Mx Blue with clear spring

[margo baggins]

Hello,

Is this switch heavier than a green switch or lighter?

thanks

[noisyturtle]

Greens are fairly heavy at 80cN. A blue with a clear spring would be a slightly heavier blue, but quite a bit lighter than a green.

[margo baggins]

Thanks for your response

Is a black spring heavier than a clear spring?

Sorry for my ignorance - I tried googling these things but sometimes get contradicting info!

[thefunkyprimer]

Here's a list of switches and their corresponding spring rates:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_MX

[Larken]

clear springs are made notably different from the other heavier springs. Its shorter in height and there are fewer active coils.

you'd get a lighter than green actuation force, and after the 2mm actuation point, there would be a very sharp increase in resistance nearing bottom out.

no experience with green or black springs to compare against, but from what I've seen, they're more consistent throughout.

[kmiller8]

Here's a list of switches and their corresponding spring rates:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_MX

no.

those are activation forces, not spring.

http://imgur.com/a/RJqM4 <- DA SPRINGS!!!!

[thefunkyprimer]

Here's a list of switches and their corresponding spring rates:

http://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_MX

no.

those are activation forces, not spring.

http://imgur.com/a/RJqM4 <- DA SPRINGS!!!!

Ah, thanks for the info! So does the activation force take into consideration both the metal contact switch and the spring, or a specific one on it's own?

[margo baggins]

I see, thanks for the info guys.

i am yet to actually type on the blue's with clear springs, i changed all the springs and soldered up an ergo clears board and put caps on it, waiting for some new caps to put on the board with blue's and clear springs I have only done aqua key test to check all the switches work still.

I think they will arrive tomorrow so will take it for a typing spin then.

[IvanIvanovich]

Lightest to heaviest in actuation force: red/brown/blue, black, clear, white/green, lgrey/tgrey
Lightest to heaviest in bottom out force: red/brown/blue, black, white/green, clear, lgrey/tgrey

[phoenix1234]

Lightest to heaviest in actuation force: red/brown/blue, black, clear, white/green, lgrey/tgrey
Lightest to heaviest in bottom out force: red/brown/blue, black, white/green, clear, lgrey/tgrey

Thank you for your interesting figure, it can explain why my regular bottom-out habit on the default Cherry MX Clear leads to the fact that my fingers get tired quickly, even quicker than MX Black obviously. 

[IvanIvanovich]

Sure clear have 20g more force for bottoming than black. Definitely quite fatiguing if you are bottoming them.

[DrinkTea]

I'd like to see that as a way to teach me to have better typing habits. I think I'm actually bottoming out less now that I'm using clears. It feels nice.

[funkymeeba]

This thread makes me happy. I'm glad I'm not the only one interested in this swap. Guess I'll find out how it feels when my GH60s roll around.

[VesperSAINT]

From my experience, having a Clear spring in a Blue is definitely a lot more stiffer than a stock Green (I've owned the Ducky Limited Edition Greens and just random green switches). If anything, a blue switch with clear switches is definitely one of the stiffest switches I've ever felt.

[DrinkTea]

But what is the variance in the springs? I believe cherry publishes numbers on this. Also, I would imagine that inter-batch variability could be more than intra-batch. So any given keyboard will be relatively consistent, but two keyboards with the same springs and switches might feel different since the parts aren't an SRS from all available. Am I correct in assuming this?

Also, how much of the resistance comes from the switch as opposed to the spring. The spring's force should be linear in compression, so is there also a lot of variability in the resistance provided by the sliders?

[grips]

But what is the variance in the springs? I believe cherry publishes numbers on this. Also, I would imagine that inter-batch variability could be more than intra-batch. So any given keyboard will be relatively consistent, but two keyboards with the same springs and switches might feel different since the parts aren't an SRS from all available. Am I correct in assuming this?

Also, how much of the resistance comes from the switch as opposed to the spring. The spring's force should be linear in compression, so is there also a lot of variability in the resistance provided by the sliders?

There's probably something to what you say about the variance. I have a Ducky and Das with blue switches and they feel different. I believe they are both plate-mounted, so that shouldn't be the difference. The click even sounds slightly different.

[VesperSAINT]

I think that the different feel is very subtle but rather than the switch and spring that giving off the different feels, it's more so the different brands and the difference in the construction of the keyboard, the keycaps play a huge part (abs/pbt/oem profile/cherry profile), full size or tkl (plate), case and how firmly/tightly the plate and parts are built into the case. Construction of the case can give off different feels and sounds because of resonance and so on, I think.

[DrinkTea]

I've noticed that the click actually sounds different on different switches on the same board with MX whites that I have.

I guess understanding switch and spring variability would require more knowledge of the manufacturing process than I have. Anyone here want to pitch in some knowledge?

[davkol]

I guess we need (or at least I do) light clear-like springs (in terms of length or number of coils). That should prevent bottoming out on light switches.

[IvanIvanovich]

Oh that would be a nice custom spring, say 50g actuation, then ramps to like 80g to bottom.

According to the MX datasheets I have they allow ±20cN tolerance on springs so if you think something is lighter or heavier on same switch type is is quite possible it is not your imagination. But also as mentioned there are plenty of other factors related to assembly and materials, etc. that will effect the perceived feeling.

[davkol]

Group Buy! Group Buy!

[margo baggins]

I love blue switches and clear springs.

I have been typing on them for the last 30 minutes or so. I like them alot.

[Grimey]

Have been using blue stems with black springs for a last couple of months at work.  I was worried I would find the combination overly fatiguing, but I have come to enjoy it quite a bit.

In the future it might be interesting to try a clicky stem variant with a stiffer spring than the cherry black sprint.