I've found the smoothest linear switch possible: Holy Greilh Blacks

[_haru]

So upon receiving the Kailh Pro Burgundy switches I ordered, I realised that they were really bad. They fell terrible to bottom out, and they travel a lot less. They're also pretty inconsistent and they feel scratchy in all the wrong places, too.

But I put a spare Greetech Black slider and spring in there and holy fudgenuggets does it feel good. It's incredible smooth, much better than a Cherry Black an a touch smoother than Gateron, and the weighting is very nice too, also better than a Cherry Black.

By itself, the housing is the Achilles Heel of the otherwise magnificent Greetech switches, when you put them into a nicer housing the difference is night and day. I like these so much that I'm going to build my Let's Split with these, instead of the Burgundys.

[Marvellion]

Have you tried Box Blacks or Reds? I heard those were smoother than Pro switches.

[_haru]

Have you tried Box Blacks or Reds? I heard those were smoother than Pro switches.

Not yet. But it's cheaper for me to transplant Greetech Black guts into these existing housings than buy Box Blacks

[kmba]

Early box blacks were super smooth... But I've received two batches recently that were subpar. One is down right scratchy and the other is just meh. Factory lube is non existent, but that can't be it because even lubing doesn't save them. Not sure what happened.

[_haru]

Early box blacks were super smooth... But I've received two batches recently that were subpar. One is down right scratchy and the other is just meh. Factory lube is non existent, but that can't be it because even lubing doesn't save them. Not sure what happened.

Damn, that stinks. Oh well, all the more reason to make these franken-switches then

[dante]

Early box blacks were super smooth... But I've received two batches recently that were subpar. One is down right scratchy and the other is just meh. Factory lube is non existent, but that can't be it because even lubing doesn't save them. Not sure what happened.

Make sure you forward your findings off to not just the vendor but the Kailh vendor here as well.  They are looking to turn their reputation around and are dependent on people keeping them honest.

[_haru]

Smol update: I sent these frankenswitches (Holy Greilhs as they've come to be known) to some of my friends over at the AUMK discord group, and they all agree that these switches are extremely smooth, even more so when lubricated. Yes, smoother than anything out there, including freaking Tealios. In fact, several people have also said that the Greetech Blacks by themselves are on par with Gateron blacks.

So essentially, lubed 'Holy Greilhs' are now the smoothest custom switch available, and Greetech Blacks are one of the smoothest stock switches.

[airs]

Have you compared them to retooled Cherry MX Blacks?

[_haru]

Have you compared them to retooled Cherry MX Blacks?

Not me personally, but a guy I know made them using the same recipe as me and he said they were smoother

[sncbraxsc2]

The greetech gospel is music to my ears!

[_haru]

The greetech gospel is music to my ears!

Agreed! Greetech Greens are probably my favourite clicky switches, after MX Whites

[pixelpusher]

Okay, so I got my Greetech Blacks in today.  I had some heavy burnt orange kailhs sitting around that I'm not using (too heavy for my taste), so I thought I would give this one a shot.

Being completely honest, I tell absolutely no difference between stock Greetech Blacks and Greetech Black steams/springs in the Kailh housing.  No difference in feel or wobble.  It's nice to have RGB support on Greetechs i guess. 

I will say that I'm impressed with the Greetech switches.

Maybe there is a bigger difference on certain profile caps?  I've only tried SA

The hybrid has slightly less wobble than a gateron black, but the ones I'm using are not as smooth.  In fact, the newly tooled Cherry Blacks are smoother.  Maybe there are batch issues?  Who knows.

[_haru]

Okay, so I got my Greetech Blacks in today.  I had some heavy burnt orange kailhs sitting around that I'm not using (too heavy for my taste), so I thought I would give this one a shot.

Being completely honest, I tell absolutely no difference between stock Greetech Blacks and Greetech Black steams/springs in the Kailh housing.  No difference in feel or wobble.  It's nice to have RGB support on Greetechs i guess. 

I will say that I'm impressed with the Greetech switches.

Maybe there is a bigger difference on certain profile caps?  I've only tried SA

The hybrid has slightly less wobble than a gateron black, but the ones I'm using are not as smooth.  In fact, the newly tooled Cherry Blacks are smoother.  Maybe there are batch issues?  Who knows.

I think you need to use Kailh Pro switches. According to a friend of mine they have an exorbitant amount of lube in weird places, which helps to make the combination switch smoother.

[pixelpusher]

Okay, so I got my Greetech Blacks in today.  I had some heavy burnt orange kailhs sitting around that I'm not using (too heavy for my taste), so I thought I would give this one a shot.

Being completely honest, I tell absolutely no difference between stock Greetech Blacks and Greetech Black steams/springs in the Kailh housing.  No difference in feel or wobble.  It's nice to have RGB support on Greetechs i guess. 

I will say that I'm impressed with the Greetech switches.

Maybe there is a bigger difference on certain profile caps?  I've only tried SA

The hybrid has slightly less wobble than a gateron black, but the ones I'm using are not as smooth.  In fact, the newly tooled Cherry Blacks are smoother.  Maybe there are batch issues?  Who knows.

I think you need to use Kailh Pro switches. According to a friend of mine they have an exorbitant amount of lube in weird places, which helps to make the combination switch smoother.

I've got some purple pros somewhere.  I'll give that a shot. 

[_haru]

Okay, so I got my Greetech Blacks in today.  I had some heavy burnt orange kailhs sitting around that I'm not using (too heavy for my taste), so I thought I would give this one a shot.

Being completely honest, I tell absolutely no difference between stock Greetech Blacks and Greetech Black steams/springs in the Kailh housing.  No difference in feel or wobble.  It's nice to have RGB support on Greetechs i guess. 

