NK Creams - how long do you need to break them in before lubing?

Learning and discussion
1

I’ve been staying away from using NK Creams due to their initial scratchiness but recently I’ve been wanting to give them a try.

  1. How long do you guys usually break them in before lubing?
  2. Heard some people say that they will never ever get rid of their scratchiness regardless of break-in time… Really??

Tried searching but couldn’t find a good answer…

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2

There’s a guy on mechmarket who sells broken in creams - he seems to think the sweet spot is about 50k actuations for older batches of creams and 100k for ones from 2021 onward. https://www.reddit.com/r/mechmarket/comments/nso3h2/bulk_400_year_creams_raffle_tomorrow/

IDK if I would go that far unless you have an automated solution like he does, but some of the in depth info he has in the post can answer some of your questions (ie: max smoothness with just break in is between inks and jwk)

And I’ve only worked with way older batches of creams back when the moulds were relatively new, but I’ve never really had a problem with lubing them brand new.

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3

Thanks for the info and link. It’s very helpful!

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4

Just my opinion, but I don’t see the point in lubing after the switch has been broken in. After they are broken in, the inside of the switch parts that are rubbing together have smoothed out from the friction. The whole point in lubing is so that the switch already feels broken in from the moment that you start using them.

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5

the surfaces have been smoothened, yes, but there is still friction. and it can still be minimized with lube. lubing a well broken in switch also gives a better result than straight up lubing a new switch as far as i know.

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6

I’m probably just not able to detect it then. I tried lubing some broken in zealios that I had and the only difference that I could tell was that it changed the sound but it felt exactly the same to me.

7

Sound and feel are equally important to me.
That’s why JWK linears ain’t for me.

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8

IMO lubing not only effects the smoothness but also the sound as well. It would depend on how you lube your switch but if you apply the lube on the bottom and the back wall of the bottom housing, I notice that it does change the sound signature and generally makes it deeper sounding.

9

The advice when making Ergo Clears is to type on the MX Clears for about a month, and then lube. The lube will seep into the new abrasion or the newly-adjusted contact surfaces caused by switch operation. Or something like that.

It’s something about how, once the switch becomes ‘broken-in,’ that is the time to lube because it will improve the areas that haven’t improved yet. Whereas, if you lube a new switch, you are preventing a natural wear that will serve as the best channel for aftermarket lubing.

I tried lubed vintage Clears and Ergo Clears based upon worn switches and they were truly excellent, so I found some personal evidence of this assertion.

Regarding NK Creams, I was just playing with some BOX Creams again. They are so fun, their scratchiness makes them feel like worn-in MX Browns. Except they lack a tactile bump.

If Kailh put a tiny tactile bump in the BOX Creams, they could have a really fun MX Brown alternative.

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