I agree completely. I will try Halo Bobas, as I have some Trues lying around. [And the stock 62 G springs.]
I have only tried a limited range of springs, but I would say that 55 G is the lower known limit for U4 Boba, and even then it might not function with all keycaps.
I am testing Silent Sky [Silent Tactile] stems in the Boba housing, and they are only reliable with Cherry-profile. Not OEM. This is with very light lubing, and not the tactile legs.
I think I got 45 G to sort of work with Silent Sky, by lubing the tactile legs.
But 55 G is the lower reasonable limit for me so far with the Silent Sky / Silent Forest stems. A nice light-tactile version of the U4 Boba, for me.
If you look at the specs Gazzew distributed, 68 G springs are recommended for the original Sky and maybe also Silent Sky stems in the Boba housing. I thought this might be overkill, but yesterday I tried 65 G TX with original Sky in the Boba housing, and it was a bit weak on the upstroke. So maybe it really does need 68 G.
Somehow, I think you can get away with 55 G Silent Sky Boba, but lube helps, and you can’t get away with just any keycaps or setup. Maybe that’s why international customers were limited to 62-68 G Bobas.
The Frankenswitch combination sounds extremely interesting. I will try this one, because I still have some Bobas lying around.
What are your experiences with lubing? The housing is quite tight and too thick glue could make it sluggish (that’s what gazzew said). I would have 3203 and 3204 and 205g0 to try.
I really am loving the Holy Bobas - and after @Manofinterests’s video detailing the Glorious Pandas, I’m pretty curious to try those stems in Boba housings as well.
I actually haven’t lubed these at all yet - just the trace factory application on the Halo stems. Even dry as they are, they feel plenty smooth and free of rattle; probably thanks to the good tolerances and soft plastic in the housing. That also cuts down on the harsh sound you usually get with “holy” switches, too. If you actuate the switch slowly and close to your ear, you can hear the stem rub against the leaf, but that’s about it.
I do plan to experiment with lubing these as well as the stock Bobas, but I’m on a short hiatus from more involved keeb chores while I recover from some spinal issues.
I haven’t tried a full board of Holy Bobas, but I have tried a few in a hotswap board beside other holy variants (og holy pandas and holy yoks). They are nice. One of my favorite things about this mod is the sound of the switch. It’s a nice, dulled thwack. I wish the bump was ever so slightly easier to overcome. Other than that, they are very pleasing. I would definitely go with a lighter spring than stock. Makes them easier to type on and no issues with return stroke.
Right now JWK lilacs are my jam for tactiles, but holy bobas definitely give them a run for the money.
I also have not tried the holy boba, but I’ve been using lubed 55g boba’s in my prime_e for around a month now and I cant get over the typing feel, they’ve allowed me to reach my highest typing speeds in some time,(105) combining the lovely topre bounce of the hhkb I used to love and the ergo 40% layout to produce a lovely plocky build.
I went on a spring adventure and settled on the 62g Stock Boba springs for Holy Bobas. I am really liking them on the numpad keys and Boba U4s on the rest of the keys with 60g TX Springs. I never thought I would like different switches on the same board but it works.
One thing about the Holy Bobas though is due to longer stem it feels wobbly if you hold a key down. Doesn’t affect me in my normal typing but I could see it being annoying for gaming.
Yes, I sometimes use slightly-heavier switches on the numpad. It’s fine.
Numpad is it’s own country.
The stock 62 G spring is very good for the operation of U4 Bobas, but 60 TX works just fine. I tried it, and it was a little dull, but I want to try it some more [55 can be iffy with these switches].
Real quick frankenswitch experiment this morning. Specs are: Boba housing, Kangaroo stem, Boba 62g spring
The pros:
Much cuter than this stem in its proper housing
Nice downstroke feel/sound
The cons:
Stem doesn’t return
The boba tops are, somewhat predictably, too tight for this interesting stem to fully return: it seems to stop about 1-1.5mm short, which is better than I’ve seen on some other stems. Might be possible to address this with lubing and/or a stronger spring? Definitely want to try it with the Kangaroo springs, first, since those are longer and heavier so they might manage to push the stem past where it’s catching.
Too bad about that leaf noise with the Silent Sky / Forest stem. Mine aren’t completely silent either, although much quieter than regular tactiles.
And yes, it can be iffy to use low spring weights with the Silent Forest / Sky stems in the Boba housing, but you can get 55 G to work in some circumstances.
