If anyone has a batch of vintage blacks too scratchy to be used, let me know.
I don’t have the patience for r/mechmarket. Every time check, all I can find are already sold too-good-to-be-true postings or unreasonable prices.
Why do you want vint blacks over the modern blacks if you polish them anyway?
Are there any links on amazon for the components?
Because I want to see if vints sound better than retooled. AFAIK, sound quality is:
vintage black > hyperglide black > retooled black.
Re components:
- Diatoms Amazon.com
- Toothpaste Amazon.com
- PG Amazon.com
Because they are all very close in materials and design, should be a miniscule difference, if at all.
Also Mr Don can you tell me how you are polishing it in detail? I want to get the same results as you using the same procedure.
I am just pushing the stem and housing together with great force, with abrasive on the friction/ contact points.
When polishing, I alternate between two modes:
- while I’m reading, I roll a pair of silicone balls over naked switches nestling in a 60% plastic Poker case with hot-swap PCB and aluminum plate. Not having the keycaps on allows balls to push stems to the side more.
- while I’m coding, I flop the board face down under the desk and pedal it with both feet. Playing some toe-tapping music helps.
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Hello everyone! Here is my process using diamond paste that works 100% of the time, guaranteed smoothness and all that stuff. I am using Novelkeys’ new batch of Cherry clear (very scratchy)
date: Thursday April 8 2021
I don’t know if the photos will work, but I will try my best to show what’s going on
Here is my setup: Paint brush, pink microapplicator, jewelry tool (stem holder),
The microapplicator is used to remove factory lubrication from the switch leaf.
The paint brush is used to spread diamond paste over the stem.
The jewelry holder is used to hold the stem in place when applying paste and also to “break in” switches after pasting.
Above: factory lube on the contacts (Use microapplicator to remove)
Important: Apply a small amount of paste to the leaf “bump” before continuing on stem.
This ensures even coverage of the highest friction points.
After you have removed the factory lubricant, you can use the diamond paste on the stem as shown. Mix with a couple drops of water to ensure easier application, but do not soak the paste in water.
Try to use as little water as possible.
The paste is on the stem rails as well as the legs.
Use stem holder to push stem back and forth to spread the paste around. You should feel the friction as the stem torques against the housing.
I do not polish the switch top housings because they have minimal effect on the smoothness of a switch.
This approach is consistent and works every time. It takes at least 2 minutes per switch, but is definitely worth it.
Sincerely,
treeleaf 
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Aha. So you’re polishing the stem directly with top housing removed for 2 minutes, rubbing the stem against the contact leaf and sides. Thanks for sharing this interesting way to polish.
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The whole thing (opening, removing lube, applying paste, actuating switch) takes around 2 minutes, if not more. If it’s not as smooth as i like then I will reapply some more paste and keep rubbing.
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I find it very annoying to apply the undiluted paste
By the way, is there a place to get hyperglides that are not factory lubed?
Nope. Just small circles inside a bigger circle. Polishing itself is annoying. But having to polish these switches enhance my enjoyment of them. If could just buy them off the shelf, I’d be more focused on what’s wrong with them.
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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)
Any opinions on these?
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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.
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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.
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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.
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This video just made my day! 
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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.
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Neat design. I’m partial to simpler solutions though. A non-commercial design that could be fun to build uses a hoola-hoop. To build:
- cut hoola-hoop’s inner surface, wide enough to clip switches securely.
- clip switches. not sure how many would fit. two hundred?
- use hoola-hoop til you drop.
Polish switches and lose weight at the same time! 
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bonus points if you do it on your onlyfans naked
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