I got the standard green puller from Ali and did the mods listed here - Switch Puller Mod - #4 by Rico
It has been working great! It no longer damages my switches either.
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That “standard green” has a lot of bad copies. I’ve got two in the last year, and I don’t remember exact sources (Amazon, Aliexpress, Keygem; 2 out of those 3 for each). One (likely the one from Keygem) works great, on other one (although they look almost the same) ends bend when I use it.
I was hoping Ramaworks yellow one is top-class, but judging by the comments I saw I think on this forum - seems not.
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I love the Hudson Hi-Fi bump-ons. Just do not confuse inches with centimeters as I did:
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Ye that one works great, but I was hoping for some real swift action with the Gateron one. Like single bolt-action VS semi-automatic.
That’s what she said!
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Ramaworks probably the worst that I’ve used. Lasted about half of a board before the metal tips had to be re-bent every switch.
I recently got one of the Gateron spring action ones. It was perfect on a board that I had just de-solded so I thought I had finally found “the one.” Alas, I tried it on a hot-swap board and the results were not as great. It was still able to get all of the switches out but it took multiple tries for many of the switches. Found that I had to concentrate very hard to pull directly “up” and even that didn’t guarantee success.
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I had the ends bending UNTIL I modded it. Then I have not had any issues. I think the problem is the prongs are too long by default.
It works for me. If it craps out on me, I would buy another for ~$2 and mod again. 
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Just gotta get the USB converter and you’re set!
Got em in spades
Woooow that thing is clean. Epic board mate!
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These things have the best blue alps sound imo
Just some more solder & some tip tinner. Gonna see if this no clean stuff is really less messy than standard rosin core. 
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how does the tip tinner work?
I usually just melt some solder on the tip every row or so, is this stuff a better option?
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Tip tinner works really well to bring back beat up tips & clean them off if you get something funky like plastic melted on one or something. Although it does not replace proper tip care. I get it mostly to use with my desoldering iron since the tips for that get eaten up quickly & super dirty. I wouldn’t say it’s better option than just flowing some solder over your tip & cleaning every few rows though. I rarely use it with my soldering iron. For that I do the same as you to keep it clean while soldering, then will melt a decent sized glob of solder to let cool on the tip before I put it away after a project.
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thanks for the run-down!
You have reminded me that I need another tip cleaner, mine is seriously worn out.
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It’s basically just powdered tin / solder, right?
I also mostly use it for my de-soldering gun - one thing I’ve noticed is that sometimes if there’s a lot of flux residue on the tip it will end up in the tin powder and form a plasticy-looking layer in the resulting divot. I’ve started using the brass wool on the tip first to avoid getting any more in there, mostly because it fumes a little when I hit those spots.
Why was there that much flux on the gun? Well. Let’s just say I built the same keyboard three times in one day and have filed it under “learning experience”. By the third time I was in a bit of a hurry, which I’m sure didn’t help - but there were little beads of the stuff everywhere when I was done.
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Yep, that’s the same type I got & same experiences I’ve had with it!
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