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The Kailh BCP switches designed by Off Studio are not the first and won't be people's last attempt to re-create the classic black cherry pie switches. What's different this time, or should I say what's been improved this time is that one of the switch parts is actually the same as the original Franken BCP switch; That is the MX Cream stem. Since Kailh is the manufacturer of the MX Cream switches, Off Studio took advantage and used those directly for the Kailh BCP. Along with some R&D done to the housing materials and molds, the Kailh BCP switches are made similar to the original ones to a great extent. Let's take a look at what they are like.
Price
Price: 0.5 USD per switch
Switch Specifications
Switch type: Linear
Designer: Off Studio
Manufacturer: Kailh
Stem material: Dupont POM (MX Cream Stem)
Top Housings: PA66 (With the same Cherry housing texture)
Bottom Housing: PA66 (thickened)
Operating Force: 52±5g
Bottom-out Force: 63.5±5g
Pre-travel: 1.4mm±0.2mm
Total Travel: 3.5±0.2mm
Spring: 20mm Single-Stage extended spring
Factory Lubed: Yes!
The Kailh BCP Switch
Design:
The largest difficulty in re-creating the BCP switches is molding designs. That is because the original BCP switches are frankened using three switch parts from three manufacturers. If you think about it, it is a switch miracle; Three switch parts designed and developed by three manufacturers which come with completely different specs and tolerances magically work together and become one of the most famous franken switches in this hobby; That is the original BCP switch we are familiar with. To re-create the BCP switches with 100% similarity requires that you have the exact same molding and materials used for the original ones, and that is almost impossible. Mold design and material formula are both secrets to each manufacturer, so unless someone could gather Kailh, JWK, and Cherry to work together, we will never see the TRUE out-of-factory-and-ready-to-use BCP switches. That is to say, don't expect the Kailh BCPs to be exactly the same as the original BCP switches.
Since the Kailh BCP switches already use the MX Cream stem, the urgent is to get the housings done as similar as possible to the original ones. In order to achieve that, Off Studio worked in collaboration with Kailh's engineering team and developed a new set of molds for the BCP housings. Here's what they did:
1. The top housing comes with the same molding texture and mold runners as the Cherry top housing. That ensures the signature stem tolerance and scratchy feeling are kept.
2. The bottom housing is thickened to get the 3.5mm total travel distance. A thickened bottom housing also means a fuller and more vibrant bottom-out sound in general.
3. FYI: The MX Cream stems are 13.42mm in length, and there is no way the stem length is going to be changed; The only way to adjust travel distance is to adjust the thickness of the bottom housing. Hence the bottom housing is thickened to meet the needs here.
Materials:
Housing materials are another obstacle waiting to be overcome; The original Cherry top housing was made using PA66 from Covestro AG (Former name: Bayer MaterialScience Co.), and the JWK H1 bottom housing was made using JWK's PA66. Although Kailh doesn't use the same supplier as Cherry or JWK, the good news is it's just PA66 which is very common in this hobby. The synthesizing formula might be a bit different among suppliers, but PA66 is PA66 XD.
Off Studio and Kailh made sure the PA66 they use to manufacture Kailh BCP switches are indistinguishable, and they also stressed the fact that the PA66 housing does not come with fiberglass added.
Major Differences Between the Orignal BCP and Kailh BCP
1. Kailh BCP sounds a bit louder than the original ones
2. Kailh BCP is smoother while noticeable scratch is maintained
3. Kailh BCP has a thickened bottom housing
4. Kailh BCP has a longer travel distance
5. Not original Cherry top and H1 bottom
Form of Sales
Time of Sales
They are instock and available now
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