I will say that I'm impressed with the Greetech switches.

Maybe there is a bigger difference on certain profile caps?  I've only tried SA

The hybrid has slightly less wobble than a gateron black, but the ones I'm using are not as smooth.  In fact, the newly tooled Cherry Blacks are smoother.  Maybe there are batch issues?  Who knows.

I think you need to use Kailh Pro switches. According to a friend of mine they have an exorbitant amount of lube in weird places, which helps to make the combination switch smoother.

I've got some purple pros somewhere.  I'll give that a shot.

Me and the other people that have tried this have only used Pro Burgundy housings, but tell me how it goes!

[pixelpusher]

Well, I just tried with both pro green and pro purple housings and I still can't hear or feel a difference.  I suppose it is entirely possible that it only works with the burgundy housings.  If that is the case, I would guess they have applied lubrication to the stem that the spring slides on in the burgundy.  That would make sense for a linear switch.  I've always found that one of the greatest sources of scratchy sounds in a switch comes from the spring rubbing on that cylinder, and not the stem rubbing on the housing.  For me, the only way I can feel an appreciable difference from lubricating most switches is by completely submerging the spring in krytox and then letting it drip off on a paper towel.

[pixelpusher]

Question... what do your greetech look like?  I was looking at the force curve on Input Club and the photo they have has a black housing.  Mine have a black bottom and a clear top.  The housing feels very solid to me.

Also, I do think they are an interesting switch for anyone who likes a bit of a heavier spring.  They feel heavier than Gateron or Cherry blacks to me.

[_haru]

Well, I just tried with both pro green and pro purple housings and I still can't hear or feel a difference.  I suppose it is entirely possible that it only works with the burgundy housings.  If that is the case, I would guess they have applied lubrication to the stem that the spring slides on in the burgundy.  That would make sense for a linear switch.  I've always found that one of the greatest sources of scratchy sounds in a switch comes from the spring rubbing on that cylinder, and not the stem rubbing on the housing.  For me, the only way I can feel an appreciable difference from lubricating most switches is by completely submerging the spring in krytox and then letting it drip off on a paper towel.

Interesting. Maybe it really does only work with a Burgundy housing. But some friends of mine did say that there was only a smidgen of difference between the Holy Greilh and the Greetech Black, so perhaps you are just not detecting it

Question... what do your greetech look like?  I was looking at the force curve on Input Club and the photo they have has a black housing.  Mine have a black bottom and a clear top.  The housing feels very solid to me.

Also, I do think they are an interesting switch for anyone who likes a bit of a heavier spring.  They feel heavier than Gateron or Cherry blacks to me.

I've got both, some of them are directly from Greetech and some are from Mehkee, with the clear tops. And yeah, they're a very nice linear switch, probably my favourite of them all (apart from my weird combo)

[chyros]

The smoothest switch possibly is by definition not a contact-based switch like either parent switch .

[_haru]

The smoothest switch possibly is by definition not a contact-based switch like either parent switch .

Well yeah.. Probably should have said in the OP that it was the smoothest Cherry style switch..

holy crap chyros posted in my thread

[Brammm87]

Currently typing on Box Blacks. These things are freaking magic.

[chyros]

The smoothest switch possibly is by definition not a contact-based switch like either parent switch .

Well yeah.. Probably should have said in the OP that it was the smoothest Cherry style switch..

holy crap chyros posted in my thread

If smoothness is really what you want, going MX is barking up the wrong tree. Fujitsu leaf spring and Fujitsu magnetic reed make these things look like children's toys. The latter is very light too, it's like typing on little clouds.

[_haru]

The smoothest switch possibly is by definition not a contact-based switch like either parent switch .

Well yeah.. Probably should have said in the OP that it was the smoothest Cherry style switch..

holy crap chyros posted in my thread

If smoothness is really what you want, going MX is barking up the wrong tree. Fujitsu leaf spring and Fujitsu magnetic reed make these things look like children's toys. The latter is very light too, it's like typing on little clouds.

Oh interesting. Might need to find one of those boards then. Thanks for the tips!

[nastrovje]

Haru, you are a genius.

I've just tried them and they are unbelieveably smooth.

They are the smoothest MX switch I have ever tried actually.

Since I have only 1 batch of Nixies and can't compare to another, I feel a bit hesitant to say that these Holy Greilhs are the smoothest switch of all times but they are absolutely in the top league.

They do wobble a bit more than even Gaterons though, but even offcenter presses are not scratchy. I guess switchfilms could deal with that but I don't care about it really.

They will be featured in my next build for sure. 

e/ just to make it clear, im talking purely about smoothness here. many people do want an awesome sound too which can't be achieved with clear tops, milky tops might be an alternative in the future.

[_haru]

Haru, you are a genius.

I've just tried them and they are unbelieveably smooth.

They are the smoothest MX switch I have ever tried actually.

Since I have only 1 batch of Nixies and can't compare to another, I feel a bit hesitant to say that these Holy Greilhs are the smoothest switch of all times but they are absolutely in the top league.

They do wobble a bit more than even Gaterons though, but even offcenter presses are not scratchy. I guess switchfilms could deal with that but I don't care about it really.

They will be featured in my next build for sure. 

e/ just to make it clear, im talking purely about smoothness here. many people do want an awesome sound too which can't be achieved with clear tops, milky tops might be an alternative in the future.

Awesome, keep me posted on the new build!

And yeah they do wobble a lot, this is because the mod is essentially taking a slightly smaller than average stem and putting it in a slightly larger than average housing.

[Boom]

I heard about this a couple weeks ago. After seeing it again today, I almost want to try them out. I need to finish current builds first though...

[method_]

The latter is very light too, it's like typing on little clouds.

Sold.

[switchnollie]

wild