For what it’s worth, I’m going to experiment come the Novelkeys restock. Since I’ll likely use TX springs that are oiled, I might as well lube SOMETHING, so I plan to try Krytox 205g0 and Tribosys 3203, see how much sluggishness I can avoid.
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I’m using 3204 on Cream mainly because relubing from thin to thick is easier than the other direction.
I’ve settled on a thin coat of 205g0 for Creams. They smoothness and sound is lovely afterwards
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I’ve got creams lubed with 205g0 and some with Christo (I think it was 112). It makes them sound great. However, after a few months of use, the catching on slow press comes back. It’s not something you notice with normal typing. But yeah, if you slow press you get that friction from the pom on pom. Apparently the lube wears off quickly. However, the lube in the top and bottom of the housing is still doing a great job of deepening the thock. Man, they sound and feel nice when you’re typing away. I also filmed mine with polycarb films from TX keyboards. They’re too creaky if you don’t.
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Finally got enough Creams to fill a 60% board. The result feels and sounds fantastic in use. Dang. I could use this all day and forget to switch to Holy Panda.
Details:
- Lube: 204g0 applied generously all over the stem as well as housing and contact leaf.
- Spring: Catweewee 55g is my ideal linear weight…for now.
- Film: TX keyboard
- Plate: POM, it must be POM. Did I say POM is best for Cream? Yes, POM.
Filming Cream is painful but, at least for me, an absolute requirement. I wasn’t happy with unfilmed Cream.
With this, I think my “Easing Into Linears” mission/travellog reached a successful end/destination. I’m going to hold on to Tealios V2 for awhile though. I may need a quieter linear for office use as I’m in transition from remote to office-life.
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Re my Kailh Pro Burgundy+BSUN hybrid, it’s a very nice switch with satisfying clack bottom out sound and feel but its shorter key travel due to longer stem is much more noticeable than Holy Panda, leaving it less satisfying. I suspect the long Halo bump is making up for the key travel loss which is missing in the linear stem.
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I’ve been trying to decide what to put into my Sirius, maybe creams are the move.
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Tealios V2 with brass plate makes a nice ying-yang pair with NK Cream with POM plate. One is loud while the other whispers softly. As I suspected, I’d have to build a board with Inks to see what a little of both feels and sounds like.
I’ve come to realize that what I like is not just good keyboards but variety of feels and sounds. Thank goodness I’m not into looks as well.
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Now that I’ve got my films and creams, what’s your secret technique to filming them? I can’t seem to get all the housing legs to latch consistently, am I filming it wrong?
I recently lubed a batch of Gateron Ink Reds and installed them into a Perry60 V2 (Acrylic case with Acrylic plate).
Sound test here: Perry60 V2 Sound Test - Clyp
I discovered that Red Inks are too light for me and lubed inks on an acrylic plate could almost pass for a silent switch. The recording above was done with a very nice mic about six inches from the top of the keyboard.
The typing experience is extremely soft, almost like nothing else I’ve tried. Unfortunately I cannot type accurately on it because it is so soft.
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- Make sure each switch’s film, spring, and stem are positioned properly in its bottom housing.
- Hold the bottom housing with your left-hand so that fingers are on north and south sides of the switch and not the latch sides. Wearing a glove on the left-hand will help.
- Hold the top housing with your right-hand on the latch sides. Position it just above the bottom housing.
- Quickly move the top housing down onto the bottom housing, letting your right hands’ fingers slide down the sides to apply pressure to the latches twice. If you did it right, two or more latches will click into place.
- Check latches visually and make sure you got all the latches. Check the stem to make sure it moves unhindered. Film sometimes moves and gets in the way so you may have to start over.
Switch hands if you’re left-handed.
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One thing I’ve discovered with Creams is that if you spend the time to break them in they actually don’t require stem lubing to have very smooth feel. I agree that lubing will get you there quicker, but I don’t think it’s mandatory.
I’ve been using Creams on a Sirius with POM plate for about 2 weeks and they have become extremely smooth. Now I’d say they’re on par with the lubed Inks I’ve been using.
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I’ve never been able to use reds. It’s just too easy to actuate them. Invariably I’ll look up at my screen and realize I’ve been typing spaces for almost a minute because my fingers were just resting on the space bar and accidentally actuated it.
I have to agree Creams are pretty smooth. It’s not as smooth as Tealios or Ink but smooth enough not to detract me from what I really like about Creams: bottom out sound and feel. When I have time, I’m going to try buffing the legs to see if that makes it smoother.
I feel that lubing and filming creams takes the sound signature to another level
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So I guess my plan of give my creams a break-in period followed by a lube test is the right plan! I’m going to visit my girlfriend over Thanksgiving week, and hopefully we can have a Tofu Lube Day 2x COMBO!
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This. I wasn’t impressed with Creams until I added film. Difference is like night and day.
Interesting. Any thoughts on what you’d use to buff the legs?
I’m definitely going to give the film mod a try. I can imagine how that would take the sound profile to a new level of thockiness
You know I actually spring swapped a Red Ink with a 78g spring for the spacebar when I was lubing them, but then I forgot to keep track of it and forgot about it, lol. Definitely paying a price for that oversight.