Such a beauty!!
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wow, that’s a lot of lube. Are they smooth like the first run or are they scratchy like the x-ray editions?
Yes, your personal purchase was smooth in the “first batch.”
All my rollers are equally noisy and the balls rub.
I would never use the word “smooth” about them.
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I remember you saying that before. It’s so strange, because my first batch is nearly free from friction. They feel as smooth as most of the new HMX switches I’ve purchased. I guess I got lucky with the first ones.
HMX Valerian, WingTree Pure Tea [or “Puer”], Cherry MX Falcon, Wingtree Yuying, KTT ZenCha.
Summary
HMX Valerian - The tactility is about as intense as an MX Brown with a fresh 60g 14mm aftermarket spring. Bottom-out is different, because it slams down with a long-pole. The sound is that of a typical long-pole light-tactile, maybe a factory-lubed Blueberry Chiffon, but lower-pitched.
This is actually an excellent switch. Not as ‘ergo soft’ as an MX Brown, but much more stable, less-wobble, with low-pitched long-pole clack. Due to long-pole construction, bottom-out is almost inevitable past the tactile ‘bump.’ I would like to see a standard-pole version with good factory lube.
The switch is fully usable in stock form. I might personally prefer a 57 G 14mm equivalent spring and standard-pole.
The gray looks slightly violet or purple in-person. Something SNES-adjacent, in terms of tone.
The only thing stopping me from using this switch is that it is somewhat loud, in the low-register.
WingTree Puer / Pure Tree [48 gf] - Astonishing-quality, this is a must-try for anyone who actually uses light-tactiles. And I mean, light. Because of spring-weight, it feels 1 or 2 gf lighter than a worn-in pre-tooled Brown.
I can see why they use a clacky standard-pole. This is a full-travel, stem bottom-out. The clacky bottom-out is at least as much a ‘tactile event’ as the early P-bump.
Excellent clack, and they feel and sound pretty ‘clean.’ They are almost clean, clacky linears. It is difficult to imagine presently a better clacky switch of this class, but they are only for people accustomed to “Ergo Brown” tactility, a little-known category.
They kind of resemble the Gateron Mini i, but have less overall ‘friction.’ They are cleaner and a bit lighter. More linear. More dependent on the stem bottom-out.
The sound is loud and distracting, reminiscent of some U4T or Boba-linear switches. Not as loud as MMD Princess. If they could release a version that does not clack, with a consistent and subdued sound, it could be what MX Brown always wanted to be. It would basically have some quiet shuffling sounds, and that’s it [factory-lube is surprisingly-good.] But I feel as though this switch relies on the clack.
I think that the top-housing reads “SULAB.” Please give me one that doesn’t stem bottom-out.
Cherry MX Falcon - I may have received the ‘hand-lubed, replacement-spring’ Unikeys variant, I didn’t check. But this feels like an Ergo Clear that you would find on an arcade machine. On a medium-weight button. The tactile event is definite and positive, and the long-pole nature of the switch is evident. It has a medium-pitch, kind of mushy or ‘wet’ sound. I do not think it is intended for soft, ergonomic typing to the degree of the MX Brown or even MX Clear.
WingTree Yuying - This clearly wants to be an MX Brown. But it isn’t. The tactility is larger and sharper. It is more definite and consistent. It is a long-pole, so already it’s not an MX Brown. Without an LP, the springs present more of a forceful effect than a classic 14mm would.
These are a competent light-tactile, but they only pretend to be MX Browns.
Conclusions from light-tactiles:
After all this, there is nothing that exactly replaces the MX Brown. The subdued bottom-out and soft housing collisions cannot be found on any other light-tactile. HMX and Wingtree have the ability to produce switches that are much more stable and clean than any classic Cherry switch, with consistent springs that are smoother and more stable, and professional quality factory-lube.
If HMX/Wingtree produced an MX Brown with these characteristics, it could finally obsolete the classic switch. They would be well-advised to look into the original design-process of the MX Brown, which sought an “ergo soft,” not a “light tactile.” The MX Brown is a ‘subconscious’ tactility, and is only seeking better manufacturing processes, so that the force curves and bump shape can be realized inside of a more consistent housing and spring.
KTT ZenCha - I didn’t spend much time with this. They are basically like a TTC Silent Brown V5 or something. They slam a bit at bottom-out. There is a bit of a ring to them. So they will need hand-lubing.
They probably need a 63.5 G 14mm spring and some 3204. Nothing really wrong with them as silent light-tactiles, but I don’t think that they are anything special.
I feel as though HMX Moksae would be a better choice, even though Moksae are louder and more tactile [like Kailh Deep Sea Pro (tactile ‘Whale.’)] And OUTEMU Jade Yellow beats them all on factory-silencing.
