as of this writing, three lubes are fine to be used as switch lube, but with limited operating shelf life. they are superlube, dupont multi-purpose oil, and singer oil.

note that the oils are of low viscosity, hence it's easier for them to evaporate (low-viscous lubricants are better to preserve original switch sound and feels). superlube grease is also using low-viscous base oil. their typical operating shelf lives are within a year, before the lube effects are gone. the key switch used for tests is cherry mx red. (when scratchiness reappears, that means the lube effects are gone)

krytox gpl remains the golden standard. they are the better option for long-term use, especially 203 and up. you can use 203g2 as is, while it's better to use g0 with 204 and up (for easier applications)

as for the other alternatives, they are currently under testing. once i have better ideas about them, i will share them out. i mainly focus on ptfe grease, and pure pfpe oils.

edit: i should also mention that the price of superlube is ridiculously high now. previously it's like around 45myr per tube. now it's about 80myr each.

at that price, it's good if only you happened to have it, and you don't wanna get new krytox gpl.

This post has been edited by horns: Jun 7 2023, 05:54 PM

Hi all, what is the budget mechanical keyboard for the 1st-time player? I would like to try since my job needs me to type more, and the laptop's existing keyboard is too soft for me in the long run.

What size are you looking for? I would say Tecware and Royal kludge brands are quite affordable.
I recently purchase a 60% RK61 around the RM100 pricing and it was great for my wife use case.

you can have a look on Royal Kludge RK98
is a full size keyboard in compact form.

https://shopee.com.my/product/173145183/152...dhoC1AQQAvD_BwE

This post has been edited by Vincent6596: Jun 9 2023, 09:02 AM

Thank you for your reply. I saw MACHENIKE K500 is quite affordable but don't know what is the feedback of existing users.

I would say that keyboards at that price range should be quite similar. It would depends on what you are intending to do with the board. If you are just gonna buy and use it without tinkering with it, you do not need to search for those features that enable those.

BTW, what type of switches are you going for? Linear, tactiles or clickies?

BTW, those GMK darlings Keycaps, they are gonna make the next batch of darlings with Key Kobo.

This post has been edited by zzzz52: Jun 9 2023, 10:20 PM

Mostly for typing purposes. No gaming at this moment. I think linear or tactile should be more suitable for my usage.

here's a little key cap history about cherry profile triple-shot abs keycap sets in the modern days.

multishot vintage key caps exist. however, they are rare, ridiculously expensive, and the worst part is that they are most likely not compatible with modern boards.

jtk was the first brand that made triple-shot abs key caps, to bring this option back. they are JTK Classic Cyrillic Tripleshot Keycap Set, in wob and bow colorways, with red cyrillic sublegends. it was a group buy in late 2018.

after a while, domikey started to offer theirs as well. a special mention here is pbtfans. their sets have mixed materials (pbt, abs) and printing technologies (e.g., true triple shots, uv-printed sub legends), so make sure you read the specifications of that particular set that you're interested in before purchase.

(btw, the choice of that particular cyrillic sub legend variant in jtk triple-shot sets has another story)

tbh, group buys did mean something previously. now, i'm not that sure anymore.

edit: just checked, the wob variant is still in stock, https://en.zfrontier.com/products/in-stock-...leshot-cyrillic

the bow variant has become unobtainium.

This post has been edited by horns: Jun 13 2023, 03:53 PM

in terms of key cap materials, stem holes of pbt key caps are relatively more tolerant to oversized stems, compared to abs. in the incident of kailh box v1 years ago, which had oversized stems in the whole series, affected pbt stem holes were usually loosed, while abs stem holes were cracked. that means, if you put your gmk sets on kailh box v1 with untreated stems, you are screwed. i was one of the victims. i used pbt more at that period of time, so i have loosed key cap sets, instead of cracked sets.

