Easing Into Linears

Is there a difference between [Hyperglide] Cherry MX Reds and MX Blacks beside the spring?

I have not tried Cherry Reds but I think they’re supposedly the same just with different springs although IMO different color and price should matter at least mentally.

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Just wanted to share that I’ve been enjoying the sound of Black Lotus linears in Brutal 60 with FR4 plate a lot lately. Gummy top-mount with more than usual room below PCB makes the switch sound poppy and joyful to type on.

Did you lube them? I really like my lubed ones as well. Very pleasing sound in the case I have them in. I agree, they are poppy. Kinda sounds like popcorn in a kettle\

But I do get the occasional chirp here and there. Haven’t heard back from divinikey on if there is a fixed version coming.

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Yup. I lubed them w/205g0 as usual. Definitely enjoyable poppy sound. Thanks for recommending it. Too bad it takes right case/plate combo to bring out the sound. Sounded just like Blue Sky linears in other cases.

I haven’t noticed any chirps. But then I lube rather thoroughly.

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I’ve used both HG blacks & HG reds, can confirm the only difference is the spring weighting. Swap the springs between two & they feel + sound the same with a different colored stem.

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In what seems to be an almost weekly event for me, I was buying more switch storage containers from Kinetic Labs and saw that they had Wuque Studios’ new Morandi linear for sale. I went back and forth for a bit as I have no shortage of white linears in my collection already…

Stiff Competition

I’m sensing a theme here:thinking:

Curiosity got the better of me and I put them in my cart and checked out. When they finally arrived, I felt like I made the right call as they seem to be sold out everywhere…

These are the first Haimu switch I believe I have tried, but the second WS factory lubed switch.
I have tried and recommended WS Aurora switches to several people looking for a switch that is ready to go right out of the box. The Morandi switches continue the legacy…

I decided to pull the AMAZING Durock Black Lotus switches out of my Ikki68 and pop these in. I chose to round things out by using WS Kraken keycaps. (I swear this post isn’t sponsored by Wuque Studios. Honest!!:grin:)

Non-Icky Ikki

Ok, so not everything on here is from WS…

Here’s the details of what makes this switch click from Wuque’s site:


Item
WS Morandi

Manufacturer
Haimu

Price
US$ 0.43 per switch

Switch Type
Linear

Top Housing Material
POM

Bottom Housing Material
POM

Stem Material
UPE

Light Diffuser Material
PMMA

Spring
18mm/Double stage Spring

Total travel
3.50士0.3mm

Bottom-out force
60gf Max

Factory lubed


I have to say, I was not expecting this whole package to come together so nicely. These switches impressed the hell out of me! Springs feel perfectly weighted and not a hint of ping or crunch. Actuation was smooth and snappy. Bottom and top out sound was clacky, but not harsh. Quiet enough for office work, but definitely not the quietest linear I own.

Here some pics I have snapped of one of the disassembled switches that show stem and spring length, and travel. Also, close-ups (or as close as I could get with my iPhone… :person_facepalming:) of the stem, housings, and diffuser. I also tried to show how minimal the stem wobble was with a pic in a neutral position, North/South, and East/West.

Stem

Spring

Travel

Housings

Bottom

Top & Diffuser

Stem Wobble

Neutral

North/South

East/West

TL;DR: Great factory lubed linear that I can easily recommend to anyone looking for a no-fuss linear that feels like you are getting your money’s worth. :+1::+1::+1::+1:

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Liking all of Morandi’s spec except for its travel distance. Wish I had a jig to shorten long-pole stems consistently.

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Tried RO-59. Here are my results after 3 coats.

TL;DR - It does make noticeable difference in smoothness (smoother) and sound (lower pitch). Adds an attractive mesmerizing sheen to surface. No issue when a layer of 205g0 is added on top.

New Nixies

Housing and stem coated with RO-59 then lubed w/205g0 is smoother in feel, cleaner and lower-pitched in sound than my other set just lubed with 205g0.

Kailh Black v2 long-pole stems

In New Nixies from above - I wanted to improve on New Nixies sound so I’m in midst of coating the stems. Tried a set of 10 New Nixies from above with these stems. Minor ignorable loss in travel distance. It did do what I wanted sound wise but there is a bit of squeeze at the bottom that doesn’t feel satisfying. Going to need a pencil sharpener like jig to fix this.

OG NK Cream - No loss in travel distance. More solid lower-pitched sound. Noticeably smoother. Promising enough to try a full set in-use. Can’t argue with smoother Cream.

Black Lotus - No loss in travel distance. Solid lower-pitched sound. Oddly less poppy but still good. No change in smoothness so I think RO-59 can improve less smooth switches as smooth as JWK boutique switches. Good enough to try a full set in-use but I like Black Lotus as-is too much to do that.

