MX blacks.
Silent red.
Topre.
That’s about it for me
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Gateron Azure dragons (I have like 2 boards with them in use)
Kinetic Labs Salmons
JWK Prince’s
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Gotta be tealios for me, they were my favorite and imo the best for quite some time there. Zealios v1 for obvious reasons too
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Do you feel the need to lube the Naevies? I know you mention it takes light lube well. I was thinking about getting some and doing 3203, but I am mostly curious if I need to lube them?
Cheers!
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I just received samples of lubed Naevies 1.5.
They are actually quite good. They are doing in my MK870 what I hoped the Mode Signals would do.
I don’t have unlubed Naevies with which to compare. I heard that they are okay, unlubed. Some even like them better. Wish I could be of help here.
These Naevies 1.5 seem to succeed at being factory Ergo Clears. They feel a lot like my 63.5 G Progressive Ergo Clears. My Ergo Clears are about 55 G linear most of the way, and the Naevies are a little heavier at 57 G.
Bump-wise, Naevies very similar to Ergo Clears. You might confuse the two. Naevies have less scratch and sound may be a bit less low-pitched. But cleaner. Both in sound and tactility. Great candidates for my 63.5 G P springs, maybe, which catch a little on genuine Clears.
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I tried them at a recent meet-up and really liked them. I don’t have an issue with lubing them, I plan on taking them apart to oil the springs but I thought it might be an interesting experiment to try not lubing them (convenient too!).
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Let us know how it goes! I thought about picking up (and using) unlubed samples [expensive in Canada], but the lubed samples are great.
I think Naevies could be really useful for building Ergo Clears with marginal spring weights. As scratchy Clears may be less forgiving of low-power springs.
Found this topic while (coincidentally) in the middle of making ergo clears with 65g TX springs. I’m looking forward to putting them on a Duck Orion with a PC plate. Haven’t used ergos for probably 4 or 5 years and I’m very excited to give them another go around.
Been in this hobby long enough to say what’s old is new I guess.
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Duck Orion, PC Plate, Ergo Clears? A man after my heart I see
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Honestly, I have something to learn here.
Because I’ve found that Ergo Clears benefit less from polycarb plates than most newer tactiles. Cherry tactiles in general only get a mild bass boost and softness on that plate.
[Durock and Zealio-like seem to benefit immensely].
Ergo Clears seem to work just fine on alum plates. As long as they are not too thick, there’s not much harshness and the sound is okay. So I put Ergo Clears on Leopold FC900R and NCR-80 [plateless].
My basis for comparison is a KBD67 Lite (R1) with polycarb plate: Ergo Clears benefited less than new generation tactiles, also a polycarb MK870.
I don’t mean to be a downer here, Ergo Clears work fine on polycarb, but I reserve those builds for switches that need the better sound and softer plate.
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TBH there will be something to learn for the both of us. It’s been a long time since I’ve used ergo clears on a board and I really don’t know how they’ll do on a PC plate on a top mounted board.
My criteria for matching switches to plate materials (and even plate configuration such as half-plate) has more to do with feel than sound. I’ve really come to enjoy more flexible plate configurations with light-tactile switches like Cherry browns. Coincidentally they also tend to sound good together.
That said, ergo clears are not what I would consider a light-tactile switch so I have no idea whether or not I’ll like this combination 
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Well, from a feel standpoint, you’re justified.
I tried genuine Ergo Clears on a KBD67 Lite R1 [polycarb], and it was pretty crisp. [I just found that the improvement was marginal over aluminum.]
I did testing from a feel standpoint recently, and turns out Naevy 1.5 is great with MT3 on a polycarb MK870. Naevies are supposed to be like Ergo Clears. So with Naevies, at least, I prefer polycarb. I tested Naevy vs. steel plate MK870, and the steel was duller-feeling and worse-sounding.
I want to do a build with Zealio V1 and polycarb plate, but there are no affordable solderable TKL or 70% boards w/polycarb plate right now. But you’re right, Zealio Durock and TTC light tactiles work well with polycarb.
I’m happy to say that ergo clears on a PC top-mount plate make for a very satisfying typing experience.
My heart still lies with brown switches for long periods of typing but I honestly had forgotten how satisfying ergo clears feel (and sound).
IMO clears are still a highly relevant switch option today, even with all the iterations and innovations on Cherry MX designs out there. Best of all they’re very inexpensive.
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Am I right in thinking that Ergo Clears were the first widely-used or at least widely talked-about MX frankenswitch?
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Yup.
Technically the only other early switch that has been forgotten about were the original “panda” switch, which was a mx black spring inside a mx clear switch. This would lead to early switch experimentation that had people using mx blue/red springs in mx clears. They would quickly realize that many of the switches wouldn’t return due to the leaf of the mx clear. This was resolved with
A - switch lubing and using it
B - getting customized spring weight
and then the rest is history as we know it
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Side note: It’s kinda crazy to me that Cherry has stuck to their guns on spring weight for clears and blacks over the years. A simple spring swap on either switch takes them from basically unusable to completely satisfying.
I can understand where it might make sense in certain industrial applications but for typing at any length of time it just seems like a major design flaw.
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I’d like to think it’s this stereotypical mentality
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Haha, good point
Finally completed my “classic” camo Filco. Upgraded switches to HG Cherry Blacks, lubed/filmed with 70g long TX springs. Also managed to find a Pegasus controller and GMK Sandstorm. Credit to LightningXI for the inspiration.
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I have 2 boards with Ergo Clears, have had 4 if you count a desoldered one and a hotswap.
I’m typing on one r/n with 63.5 G Progressive springs [they operate like 55 G linear], have one with 65 G TX, and rebuilding the desoldered ones with 68 G Progressive.
I have to say, Ergo Clears are definitely harsher than Browns. I mean, the bump is definitely sharper, not just larger. You always slam down harder with the light springs, although that starts to change with 68 G Progressive, which feels like a heavier Brown.
It’s an angrier typing experience all-round. On the other hand, the different springs add a different feel: 63.5 G Progressive is ‘crunchier’ and slower, but also kinda soft if you’re not typing much. 65 G 14mm is pretty lively and springy, heavier than Brown but by much, still crunchy if you type slow. 68 G Progressive is more cushioned, and not much heavier than Brown at the top [45-50 G].
The heavier springs may sound a little deeper. The best sound came from generously-lubed [3204] Ergo Clears with Chinese 60/65 G gold-plated springs. Actuate at MX Black weight [60 G], which is ideal for MX Clear operation. Bottom-out around 65 G, which is enough. So it’s like an MX Black spring that’s lighter at the bottom. But they were desoldered because I prefer 45-50 G actuation.
Sitting in a bag are 84 with 62 G 14mm TX springs. These feel the most like ‘traditional’ Ergo Clears, using near MX Blue spring weight. Very bouncy. I think these would be the best candidates for an NCR-80 plateless-style setup, as it matches the bounce from the plateless.
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