Are they all the same length, though? Longer springs add more pre-tension to the key press, as the spring is already a little bit compressed, pressing the stem up against the housing more than short springs. And they also introduce more tactility, as you may have noticed. That’s mostly the length, but not the stages. So far i haven’t found any difference in feel between same length springs with different stages. I feel like doing something like making the springs have a conical shape has a bigger difference to the feel. Maybe even “hourglass” shaped springs.
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I also tested several 22mm single-stage springs but they didn’t make my favorite spring list. I use multi-stage on tactiles bc they matter more there. With linears, I just select spring based on weight bc, as you discovered, they’re pretty much same as single-stage springs.
FYI, my favorite spring list don’t really mean they’re the best. Instead, they are used most often among springs I have and, hence, I have a stockpile of each.
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I’m not sure about the higher number of stage springs since I’ve never used them, but two-stage springs don’t compress so much that the stems would be able to bottom out on them. As for adding stages, I think they are mostly for structural support so that the middle of the spring is less floppy when it is being compressed.
I personally like shorter springs for both linears and tactiles as i think the faster return with longer springs is a bit too jarring for me especially in tactiles. With linears I can handle it fine but with tactiles it just gets fatiguing after a short bit and i want to switch to another switch. I consider shorter spring sarround the 14mm range and long springs too be in the 20mm range.
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I have to admit that I’ve mainly just played with two-stage springs in linear switches, but I will definitely have to test them out in tactile switches to see how they affect tactility and overall feeling.
When you mention the noticeable differences, do you feel any differences based on how many stages a spring has (two vs three) or do they feel similar as long as they are multi spring?
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Yes. 3-stage has more bounce but diminishes faster than 2-stage. Extra bounce helps with large bumps.
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For springs past 16mm I prefer “stages” because I find they are easier to work with since they are much less prone to getting bent and tangled in shipping.
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For linears I tend to prefer dual or tri-stage springs, like the TL53 or the classic 63.5g found in many Tecsee switches. For tactiles I tend to prefer single stage springs so that I can focus more on the feel of the bump than the feel of the springs. In general I enjoy long springs for the snappier returns.
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Interesting. Yeah, tactile with single-stage spring will definitely give you a good feel for the bump if you’re not looking for more.
In case you guys are interested in looking at what a spring looks inside the switch during activation, I posted two videos in the original post showing a switch with one side cut out so that the spring is visible sp you can see the difference between how a one-stage and two-stage spring operate.
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So, with single stage, upper-half compresses more where, with 2-stage, lower-half compresses more.
Thanks for sacrificing some switches to inform us. 
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I like 60g bottom out standard length or long (in a full travel standard pole switch). I don’t have a preference on staging.
I’m not sure what the cause is for the single-stage, but I think the reason the two-stage compresses more in the lower half is because of the way that the spring is bent when it is partially compressed inside the switch when the switch is not activated. It is bent in such a way that there is less resistance from the bottom half of the spring and therefore the compression occurs more in the path with less resistance. When the spring is compressed outside of the switch, both halves compress equally towards the center of the spring.
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That makes a lot of sense to me.
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I’m all about the 2-stage, they work great in my Gateron Ink Box Pink and Ink Yellows.
And the main reason I like them is that they don’t feel slow on the return when using sub 60g springs
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From a purely mechanical engineering perspective, you would assume only Hooke’s law would come at play. Hence, only the spring length and its stiffness constant k would be important, where the latter is determined by the spring material and its wire thickness. For that reason, I cannot recall any other typical mechanical application where “multi-stage” springs are being used.
However, this is not counting with the buckling effect, so nicely described by @flashquark above. The upper part of a two-stage spring may experience some support from the stem and buckle differently than the lower part that is perhaps more free to buckle. This gives rise to interesting effects not seen in run-of-the-mill mechanical engineering applications. In this context, two-stage springs make sense, but three-stage probably not.
Personally, I have no experience with two-stage springs —I probably should now,— but I do like the 68g GAZZEW stainless steel springs as used in the Boba U4Tx switches.
As a matter of fact, I recently replaced the shorter and narrower springs of Kaihl Silent Brown switches with those longer and wider 68g GAZZEW springs. This not only increased the actuation force, but also increased the tactility and stability of the switch.
Mind you that the stem of the “boxed” Kaihl Silent switches is in fact a hollow tube, only slightly wider in diameter than the GAZZEW spring. This offers the spring a lot of support, which will result in much less buckling at the top, compared to the bottom part of the spring. As said before, the effect of this particular spring swap feels as an improvement for this switch.
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For me, I have found I prefer heaver springs specifically in Linears as otherwise they can usually feel a bit too light to me. For tactiles, it doesn’t matter as much as I care more about actual tactile feel with those kinds of switches.
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60g, standard to long, on a linear. I can’t really use tactiles, but that weight works for me in general.
Lately its been 18mm long springs, preferably in the 60g weighting. I used to be a really big fan of 62g 16mm but these 60g 18mm springs are really nice, light weight at the bottom with a higher return force than the 62g 16mm stuff.
I don’t have too much interest in anything longer because I primarily use tactiles and having a peak tactile force that is excessively higher than the bottom out force makes them uncomfortable to use long term.
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Let me hijack the thread to ask something…
I have Durock Shrimps and I like them but I’ve been wanting to replace the spring with something that would make them snappier while making the less fatiguing to type on. They have a 14mm 67g spring, IIRC.
What I had in mind is something like dual stage 19mm 60-62g spring from Durock.
Would that accomplish the goal or maybe I should get something like a single stage 18mm spring in 60-62g like the TX ones instead?
I might add that I’m not that concerned with the bottom out but rather that high tactile force at the start of the keypress, their bump is heavy. It’s why I was considering dual stage springs instead of single stage…if it even affects that on tactiles.