What's on your workbench today?

I fully lubed my first set of switches (90 or so) and it was just the most boring thing ever. Not only that, while there was a difference in the end feel and sound, it hardly seemed worth the effort. I’ve got another set that need lubing, and one more that needs lubing and filming. Needless to say I’m less than enthusiastic.

Maybe after those it will change my mind, but I’ve got switches I like that don’t need any fussing so I may just stick with those going forward.

4 Likes

That’s fair - it’s a super-tedious task. I pretty much always have something like youtube going while I’m doing it to stay sane. It makes a huge difference for some switches, less so for others - I’m a big fan of no-fuss ones myself, but I’ll still put in the hours if I have a specific goal in mind.

2 Likes

Now imagine this. Out of the riduculous amount of keyboards in my collection, I would guess that 70 or more have lubed switches. I’ve never purchased pre-lubed switches before. So yeah… I don’t want to add up the hours of my life spent putting slippery goop on plastic bits. That’s depressing. I think it’s one of the main reasons I keep trying new switches. I keep thinking there has to be something out there that doesn’t require so much work!

3 Likes

you have more then 70 keyboards?

Heed my words. These things add up over time. Buy only what you cannot live without

(also, don’t listen to me b/c I have too many keyboards)

8 Likes

Right? At very least I do think that’s a goal being chased out there. So far the overall most no-fuss switch I’ve used has to be the TTC ACE. Maybe not the very best switch ever, but it gets an easy “A” from me with a “+” for extra credit thanks to that no-fuss nature. I’ve got a handful of switches that more or less aim for being good-to-go from the bag, but the ACEs are the only ones I’ve tried that I think totally nail it.

Runners-up for me would be:

  • Nixdork LTs: almost as good overall as the ACEs, but the extra-short travel and clacky reverb makes them slightly less approachable. Also they’re already out of production.

  • MMK Frogs: actually better when it comes to grain alone - Frogs have next to none. Still, the ACEs are overall more refined with a quiet spring and less travel resistance.

  • NK Silks: comparable in smoothness, but not in cleanliness or stability. Silks are high-pitched, could use films, and have some spring chatter.

  • Aqua Kings: good ones might be even more smooth than the ACEs, but significant inconsistency is an issue. Even the good ones are pretty gummy; they sound amazing but feel pretty sluggish, sacrificing some usability.

  • Aflion Icebergs: these are aiming for a similar target as the ACEs, but at a discount, and you do get what you pay for. These are great for the price but can’t touch the slick, solid feel of the ACEs. These are a bit more high-pitched and clink-y, have more grain, and a bit less stability.

  • Candy Jade Greens aka KK Lightwave V2s: skate-slick, but noisy as hell. Hand-lubing does eliminate the awful din.

  • Dark Amber T1s: odd ones out being tactile, but the Dark Amber variants are pointedly pre-lubed, with the intention of being fuss-free. Depending on how picky you are, these have a good chance at succeeding in their goal - you’ll get the odd one that’s a bit rattly and begging to be filmed, and depending on the chassis you might hear some spring chatter, but when it comes to “higher-end” factory lubing, these are above average for the category IMO.

    A side note; DAT1s are probably the most slimy-to-the-touch of all these, with plenty of lube on the stem’s “shelf” where the cross-mount sits, and some on the mounts themselves - this won’t hurt anything, but might get your fingers oily. This is at least somewhat true of all of these including the ACEs, but it’s most obvious on the Ambers.

3 Likes

The Amber T1’s sound like something up my alley then, me being a fan of tactiles.

I’ve personally found that C3 Kiwis and Boba U4s are fine out-of-the-box. Although I’ve heard folks dispute the latter.

1 Like

How could I forget Kiwis! I’d say nearly the same about them as I did with the Ambers; a few might benefit from filming but don’t need any help with smoothness. I do think the lubing method is probably different between the Ambers and Kiwis, but they’re otherwise both extra-nice T1 variants.

With the U4s it seems like it might depend where you get them, and if you get them as parts or complete switches. It’s also possible that there have been iterative updates along the way that have changed those factors - I believe the stems have had a few slight revisions since the translucent prototype versions were up on Daily Clack.

A newer batch of U4s I got felt a bit different to me, so I compared them - vs my previous ones, the new ones felt more tactile but less clean - that could come down to all kinds of things but might just be a difference in factory lube (or lack thereof). I know at least some of the Boba tactiles I’ve gotten have light factory lube on the legs, just to keep the aggressive bump from being too crunchy. I’m wondering how much inconsistency in the application of that lube may or may not play into the difference in sound and feeling.

man, @Deadeye it sounds like we have very similar tastes in switches.

If you would have asked me to list what switches I would consider using unlubed, unfilmed i would have said:

T1 Amber
Momoka Frog
Boba U4T
Aquaking (but as you mentioned, the inconsistency kinda sucks. And they’re really a tad too heavy for my liking)

Moderate consideration for low fussy switches that are close but with issues:
TTC wild are good and smooth but sound so clacky and high pitched.
KTT Strawberry are close, but I’m not convinced I like the sound profile
Gateron Pros sound good but still feel and sound better with lube
Durock Cobalt are nice sounding but the short travel and wobble are an issue for me
I could live with stock pewters, but the leaf ping is so annoying.

