Lubricants are helpful for almost anything. In this case, they will help you to improve your typing skills. When typing at a computer keyboard, it is essential to use lube, valid for any keyboard, including a manual typewriter. Lubrication is very helpful when ordering because it makes your fingers move more quickly. In this Article we will show you how to lube keyboard switches.
Check out Best linear switches for typing and gaming if you love to improve your typing or gaming.
It is also helpful for your wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Don’t forget to clean the keyboard after you have finished typing. You may get a new keyboard soon. It is good to clean the keyboard to avoid having any problems. It is a good idea to keep your computer keyboard clean because it will be easier to type. Make sure that you lube keyboard switches so that you can type correctly. Redragon Kumara K552 RGB Gaming Keyboard Review
Step by step guide for lube keyboard switches
Items needed for lubing
Let’s get the things we need out of the way. First, you’re going to need your lube of choice and your switches. For this article, I’ll be using crytox 205 grade 0, a reasonably popular lubricant, and cherry mx black switches. My methodology is the same regardless of what lube I use, so if you’re not using crypto 205, grade 0.
Ideally, you have a switch opener, especially if you build multiple keyboards. I’m using it here from kibosh, and I’ve been using it for almost three years. And have felt no need to purchase a new one but any similar product will do. They essentially all work the same.
You’re also going to want a thin paintbrush, preferably a double zero or triple zero sizes, and I’m not exactly sure what this last item is officially called. Still, at least in the context of keyboards, we will call it a stem holder. This one is somewhat optional, and it’s more of a quality of life kind of product, but I recommend it.
Disassembling a switch
First, we need to disassemble the switch mx style switch is composed of a top housing that clips onto a bottom housing via four clips. You position the button onto the switch opener such that aside with two visible clips are aligned with a side with two prongs on the opener and then gently push down just enough such that it separates the two halves. Outemu Switches Complete Guide.
The key to lubing
Lube Keyboard Switches are not so hard. Once you’ve opened up the switch, separate all the components. Now that we’ve opened the button, it’s time to apply lube where needed. There’s a great post by community member walker stopover at keep talk that documents areas of friction within a switch that I highly encourage everyone to check out.
It’ll provide some great insights into why certain switch areas are lube.
Before we dive into the key to lubing, one final piece of advice is that more minor is more if you’re new to lubing. I highly encourage you to start with as little lube as you can during application since if you end up feeling like your switch can use more lube, you can always add more but removing lube is a much more cumbersome process.
Bottom housing
We’re going to start by lubing the bottom housing. First, dip your brush in your lube and gather enough lube on the tip around the size of half of one of the gold switch pins. I transfer half of the lube onto one of the slider rails. I go off visuals for this step and then deposit the remaining half on the other slider rail, then I spread the lube across both rails until I feel I’ve evenly coated the entirety of both rails.
You don’t want to see any of the whiteness of the lube remaining, just a bit of sheen. If you notice white, you’ve probably over lubed at this point. There’s perhaps some slight residual lube throughout the entire tip of your brush. Whether you see it or not, I like to use whatever is leftover and apply a thin coating on the two bumps on the leaf.
Linear vs. Tactile
Linear: Smooth and consistent keystroke with a low-pitched sound. Tactile: A tiny bump with each keystroke that makes moderate volume. Clicky: A tiny bump with each keystroke followed by the sound of a loud click.
Now when you learn about lubing switches, you’ll often hear people recommend that for linear switches, you should lube the leaf and or stem legs, and for tactile buttons, you shouldn’t. I agree with this advice for linear switches, and yes, you should 100 apply lube to either the switch stem legs or the leaf.
Many people advise against doing the same for tactiles for two reasons, the biggest reason being that many new enthusiasts will tend to overlook these points, which secondly by doing so can reduce the tactility of tactile switches drastically, especially with the thicker krytox and thrombosis lubes being very popular.
Nowadays, it’s straightforward to overlook the leaf and potentially turn your tactile buttons into essentially a linear switch. This is a trade-off you’ll have to consider when lubing tactile switches, as lubing these areas can lead to smoother tactiles at the expense of some tactility but little to none if done right.
Spring
Next, we can move on to the spring. We only really need to lube the ends of the spring where the spring coils are bunched up as that’s where the majority of spring ping tends to generate from I take a somewhat generous amount of lube this time around the size of an entire switch pin and spread it across one end of the wire. I make several passes around the outside of the coil and the inside of the loop for the spring.
