Kailh BOX Switches Crack and Stress Keycap Stems

[Shutter_Shock]

Is anyone else still having this problem? I just pulled my GMK Metropolis caps off of retooled BOX whites, and every keycap that was on the BOX whites is loose now on my non-BOX switches. There isn't any cracking that I can see, but they're all noticeably loose. One keycap came off when I accidentally rubbed it during the upstroke on a neighboring key. The BOX whites are from Novelkeys and were purchased after the announcement that all Novelkeys inventory had been changed to retooled BOX switches. The keycaps were on the switches for about 7 months. It's extra upsetting because I barely even used the board; it was mostly just on display in my collection.

Anyone else having problems with retooled BOX switches?

More importantly: does ABS have any elasticity that might help mild stretching spring back? Or do I just have to live with it? I know that I'm relatively lucky to only have mild stretching rather than the cracking that others experienced earlier.

[Starius]

Necro-post.

Has anyone else used the Cruciformer? I have some retooled BOX Yellows (1.30mm), and, after using the Cruciformer on them, keycaps are rather loose on them - so loose that a few of them wiggle, and also fall off if upside down. I've tried with GMK, ePBT, DSA, Maxkey SA, and Taihao; it varies by switch a bit, but the only one that seems really secure is the SA keycap. It may have been better to keep the stems stock. Does anyone else have a report on the Cruciformer?

I have a Cruciformer, but I’m embarrassed to admit that I still haven’t gotten around to shave my supply of box switches.  But in light of your experience, I think I will do some careful testing on these switches when I get around to it now.  Did you just do one “pass” per switch?

[Kavik]

Necro-post.

Has anyone else used the Cruciformer? I have some retooled BOX Yellows (1.30mm), and, after using the Cruciformer on them, keycaps are rather loose on them - so loose that a few of them wiggle, and also fall off if upside down. I've tried with GMK, ePBT, DSA, Maxkey SA, and Taihao; it varies by switch a bit, but the only one that seems really secure is the SA keycap. It may have been better to keep the stems stock. Does anyone else have a report on the Cruciformer?

I have a Cruciformer, but I’m embarrassed to admit that I still haven’t gotten around to shave my supply of box switches.  But in light of your experience, I think I will do some careful testing on these switches when I get around to it now.  Did you just do one “pass” per switch?

If I'm not mistaken, the cruciformer is narrower in X axis than it is in the Y axis. I did an initial cut to shave the stem (tight fit) and then I rotated the cruciformer 90 degrees and pressed it in again (loose fit) to remove the shavings left behind by the first pass.

I feel stupid for not test fitting a keycap on one or two before cutting the entire batch. I'm curious to know your results when you get around to it.

[shallot]

Is anyone else still having this problem? I just pulled my GMK Metropolis caps off of retooled BOX whites, and every keycap that was on the BOX whites is loose now on my non-BOX switches. There isn't any cracking that I can see, but they're all noticeably loose. One keycap came off when I accidentally rubbed it during the upstroke on a neighboring key. The BOX whites are from Novelkeys and were purchased after the announcement that all Novelkeys inventory had been changed to retooled BOX switches. The keycaps were on the switches for about 7 months. It's extra upsetting because I barely even used the board; it was mostly just on display in my collection.

Anyone else having problems with retooled BOX switches?

More importantly: does ABS have any elasticity that might help mild stretching spring back? Or do I just have to live with it? I know that I'm relatively lucky to only have mild stretching rather than the cracking that others experienced earlier.

I'm taking SA Yuri off my retooled BOX Jades today after about a week - remembered to compare them to fresh caps on actual MX switches and the (uneven) loosening is obvious already. I'm not sure if this is to be expected (I mostly have alps boards, so I'm not sure if they'd also loosen like this on an MX board), or whether it would get any worse over time, but I don't really want to take chances with expensive caps.

[Kavik]

Is anyone else still having this problem? I just pulled my GMK Metropolis caps off of retooled BOX whites, and every keycap that was on the BOX whites is loose now on my non-BOX switches. There isn't any cracking that I can see, but they're all noticeably loose. One keycap came off when I accidentally rubbed it during the upstroke on a neighboring key. The BOX whites are from Novelkeys and were purchased after the announcement that all Novelkeys inventory had been changed to retooled BOX switches. The keycaps were on the switches for about 7 months. It's extra upsetting because I barely even used the board; it was mostly just on display in my collection.

Anyone else having problems with retooled BOX switches?

More importantly: does ABS have any elasticity that might help mild stretching spring back? Or do I just have to live with it? I know that I'm relatively lucky to only have mild stretching rather than the cracking that others experienced earlier.

I'm taking SA Yuri off my retooled BOX Jades today after about a week - remembered to compare them to fresh caps on actual MX switches and the (uneven) loosening is obvious already. I'm not sure if this is to be expected (I mostly have alps boards, so I'm not sure if they'd also loosen like this on an MX board), or whether it would get any worse over time, but I don't really want to take chances with expensive caps.

I didn't even attempt putting keycaps on these BOX switches until I'd cut them with the cruciformer (hence my necro-post), but I did accidentally crack a GMK spacebar on a cut BOX stem of a loose switch when I accidentally pushed it on rotated 90 degrees from normal (so the x axis of the switch was in the y axis of the keycap). Oops.

I ended up putting ePBT Grayscale on my cut BOX switches, and they fit much better than GMK did.