I have a few more long-pole switches switches without loss in travel distance to try with later. Only real blocker is whether inside bottom of the stem hole is tapered or not which leads to that unpleasant squeezing feel.

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While I found RO-59 useful, there are three issues:

  • LABOR - its very tedious to apply it using a brush, not just once but 3 times at least. Bag lubing or dipping would be easier but it’s not clear if the result would be as good as brushing.
  • COST - Even at a discount, it’s a bit costly to do bag lube or dipping.
  • NEED - Most new switches don’t need further smoothing. I’m not even sure RO-59 will help.

Ideal switches to use RO-59 on IMO are stock classic switches: ALPS, Vintage Cherry Black, Nixes, and New Nixies.

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@ThereminGoat’s review of them is here:

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Sharing my current taste in linear switches.

Enjoying three boards each with different linear switches in daily rotation. Three switches are:

  1. Black Lotus - clacky, poppy, and bright sound. happy board.
  2. Banana Split - similar to Black Lotus but more airy and lighter sound. fun board.
  3. New Nixies - like Cherry Black sound but brighter. Slightly smoother and lower-pitched thx to RO-59.

While other two switches are enjoyable, they feel like trendy flings. New Nixies on the other hand sounds and feels like a mainstay switch, one that I could enjoy for a long time. I still think Cherry switches are the best if they are made smooth (not an easy feat). I’ll continue to try new switches and may even rave about them but, in the end, Cherry switches are what I’ll be returning to.

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Yeah it’s tough not to come back to the OG Cherry. I’m with you on that I get excited about newer switches & even use them for some time, but always end up coming back to MX blacks or reds. The new nixies in particular are really good IMO. Wish I would’ve bought more than the 180 I got in the pre order, but at least I still got enough for another board!

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I still feel like it’s at least 75% board dependent. My Noxary 280 has retooled blacks and I love it. The hyperglides I have tried in a few hotswap boards are close to garbage. I have a bag of them in a “parts” bucket

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This is a good point too, as much as I like Cherry linears, there are some boards I have that just do not suit them well at all.

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I have to agree although that’s the case for most switches. Some, like Oil King, is pretty decent in most boards. Cherry switches are pickier. Even New Nixies sound just so so or even icky in some case/plate combos.

In short, Cherry is like mama’s home cooking. :wink:

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Useful info on teflon which may also be useful with RO-59.

Full cure is attainable in 24 hours at room temperature 72°F (22°C), 1 hour at 200°F (93°C).

UPDATE: relevant material melting points:

  • POM - 347°F
  • Nylon - 515.9°F
  • PC - 550-600 °F
  • UHMWPE - 266 to 277 °F
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Bowl-shaped grinder Dremel bits arrived. Result from sharpening the tip of one Kailh Black v2 stem (it was hard to see the tip so I had to max exposure).

Among 12 bits I received for $8 something, I chose one that fits just right so only edges would touch. It took a bit more force than I expected but this is what I ended up with. Total length didn’t change but now it has a narrower tip. The stem on the right is the original Kailh Black v2 stem.

Tested and verified that the sharpened stem in a Cherry Black no longer gets squeezed at the end. Sound profile changed to long pole-like sound but that’s to be expected.

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I’ve been using two sets of New Nixies for a while. Older set was just lubed with 205g0. Newer set was coated 3 times with RO-59 then lubed with 205g0. They sound and feel different. RO-59 set sounds cleaner and slightly lower-pitched. Feel wise, RO-59 set feels cleaner and less buttery, as if the lube is sliding on bonded sheet of PTFE, yet that snug feel is still there unlike 3203/4 which feels looser and noisier.

WARNING: RO-59 can be very labor intensive to use.

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So, I’ve been trying a bit of a hybrid technique with RO-59 and my PTFE powder.

I will apply one coat of RO-59 to the stem and stem post hole. I will let that air dry for an hour or two, and then take a dry brush and dip it into my PTFE powder and dust the stem and pole (like I am dusting for prints🕵️) and then reassemble the switch.

If you leave a light enough coat of PTFE powder on the dry-to-lightly tacky RO-59 coat, you should end up with at least as much PTFE on the stem as you likely would from applying two or three coats and wasting 24 hours.

There will be some initial light scratchiness, put that actually seems to go away quite quickly with a few dozen actuations.

The PTFE will continue to break down into finer granules and end up filling the micro-scratches in the mating surfaces between the stem and the housing. The switch will still feel light and fast, and almost none of the switches character is muddled from a layer of oil or grease, unless you choose to add some.

I find it’s excellent at eliminating stick-slip in switches with similar housing/stem compositions. :+1::+1:

Give it a shot and let me know what you think! :wink:

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Interesting method.

Currently in the middle of doing a set of Cherry Reds. Will give your method a try with next set which I think would be Cherry Browns. Thanks for the suggestion.

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