Alpacas vs Gateron Ink Black

[Blehhh]

Hey guys, going to try build my keyboard, came down to this 2 switches alpacas or gateron ink black. since alpacas is always out of stock, i dont have the luxury of trying it out before purchasing in especially in south east asia region.
in terms of feel how are they going up against each other?
especially if both are lubed. would love to hear you guys opinions if any of you tested both before.
Thanks in advance and stay safe everyone

[drfilco]

Ahoy. While I haven't gotten to try Alpacas myself yet, I have done a lot of reading about them - and from what I gather the Inks have one very significant edge over the Alpacas: At least when stock, the Ink housings fit snugly together - which is critical for a silent switch. In contrast, I read that the Alpacas have some play and rattle between the top and bottom housing, undermining their silence - however this can be fixed by manually inserting a thin specialized film between the top and bottom piece of each switch. The most recent post I read put it like this:

Stock Alpacas < Gat Silent Inks < Filmed Alpacas

Personally, I think the Gat Silent Inks are some of the best stock switches I've ever used, so I don't have any trouble heartily recommending them.

[HungerMechanic]

Yes. I have used stock Alpacas, and they are great switches, but they do rattle [or wobble and make a lot of plasticy noise] in stock form.

However, I have seen that when they are lubed they sound [and allegedly feel] much better.

Inks are a more viable switch if you're just talking stock switches. If you're going stock, Ink might be a better bet.

[Blehhh]

Gat ink black is very much different with Gat ink silent black right?

[jackrabbit]

Gateron silent inks are black inks with rubber pads on the top and bottom of the stem sliders. The housing, springs, and rest of the stem should be identical. I haven't tried regular black inks, so I'm just going off of manufacturing logic. I have silent inks on my keyboard right now and they are incredibly smooth and tight. I went ahead and filmed/lubed them anyway because I wanted to see if they would improve, but the difference is honestly negligible. They are a little quieter because the spring noise is gone, but they were basically just as smooth when they were stock.

[foxtrap614]

Alpacas are really smooth stock. The smoothest I have ever tried including zeal turquoise. The big difference between black inks and alpacas is more spring weight than stock smoothness.  Black to me are much heavier. Alpacas feel closer to red in my opinion.

[HungerMechanic]

Alpacas use what I think is a standard 62 gr spring used by Durock.

In fact, Alpacas are supposedly a standard Durock L-series linear with opaque case and 62 gr spring. The standard Durock linears use a 67G spring.

I found the weight to be 'red-like' as well. The springs they come with are kind of dull, and contribute to a hollow feel. What you're really supposed to do is spring-swap with a preferred weight. I am testing 63.5gr in them right now, and it is amazing. I am contemplating two builds with these.

Alpacas are a God-tier switch once modded. Gateron Inks are probably more usable in stock form.

[Blehhh]

when you mentioned alpacas are a God-tier switch once modded, u mean just lubbing the alpacas? or include various modify?
im new to this custom made keyboard so im not entirely sure when someone mention mod. i know lubbing and filiming only.

on the other hand, do you all prefer regular alpacas or silent alpacas? with or without mod?
and stay safe everyone

[HungerMechanic]

I only have experience with regular Alpacas, and the only modding I've done is changing the springs.

But they are very smooth out-of-the-box. Noticeably smoother than Cherry MX Red, Gateron Red, even Gateron Yellow.

From videos, I've seen and heard that they sound better after lubing and filming. And I know they have wobble out-of-the-box because I've experienced it.

So there is good evidence that Alpacas, while not perfect in stock form, become very good switches when lubed and filmed. Those two modifications are necessary. Not just lubing them, but also applying a film to stabilize the switch. Those two mods will make them top-rate.

I don't know much about the Silent Alpacas, but I have some on the way. The reviews say that the Silent Alpacas are not that great from the factory, but improve very considerably with lubing and filming, to the point where they may be the best silent linear. Don't use the Silent Alpacas without modding them.

[HungerMechanic]

And yes, by 'modding them,' I mean apply lubing and filming. There are no special modifications necessary, just conventional lubing and filming.

[Blehhh]

Thanks for everyone answers much appreciated
i heard that Alpacas comes with factory lubed by default, if i want to mod it (filmed and lubed it with kyrox 205g0) do i need to clean the previous lubed that comes factory default or just apply the new kyrox 205g0 over it without removing the previous lube(factory default lube)?

[HungerMechanic]

That's a good question. From what I've read, no you don't need to remove the factory lube.

Alpacas do come with a thin coating of factory lube. It helps with the stock smoothness of the switch. But most people I have read say that they just lube over the factory coating, since they are themselves applying a more generous coating.

There are some people who are not comfortable doing this, and go to the trouble of removing the factory lube. But most people don't.

[treeleaf64]

Thanks for everyone answers much appreciated
i heard that Alpacas comes with factory lubed by default, if i want to mod it (filmed and lubed it with kyrox 205g0) do i need to clean the previous lubed that comes factory default or just apply the new kyrox 205g0 over it without removing the previous lube(factory default lube)?

Can lube over factory lube. .
If you want more lube feel then do it ,  tbh they are smooth enough if you don't want to go through time of lubing!

[Blehhh]

Which is the best films to mod Alpacas?
I haven't bought any films yet, not sure which are the best films to go with the alpacas.

Also to remove any existing lube, do you have a preferred method to remove any existing lube?

[JCraftCables]

If you are going for the Alpacas because of the thocky sound, the other option will be Tangerines (hard to get as well) or basically the budget friendly Gateron milky series (yellows seem to be popular).

[Scottw]

Which is the best films to mod Alpacas?

I like Thicc films for JWKs (alphas, etc) and Tangies over TX. However, I found on plates with tight tolerances they are a no go (one leg is always not 100% flush).

TX have worked everywhere I have tried them.

I am trying some of the new(er) desk key films this weekend.

[Blehhh]

Oh yeah tangerines are hard to get as well sadly
oh when you get the new deskeys films this weekend, if possible please let me know what are your thoughts on it. i appreciate it
have you tried alpacas before scottw?

[Scottw]

This is my first full go with Alpacas. However, I have used various other JWKs before.

So far, my initial impression is I really like the feel of the Alpacas with Deskeys, but I do not think the sound is as good as TX or Thicc films. It will take some more testing to know for sure. (The board is a Retk1800, so the sound could also need some adjusting there as well)

As soon as I can grab another 30 Alpacas, I am going to build a plate using either TX or Thicc films as well.