Got another set of NK Creams. They looked the same as the OG set but I think they may have changed the mold. Firstly, the housing is now too tight to be filmed. I like that. Secondly, they sound slightly different. Just as loud but the twang sound, made when stem hitting the top housing after a keystroke, is not as loud.
I think they may have reduced the overall housing by a fraction to address complaints about the switch requiring a lot of pressure to insert into plates.
With my well-worn Cream set now relieved from duty, I can make a Cherry Pie board. Got a lot of polished Cherry Black boards so I can afford to taint one of them to spice up my rotation.
So you were sufficiently convinced by the frankenswitches that you’re going to build some, I take it? I ask because I have some Creams that I’m not going to use in their stock form and I’ve been considering making something like that.
Yup. Cherry Black w/Cream stem clearly stood out soundwise in a tester. Jury is still out on how it be in-use though. Half-suspecting it may sound tad harsh in-use.
UPDATE1: Happy to report that Cherry Pie came out very nice. Didn’t stray much from Cherry Black sound but tastefully louder and more crisp. Doesn’t sound harsh. I did have to replace already long 16mm spring with 18mm one bc slightly heavier top improved the feel of this frankenswitch.
My adventure with linears shows no sign of ending. Still enjoying the board with Cherry Black w/Cream stem frankenswitch.
Next frankenswitch I’m looking to do is Tealios with Cherry top (체뚜틸?). My Tealios board is not hot-swap so I’ll need to do some testing to make sure I’ll like the combo before desoldering. When in doubt, always go with hot-swap option if you’re into tinkering.
Springs - I’m no longer interested in extra long springs (> 16mm) or multi-stage springs. 16mm is just right for me.
Switches - Cherry Black and NK Cream remain my favorites. They need more work to bring them up to usable condition but well worth the effort IMO.
Plates - I’ve been enjoying FR4 plates a lot lately. Brass and POM are nice but finding great sounding combo is harder where FR4 sounds good without trying much.
Keycaps - I liked Ural Cyrillic set from 21kb enough to order a second set: a Blue Hangul set. Like CRP, their thick walls go really well with Cherry Black. Only issue I have with it is the surface which is decent enough but not as pleasant in-use as CRP and ePBT.
Started doing something I haven’t done before since I got my second board: use a board for longer than handful of hours. I’ve been switching keyboard every few hours. I think that contributed to my buying habit.
For now, I am going to pick a board each day and use it throughout the day unless I find something wrong with it. If that works well enough, keep extending interval up to a full week of use. Not entirely sure if it’ll work out but I think there is something to learn from trying.
Oil Kings I received yesterday was rather mundane when tested and remained so in use except their consistency started to shine. Switches smoothness was just a tad above Gateron Pro X1 and even sound was disappointing but, for reasons I’ve yet to fully comprehend, lower pitched dull yet consistent sound across the board somehow sounded pleasant to me. Guess I’m still learning…
Getting some clues after a full day on Oil King. It’s more thock than clack and reminiscent of a Tealios brass plate build (this build is burger-mount Brutal 60 with FR4 and poly-fil). It’s a classy sound and feel. With a build like this, it’s just spring and lube dancing in light rain. Liking it a lot, enough to wonder how North Pole switch, which I think is in the same direction, might be like.
Oil Kings apparently need a bit more time for lube to fully settle. Now they’re slippery smooth which is not quite skating smooth but still above and beyond normal smooth. If you can figure out what I’m trying to say, you are imagining things.
Still enjoying FLCMMK Ice Mint + NK Cream bottom housing frankenswitch, particularly its 50g 20mm spring. It’s just perfectly balanced for me and springs from mStone with similar spec doesn’t even come close.
I wish its manufacturer would retail their springs somewhere. It’s amazing how much difference spring can make.
I’ve never been a huge fan of light switches as somewhere in my conscience I’ve equated heavy with premium, but I did tryout those white KS-9 Pros and was not disappointed. They’re a 20mm at 45g with the benefit of newer mold tolerances.
