BSUN Usagi/537
In the recent switch market, HMX and Keygeek have been making headlines with their new releases, materials, and molding improvements. It seems people are forgetting our old friend: BSUN. BSUN has been slow in releasing new switches during the past few months, but there is a good reason for it. I will quickly introduce you to the BSUN Usagi linear switches, and after that, we will be looking at the major improvements BSUN has made during the past few months. Thank you for reading.
Price
Price：0.35USD/each
BSUN Usagi/537 Linear Switch Specifications
Switch type: Linear
Designer: Xida
Manufacturer: BSUN
Stem material: Y3
Top Housings: PC
Bottom Housing: Modified PA66 with fiberglass
Operating Force: 45±5g
Bottom-out Force: 51g±5g
Pre-travel: 1.9mm±0.2mm
Total Travel: 3.6±0.2mm
Spring: 20mm KOS Single-Stage extended spring
Factory Lubed: Yes!
Sound Profile: BSUN's Clacky or poppy
Stem tolerance: Minimal stem wobble
Typing feel: Very smooth with a satisfying long-pole feel
Quality: No obvious leaf or spring pings. No unwanted noises overall
What was BSUN doing?
BSUN's recent moves
The release of BSUN Jade Rosales switches marked BSUN's most recent transition. There are a few things they have changed or should I say improved: Firstly, it is the molding design they use; Secondly, BSUN made modifications to some of their existing materials for betterment. Thirdly, BSUN acquired new factory lubing machines and lubing techniques for improved factory lubrication.
Molding Changes:
Molding design is THE most important part of switch manufacturing as it directly affects how a switch feels and sounds. Some might think materials are more crucial but that is not the case. Some previous issues we experienced with old BSUN switches including stem wobble, hollow bottom-out sound which is not so solid, bottom housing being too big making it hard to install and remove, etc. What if I say that improving the molding would have all those issues fixed?
BSUN changed up the entire housing mold and stem mold, and here are the specific changes they made:
1. Top housing: Decreased the size of the top housing stem hole for improved stem tolerance
2. Bottom housing: Overall smaller bottom housing for easy installation.
3. Stem: Slightly adjusted stem size to fit with the new top housing mold and decrease stem wobbleness.
Not that many would realize but having better stem tolerance and less stem wobble could actually improve a switch hugely. The greatest example here is HMX; Some might have asked this question: Why do HMX switches sound so solid and clean? The answer is tight stem tolerance. The reason that older BSUN switches had this hollow and wiggly bottom-out sound was that stem wobble led to less precise stem travel. Ideally, the stem pole tip should pretty much hit the same spot on the bottom housing during each keystroke, but old BSUN switches had too much wobble that each keystroke was just a little bit off the center spot. This is why BSUN is also making switches with tighter stems as they realized a loose tolerance could actually cause more problems than anticipated.
This is not me saying switch stem tolerance should be as tight as possible and tighter equals better because it simply does not. If we look back at some of the OG HMX switches, we remember that a super tight stem tolerance could incite other issues such as the infamous syringe effect (Such an issue no longer exists on HMX switches since they fixed it already as well). The key is to find the right balance to a degree where stem wobble is no longer an issue and the stem is also not too tight to cause other problems. BSUN made it happen, and it drastically improved their switch quality.
Materials
One of the biggest updates on BSUN's materials is probably the new Y3 and Y3X stem. According to BSUN, both of them are modified UPE; Extra additives and industrial cohesion are added during the injection process to make them strengthened and smoother. There is a simple difference between these two stem materials which is that Y3X overall creates a deeper and thockier sound profile. New Y3 blend comes with a slightly higher-pitched and more clacky sound profile.
Other than that, BSUN didn't spend too much time developing new materials but shifted their focus to how to make the existing materials work better with the new molds.
Factory Lubrication
During my trip to BSUN, they invited me to their new factory lubrication workshop and showed me the new factory lubing machines. According to BSUN, the new machines can apply lube more precisely. Switch designers could point out which spot they want to have lube on while leaving the other parts completely dry. BSUN also modified the lubrication formula; It mainly comes with two improvements: The amount of lube applied decreases while still retaining the smoothness. The new lube is less likely to migrate due to its nature, and the lubing pooling issue has become less significant.
How do the changes apply to BSUN Usagi/537
BSUN Usagi switches were manufactured with BSUN's new housing and stem molds, so expect them to have minimal stem wobble, smooth and precise travel, and solid, clean bottom-out sound. The Usagi switches have a new Y3 stem and a modified PA66 bottom housing. This duo makes them one of the more clacky and slightly higher-pitched BSUN options. The PC top housing ensures its smoothness while having a bright top-out sound. The new factory lubrication discussed above also applies to the Usagi switches. You will find a moderate amount of lube on the stem sides, and stem legs, but not on the stem pole. The springs are dry film lubed. The leaves have a thin coat of lube on them as well to prevent any leaf-ticking issues.
Form of Sales
Time of Sales
August 31st