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I received this IQUNIX Magi65 Pro (review and disassembly). It’s a pretty nice low-pro alu board with lots of neat details.
The “Pro” variant comes with a fancy right-side extension featuring a roller encoder, a 4-way switch (the big X), and the dongle compartment (with magnetic lid).
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Lots of stuff in the mail. Probably too much. I came back from the grocery store and I had a pile on the doorstep 
Caps (new):
GMK Nervewrecker
PBS Modern Abacus
KKB Boundless Jataka
KKB Cinque Terre
Caps (used):
DSA Scientific (pretty excited to own this one)
SA Oblivion
New switches:
HMX Cola
HMX Retro linears
New boards:
Class65 v3 in PC Classic design
Merisiworks 500C/M in black
Minerva LX Blackout
Used boards:
Hive60
S58m
Gear:
2 Cannonkeys cases
1 Fishfish storage case (These are great for 75% cases. I own 4 of them now, but this is the new v2 version. I’ll have to see how well it works out)
4 TX polishing cloths (I always wrap by boards in these when they go in cases bc one time I had foam degrade and leave little black specks everywhere)
4x Knight stabilizers
Kester solder
I’ll get photos of stuff when it is built or mounted. Hope everyone has a good weekend. Happy early Valentines Day!
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omg amazing mail day - I really want DSA Scientific to rerun or some version! Look forward to see the builds!
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I got a lovely three-board acrylic stand and a TKL-sized carrying case for Valentine’s day. It always feels nice to be supported in one’s hobbies. I guess it’s also a sign my spending isn’t concerning to my loved ones yet, lol.
Then, while it would be more for the “What did you order” thread, I just saw another stray Akko SAL set on Ebay for an okay price, so I picked it up. Apart from the Filco SP sets, whose colors and quality are unimpeachable but whose legends don’t quite work for me (sorry, @pixelpusher ), I don’t really know of any other semi-sculpted SA, much less cheap ones with the good 40s support I need for my stabless builds. Naturally, this means Akko has discontinued them. 
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After drama with Walmart cancelling a bunch of pre-orders and FedEx tracking being terrible, my NCR Ranger figure finally arrived and has been added to the slowly growing Fallout shelf.
I’ll say the seller that sold this was extremely good with their customer support, confirming Walmart lied to me about why the order was cancelled (they claimed fraud department had issues with my card) and that Walmart cancelled a bunch of orders on people for the figures. Kept me in the loop while they investigated, and ended up letting me know when the restock was so that I could reorder it, and this time it actually shipped (turns out, browsing Reddit, Walmart just royally screwed up and cancelled orders for a bunch of people); but, it’s here now and I’m quite happy.
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I just finished a playthrough of FNV, and had forgot how very solid it is, and also that you can only go so far with
Mister House without accidentally closing off the NCR ending despite their still loving me every time I say hello.
I know Fallout has a long legacy in the MK community. Is there anything current other than Drop’s one batch of Nuka Cola MT3 and merch?
You know me. Lots of keyboard stuff (roller v2, MTNU wob, CYL N16, PCBs). But what i got that I really like was this 1/4 inch masking tape.
This stuff rocks for gasketing between metal to metal keyboard surfaces.
It’s the same thing as the painters tape I always used, but this form factor makes it so much easier to get clean and straight strips. I don’t know why I waited this long to buy some.
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Got some Gateron Zero Degree silents from milktooth. They’re great switches! If they could somehow make them a full 4.0mm travel I would say they were the perfect stock silent switch for me. I can tell that they have a shortened travel, but only moderately.
Some people think they are too noisy. They do have a more pronounced upstroke than most silenced switches, but I wouldn’t call them particularly “noisy”. Fairly stable and smooth with a nicely cushioned bottom out, but not too mushy. A great quiet switch, indeed.
One note, the first few keycaps I tried to put on them felt too tight. So I used a Geon stem trimmer on the full board to be safe. Never known Gateron switches to be tight like that. I wonder if they were trying to address looser keycaps that might rattle and add to the noise. 
I might like these better than silent lucy switches. I’ll have to give them more time. But right now I’d rank them at least #3 best stock silent switches I’ve tried.
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Haha, I had that same surprise. A custom board I made worked fine out of the CF case I had made for it, but then had all sorts of issues once in case. Turns out it was shorting out against the bottom carbon fiber plate. Put electrical tape on the internal part of the carbon fiber plate and all was fine.
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Very special day
I’m going to Seattle for a week so I can’t get it built!
Bronze LZ SE 2025
ALBC3
82% copper then Aluminum, Iron, Nickle, Zinc
I need to get it on the scales. I’m guessing it’s 17 pounds
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Now THAT is a carrying case for a board, and makes sense given it’s an LZ.
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