Spring Swapping

Spring Swapping.

It's not a new concept. Steno users with hobbyist keyboards do this all the time.

Should I?

Should you invest your time, money, and effort into swapping your springs? It depends on your skill level.

If you are a beginner, swapping to lighter springs will probably just frustrate you more. Accuracy is really important. Light springs can help with speed, but it can come at the cost of accuracy. Maybe wait until you start to get better before swapping out your springs.

If you are more advanced, consider swapping your springs. They are a life saver. Your fingers will thank you.

Why?

Why do we swap springs? The simple answer is that it's just easier to press lighter keys.

Switch weights add up cumulatively. Pressing two 60 gram switches with one hand puts 120 grams of force on that hand. This happens because of a phenomena called physics. Lighter springs help alleviate this.

Where to buy

Great. Where can I find light springs? Check out this website under worldwide official partners to find a vendor near you.

Here is some info:

15 gram springs: The lightest you should go for MX switches. Very light, almost too light. Sometimes the switches struggle popping back up reliably. Still not bad though. I got this the first time around and I had to spend some time adjusting to the spring weight. Switches will actuate if you rest your fingers on the keys.

20 gram springs: Recommended by Charley from stenomod.blogspot.com. Not too light, but just light enough. A good middle ground between 35 and 15 grams.

35 gram springs: Default springs in the Uni. Probably the best for beginners. It won't actuate even if you lightly rest your fingers on the board. But it's light enough for your fingers not to get fatigued too quickly.

How to swap your springs

Video by me:

Conclusion

Avid users of steno should definitely consider swapping springs. Beginners, not so much.

Comments

Steno In a Nutshell

Quick, read this sentence out loud. Now, try to type that same sentence. Which was faster? Most people can read much faster than they can type. Stenographers, on the other hand, can type as fast as you read! But what is steno anyways? Sometimes, steno feels like magic. Words. Entire words, magically appearing on the screen. Steno is a method of writing that allows the user to press multiple keys at the same time to make an entire word. Here's a video of me doing stenography. Huh? Watch it again. Maybe you can understand it the second time around. Or maybe not. Still confused? I was too. But it turns out, it's not as complicated as it looks. Steno might look like playing a piano, and you're not wrong... Piano and steno are actually quite similar. Both use chords to represent sounds. Phonetic Spelling You write in steno by typing words as they sound. You spell "cat" by typing "KAT" in steno. There are only 22 letter keys on the steno layout even though the...

Steno with the Uni: How to connect it with Plover.

See the updated guide on setting up the Uni here! Thanks for purchasing the Uni! This is the layout: If you bought the PCB version click here for the build guide. Everything below is for those who ordered the fully assembled version. Fully Assembled Setup The fully assembled Uni will come ready to use out of the box. Almost. You just need to have Plover installed on your computer. Make sure to get the latest build. How to install Plover : Click on the latest version of Plover (continuous 4.0.0 or whatever is newest). Under Assets install the Windows Installer (or macOS or Linux depending on your operating system). Go through the installation setup If you already have Plover installed do this: Open Plover. Click the Configure gear icon on the top left corner. Click on the Machine tab. Click on the drop down next to Machine: and select Gemini PR Below, click on the button that says Scan. Click on the drop down for Port and select the COM number that popped up. If more ...

Uni Build Guide

How to Build Your Own Uni Step 1: Buy a PCB Go to StenoKeyboard.com and buy yourself a PCB. Cool. You are done with this step. Step 2: Buy the other parts You need to buy these components: Pro Micro (or Pro Micro compatible Elite C) 28 PCB Mount* Switches (Mx, Alps, or Choc) 28 Keycaps (You can also buy keycaps from other vendors) 4 Rubber Feet Solder and Soldering Iron USB Cable to connect your Uni to the computer *PCB mount switches have two additional plastic legs that makes it easier for the switches to stay on the PCB while you solder. Plate mount can work, but it will be harder. Alps switches are plate mount. Step 3: Solder the Pro-Micro Make sure to position the Pro-Micro on the side of the board WITHOUT diodes. It is also extremely important that you solder the pro micro on so that the smooth of the pro micro is facing up so that the footprints match up. The long pins fa...

StenoKeyboards

Search This Blog