Author Topic: Black Cherry MYs  (Read 3331 times)

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Offline nubbinator

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Black Cherry MYs
« on: Sat, 08 March 2014, 18:29:07 »
There's always a lot of trash talk about Cherry MY switches, but no one really seems to go into why they're so bad, what it is about the design that makes them less pleasant to type on.  So for my review, I'm going to have some discussion on Black MY switches. Keep in mind that Black MY switches predated the current iteration of MY switches.  I still haven't used the modern ones, but by most accounts, the old Black MYs are better than the current gen.

All my impressions for Black MY switches come from two typewriters, the Triumph Adler Royal Alpha 110 and Satellite 8.






A word about the external design

I didn't take a picture of the bottom of the keyboard, but MY switches aren't soldered in place.  Black MY keyboards consist of five parts: the switches, a thin mylar PCB over layer, a thin mylar mid layer with no circuitry, just holes cut in it, a thin mylar PCB under layer, and a backplate, in the case of the Royal typewriters it appears to be steel.  The switches are anchored to the plate by a pair of legs on opposite corners of the switch.  Those legs are melted and mushroomed out.  As such, the only way to remove a switch is to cut off those little mushroomed bits of plastic.  When you actuate the switch, a small metal bar moves down and presses the top and bottom mylar sheets together, completing the circuit.  Due to the design, MY switches generally have to be bottomed out which is one of the sources for their less than amazing feel.




One of the most interesting differences with the Black MY switch is that every switch has a stabilizer wire mount built onto it.  If you look closely, you can see the little points where they grab the stabilizing wire.






Each switch has the Cherry logo emblazoned across the top and each one has a number on the bottom.  I have no clue what the significance of that number is, but I'm guessing that it's nothing important based on the random distribution of numbers on the switches.

If you want to open up the switch, you have to find something that's small enough to slide down the little cutouts and grab onto two nubs on the bottom so that you can pull it out.  This design, while making it easier to work on the switch, makes it much easier for dust and other unwanted things to work their way into the switch. 

It's also interesting to note that, like modern Cherry switches, the horizontal crossbar on the stem is a little thicker than the vertical one.  If you place the cap on sideways it fits much tighter.


Stabilizers

The stabilizers on Black MY switches are also interesting.  While they have a similar look to Costar stabilizers and Alps stabilizers at first, they are considerably more finicky than both.




When you look closely at the stabilizer feet, it becomes apparent that they are only meant to work in one direction.






If you put them on the wrong way, the switch will basically lock itself in the depressed position.


A Word About Internal Design

Just like MX switches, MY switches consist of four main parts, housing, stem, spring, and leaf. 

The stem/slider has four guides on the corners to help keep torsional movement in check and to guide the switch when it moves up and down. One corner of the stem has a larger guide that the others, so the switch can only be put in one direction.






The spring for the switch drops into a hole on the top half of the stem and there's a nib on the bottom half of the housing that it rests in.  The spring is actually quite small, smaller than an MX spring.  I'm actually wondering if you might be able to fit it in some Alps switches.






Switch Feel

To start, Black MY switches feel weird.  In a way they're contradictory.  When you just play with one, it's hard to see why people despise the switch.  Even when you first start trying it out, you sit there going, this really isn't as bad as I always hear.  Then you start depressing the switches all the way down to the point and of actuation, trying to type and you realize, holy crap are these thing fatiguing.

Blacks are heavy, but they have nothing on Black MY switches.  Much like Ghost Blacks, Black MYs are lighter at the top and heavier at the bottom, but that's where the similarity ends.  Black MYs almost feel light at first.  By the time you reach the midway point you start to go, ok, these things have some resistance to them.  Then you hit that last quarter throw of the switch that you have to hit before you bottom out and actuate the switch and you start wishing you were Bruce Banner so that instead of raging at the switches, you'd become the Hulk and laugh at how puny they are.  The best analogy I can think of to describe how it feels is packing your sleeping bag into a compression sack.  If you've ever been camping or backpacking and used one, you should know exactly what I'm talking about. 

I have to admit, there is some hyperbole there.  It's not that Black MYs are bad, it's just that they're not good.  If I was given the choice of chopping my hands off or only using Black MY boards the rest of my life, I'd pick the MYs.  It wouldn't be pleasant, but it wouldn't be so bad that I couldn't use it.  Hell, if you're one of those people who thinks MX Blacks aren't heavy enough, you may actually love the switch.  To me, they just feel like they're fighting me too much though. 

Offline Rewind

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Re: Black Cherry MYs
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 08 March 2014, 18:42:25 »
Very nice review. I had my hands on some black MY's from a Gabriele 7007L. I didn't hate them as much as I thought I would.

Offline nubbinator

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Re: Black Cherry MYs
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 08 March 2014, 18:46:31 »
Yeah, they're definitely less bad than they're generally made out to be, but also not good either.  It's why I ended the way I did, stating that it's not that they're bad, it's just that they're not good.  In food terms, they're Souplantation or McDonald's.  If given a choice, I wouldn't eat at either since I know I'll just end up disappointed; however, they're not so bad that I'd rather starve than go to them.

Offline Jokrik

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Re: Black Cherry MYs
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 08 March 2014, 18:49:02 »
Great writeup!
first time hearing MY switch, such an eyeopener

Love the photos
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Offline note

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Re: Black Cherry MYs
« Reply #4 on: Mon, 10 March 2014, 03:31:07 »
I didn't know MY switches exist, I thought of it as a copy of cherry switches. Great review!

Offline McWilloughby

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Re: Black Cherry MYs
« Reply #5 on: Mon, 10 March 2014, 04:54:00 »
Got an MY board waiting for me that I bought for the caps. I've used one of these before at work but never long enough to form a full opinion, will definitely try it out..

Offline Maxim

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Re: Black Cherry MYs
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 15 March 2014, 02:59:12 »
Had to edit this post.  On closer inspection, the particular MY switches in the OP's photos DO appear to be melted to the plate.  There's no indication of dowel fasteners in them.  Holy crap, that sucks.

On MY-3000 and 7000 keyboards, though, you don't have to lop off the fasteners on the switch halves.  There's small dowels inside of them that you can press through from the top with a sewing needle, and afterwards they pull out easily.  You can use the same needle to hold the clips when removing the plunger.  The leaf springs can be removed (VERY GENTLY) from the bottom of the housing by placing the needle between the spring and the plastic, placing your finger below.  Then just pull....  very carefully.  Bend the spring too much and you're boned.

Doing the above 104 times, removing the helical springs and reassembling will result in the most awesomely light switch ever.  I love it.  And it's nearly invincible unless you spill even the slightest amount of liquid in it.  If your coffee cup falls over your MY is dead.  But still, it feels sooooooooooo good after the switch mod.

Just, if you do work on one of these, do it on a white surface, something with some friction.  Trying to find a fastening dowel on a carpet is excrutiating.

« Last Edit: Sat, 15 March 2014, 03:05:38 by Maxim »

Offline blackbox

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Re: Black Cherry MYs
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 18 March 2014, 16:35:33 »
Very informative review. Thanks for sharing it!
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Offline PointyFox

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Re: Black Cherry MYs
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 18 March 2014, 17:11:38 »
What's up with that galactic empire symbol in all the pictures? :X

Offline nubbinator

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Re: Black Cherry MYs
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 18 March 2014, 17:27:19 »
What's up with that galactic empire symbol in all the pictures? :X

The better question is why doesn't every picture on this site have it.