Well that cracked-open an old memory
3 Likes
12 Likes
Looks great on this board. What board is that?
This is the Ginkgo65, which ran as a groupbuy a few years ago.
1 Like
Blurry photo - mostly just to show the accidental almost-matching color between the WS Jade switches I’m trying this evening and the pale turquoise case for the KBD67 Lite I installed them in.
On top is ePBT Acadia, featuring a beautiful beige-on-pine reverse dye-sub color scheme. Been waiting on this one for a while and finally got my hands on it last night. Looks great, feels even better.
First impressions of the switches in a keeb:
So far, I think the idea of the WS Jade switches is more interesting than the experience. That I know of, they’re the first MX-pattern switch to feature intentional metal-on-metal contact composing the bottom-out, with tiny bits embedded in both the stem and housing.
Typing on them gives me the same impression I got from them in-hand; they’re quite a lot like JWICK Half-silents. That’s to say reasonably smooth and stable, with a bottom-out that’s relatively loud and crisp and a top-out that’s much more soft and muted. I happen to find that combination pretty disorienting; turns out my brain is looking for that top-out signal to maintain confidence while typing. >.>
Still, I’d say they’re a thematic success - the sound does remind me of the tap tap of colliding stone marbles, and they nailed the pale, semi-translucent look of jade with the color. Of all the switches out there named “Jade”, these remind me the most of the actual material.
They feature Haimu’s faceted diffuser, designed to translate surface mounted RGB up into the keycaps. If you don’t think you’ll mind the difference in feedback between bottom and top of travel - or if that sounds appealing to you - these are otherwise solid-performing, buttery-from-the-bag linears.
One caveat is that a few individual ones seemed over-lubed and sluggish, but not any significant number - and I suppose worse come to worse, a person could clean that off if need be.
7 Likes
I acquired a Sho 980C case prototype and had him paint it in the off-white typical of the OEM plastic cases.
I then plunked the internals from the Leopold 980C into the case and buttoned up. No lubing, no MX stems. Usually, this isn’t my preference, but with all the keys of the 980C, I really need a good excuse to crack into all the switches. That will come later if I can acquire a custom PCB for it.
For now, though, this is pretty much what I hoped it would be. An OEM+ looking 980C. It’s heavy, the key sounds are muted compared to the factory case, and I genuinely like how this looks. Now, if I could just find a way to pad-print the force equation, that’s on the factory case.
My only gripe about my case, which could be due to its prototypical nature, is there’s no access to the dipswitches from below. I have to disassemble the case, unscrew the daughterboard, and then make any changes. However, it should be noted that once you set one of these boards the way you like it, it’s not going to change all that often so it’s really not that big of a deal.
Sho makes some nice cases, and this one is my second.
11 Likes
Is the equation now for force? I think the one on my 980c case is for capacitance.
1 Like
To be fair, I don’t really know. Capacitance would make sense though.
Built with some kinda blues that weren’t terrible this now has lubed gateron yellow og spring. My first I had with reds and I haven’t done a single typing test. I haven’t tested it fully. It seems to work. The venerable Pom keycaps noppoo choc mini is back on my desk yet again!
Edit: insert pic
3 Likes
The x wasn’t working and I switched it with the yellow on the spacebar and put a 94 black in there.
1 Like
Kinda want a dangwang rainbow pom set for this sumbitch
1 Like
I dropped these in the Bauer Lute and was actually pleasantly surprised with sound and overall feel.
I must’ve gotten a pretty decent batch as all of mine felt pretty good. I had initially pulled a few apart to see if they could benefit from hand lubing, but was pleasantly surprised that they weren’t too bad.
Breaking them in a bit to allow the factory lube to spread and settle seems like it might be the missing variable though.
For having the metal peg in the stem and the other in the bottom housing, I was expecting more clack, but was pleasantly surprised when the entire package worked out to be a rather pleasant sound and a smooth linear switch.
Wuque has another great switch in their arsenal. 
4 Likes
I wonder if a decal could work instead of direct printing? A lot of decals you just need to use like a damp sponge to apply them.
1 Like
That is nice. Great looking board to dress with Arabic
1 Like
I considered that, especially since making water slide decals is definitely within the realm of DIY these days. However, they’re not all that durable and I don’t want to clear-coat this case, but that would definitely achieve the effect I’d be looking for.
1 Like
Love this
1 Like
If it’s just paint over aluminum, any run of the mill laser engraver should be able to mark the case. I’m playing in the kiddie pool over here, though. SHO cases cost 5 times more than any build I’ve ever done, including my bespoke DIYs, so I’d recommend a LOT of practice burns first. 
2 Likes