geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Error213 on Sat, 17 October 2020, 21:25:57
-
What’s the difference? Is one better than the other?
-
Vintage blacks are smoother but it also depends on the batch. With retooled only the first batches of retooled blacks are smooth while the later ones are scratchy.
But for a short answer good vintage blacks are smoother then retooled blacks.
-
Yeah good vintage black > good retooled black
But everyone knows vintage brown and retool brown > cherry black :blank:
-
my opinion is that, for the average switch, retooled blacks are probably a better idea than vintage blacks. there's just too much variance in vintage blacks...
however, if you're happy putting in the effort getting good vintage blacks, i strongly believe that they are the best switches you can get. i have a 1988 g80-1000 and the switches, completely unlubed, have practically 0 scratch. but this isnt the norm in my experience - i've had 3 other boards of vintage blacks (2 wyse, 1 cherry) and none have come close.
-
my opinion is that, for the average switch, retooled blacks are probably a better idea than vintage blacks. there's just too much variance in vintage blacks...
however, if you're happy putting in the effort getting good vintage blacks, i strongly believe that they are the best switches you can get. i have a 1988 g80-1000 and the switches, completely unlubed, have practically 0 scratch. but this isnt the norm in my experience - i've had 3 other boards of vintage blacks (2 wyse, 1 cherry) and none have come close.
Which Cherry board and from what year did you have poor feeling vint blacks from?
-
Vintage blacks are an expensive gamble, especially in this day and age. Unless you're buying from a reputable harvester, which requires some effort on your end finding people who know their stuff and not looking for a quick buck, they're almost never worth it. The name alone brings up the price a lot, and the pool of "good" switches is getting smaller as more people are buying these up to harvest them (or resell them). Like others have said, the batch is something to look out for if you're looking at NOS (new old stock) versions, and the used versions will all vary and likely require Cherry picking (lol) because they're likely not worn in evenly. Retools are a gamble as well, but at least they're $0.35ea (Novelkeys price) and you're getting 5 pin switches (vs most vints which are 3 pin) so you don't have to play with longer key alignment as much. The term "retools" refers to a specific time in which the tooling for MX Blacks was remade, and was fresh. So they were making really good switches for really cheap. Now retools just really refers to non-vintage mx blacks (which isn't necessarily a good thing imo). There is this new cherry switch as well, the Hyperglide, which is supposed to be very smooth Cherry MX Blacks (among other colors). They are also pretty expensive per switch.
There is something about that cherry sound and feel that is just too good, imo putting retools into a board for a month or so and then lubing, filming, and spring swapping is all you'll need to do to get some really nice feeling switches.
-
Yes Panduuh. It really helps if you get a good batch. I think the nice sound is from the Top housing.
-
Vintage blacks are an expensive gamble, especially in this day and age. Unless you're buying from a reputable harvester, which requires some effort on your end finding people who know their stuff and not looking for a quick buck, they're almost never worth it. The name alone brings up the price a lot, and the pool of "good" switches is getting smaller as more people are buying these up to harvest them (or resell them). Like others have said, the batch is something to look out for if you're looking at NOS (new old stock) versions, and the used versions will all vary and likely require Cherry picking (lol) because they're likely not worn in evenly. Retools are a gamble as well, but at least they're $0.35ea (Novelkeys price) and you're getting 5 pin switches (vs most vints which are 3 pin) so you don't have to play with longer key alignment as much. The term "retools" refers to a specific time in which the tooling for MX Blacks was remade, and was fresh. So they were making really good switches for really cheap. Now retools just really refers to non-vintage mx blacks (which isn't necessarily a good thing imo). There is this new cherry switch as well, the Hyperglide, which is supposed to be very smooth Cherry MX Blacks (among other colors). They are also pretty expensive per switch.
There is something about that cherry sound and feel that is just too good, imo putting retools into a board for a month or so and then lubing, filming, and spring swapping is all you'll need to do to get some really nice feeling switches.
can I get a link to a trusted person for these?
-
I've seen people recommend Vintkeys for vintage blacks, but you're honestly better off searching for 80s-90s boards on local listings. If you're gonna go that route, make sure to salvage them in a way that you separate the most used switches (home row, alphas etc.) from the others. If you otherwise want to find just one board and re-solder all the switches onto an existing one, I'd say don't bother and get yourself some retools and use them unlubed and rotate them in a hotswap board for like at least 3 months. Lubing them after that would result in a much more consistent board for a fraction of the effort and possibly the cost.