Exploring rubber O-ring dampeners

One way to make chatty keyboard quieter is to put a rubber O-ring between the key cap and the switch.  Thus, when the key is pressed down, the O-ring deforms, absorbs some energy and slows down the descent (or ascent) so that less energy is transferred when bottoming out (or when hitting the top depending on the switch design).  Of course, there a quite a few different types of O-rings, using different materials, with different dimensions.  Apparently, there’s quite a market for silent keyboards.  Witness all the aftermarket kits that are on sale these days to help with noise issue.  Indeed there are places where loud typing sound isn’t exactly welcomed.  One place I can think of is of course, the library.  There are also other places where a quiet keyboard is rather welcomed as opposed to the good old buckling spring keyboard.  Also, some manufacturers go to great length to silent their products.  For example, logi’s G910 or some of the new Cherry MX silent linear switches.  I have heard that some people even try to use dental bands (which is kind of like an O-ring, I guess) as a hacking method.  Pretty clever, I must say.

So, just to start out simple, I would like to explore the most generic kind and see if it makes any difference.  Since Newegg had a sale for Rosewill branded Cherry MX compatible dampening O-rings, I just couldn’t resist getting a sample and see what kind of impact, (pun intended), this would have on the various keyboard operations.  It’s an interesting wrinkle to consider.  Hopefully, I will have some meaningful result to share.