As far as I can tell, Polia stems are literally re-colored Halo stems, and at minimum they are extremely similar. 
Edit: Between the two Halos, the Clearâs spring is much closer to the Poliaâs if a bit heavier, which will further mellow the bump in comparison to bottom-out force.
Tried it. I like it. Iâd say itâs a slightly longer bump with reduced travel from a lilac switch. Iâm using it with the stock kangaroo spring and a halo clear stem. One of my favorite things about the mod is that it makes the upstroke less jarring too. The only negative is the amount of stem wobble. I prefer the lilac switches with lube and filmed to these, but itâs a close race.
Also just realized that itâs also very similar to the Naevy switch as well.
Can you tell me about the lubing involved with your switches?
Nice. Can you make a more gentle BOX Silent Brown with a weaker tactile event and bottom-out?
Unless I specifically mention a lubing process in the flavor-text or bullets, these are all un-lubed beyond whatever might be on some parts from the factory.
I do this for a few reasons, one of which being a desire for a predictable product when it comes to what Iâm describing - and another being my opinion that one possible indicator of high quality is when a switch feels great with little to none of it.
Lubing technique varies with people and their tastes, and can have such a strong effect on the sound and feel of a switch. I usually leave that part to the end-user when it comes to my recipes - unless some aspect of lubing and/or technique is critical to my desired character of the switch, such as with the Lemon Lushes and their springs donut-dipped in grease; they really arenât worth the trouble without that step.
As for most of the rest - while they would likely benefit from lube in most cases when it comes to smoothness and/or sound, they donât rely on it for their defining traits.
Yes; just swap out the bottom with that of a normal BOX Brown and thatâs what youâll get.
(You could also just swap the leaf component, but that seems more complicated than it needs to be.)
One more tidbit on BOX tactiles; lubing the pusher and tactile legs actually encourages the subtle clicking that some tend to do, making it more consistent. Great if you like a little sound, but to be avoided if that little click gets on your nerves.
Good ole Gateron Milks and NK Dry Yellows. A little flair for an already great budget switch.
Very mild yet noticeable tactility near the top - It starts about 1mm into the press, not as strong as a bump but stronger than heavier top weight added by long spring. It feels like putting on a tight pair of pants. There is no wobble so the tactility may be from the comboâs extra tight fit. It could also be from how contact leaf shape interacts with stem legs.
Itâs feel is, well, funky: not unpleasant and somewhere between linear and tactile switches (tinear?). And the stem doesnât detract from Cherry black housingâs great sound.
NOTE: I have not yet tried a full board of this combo so the jury is still out on how it feels in-use.
UPDATE: Just tried this combo in-use using my frugal switch testing hack. Unfortunately, tighter fit made the switch feel scratchy.
MOO SWITCH (TACTILE)
This came by accident and were leftovers from other frankenswitches Iâve made. Tactility is mild, as it seems the FFFF leaf is quite loose. Very smooth. Dull bottom out but loud return clack. Thereâs a bit of leaf click.
These are my favorites! I also got them from slowshi.
Edit: If you put the dragon fruit bottom on these they look great and have even shorter travel.
Arenât they great? Unusually distinctive for a linear.
On that note - if you like Deadpools, you may also enjoy Gateronâs newest design, the Caps switches. They have a more traditional travel distance as opposed to super-short, but have some of the acoustic and tactile qualities (as in finger feels, not the switch type) that I enjoy about the aforementioned frankenswitch;
Caps and Deadpools are just about neck-and-neck for me in terms of how much I enjoy them, and each has a quality or two I prefer over the other - but all else equal (or at least roughly equivalent), Caps are quite a bit cheaper than KS-3âs, Bobas, and Pro Burgundies all together!
I was thinking about trying something like this the other night. I love the thocky-ness of Koala housings, but want something with lighter tactility. I have heard Jades are a good clone of Zeal V1s.
I have some spare parts lying around to make one switch.
On your suggestion I got some of these Milky Caps and put them on a gasket modded 60% board I had. Really like the results. I think the most unique thing to me is the satisfying scratchyness. It is more of a velvety scratchyness. They seem well built and all the right feel and sound.
here is my sound test with terrible typing speed.
httpx://imgur.com/a/PKh1gNE
also here are a couple of sound tests for the slowshi Deadpools in different boards.
httpx://imgur.com/a/PQxwhix
httpx://imgur.com/a/MMXPiim
Getting extra funky this evening. Iâve found a handful of apparently viable, even enjoyable combos - but one in particular has me fairly excited. Iâm putting together a full board now for a detailed post. Cheers!
