cherry black switch scratchiness

sphinx · 06 Apr 2015, 10:51

what makes them so scratchy?

did anyone try to mod them somehow to make them more soft ?

DanielT · 06 Apr 2015, 11:04

Just lube them and the scratchiness is gone. Or get some Vintage Blacks, vintage blacks are smooth from the start.
Also swapping springs will improve the feeling, some gold plated springs would be nice

fohat · 06 Apr 2015, 20:05

Cherry switches need to be "broken in" to feel right, and this can take time.

DanielT · 07 Apr 2015, 17:18

This is why I harvest my switches from old cheap cherry boards, never been disapointed.

andrewjoy · 07 Apr 2015, 18:01

i think dirt can also effect them ( not as bad as alps)

i have a wise 50 and a wise pc layout and the 50 is older and should have better switches but the PC is significantly smoother

vintage backs ( or just older used blacks) are far nicer than modern blacks / reds

its ether the mould ageing or crap quality plastic

DanielT · 07 Apr 2015, 18:10

I think is the plastic. I spent a lot of time comparing MX Black switches, not only the moulds changed but also the plastic.
New switches feel gritty some lube helps, also using korean springs makes them better. But still older switches feel nicer.
Now I'm playing with some Black ALPS, I discovered that removing the leaf makes them such nice and smooth linear switches. I will use them with Hassu's ALPS 60% PCB, it will be an interesting experiment.

andrewjoy · 07 Apr 2015, 18:13

I did that to black alps too , they are amazing when you remove that leaf

DanielT · 07 Apr 2015, 18:17

Indeed they are, Muirium told me that you had a trick for Black ALPS, after a little search I discovered the secret

As a side note so far for me Topre are the best "tactile" switches, BS best "clicky" and MX best "linear" . All the other MX attempts to make something clicky or tactile is a failure. MX Clear are for me the worst switch ever, I know a lot of people praise them but for me the feeling is just crap, maybe worst than Brown. Blues give a nice typing feeling but the sound is awfull, drives me crazy ...

Redmaus · 07 Apr 2015, 18:21

I am selling some vintage mx black switches if anyone is interested. What do you think would happen if you were to remove the leaf from an alps brown tactile switch? It doesn't feel scratchy but maybe it could feel even better if I did it.

DanielT · 07 Apr 2015, 18:24

As far as I know the tactility is given by the leaf, you could experiment why not.

andrewjoy · 07 Apr 2015, 18:29

DanielT wrote: Indeed they are, Muirium told me that you had a trick for Black ALPS, after a little search I discovered the secret

As a side note so far for me Topre are the best "tactile" switches, BS best "clicky" and MX best "linear" . All the other MX attempts to make something clicky or tactile is a failure. MX Clear are for me the worst switch ever, I know a lot of people praise them but for me the feeling is just crap, maybe worst than Brown. Blues give a nice typing feeling but the sound is awfull, drives me crazy ...

ML is the best tactile cherry switch by quite a bit IMO.

i want to try some real liner alps and some liner invaders , lubbed , stickers vintage backs with custom springs are the best i have personally used

DanielT · 07 Apr 2015, 18:38

Never tested ML switches, maybe I should.

Vintage blacks are indeed the best, on all my boards I use them with 55g springs, the feeling is amazing. So far SPRiT springs are the best. Tested some other types and they just don't have the same quality, smoothness and compression curve.
And he is preparing a new round, and he told me that he is working also on ALPS springs.