Gateron Black stems in Cherry housing

[zutroy]

Thinking about desoldering a 60% with Gateron blacks tonight to lube switches and replace springs with some Cherry MX black stock springs I have sitting around (Gat black stock weight is a bit too light for me). The Cherry springs I have are actually from a pile of switches, so I'm wondering if I should put the Gateron black stems in the cherry housing or keep them in the Gateron housing. Does the leaf in the housing for linears really affect feeling (smoothness, return speed, etc.) or is there no real reason to use the Cherry housings?

[Encabulator]

I think cherry housing reduces wobble IIRC.


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[zutroy]

I think cherry housing reduces wobble IIRC.


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Yeah, I've seen many threads debating this, and I'm inclined to believe it, although I don't have any real proof. I would also think that maybe the leaf and pins in Cherry housing are slightly better quality? Again, no real proof, though...

[merlin64]

Unless you have very sensitive fingers, you won't feel the wobble or the smoothness.

But in general, Cherry MX housings reduce wobble, and gateron stems are smoother than Cherry. Unless of course you have vintage cherry mx black.

[klennkellon]

It may be a good compromise between smoothness and wobble.

I also think using MX housings sounds a little nicer. Slightly bassier and more muted compared to Gaterons which are very clacky.

[zutroy]

So, just for anyone who happens upon this thread, I ended up going with Gateron black stems in stock Cherry MX black housing with stock black springs. Lubed the housings and stems up real good, and the result is pretty fantastic. Deep, muted down and upstrokes, super smooth all the way through. It was worth all the effort.

On a different note, something is up with my spacebar stabilizer (Cherry). One side is not coming up as high as the other, which is causing the spacebar to sit slightly crooked and bottom out differently on the left and right sides. Anyone ever experience this and/or have any suggestions for fixes that don't involve entirely desoldering the board again to reset the stab ?

[zutroy]

So, just for anyone who happens upon this thread, I ended up going with Gateron black stems in stock Cherry MX black housing with stock black springs. Lubed the housings and stems up real good, and the result is pretty fantastic. Deep, muted down and upstrokes, super smooth all the way through. It was worth all the effort.

On a different note, something is up with my spacebar stabilizer (Cherry). One side is not coming up as high as the other, which is causing the spacebar to sit slightly crooked and bottom out differently on the left and right sides. Anyone ever experience this and/or have any suggestions for fixes that don't involve entirely desoldering the board again to reset the stab ?

So, I was able to fix the stabilizer issue. I opened up the board to check the bottom of the PCB, and one of the pegs on the left side of the stabilizer wasn't properly set all the way in the hole on the PCB. Just had to wiggle it around a bit, and it popped down into place. Everything is working great now.

Photo because I'm very proud of my first full desoldering and resoldering job:

[Altis]

So, just for anyone who happens upon this thread, I ended up going with Gateron black stems in stock Cherry MX black housing with stock black springs. Lubed the housings and stems up real good, and the result is pretty fantastic. Deep, muted down and upstrokes, super smooth all the way through. It was worth all the effort.

This is quite interesting. Was the key wobble and sound more like the Cherry because of the housing?

I'm thinking of replacing the stems in my Cherry MX Red board with linear Zealios (which are just linear Gateron stems, AFAIK). I like the smoothness of Zealios/Gaterons, but I really dislike the sound and key wobble.

I'm hoping to end up with a switch with Cherry characteristics but smoother.

The alternative is to check out these supposedly "new" Cherry MX Black switches that are said to be smoother since the update.