Variance in mechanical switches.

[jcoffin1981]

I'm not sure if it's just me, but with switches and boards of which I have several, I have noticed a huge amount of variance as far as resistance, tactility, and sound.  Particularly I've noticed with MX Browns and Gateron Browns.  I also have one board with Gateron Browns that have so much wobble that it was unusable.  I've had board with MX Browns that have had crazy pinging.  I had one Leopold with MX Browns where the switches were too light and had even less tactility than usual.  I took the switches out and put in Kailh.
I have another Leopold with the best MX Browns I have ever used.  The tactility is greater, the resistance at the top is heavier, and it somehow has a more pleasant sound. Unfortunately the board is dead, but my plan is to harvest these and reuse them in another board. 

Is this variance really a thing with all switch manufacturers?  Or maybe it is especially noticeable in tactile switches.   Anyone else experience this?

[Leslieann]

How does wobble make a switch unusable?
If it's bind then it's a lube issue/bind issue which is solved with lube, ironically, I have had FAR more issue with bind on Kailh than I ever have on Gateron, with one set of Kailh so bad it physically hurt to type on due to the extreme amount of bind they experienced. In any case, inconsistency can be batch related, but it's likely uncommon to get a mixed batch. Even if a someone mixed batches (vendor) you'd likely be seeing two batches at most, not 3 or 4. Which means it's likely lube.

As with all manufacturing, especially something this cheap, everything is calculated down to fractions of a cent, and with everything, bean counters and executives get bonuses based on cutting costs. You can't cut plastic, not without a mold change, you can't cut material for springs, the one place you can skimp is lube. If someone is pushing for a bonus that quarter, use a bit less lube, need better reviews, a bit more. Shady, yep, but they do it.

Higher end boutique switches will be better, this (and a middle man) are why they cost more but you will get more consistent on the lube. Lower end switches will get less lube.
Basically buy better switches (Cherry or boutique) or hand lube, that's your best option.

[Volny]

...You can't cut plastic, not without a mold change, you can't cut material for springs, the one place you can skimp is lube....

I could be wrong, but in my [very limited] experience of taking out and inspecting switch leaves, I've gotten the sense that some are made from thicker/sturdier metal than others. Namely, the Gateron leaves I've pulled out have seemed particularly flimsy. Which I can imagine could make them more susceptible to the effects of any natural variations or imperfections. Similarly, some of the stock springs I've seen in cheaper switches seem noticeably thinner than aftermarket ones (or stock springs from boutique switches).



At any rate, I agree with Leslieann's conclusion: buy better switches and/or hand lube. Gateron switches tend to be dirt cheap, and are probably dirt cheap for a reason. Cherry is a different story, of course; they're hardly a budget producer. But I'd also treat them with caution. Their switches are famous for issues like scratch and spring-ping, and for most of their history they've had a monopoly, so worrying about small product variations would hardly have been a top concern. I'd guess that even today, the vast majority of cherry switches are bought by people who have neither the know-how nor the inclination to take them out and examine them: they just buy an OEM keyboard that happens to have Cherries in it, they type on it, they thank the heavens that it feels much better than the rubber dome at work, and they move on with their life.

Having said that, I think there's probably a lot of variance in boutique switches too. You often read about V2.0 of this or that switch or new molds or 'improved secret plastic' recipes. Sometimes there seem to be unmarketed changes too. For example I bought some Durock Koalas from the same place a few months apart, and the two batches appear to be made of a different plastic - a different color shade at the very least, and a seemingly glossier consistency too. Who knows what else might have changed in them. Or there are the Zeal Zilents I bought, which are a pretty expensive switch. They are revolting, with all the elegance of a three-wheeled Soviet cargo train. The worst switch I've typed on by a long margin. They feel so gravelly and rickety and terrible, that I'm inclined to presume that they must be a bad batch. I don't think my taste in switches is very far from the mainstream, so it just doesn't seem likely that this manufacturer could possibly command the high reputation and high prices that it does if all their Zilents feel like this. And yet Zeal are about as Boutique as you can get ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Leslieann]

...You can't cut plastic, not without a mold change, you can't cut material for springs, the one place you can skimp is lube....

I could be wrong, but in my [very limited] experience of taking out and inspecting switch leaves, I've gotten the sense that some are made from thicker/sturdier metal than others. Namely, the Gateron leaves I've pulled out have seemed particularly flimsy. Which I can imagine could make them more susceptible to the effects of any natural variations or imperfections. Similarly, some of the stock springs I've seen in cheaper switches seem noticeably thinner than aftermarket ones (or stock springs from boutique switches).

To thin the metal you need to alter the housing.
Not saying it can't be done, but it would be a generational change, and you'd want to make sure it's going to last. Doable, but it's a big undertaking and not something done by some line manager or bean counter trying to make a promotion and would only account for two different switch feels.

[jcoffin1981]

How does wobble make a switch unusable?

The sound as well as the feel.  There is a rattle from every keycap that is almost like a spacebar.  It makes every key just feel flimsy.  I have a Leopold FC660M with Cherry Browns.  The switches in this board are superb.  They have less wobble and they are more tactile and sound better than others.  I have purchased this board again the switches were not as good.  Unfortunately the board is dead, but I am going to harvest they switches for my new build.  I am at the moment on a Cherry Brown kick which at the moment I prefer over the Kailh Browns I have been using for the past year.  With that being said I may use the alpha keys from this board.  To date I have not found better keycaps than Leopold's on the FC660M.