I guess it depends on how often you find yourself lubing / working on switches. It definitely made this session faster and less messy than my last!
Just spent all evening building my friend’s keeb and this is all I can think of.
What I see:
What comes to my mind:
Kiwis with Panda springs and Gazzew’s first run of silent linear stems. Might as well call them Ninja Turtles:
Dude, you’re super smart. That’s awesome.
Today’s chore: converting the Gateron blue optical switches in my X-Bows Nature to Jailhouse Blues. (Apologies for the truly awful image quality - my phone’s camera’s pretty crap at the best of times, without asking it to do macro work!)
I found a forum post which recommended 1/8" 6.5oz dental bands for this - so bought a pack of those. Maybe that size works for Cherry blues, but they’re way too thick for my switches - however I’ve found that by stretching them over a piece of wood I can cut them in half with a stanley knife with a surprising level of accuracy - so I guess I’m effectively using 3.25oz bands for this.
By opening the band with tweezers I can get it over the stem and between the stem and click jacket without having to separate the two, which makes the job way easier than it would otherwise be.
When it goes smoothly (!) it takes just under a minute per switch to dismantle, install the band and reassemble.
What I did find was that the key removal tool that came with the keyboard is next to useless - the tines aren’t long enough to squeeze the clips on the keys. A proper IC removal tool works a treat though.
Re-filming the Ninja Turtles with some clear polycarb TX films to replace the black silicone Deskeys gaskets, which I’ll be saving for Halo housing switches.
Edit: Done!
Much better.
As the Welsh say, lush.
I am trying the Holy Boba’s too on my numpad keys, so far so good, trying to dial in my preferred spring & weight. What springs are you using for these?
My checklist for the week:
- 3 customer keyboard builds
- lubing a batch of switches for myself
- building my Yohane-TKL
- rebuilding my Zephyr
Currently using the stock 62g Boba springs with them. I’m loving the switch overall so far, but I do think I’d like a little more bounce-back for a bump as strong as the Boba housings provide - I have a few slightly heavier ones I might try.
The Holy Bobas are super crisp and snappy, but the softer housing makes the bottom-out less harsh than a Holy Panda. I currently have the HB’s paired with some ABS MT3 keycaps and the sound is really lovely - even with the switches totally dry aside from the trace leftover stock lube on the Halo stems. Nice, tight operation without noticeable rattle. So far my favorite switch to use with these thick ABS caps.
Knipex sells diagonal cutters, that have a wire, that is intended to retain the bit that is being cut off. In my experience, they work great for clipping stabs, but fall short when it comes to clipping led leads, because of how small the led leads are. Also, mine is an older design, then what is on Knipex’s site.
Enjoy
Edit: correction. Mine is a Wiha. If I were to order again, I’d probably go with the Knipex brand. I’ve used several of their cutters and they are built like tanks. Both are made in Germany.
They also make a different catcher thing. If you are interested. I don’t have it but I have a few Knipex items they are expensive but have never disappointed me.
I swapped some gateron yellow 63.5 springs into my holy bobas and I really love how they feel. The springs add slightly more pre-load making it feel quite snappy, but they have a slightly more softened bottom out than the stock 62g springs.
Thanks @wiyre & @Deadeye. I am currently using 60g tx 14mm. I think I might order a 16mm 62g or 65g to see how they feel.
Found this on GH. Definitely worth a try.
If you like the weight of the 60g 14mm TX or even the stock 62g spring, the 62g 16mm TX will feel great, but the 65g 16mm may feel a bit heavy (conclusions from my own testing).
Interesting, but I’d fee blind using that. lol