Occasionally Colevrak+ has included just one of these keycaps – R4 apostrophe/quote – for partial support. An additional 6 unique keycaps are needed to cover the numpad: R2 is 1/2/3 and R4 is 7/8/9 to match the telephone layout.
Sculpted-profile summary table The table below highlights the keycaps needed by each of the eleven alt layouts mentioned above.
Eight-finger homing coverage is shown in honor of sets that included QWERTY eight-finger homing kits. Four examples are SA Jukebox's Deep Dish Homing Row, MT3 Serika r1's Super Homing, MT3 Serika r2's Geometries & Novelties, and MT3 Extended 2048’s Homing Addon. These were probably inspired by the home row of the Realforce HiPro keyboard. The eight-finger kit will also satisfy those who prefer middle finger homing, which was not uncommon before the turn of the century. Take early Apple keyboards, for example. (photo curtesy mr_a500)