So who’s going to bite the bullet…for science of course.
https://415keys.com/collections/stems/products/linear-stems-uhmwpe
5 Likes
yolo
7 Likes
Dude! Huge thanks for sharing. Science!
3 Likes
Ha, yes!
1 Like
What would be a perfect housing for these?
3 Likes
Bobba’s, of course !
3 Likes
Definitely look at the disclaimer on the seller’s page. It seems that the stems may not fit into tighter tolerance housings in which category Outemu might fall into.
1 Like
I’ve heard that the other ones work really well with Cream housings - that’s why I picked up some of these. I’ll be trying them in all kinds of stuff, and I imagine other folks here will as well.
I also decided to pick up some Gateron Yellows while I was at it as a sort of comparative baseline that’s easy to reference.
It’s funny, I’ve been looking for a place that has good ol’ Gateron Yellows at a non-inflated price (looking at you, mechanicalkeyboards dot com), and/or that isn’t coming from China on a bulk shipping container with a really wide range of possible ship dates, none of which are soon.
I’d find sites that look like a really great deal until the shipping comes into the picture (hi, kbdfans I still love you but I’ve balked at the shipping stage a few times now). Across the board, the real cost of the yellows averaged in the mid to low 30 cent range. That’s not expensive generally, but it might be a little high for those switches.
Shipped from 415 to my neck of the concrete woods, they’re between 27 and 28 cents each. That’s a bit more like it. 
I could probably pay a little less with patience, but not having any when it comes to getting parts is definitely a factor. 
2 Likes
MechKeyAlpha has them and offers Hong Kong Post Air Mail shipping for $10 or free if you buy $80 or more.
So 18 cents a piece if you grab a bunch of stuff and hit the free shipping mark, or 27/28 cents if you eat the shipping.
4 Likes
TESTING:
Update 1: So far, none of these are holding onto keycaps at all unless I turn the cap sideways. 
8 Likes
I am having the same issue with mine, unfortunately… Also there is some more side to side wobble than the original stems I replaced. I could look past that if the caps would stay on.
4 Likes
That was my biggest complaint with the v1 Invyr’s though it doesn’t seem to be quite as bad as these. On a separate note, the Alpacas I got (from the first round I think) have really undersized stems – I can only use eBPT caps on them as brand new unmounted GMK or JTK sets fall right off.
3 Likes
Update 2: More information:
Caps these don’t seem to hold onto:
- Ducky OEM PBT
- NK PBT
- MDA PBT
- Those clear caps that come on testers
- SP SA was iffy but might be workable
Caps these stems do hold onto:
- ePBT Cherry profile
- GMK Cherry profile
- (by extension probably OG Cherry if not too worn)
- Rando thin painted ABS OEM caps that came with a budget board
This mostly jives with what Sam from 415keys told me; that the target spec for these is original Cherry.
He requested a video, so if you don’t mind my weird voice you can see how these stems fit with a few different caps here.
Also worth noting:
Housings that don’t seem to work well:
- Tangerine (definite no-go)
- Boba (might work with lube but I have doubts)
Housings that worked fine:
- Cream; a little wobbly
- Gateron (opaque black housing from Gat Yellow)
At least pre-lubing, those housings the stems did work in seemed less smooth with these stems than without, but that’s definitely first-impression territory. These might be better with lube, a break-in period, or different housings - this is just what I’ve found so far with limited testing.
When I swapped one into a Gat yellow and pushed it together with a stock one stem-to-stem, the UHMWPE stem depressed more slowly, and with some slight herky-jerky movement. The feeling is pretty similar to brand-new Cream, with those bits of “stickiness” on slow presses.
So - my recommendation for these stems is to only buy them if you have keys you know to be close to that spec; GMK, ePBT, original Cherry caps that haven’t been mounted and un-mounted a bunch of times, or caps that otherwise fit snugly - AND if you manage your own expectations for these to be an interesting experiment rather than a magic buttery-smooth bullet.
7 Likes
I wonder if UHMWPE shrinks more than some of these other plastics. I feel like every iteration has had some tolerance issue.
2 Likes
From what I understand, yes. UHMWPE shrinks more than many other plastics and it’s apparently challenging to predict by how much.
2 Likes
Got mine in today. Best to worst housings I tried: Cream > Yok > Silent Sky > Boba > Gateron > Cherry
These will not work on your KAT or SA caps. They will fall off.
Zeal housings showed fairly low wobble with only a slight hint of binding on off-center presses. Similar feeling to a tealio switch, but less refined. Seems like a waste to put theses in a Zeal housing. Tactile anything or Cherry Silent linears are a much better switch in a Zeal housing than the UHMWPE.
Cream is viable and eliminates the slip stick of Pom on Pom. Fairly low wobble without much binding on off-center presses.
Yok feels pretty solid but would need lube to hide the scratchy housing. A quiet bottom-out in this housing.
Bobas and Silent skies… I’m not a big fan of Otemu in general. However, both of these switches have very tight housings. I find the stock Bobas with silent tactile stems much more interesting than turning them into linears. Silent Skies are viable, however, I’m still not compelled to move forward with that mod. Both options here are underwhelming. Both housings result in a very quite linear experience using the UHMWPE stems. Bobas still bind too much on off-center presses for my taste.
Gateron KS-3 housings sounded okay and felt smooth but had way too much wobble with the UHMWPE stem. Weird that I never used to notice wobble. Testing these beside some everglide corals with films, the wobble on the KS-3/UHMWPE combo feels so clunky. (By the way, have you guys tried Everglide corals with 205g0 and films? 50 or 60 keyboards in and these might be some of my favorite switches I’ve ever tried. Anyway, I digress).
Cherry housings had less wobble, but I could still feel scratch even after lubing. Also, there was a slight binding on off-center presses that made the switch feel heavier (similar to the boba housing).
TLDR: The stems are not a perfect drop-in solution in any housing, but if I was forced to use them, a Novelkeys Cream housing would be my recommendation. Stem cruciforms are too small for many profile keycaps. GMK will work. I won’t be using these because I don’t like having to limit any board to certain keycaps (Changing out the keycaps is part of the fun!)
7 Likes
Man, with all of the bad reports of these stems I feel like an ass for making this post.
2 Likes
Welp, this is disappointing. I just joined the 415 preorder last week. Im hoping I can at least sell them as they dont appear to be very useful for any of the switches I would have put them into.
1 Like
I really liked the Invyr PE stems in Tangie R2 housings. I used cream tops which I don’t recommend. Leaf issues. Overall really nice sounding, smooth as hell switch once you finally get the pins aligned correctly
1 Like
Ha. I had fun experimenting with them at least.
4 Likes