Has anyone tried using other compounds for polishing? Just love this thread! Was literally thinking of doing this, and I’m so glad to see that there are fellow enthusiasts who’ve already experimented on this idea!
Some compounds I’m thinking of doing experiments with:
Tamiya Polishing Compound (not sure if this would be as effective in cutting as TEMO Diamond Paste, but I think it’ll be safer in terms of not leaving any diamond dust residue in the plastic. There are 3 grits available still not sure which grit to choose)
Polywatch Plastic Polish (generally used for removing scratches on plastic, mineral glass, hesalite or any non-sapphire glass face on watches. It takes out hairline scratches in an instant)
Yup. We’ve been testing diatomaceous earth mixed with toothpaste and PG. Pretty good result so far. Thanks for suggesting Tamiya Polishing Compound and Polywatch Plastic Polish. I’ll try them in the future.
Polished a small batch (45) of retooled blacks, leftovers from previous builds. A few hours yesterday and same today. Just finished washing them out. Warm water and waterpik made it easy, water splattering minimized by washing them underwater. They’re drying now. Tried a few and all were silky smooth.
Which method did you use for this batch? diatoms? ive been looking at this thread for a long time now and since i recently picked up some cherry blacks, i think its finally time for me to try it.
Diatoms. I used the Korean Polished Switch Dipping Sauce recipe from above. As to viscosity, it’s just right when evenly coated paste stays on the switch stem without dripping.
I think it would be best to rotate the switches and cover the gears in some rubber/foam to reduce wear and increase friction transferred into the stems. Really cool idea though.
Not paste-based polishing which is done in-place. This implies the stem has to fit before polishing can be done. But then why not try first and scratch later?
Hey @donpark , do you have any kind of conclusion on which of the polishes/methods is your favorite? Also, I wanted to ask - is tap water okay for cleaning these switches? Did you fill your waterpick with distilled water?
I have some hyperglides that I might consider polishing if it sounds easy enough. Not entirely sure if I should yet haha.
Yup. KPS (Korean Polished Switch) Dipping Sauce Recipe is now my favorite polishing paste. I use it to polish the old way but just once. That is, apply the paste like lube to the stem only then reassemble and polish. I polish casually a full board at a time using a hotswap board while I’m reading or coding over a day or two. As to why so long it’s because I’d often forget to step on the board.
I could tell when the switch is ready with diamond paste. But not with diatoms + toothpaste so I now have to guess and then confirm by washing and drying a switch just to see if it’s smooth enough. Tedious but the result is worth the sweat IMO. YMMV.
Re water, I just use warm tap water: soak, wash, then waterpik each while removing from water.
A batch of Hyperglides getting ready for polishing. I’ll be smothering KPS sauce only on the stems. This batch of stock Hyperglides are noticeably smoother than stock retooled, straddling the line separating acceptable from unbearable, but I think it needs some polishing to push it into happy smile territory.
Thanks for all the info and all the work/research you’ve done on this topic! Happy polishing!
Also just FYI, if you don’t want to step on a hotswap board, the acrylic plates that come with the gateron cap switches seem really nice for breaking switches in. You could cover up to 70 at a time with a plate of 35 hyperglides on each foot
After a day of casual polishing (pedaling | balling), I cleaned up one of the switches to compare against stock switches. Improvement in smoothness is clear and significant so I’ll be polishing a bit more at odd angles then set aside to cleaned up later.
While I was polishing, I fidgeted with 3 stock switches. With 60g long springs, stock felt smooth enough to be used without polishing while on the switch tester. But when I tried them out in a full board among polished & lubed retooled blacks, they felt scratchy in a way that gave me some insight into how different level of scratchiness works.
When a switch is at shit-level scratchy, you can feel it upfront while pressing. With a moderately smooth switch, scratchiness is not immediately noticeable but leaves an aftertaste of texture, impression of which adds up over time. This level of scratchiness is noise experienced over time.
I’m tempted to try building a board of lubed stock hyperglides but…they’re my precious…
A lesson from my polishing session with Hyperglides:
I was sloppy with cleaning and a few switches were unexpectedly scratchy. Upon closer inspection, I found they had dried toothpaste in the hole where stem poles go. After cleaning them out, switches became smooth.
In future polishing sessions, I am going to:
Soak the switches in warm water for a few hours before washing them. Toothpaste dries up pretty fast and soaking will loosen them up enough to be removed easily with waterpik.
Be more through with waterpik, particularly in the stem pole hole and side rails of the housing. Other parts of the switches are less troublesome to clean but housing needs more work.
I tried lubing 3204 again because I was running low on 205g0 but conclusion is 205g0 is the only lube for this fine classic switch. Hyperglides are sure sounded and felt the same as retooled in the switch tester but they seem more solid, tighter, and deeper sounding in use. Could be me imagining things but this set of Hyperglides is I think best polished set I made so far. Feels and sounds awesome.
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