Lubed 55 G U4 Boba
Did some more testing today. Swapped out the 45 G U4 Bobas that weren’t working too well, and put in their place some [poorly] lubed 55 G U4 Bobas.
Despite my very amateurish lubing, there were some positive differences. The lubed 55 G U4 are deeper-sounding than the unlubed, as expected.
The lubed 55 G U4 also reset more easily on the upstroke. As you recall, the unlubed 55G Bobas could hang a little on the upstroke if released too gently. But the lubed 55G are more forgiving.
However, because of my poor lubing [I only lubed the inner housing slider grooves and the contact points of the sliders], which was not exactly consistent and probably too generous, the switch did lose some tactility. The unlubed 55G U4 has a rich, grainy kinda light-Topre-like tactility, and I lost some of that after lubing. It became more ‘syrupy’ in feel, which is bad.
I would have to learn better lubing skills in order to create optimal lubed 55G U4 Bobas.
How do people feel about the unlubed 55 G U4? [I mean, except for the springs which I always lube]. It feels alright to me, plenty tactile, a little weak on the upstroke. Is this an okay switch? Or would you actually lube the switch?
45G Silent Sky / Forest Boba
Because of @AdrianMan’s question, I also created a 45 G lubed Silent Sky stem in the Boba housing. If you want 45 G Bobas, IMHO this is the way to go. It’s a very soft switch, gentle. Not much feedback, easy to bottom-out. It’s not hard, though. If you want a 45 G typing experience, maybe this is it.
Doesn’t catch at all on the upstroke! I am not sure about using this on heavy keys, though.
Preferred weights
My preferred combinations so far are 55G Spirit springs with the U4 stem / Boba housing, only the springs lubed.
and the 55G with Silent Sky stem in the Boba housing, also unlubed save for springs.
Has anyone tried the latter combination? I tried lubing the 55 G Silent Sky Bobas, but it didn’t lead to improvement.
Some other notes:
-I am enjoying Silent Sky Bobas more with GMK keycaps than taller OEM-profile. I think the Silent Sky probably wobbles more than the U4 stem, which makes it less-than-idea for taller keycaps.
U4 is probably pretty stable, though. Put MT3 or whatever on it, it can be like those Topre boards with MX sliders.
-The U4 stems are Boba white, which is helpful in differentiating them from the Silent Sky stems. Silent Sky / Silent Forest are a more transparent clear white, like fog. There could have been mix-ups on my desk if it weren’t for these colours variations.
-As I mentioned earlier, keycaps on the Boba housings sit lower than other keycaps.
-Springs seem to have a significant effect on the switch-feel of U4 Bobas.