Why do people lube their keyboards? Smoother?

[DuckNorris]

I am wondering (tried searching for a recent post regarding this first but did not find one) why do people lube their keyboards? Does it make it smoother like do you lube the switch itself or other parts/mechanisms around it? Like will my MX browns feel like Gateron browns if I lube them?

Thank you.

[Puddsy]

just makes is smoother and some would argue lighter

definitely changes the feel

[DuckNorris]

just makes is smoother and some would argue lighter

definitely changes the feel

I am curious to try it but the feel part kind of scares me a little.. cause you cannot revert it I suppose. Is there a guide at GH about it? I guess I need to buy little test kits for stuff like this :O

[zslane]

You could try it on a switch tester and minimize the risk.

The two things that typically get lubed are the slider rails inside each switch (to eliminate the sound and feel of slider friction as the keys move up and down), and the stabilizer wires (to eliminate stabilizer rattle). None of these measures are permanent. The lube eventually wears off and needs to be re-applied every so often.

[zpcomstock17]

You lube mostly to silence the switch, makes the switch feel a bit smoother BUT it's not a band-aid for a bad switch.
Lubing your Cherry MX Browns will make them smoother and help greatly with clatter, not make them feel like Gaterons, the scratchiness in Cherry switches is in the sliders.
Also the way to lube them depends on the type of switch. Topre you lube only the slider and housing. Cherry MX you can lube the housing, spring, and slider (same for any thing cherry-like, Gaterons or Kalihs), same for ALPS switches too.

just makes is smoother and some would argue lighter

definitely changes the feel

If the switches aren't lubed good, then lube will make the switches feel a tad lighter.

Made my 45 gram Topres feel 50 grams to 45 grams when I lubed them.

[Findecanor]

In Cherry MX the slider will also wear as you use it, thus getting smoother that way. It does not happen overnight though.

[merlin64]

Some people.....like me....only lube their stabilizers. I do it because it eliminates the noise and just makes the stabilized keys move better.

Though if you put enough lube (thickness is a factor) in a switch, you can also make it almost silent.

[zslane]

Yeah, I only lube stabilizers. In my experience, Topre sliders don't really need lubing, but the stabilizers sure do.

[DuckNorris]

You could try it on a switch tester and minimize the risk.

The two things that typically get lubed are the slider rails inside each switch (to eliminate the sound and feel of slider friction as the keys move up and down), and the stabilizer wires (to eliminate stabilizer rattle). None of these measures are permanent. The lube eventually wears off and needs to be re-applied every so often.

On a normal office typing board what is the period in which you need to relube and how long does is it usually happen? I am just concerned that if I do this I will have to reclean and go ahead and do it.

Regards

[zslane]

I have no idea. Once I've re-lubed a board I'll let you know. The only boards I've ever lubed were lubed a mere two months ago.

[alienman82]

removed.

[zpcomstock17]

Yeah, I only lube stabilizers. In my experience, Topre sliders don't really need lubing, but the stabilizers sure do.

Are you sure? My Type Heaven had horrible upstroke clack when it first came, krytox oil made it a thing of the past.
It was like going from cherry mx blues to mx pinks, that's how drastic the change was.
Maybe it's a problem only with type heavens and not realforce keyboards.

[DuckNorris]

I have no idea. Once I've re-lubed a board I'll let you know. The only boards I've ever lubed were lubed a mere two months ago.

Thank you I am looking into bunch of stuff people do aside from keycaps and cases to keyboards just in case there is something I may like doing.

[ArchDill]

I just got into this hobby around September. I did not try tuned switches until around January and I will never go back. It has become my favorite part of all of this. Getting different lubes and stems and springs and finding ut what I like the best. I highly recommend trying some tuned switches. It will really open up your mech world.

[DuckNorris]

I just got into this hobby around September. I did not try tuned switches until around January and I will never go back. It has become my favorite part of all of this. Getting different lubes and stems and springs and finding ut what I like the best. I highly recommend trying some tuned switches. It will really open up your mech world.

Thank you I am planning on getting a cheaper board to try this on to get a feel for it. I am just wary of experimenting on my nicer keyboards lol.

