All I’m thinking is, GMK Grand Budapest when?
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I also started with de-soldering - once you get through that and jump over to soldering it will be like easy mode!
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Looks like I was playing Baby mode with the Pain 27, can’t imagine what an entire board would be like…
Put this together today
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I’ll spare everyone my going on about why I think so but the polycarbonate HG is stunningly beautiful. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it once you’ve spent some time with it!
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Pic with keycaps please.
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I happened to compare the stems from my *nixdork LTs with the LT stems I got by themselves from Gazzew directly months before - they’re very similar when it comes to points of contact but very different when it comes to details.
*nixdork on the left, “naked” on the right
End to end.
Comparing the legs; older one’s pole seems a hair longer? Maybe not.
Fronts again. *nixdork still on the left.
Closeup at the top cross mounts.
The undersides - the *nixdork is on the right this time. Clearly different from this angle.
Flipped over, a bit different focus.
Backs - *nixdork on the right again.
I’m guessing one of these two are in the stock / complete Boba LT switches that some folks already have their hands one, and presumably will be more widely available soon - though I’m not sure which. If I had to guess I’d say the one found in the *nixdork, especially since it has the same lavender bottom the Boba LTs do, but who knows!
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Did you have any trouble opening the *nixdorks? The tops are super tight: Probably the toughest switch to crack open of all the switches I’ve owned.
Can’t say I did - good ol’ KBDfans keychain opener did the trick.
Now - try opening 110 wing-latch switch housings (like Halos) that don’t have any stems or springs in them - that’ll test your fingernails even if you’ve got a great switch opener!
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Gazzew Boba LT
I also opened the usual versions with tweezers. It was more convenient and faster that way. Only not the top but the bottom got stuck in the bottle opener.
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I see. I have the NovelKeys opener. It’s been solid so far, so I’ll have to overlook this singular struggle 
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My guess would be the ones you got from Heroinbob were prototypes.
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Okie dokie, I put the *nixdorks on a brass plate. These are very nice.
It feels soft (but not mushy) against the brass plate with a wonderful deep tonal quality. It sounds like a tactile but feels like a linear (win win!). I’ll see if I can rig together a recording setup.
Couple notes on top clack:
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I did the full lubing routine, especially since I wanted to dampen that top clack. Even though I’d say my technique is pretty stable and I took my time, I still had inconsistencies in the top clack sound. Luckily, proportions were such that I could keep all my alphas the same sound profile (quieter) and all my f-row the same (clackier), so it worked out.
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That said, I can definitively say that I would lube these every time. It’s just a better switch once lubed. My recommendation is to lube the bottom housing and rails, but keep the top of the rails and top-housing dry. That’ll help keep the top clack uniform. It’ll be louder, but more even.
Gosh these feel and sound nice on brass!
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I have the aluminum NK opener and it doesn’t work well on U4Ts at all; best I can get is two out of four tabs opened. Opens everything else though without any problems.
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Yup, that’s exactly what I experienced with the LTs
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Small victory: took me two and a half weeks but I finally finished spring-swapping, lubing, and filming my polished MX Blacks. I’ll do a more proper write up of the polishing process and results when my brain is a bit clearer but I’m really happy with how they came out. Now that they’re finished, I can work on (again, probably slowly) assembling my Kei!
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If you’re going to be soldering polished switches with a plate that doesn’t allow opening switch tops, be sure to test each before soldering. I use a hot-swap board to do this.
As to why, polishing and cleaning may have moved polishing paste residue onto contact point which needs to be removed (using alcohol or water). Only had this happen to a few switches out of hundreds but it could happen.
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That’s an excellent point! Thankfully, my rolling wave of indecision plays in my favor here because I really only use hotswap or millmax boards. Still, that’s a crucial call out for anyone else going the switch polishing route. I’d be…less than happy if that occurred if I was soldering and would feel the same for anyone else in the same situation.
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Rebuilt this one another few times until I was truly satisfied with it. All I can say is stabs still increase my cortisol levels, but PTFE tape is one of my new favorite things to have around.
- Aluminum plate; default option from R1
- Zeal PC stabs, lubed in more or less traditional fashion, and with PTFE tape on the part of the wire that clips-in
- Adhesive stab foam pads
- Boba U4 silent tactiles
- MT3 Susuwatari ABS double-shot keycaps
- Tromso bluetooth PCB
- 2300mAh battery
- PE foam covering the whole PCB except below the space bar stabs
Edit: for anyone that might see this later, know that I had to sand the spacebar and some of the number row to address scraping against the case. MT3 caps are slightly larger from front to back than Cherry, and on cases with tight cowls (like the Aurora) they can scrape.
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