Author Topic: Modding Cherry MX Switches.  (Read 7624 times)

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Offline Strange

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Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« on: Sat, 01 August 2015, 13:49:42 »
Hello everyone,

Im looking to buy a Mechanical keyboard, did some reseach on a bunch of switches and tested them out and i really like the feel of Red and Blacks but i don't really like the long travel Cherry MX has so i wonder if this makes any sense to really try out this kind of mod? It wouldn't be particulary hard anyway but it's still quite a bit of work.

Reducing the actuation point and Travel on the red switch, is this worth trying out or do you think it would be a nightmare trying to type on it with such a low actuation point with a linear switch, the default is 2mm.
(i hope this explains the behaviour i want)


I also thought about a linear/rubberdome hybrid but as i couldn't find how to even get fitting rubberdomes to even try such a weird hybrid i gave up, the way the rubber dome is made would also make a huge difference in how the switch would feel so it's not gonna happen, maybe someone tried that already anyway but i haven't found anything at all so far.

Im not asking how to do this mod, just what you think about this change :)

Offline 0100010

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Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 03 August 2015, 11:57:15 »
So you want to 'jailhouse blue' mod the pre-travel portion and rubber ball mod the over-travel portion.

At least I think that is what the jailhouse blue mod is - where you cut up some credit card or similar stock to place inside the switch to take up some of the pre-travel slack (though I'm not sure that mod would work on an MX Red switch due to the lack of the additional slider).

The other piece is where you reduce the over-travel by placing a small rubber ball in the bottom of the spring.
  Quoting me causes a posting error that you need to ignore.

Offline 0100010

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Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 03 August 2015, 20:30:36 »
  Quoting me causes a posting error that you need to ignore.

Offline Shaussman

  • Posts: 76
  • Location: New England
Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 04 August 2015, 11:45:26 »
It wouldn't reduce the actuation distance but you can reduce the travel distance with orings
MX Brown Quickfire XT | MX Clear WASD VP3 | MX Blue Ducky Zero

Offline quake4mhg

  • Posts: 492
  • Location: BC, Canada
Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 04 August 2015, 12:51:09 »
I use "jailhouse blue" + orings, just on WASD, shift, control, space. I cannot say I game better, but for sure my character moves faster. It really helps!



"Jailhouse" Blues - centralized discussion thread
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=45992.0

Link for the silicone balls : http://imsto.cn/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=88

Thanks 0100010, gotta try this.
« Last Edit: Wed, 05 August 2015, 01:07:23 by quake4mhg »

Offline Shaussman

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  • Location: New England
Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 04 August 2015, 12:57:40 »
I use "jailhouse blue" + orings, just on WASD, shift, control, space.

I'm curious, does that effect your typing at all? I feel like having some keys be different from the others would throw me off
MX Brown Quickfire XT | MX Clear WASD VP3 | MX Blue Ducky Zero

Offline quake4mhg

  • Posts: 492
  • Location: BC, Canada
Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 04 August 2015, 13:01:03 »
They absolutely feel different when type lol. I only use it (KBT Race 1) for games  :D

Offline Leslieann

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Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 05 August 2015, 23:04:13 »
Yep, Jailhouse Blues (JB's) is the only mod to reduce actuation point (It works on greens too). It raises it .8mm (2mm to to about 1.2mm best I can measure).
Otherwise, you should look into ALPS or scissor switch keyboards, however, JB's probably have the highest actuation point of any switch on the market.

Using stock caps, o-rings work fine, SP caps however lack the ribbing to hold the O-rings. People have been looking for solutions for a while. The "rubber ball" mod is probably the cheapest, but also the most work, but if you are in the switch already, it's not a big deal. My personal solution was to shove 2 o-rings under each cap. This isn't exactly a cheap solution as you need 2 sets of o-rings to do an entire keyboard. For the moment, I only have the letter keys done. My total travel is only 2.3mm compared to stock Cherry MX at 4mm.
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Offline Oobly

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Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 06 August 2015, 03:16:07 »
The rubber balls only reduce travel significantly with clicky MX switches. On linear and tactile MX they have very limited reduction. This is due to the difference in stem "pole" length.

Jailhouse blues with rubber balls will come close to what you're after, but they're still tactile rather than linear like Reds and Blacks.
Buying more keycaps,
it really hacks my wallet,
but I must have them.

Offline dante

  • Posts: 2553
Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 06 August 2015, 08:13:28 »
If you want a short throw, quiet, very light linear switch with no modding take a look at the KBParadise V60/V80MTS Alps boards w/ Matias Red Linear switches.

I don't like them but they seem to hit all your check boxes.

Offline Defect

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Re: Modding Cherry MX Switches.
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 06 August 2015, 09:20:41 »
The rubber balls only reduce travel significantly with clicky MX switches. On linear and tactile MX they have very limited reduction. This is due to the difference in stem "pole" length.

Jailhouse blues with rubber balls will come close to what you're after, but they're still tactile rather than linear like Reds and Blacks.

Could sand down the tactile legs in the blues.  That would take a while though...

Not pictured: KeyCool 84 [MX Red] | Focus 2001 [Complicated White Alps]
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