My taste in linear definitely shifted with Oil King. I normally dislike subdued sound but something about the way Oil King sounds makes it pleasant. If I had to describe the sound with a single word, it’d be Boingy.
Oil King led me to trying North Pole which was disappointing. It felt less solid than Oil King in sound and feel. Switching tops with Gateron KS-3 Pro X1 improved both switches so a happy-ending to this Franken-switch story. Now I’m eagerly waiting new new switches I thought sounded Boingy: KTT Strawberry and NK Silk Olivia.
Boingy aside, I’ve discovered that I enjoy the sound of higher-degree case more than flatter one. Still trying to figure out why that is.
UPDATE: Can’t believe I left this crucial detail out but better late than never. The Oil King sound that I enjoyed so much is Oil King without film. Lube, yes. Film, no. Film can change sound and Oil King sound is affected more than others it seems.
With film, Oil King sounds louder, harsher, and even a touch of squeaks like w/North Pole. The last part may be from film itself (TX) and possibly even material specific.
Without film, Oil King sounds moderated and rounder like gentle tapping with a touch of reverb.
Interesting, somehow I was a little disappointed with the Oil Kings. I like the Ink Blacks better, because the bottom out is somehow softer and the feeling is less “plastic-like”. This is certainly also due to the fact that the Oil King stem is somewhat longer.
However, I have made very pleasant (deep sounding) Frankenswitches with the leftovers, namely Ink Bottom with Cherry Top and Tealio Stem.
hard agree, Konpeitou a mediocre switch for me I modified with cherry top and since then is one of my favorite switches. Special to the Switch is that it has a long pole stem but no hard bottom out, because the housing was adapted.
Been running some Tecsee Ice Candy switches the past few weeks. They are very snappy and poppy, making for a very fun typing experience. However they’re rather loud as well, being audible over work calls (for context MX Blacks aren’t audible)
They’re nicely lubed as well they’re actually on a friend’s board that I loaned. I would say I lean more towards the classic MX Blacks + alu plate, but the Ice Candy + cf plate is a party
Changes my set of boards have been going through lately:
It’s a Slow World - slow springs everywhere, making my linear boards feel almost tactile in feel.
Long long time - slow springs are long so this opened up new doors for more spring types.
Clack but rounded - started to prefer clacks with less sharp sound profile, rounded if you will. Blame goes to Oil King with which Gateron seems to have perfected their milky housing’s signature sound.
Light Tactile is New Slow - when paired with high-angle board, leg-lubed light tactiles almost feel linear with slow spring. If it was exactly same, I’d not have bothered but frankenstein I made mixing long-pole light tactile stem with POM housing sounded pretty thocky. Suspecting by feel that the difference was due to small extra force needed to overcome the light tactile bump, I threw in a 20mm spring and was rewarded with impressive thocks. Curiously, long spring didn’t change the feel much.
Film at 11 - I’ve rediscovered the joy of using switch films to control sound and feel of switches. After initial discovery, I’ve been filming more or less ritually. With more understanding, I can now get more out of these films although I still need to learn how different materials and thicknesses work.
Lesson here more a reminder that you can get a lot more out of boards and switches you already have.
Finally got around to finish lubing, filming, and spring swapping KTT Strawberry. I went with 205g0, TX film, and 53g 22mm single-stage springs from PovertyKeys.com.
Initial in-use impression: Tight, Deep and Clacky sound. It’s a distinct sound that I’m liking a lot. Sound was a bit harsh on tray and top mounted boards but gasket board toned down the harshness, made it sound smoother if that makes sense at all (caramelly)?
I am going to use this for a few days before trying NK Silk Olivia which, on the surface at least, seemed very similar to KTT Strawberry.
they’re actually on a friend’s board that I loaned. I would say I lean more towards the classic MX Blacks + alu plate, but the Ice Candy + cf plate is a party 