Holy Dragon
Smooth, short, and snappy. Lots of thock for little effort.
Mounted in a GK61 with cheap foam beneath the PCB, modded GMK stabs, and ABS MT3 keycaps.
I used thin polycarb Kebo films (TX seemed a little too thick), and donut-dipped the springs in 3204 - though in retrospect it might have been better to just bag-lube them in an oil like 105.
Edit: If youâre interested in doing a build with these, I recommend you check out this post about resolving teeter-totter on stabilized keys with short travel switches by @Walkerstop - it will save you some headache when it comes to the stabs.
VS:
Stock Dragon Fruit: sharper & higher bump, snappier bottom-out
Ink Kangaroo (NK): pretty similar, but lighter bump & more smooth
Holy Panda: lighter bump, more smooth / clean operation
Heisenberg: lighter bump, less harsh, but nearly as clacky
Holy Boba: lighter bump, bottom-out more crisp / less softened
Lilac Tea: higher & heavier bump, a bit more harsh
Holy Dragons have shorter travel than all of these.
As much as Iâm trying to get away from Holy-whatevers, and as obvious as it is to put Halo stems into every new housing, I really couldnât not share this one.
Theyâve got a great, thocky sound and enjoy above-average smoothness even with just leftover factory lube. (Lubing the spring is kind of a must, though - unless you enjoy light metallic rattle.) Holy Dragons have a very short travel, even when compared to most other switches using Halo stems. Actuation lines-up well with tactility despite the short throw.
Even though the tactility of this switch is very affirmative, actuation only requires a light touch. Itâs basically impossible not to bottom-out with these, but itâs pretty mild thanks to that extra-short travel.
As a funny aside, I wanted to get a bit more creative with the name on this one, and thought to look up the proper name of the mythological Chinese celestial dragon kings. I thought that might be more fun than the obvious âHoly Xâ Halo stem naming convention. WellâŚ
The linguistic phenomena of false friends being a thing, I wasnât about to call these LĂłng WĂĄng.
Howâbout Halo Fruit
Dammit. Thatâs nice. Dude. Seriously. I have so many new options for switches. Thank you!
What would be the lightest spring weight youâd recommend for the Ink Kangarooâs or even the Heisenbergs? In your opinion, would the Giant 62g springâs extra preload help with key return where a normal 62g spring might not?
This is basically what I do for fun. Very good questions!
The lightest I have at the moment are 52g Catweewee springs from TX Keyboards - and they work just fine in both Kangaroos and Heisenbergs. (I honestly didnât expect them to work with the 'roos, but not even a hit of catch. Noice.)
I havenât tried the Giants yet, but Iâm going to say âvery probablyâ.
Iâve been experimenting with the Kangaroo stems in other housings, and while they donât have any return issues in their own, they do in some others.
Based on your question, I tried the extra-long 'roo spring in place of the ones normally paired with the housing Iâm experimenting with, and that cleared-up the minor return issue with the combo. Hey, thanks! This frankenswitch is now viable and will be the next one I post about.
Alright. You guys get a two-fer this evening - and two more Dragon Fruit frankens before I move on to something else for a bit.
PB & J
Think of this as a high-tactility speed switch.
Kind of like the Holy Dragon, but âmoreâ when it comes to their defining features.
I donât have the means to measure it, but this switch has a very short travel for a full-sized mx-compatible; easily the shortest Iâve used. The bump remains synced with actuation despite the short throw, though this does make it all but impossible not to bottom-out.
This snappy snack is even more clacky and short-throw than its Halo-stemmed cousin, making this one of the more unique frankenswitches Iâve tried.
Credit goes to @patcoll for suggesting this!
Bonus switch!
Raspberry Limeade
Mostly about aesthetics, this crisp tactile feels much like the stem & spring donor - though some sacrifice is made for the looks.
The original switch might look a bit like a dragon fruit sliced open, but this switch looks more like one from the outside. I mostly wanted to include it here for that reason, and I havenât done a purely âjust for funâ switch in a while.
Credit goes to @ajoflo for suggesting a longer spring might help overcome bump-hitch, which this switch definitely suffered from when using the Dragon Fruit spring.
Jade Dragon
Feels like all the other previously mentioned super short travel super tactile.
Edit: After using these for a while Iâm not sure I love these compared to the Holy Koala (Holy T1), they are a bit wobbly at the bottom.