Still have really high hopes for the TTC Matrix-01s.

I have some Ice Candy switches with the Nylon stems coming next week. I like the regular ones, but the stick slip on them is pretty strong on slow or off-center presses. Hopefuly the nylon stem will help.

Definitely sounds like I need to try the ACE switches.

2 Likes

I still need to try KTTs and Gat Pros…

Ha, yes! I’d put the Cobalts in the same “almost” category - I really like the them for the feel and plastic sound, but they’ve definitely got some noise going on - I’m thinking it’s spring chatter, like the coils just brushing stuff inside as they wiggle, or maybe just transferring energy into the stems without enough lube on the ends.

I haven’t tried the Wilds but I’d say the same about the Gold Pinks. “Clink-y” is the onomatopoeia that comes to mind. Definitely curious about the Matrix-01s, as well as the ones they’ve done with Akko lately.

I’ve also been curious about those Ice Candy switches - the ones I was looking at had the Nylon stem, what came in yours at first?

The first two batches of ice candy switches had PC stems and housings.

1 Like

Swapping springs with something more fancy or exotic might help get the most out of it. Especially when it comes to feel, and to be fair some sound.

Piggybacking on the effort:results discussion, I finished lubing and filming these TTC Wilds yesterday, and…the combination of double-staged springs and box stems made this way more time-consuming than usual, which seems especially vexing because the smoothness differential before-and-after is super negligible.

However, as @pixelpusher mentioned, TTC Wilds are clack monsters, and lubing and filming :100: elevated (i.e., deepened and dampened) the sound profile of these switches, so in the end it was worth it for this particular switch.

Generally, I don’t bother lubing switches (right away) for hot-swap boards but I always lube and film for solder boards. There’s something about the semi-permanence of soldering that makes the tediousness of lubing worthwhile.

13 Likes

After 400 pieces of switches (grease), it goes on easily. The main thing is that I realized that here, as in any work, it is important that there is a convenient good tool. Good brushes, tweezers, grease jars or boxes, grease station, Switch Opener.
I include streams such as Taehi. There is no time to simply watch 2-3 hours separately. And the lubrication is just 2 hours, two things at once.

2 Likes

Finally got around to putting stabs on this guy.

I think I mentioned last time, the blue light through the orange switches looks neat.

This thing sounded rough before modding. I don’t have a recording of the complete board, but this is what the stock TTC Gold Brown V3s sounded like up-close:

Imagine that on every key, plus massive stab rattle and you’ll get the picture.

I lubed the switches with some 106, and I think they’re actually quite nice now. I lubed the stab housings with a 105/205 mix, with a pretty generous coat of XHT-BDZ one the wire-ends. The case got some PE foam and a couple lead weights nicked from a GMMK fullsize, the PCB got a wide piece of masking tape, and the lock-keys got some special 80g clickies to simulate old lock switches.

It’s no Epoch - but it’s come a long way. Here’s a poorly-recorded typing test:

This board is a gift for my dad, who currently uses Velocifire’s first TKL model, equipped with Outemu browns. It’s probably the worst-feeling mechanical keyboard I have ever used, barring a few bottom-of-the-bin finds from the outdoor recycling center. I got it for him as a gift years ago when I first got into keebs, after over-hearing him mention he wished he had something with back-lit keys. I don’t think I’d even modified a keeb yet when I got him that one, but I could tell it was pretty meh even compared to my Amazon GamerSlab87.

He loved it anyway and still uses it for its back-lighting, but I figured it was about time that pops properly benefited from his son being a keeb nerd. :stuck_out_tongue:

11 Likes


7 Likes

My “stab” at stabilizer station in FR-4 and aluminum. Aluminum ones were very difficult to solder due to the heat dissipation. Was able to solder the hotswap sockets on by turning my iron up all the way and using flux. Overall I like the aluminum ones but I think most people will prefer the FR-4 for ease of assembly and to closer represent the actual keyboard.

(For all the time I spent on making the files for this I did miss rounding one side of the silkscreen for the spacebar it, :man_shrugging: always room for improvement)

13 Likes

Stabilizer station - now that’s something new! I’m curious, does this help with evaluating or tuning stabs before a build?

Yes. For me I like to prep everything out for a build that way it is ready to go when it comes in. Also a way to get pumped for a build.

There are a couple of variations of stab testing stations in the wild (I don’t know which one was first):
https://thekey.company/products/stab-testing-station-by-switchkeys
https://swagkeys.com/collections/tools/products/swagkeys-stabilizer-tester

5 Likes

Great work!

That’s very clever to use aluminium PCB as a result of using hotswap sockets and not having solder holes as a result :slight_smile:

Did you made them at JLCPCB ?