Truth. I like the feel of 205g0 on the HHKB compared to 3204 on the FC980C. Still debating on whether or not to put BKE domes in the HHKB, but the Leopold dome are a good middle ground so far.
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Cherry-picking the Aqua Kings
Edit:
The smooth ones are really smooth and the bad ones are really bad, but there’s also quite a few in “iffy” territory.
Maybe just a bit too much lube, maybe not enough, just a bit of foreign grit, or a small bit of flash causing friction. More or less those seem salvageable but wouldn’t be my first choice.
The “bad” ones don’t seem salvageable; either obviously too tight or lots of friction, or maybe very excessive lube - either way, they don’t seem worth fiddling with to me.
So, of 142* switches:
- 18 bad ones
- 51 in various states of “meh?”
- 73 good, or at least good enough
*hey cool, a couple extra
Conclusion for the evening:
These switches are quite a bit more inconsistent than average and as such I probably wouldn’t recommend them universally. On the other hand, a switch and/or keeb enthusiast that doesn’t mind a little over-buying and cherry-picking may find these a worthy pursuit.
These really do strike me as a switch enthusiast’s switch; though I think they could also enjoy a small place at the table when it comes to commission-built high-end customs.
The good ones in the batch really are quite good, and straight out of the bag, too - but if you are buying these as pre-lubed switches, do keep in mind you’ll want a large buffer for rejects.
Now, if you plan to clean and re-lube these yourself, I think you’ll end up with far fewer rejected switches - but still more than from any more typical batch. I still think they have that in common with most of the UHMWPE stems out there - truly above average potential, but a far below average rate of reaching it.
I’m very interested to see how Gateron’s attempts at both all-clear switches and UHMWPE stems stack up to the rest.
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Great write up buddy!
Ugh, so weird about the inconsistency. You’re totally right about the commonality with UHMWPE. Shrinkage. It’s the only variable I can think of that would impact such a high percentage.
On the bright side, cherry picking enough of these for a full board would be pretty epic. Not just due to the switch quality, but knowing how much work it took to do. Challenge accepted.
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Grinding down the mill max sockets, hoping it’ll eliminate (or at least mitigate) the see-saw action with stabilized keys…
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That moment when I brought the phone to my mouth and almost tried to blow the dust of the pcb.
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please, do blow
just realized that some of the sockets are worn out already and need to be replaced. Should’ve done it before the grinding session…
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I’ve found stem washers to be indispensable for this; whether it’s a long-pole switch, a switch that sits higher for some other reason, or stab-stems that sit low because of clipped legs; a few of these washers on the stab stems does wonders to mitigate that see-saw teeter-totter.
Of course they’re out of stock at the moment, but I got some here:
They’re marketed to help with the North-facing / GMK compat issue, which they’re also great for, but given my penchant for long-pole switches, I have a little stack of these on almost every set of stabs in my stable.
Credit goes to @Walkerstop and his video on the subject for making me aware of these washers’ true calling; you can see him demonstrate their efficacy here:
As soon as I manage to find my calipers I’ll post the dimensions of these washers, as I’m sure they can be sourced more directly.
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I just received some brand new sockets from Mill Max that have been designed specifically for our market. They have a thinner head so they should sit nearly flush. The come in 3 different lengths and 2 different finishes - gold inner/gold outer or gold inner/tin outer to save a little on cost. I will be stocking a few varieties as soon as my giant bulk order arrives.
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I have wondered if the height of that lip might be an issue.
I think for several of the next keyboards I’m building that I’ll be soldering the switches directly. I’m honestly pretty happy with Boba U4’s and don’t really see the need to swap them out. If anything, I’d just build another DIY keyboard with the switch I want to try out. All the same, hot swapping is my preferred approach.
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You know, with a 3D printer you could make these, but then be able to just have a single piece instead of a stack. I mean, it’s not like there’s a problem with the stack of washers, but they’re also not available at the moment.
They’re pretty small; I think the smallest filament I can feed through my printer is 1.75mm - these little guys are 0.25mm each, so a single layer would be about 6 or 7 washers worth.
Granted I do actually use that many in some situations, but in most cases it’s between 2 and 4. I think the horizontal width of the ring is not quite 1mm, as well - maybe a resin printer could do this? I’m still a n00b in the world of 3d printing.
So it’s really going to depend on the layer height actually. And if you’re doing a standard print chances are you’re at .2mm, so you could make one easily at .8mm or even do a range of them in different heights.
I bet you could print a mess of them in less than 10 minutes given their size.
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Welp, I’m definitely going to try that at some point.
Hmmm, interesting. I am not a fan of hot swap & probably not the target audience for these. Although if they work to allow switches sit just as flush as Kaihl sockets I would definitely be interested in outfitting a PCB or two with these. While I prefer my boards to be soldered I do keep a 60% with a Instant60 PCB around for switch testing. Given how delicate Kaihl sockets can be I’d see these new millmax sockets as a solid upgrade & could put them on whatever PCB I wanted.
Well color me interested
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Will you post the arrival of these in the newsletter or some other medium? I really don’t want to miss out on snatching up a bunch.
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I’ll be putting a small batch of them (about 1500 of each style) up on the site this coming week with no big announcement, just to start getting initial feedback from people. As soon as the larger order comes in I’ll make an announcement.
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I’ll buy a few sets for sure. Have at least a dozen unused pcbs to put these in.
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Definitely interested in these. Holtite sockets are hard to find outside of bulk-only vendors, so these seem like a potentially great alternative.
Thanks for the heads up! Will you be including a description that dimensionally compares the new sockets to the currently popular/standard offerings? I have limited experience with mill max, and I don’t want to pick up the wrong length.