It’s okay to still see the whiteness of the lube after brushing it on as it’s a bit more forgiving than the other components after you’ve lubed one end of the spring, install it back onto the bottom switch housing, making sure that the side you just lubed touches the bottom with the spring installed back onto the base housing repeat the lubing process for the other end of the spring that’s exposed once you’ve done that we can set the bottom housing aside as we’ll be lubing the stem.
Stem
Next, when you Lube Keyboard Switches and spring, if you do own a stem holder, you can now use it to grip the branch by the crucifix. Otherwise, you’ll need to use your fingers once again. We’re going to take about half a gold switch the pin-sized amount of lube and use this for lubing the entirety of the switch stem deposit half the lube onto one of the stem sliders.
Then deposit the rest on the opposite stem slider. At this point, you’ll still have some residual lube on the tip of your brush. I just stabbed the back face a couple of times and the top portion of the front face with the switch legs. Then starting with one of the faces with the stem sliders, I evenly spread the lube across the entirety of this face to make sure to lube the top ledge of the slider.
Keep in mind
The following steps’ order of operation is essential, and I think it dramatically helps maintain consistency across multiple switches for my particular method. Once I’ve lubed a slider stem, I then brush across the back edge several times, just like I said for the bottom housing on all lube areas. We’re just looking for a slight sheen, and we shouldn’t be seeing any whiteness of the lube.
We then evenly spread the lube on the other switch face with the slider, keeping in mind to lube the top ledge again. Then finally, I always lube the beginning with the switch legs last evenly brush along the top surface, regardless of whether your switch is linear or tactile. As mentioned earlier in this artical, if you’re lubing linear switches, you should always lube the stem legs next for tactile buttons.
Consider the trade-off between smoothness and tactility if you choose to do so. At this point, you’ll still have some residual lube on your brush. Whether you see it or not, I brush evenly on the bottom edges of the stem lube around the base of the pole, and then just with what sliver of lube remains, I brush it onto the tip of the stick, and that’s pretty much it for the lubing process.
Reassembling a switch
Now, all we have left is to reassemble the button you want to place your stem back on the spring, making sure to align the stem legs such that they face the leaf of the bottom housing, then grab your top housing align the logo with the leaf of the base housing if your switch doesn’t have a logo is the side with the curve and snap everything together. There you have it. You’ve lubed a mechanical control lubing a single switch is reasonably straightforward.
Good vs. bad lubers
What separates good lubes from bad ones is how consistent one can replicate a feel across multiple switches, and hopefully, for an entire board, when you’re lubing switches for a build.
Find the switch you’ve lubed early on that you are satisfied with, and try to replicate that feeling for all the other buttons I generally lube in batches of 10 to 20. After I’ve lubed a pack, I’ll compare all those switches to that one switch I liked and see if I need to make any adjustments.
Tips when lubing multiple switches
Alright, here are some tips and tricks for when you’re lubing various switches. Many people like to use lube stations which might help if you’re into organizing everything and having an assembly line-like kind of process.
I don’t use the one I prefer chaos, but this might be something you want to look into purchasing. One way of efficiently and saving time when moving multiple switches is to bag or tub lube your springs. It’s pretty much what it sounds like you essentially dump all your springs into a Ziploc bag or a tub you can already see my tubs been encoded with lube from previous sessions, drop a bit of lube into the tub, and then shake like there’s no tomorrow and let physics do its thing the idea is that by shaking long enough everything will eventually have an even coating of lube you’ll be applying more lube that you need in unwanted areas as well. Still, this isn’t too big a problem for something like springs.
Final remarks
Depending on the switch, I may vary things up. For example, I generally don’t lube the top housings, but sometimes I may. Suppose the switch is highly scratchy lubing is also a rather time-consuming process.
In that case, I can lube around 10 to 15 switches an hour, so if I’m moving enough switches for, let’s say a 60 that’s already 4 to 6 hours, I have to carve out of my week, so be prepared to commit several hours to this turn on your favorite show or anime. In contrast, you lube, oh, and please make sure to wash your hands once you finish lubing, especially if it gets on your fingers.
Should You Lube keyboard Switches?
There are two types of lube: lubricants and greases. Grease has no water in it, but lubricants have. Many people think that lubricating switches with oil or grease work better. However, this isn’t true. Lubricating buttons with oil and grease could make the switch stop working. It is best only to lubricate the contacts of a switch when you are changing the batteries in a remote. Otherwise, it is better not to use a lubricant.