hence, it's better check and fix each stem with tools like cruciformer. tbh, this is a good tool. it's originally made to shave oversized stems of kailh box v1, but it can also be used to check and fix stems of other key switches. unfortunately it's discontinued. other alternatives are to use a caliper to measure the thickest area of the stem, or use metal key caps to check first, then decide which key cap sets are to be used on them (or, whether you really wanna use them or not)

so, it's a good idea to remain calm when you receive new key switches. incidents like kailh box can happen to any vendor. do your own qc first, before it's too late.

edit: sorry forgot to mention this, but geon trimmer is doing the same check too, https://geon.works/products/geon-trimmer

other useful tools from geon are plate support fork and stab twister

This post has been edited by horns: Jun 13 2023, 07:35 PM

Good info to take note then.

Geon seems to be making good boards, and more so his boards many are of the TKL layout which is a what I prefer.

in reality, there are 'traps' everywhere in the mkb journey. when i said, 'first-hand experience', i mean far more than just feels, sound, layouts, etc. there are various details that i cannot even recall, unless i check my notes and logs. again, there are always something that i missed out, and got reminded during discussions with fellow users haha

geon is ok. he owns his facilities, designs and makes good stuff, sells them at reasonable margins, and he's transparent about his work. most notably, he's a responsible manufacturer that is willing to put money, time and efforts to resolve issues when he screwed up. from my limited experience, most sellers/vendors that i can remember reacted by giving excuses first when there were issues. (i.e., blame sky blame earth but never themselves) compared to many, i think he's worthy of the support from community.

I have tried the TX AP stabs and it is a tight fit.
I lube the wires with 205G0 and with the usual thicker amount and covering the wire type of lubing, the stabs just felt sluggish. The stock Akko stabs that was holee mod and using the same lubing method did not have this issue.
I would be redoing the TX AP stabs with just a thin coat of lube to see how it goes.
@horns, could you send me a link for the vertex V1? I tried to get some from clickclack, but they do not ship to our region.

here you go.

i haven't tried tx ap stabilizers. i suspect they have lesser room for free play between housing and stem.

Thanks very much for the link. I bought the V1 and will try it out when I receive it.
Currently I just wanted to try a full batch of good linears if I can adjust to it coming from tactiles.

Ya, for the TX AP, the wire is also quite fitting to the stem. When I remove all the lube from the stabs, it was very responsive, but of course rattily.
I will try the thin layer lubing and see how it goes.

Another think I tried is removing the 4 middle silicone gasket on the M3 on the PC plate and try tying on it. The vibration while typing was very noticeable and it the feedback towards my fingers was not 'comfortable'.
Pressing down on the keyboard deck I can see the keys were shifting up and down quite a bit.
I'm just thinking how a bouncy typing experience would be like as describe by user that are using something like a plateless keyboard.
Youtube video always show the flex and bounce of the keyboard and mention that it is a good soft typing experience.

@horns, for your purchases from zfrontier, do you get issues with custom or taxes?

Roughly 10% of total price including shipping. Now got sale though.

you mean aftrr we pay for the items pricing + shipping, we will need to pay another custom fee when it arrive in Msia?

no problem

yes i also thought a thin layer of lube should work well for tx ap stabs.

plateless builds with thin flex-cut pcbs have good flex and bounce when you type. you should know that these builds also bring the sound down significantly. it's a different kind of soft typing experience, compared to gasket-mount boards.

afaik, i was not contacted for tax. the items were sent to me directly. however these were quite some time already. i'm not sure of the current rates.

yes. to get stuff outside Malaysia, always estimate the actual cost with formula, item price + shipping + tax (which is usually 10% for key caps or keyboard stuff)

Thanks very much for the reply. Very clear information.
I was asking coz I browse through zfrontier and wanted to get some discounted GMK to try.
Saw there was 2 shipping options and wanted to ask you guys for your experience using it.
Coz DHL is significantly more expensive vs using e-post.

Previously I bought something from Taiwan and it was using normal post and both times the itemms got stuck at the custom and I needed to go there and pay the fee and the item was even damage there.