[DuckNorris]

You lube mostly to silence the switch, makes the switch feel a bit smoother BUT it's not a band-aid for a bad switch.
Lubing your Cherry MX Browns will make them smoother and help greatly with clatter, not make them feel like Gaterons, the scratchiness in Cherry switches is in the sliders.
Also the way to lube them depends on the type of switch. Topre you lube only the slider and housing. Cherry MX you can lube the housing, spring, and slider (same for any thing cherry-like, Gaterons or Kalihs), same for ALPS switches too.

just makes is smoother and some would argue lighter

definitely changes the feel

If the switches aren't lubed good, then lube will make the switches feel a tad lighter.

Made my 45 gram Topres feel 50 grams to 45 grams when I lubed them.

Thank you seems I will have to actually get Gateron Browns eventually instead of making MX try to feel like them. Btw nice avatar haha.

[zslane]

Yeah, I only lube stabilizers. In my experience, Topre sliders don't really need lubing, but the stabilizers sure do.

Are you sure? My Type Heaven had horrible upstroke clack when it first came, krytox oil made it a thing of the past.
It was like going from cherry mx blues to mx pinks, that's how drastic the change was.
Maybe it's a problem only with type heavens and not realforce keyboards.

The upstroke clack in my RealForce 104UK Hi-Pro board isn't very pronounced; I wouldn't bother with trying to make that quieter. However, its stabilizers could surely use some thick lube in order to muzzle the stabilizer rattle. Just like nearly every board I've ever bought/used.

My RealForce RGB and NovaTouch boards are another matter. They have loud upstroke clatter. But I don't use lube to treat that; I use silencing rings.

[zpcomstock17]

The upstroke clack in my RealForce 104UK Hi-Pro board isn't very pronounced; I wouldn't bother with trying to make that quieter. However, its stabilizers could surely use some thick lube in order to muzzle the stabilizer rattle. Just like nearly every board I've ever bought/used.

My RealForce RGB and NovaTouch boards are another matter. They have loud upstroke clatter. But I don't use lube to treat that; I use silencing rings.

Must be a problem with budget topre boards. Silencing rings are nice if you can afford them, I can't and resorted to using GPL205. I disassembled the board, lube the sliders from the inside out and wiped the excess off. End result was near-silent switches with the annoying upstroke clatter gone.

[zslane]

Must be a problem with budget topre boards.

From what I can tell, it's not just budget Topre boards that suffer from upstroke noise. It is a problem for all keyboards that don't factory silence their switches, including RealForce boards. Matias switches and MX silent switches are the only modern switches that I know of that are dampened by design and need no further silencing measures.

[klennkellon]

It depends on the switch but I typically do not lube switches out of the box.

Lubing can keep the switch from naturally smoothing out over time as the lube prohibits the grinding "friction" needed to smooth the plastics. It may be scratchy at first but will naturally smooth.

There are exceptions however. If the switch has suffered a spill or some contamination severe enough that simply cleaning the switch is not good enough. It's also useful for older more worn-out Alps switches which can feel really nasty.

[Minnie2]

One is to let the feeling less jerky, on the other hand, reducing the wear of switches.

[Squaggles]

So I've understood why people lube switches/stabilizers, but what confuses me is how people do it. I personally would be afraid of opening up switches if required because knowing myself, I'd either lose parts or not be able to put it back together.

[thatsmrdoctortoyou]

So I've understood why people lube switches/stabilizers, but what confuses me is how people do it. I personally would be afraid of opening up switches if required because knowing myself, I'd either lose parts or not be able to put it back together.

Its super easy, don't be afraid to open up switches. Do it once, and you'll never forget how it does back together. When I lube switches, I use the plate to hold the switches. Then I remove the top of the housing and leave the stem and spring in the bottom of the housing. That way you can grab one stem at a time, lube it (followed by the spring), then put it back in the bottom of the housing.

[zslane]

Yeah, it's not that hard once you know how. But is it worth all the time required? For me the answer is hell no. Even lubing sixteen stabilizer joints (which don't even require opening switch housings or disassembling the case) is more work than I want to go to. But stabilizer rattle really bugs me, so it is one of those maintenance burdens I'm willing to endure for my main drivers. But I am not about to lube the slider rails for 108 switches. That's insane.

[Squaggles]

I am not about to lube the slider rails for 108 switches

well luckily my main (and only) keyboard has 68 switches and not 108

[zslane]

I am not about to lube the slider rails for 108 switches

well luckily my main (and only) keyboard has 68 switches and not 108

Hrm. To my mind that's like saying, "Luckily I'm only facing 68 rifles and not 108 in this firing squad..."