More of an educational exercise than a suggestion.
Flavor-text:
I had the thought to do this just looking at the visual similarity between the smoky T1 and Ink housings, wondering how similar they really were. (I was also looking for the perfect switches to throw on the awesome Mountainblocks macro pad kit I just got in the mail…)
It turns out that, even though the housings look almost identical, they are not.
Gateron claims their proprietary plastic blend is the secret sauce to the Ink’s smoothness - and after this experiment I’m inclined to think they’re right. This combo genuinely gives Zealios a run for their money in terms of un-lubed smoothness.
A note of trivia - this mod is easier with the V1 Inks, as their leaves are extra loose and easy to remove. As far as I know, tightening the housing’s grip on the leaf is the only change from V1 to V2.
Putting together some temp switches for the new board, until the HP switches arrive. Housing is NK Cream, stem and spring from a T1, sliders lubed with 205g0, spring is lubed with Hoppes No9 oil, and teal switch film.
Looking good.
U happen to have any Helios? I was just thinking of putting the Helios stem into a Cream switch, mainly because of the looks, but I already decided to go with Helios on my cream(beige)&orange themed keyboard so if it’s not a downgrade I’ll probably do that.
They are one in the same. NK designed the switch, and Kaihua manufactures it under their Kailh brand. Some sellers call them one or the other, but they are literally the same.
Ok I’ve got a bunch of transparent cherry Mx blues and a bunch of zealio stems left over from when I made zealiostotles. Are these with putting together? Are transparent cherry housings any smoother than regular cherry housings?
Very smooth, “tight” feel - no or very little rattle
Modest, yet crisp and satisfying tactility
“D-shaped” bump starting at very top
Is the danger
Short, snappy tactile with a harsh, loud bottom-out; the one who knocks.
Flavor-text:
I tend to fidget with my switch testers when I watch stuff. While clacking away on Creams, Inks, Creamy Inks, T1’s, and Holy Pandas, I had the thought to put a Halo stem into an Ink housing since the Cream and T1 stems do so well in them. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by the result;
TL;DR: These crystalline wonders basically feel like extra-smooth, shortened T1’s.
That is, with a shorter travel because of the Halo stem, but with a similar smooth bump that encompasses most of the travel. Very satisfying.
This is definitely a switch meant to be bottomed-out; the bump essentially ends right as the stem hits the housing, giving for a very clean, snappy feel.
The sound and feel from that bottom-out is a little less distinct than that of a Holy Panda, also a bit less loud and piercing, as if the plastic is less dry, or more dense - I actually prefer this sound.
I’ve got to hand it to Gateron - they’ve got some good secret sauce in those Ink housings. I’d order a bucket of them if I could.
For its short travel, the bump is wide and smooth - very clear and noticeable, yet much more subtle than the Box silent browns I’m typing on now (which themselves are much more snappy than other “browns”).
I bought a bunch of Panda housings a while back, but damn if Ink housings aren’t way better in terms of what I want in a switch. I’m pretty sure my planned Holy Panda build just turned into a Heisenberg build. Well. At least the pandas are pretty…
Conclusion: Revising my recommendation for those that like an extra snappy, smooth “d-shaped” tactile bump. It’s not necessarily heavy like the bump on a Box Royal, but since it all but demands a hard bottom-out, they can be a little tiring - I suppose that’s the price of admission for what is to me still the most fun switch in my collection.
I was thinking… Purely on speculation and theory without much idea of what I am talking about honestly… What if a Silver Sky Panda and Ink could be put together?
Wouldn’t you get the endgame linear hopefully?
And can you mix and match a Sakurio with Silent inks?
I have Silent Ink Blacks coming in around December with my board, and I met a guy on discord who is willing to sell me brand new Sakurios for $1.10/s (dunno if that is a good price). Could I try a Franken with those?
This is part of what’s fun about switch modding for me - wondering how properties of different switches will mix and then trying it to see if it’s anything like I expected. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. The interaction between the leaf and stem plays a big part, as do the tolerances of the stem vs the housing. That said, it’s just about impossible to know how these will play out until you try them. On that note:
I did try the Outemu Sky silent linear (silver) stems in Ink housings. They might be a little better than the Panda housings, but the difference barely noticeable. I think this is because the stem a.) tends to have some wiggle room and b.) the dampeners are soft enough that sound doesn’t change much between housings. The real star of the silence show there is the stem itself; the housing is less important in that particular case.
You can mix Sakurio and Silent Inks - that said, I’m not sure they’d feel very different. I haven’t tried it myself though, so I can’t say for sure. They’re both manufactured by Gateron, and while they may be different plastic blends, the housings they make for Zeal have long been known for good tolerances and smoothness. Speculating, a Sakurio stem in an Ink housing might lead to a very similar switch, but one that feels very slightly more smooth when un-lubed. Once lubed I bet there’d be no difference.
That’s really the thing about the Ink housings that keeps blowing my mind - it’s how smooth they are without lube.
Back to mixing the Sky Panda and Silent Ink, because I love the idea of mixing the best properties of those two switches. So for example; a stem with the tolerances, shape, and materials of a Cream, but with a similar dampener to the Outemu Sky stems - I think that in an Ink housing would be just about as good as a silent MX could get.
I also think it would be cool if some company would let you choose between two or three levels of dampening softness. I like the Silent Ink ones, because they feel snappy - but some others might prefer the Outemu ones because they’re more quiet - or even for their soft feel. It’d be cool to be able to pick not just the stem, but also its dampeners.
I have a batch of Gat yellows (clear top black bottom) and a batch of NK Creams. I hate both stock. And I wasn’t happy really with either of them lubed either (205g0). Both still felt scratchy and just overall not very nice. I am sure they would be OK ish in a board, but loose they seemed meh at best.
So, I tried stem swapping the cream stem into the gat yellow housing, using the Gat Yellow spring as well. I then applied a bit more lube (205g0) that I normally would, and switch films from KEBO. The result was a SUPER smooth gat yellow. There is zero spring ping and no scratchiness is detectable at all. I know this is nothing groundbreaking , but this makes me happy since I can salvage something usable about of these two switch batches.
The Gat Yellow stems suck in the Cream housings though. But, I have a bag of the Invyr UHMWPE Linear Stems from 1up keyboards coming. Maybe those will work ok in the Cream housings.
