I was lubing my switches wrong for a whole year and only just noticed

I built my first board last spring and thought I was doing a good job, just brushing lube on the sides of the stems. Then I watched a build stream last week where the person opened up a switch and put a tiny bit of lube on the bottom of the stem and the spring ends. I tried it on my test switch and the sound was way smoother and deeper. I redid all 70 switches on my daily driver over the weekend and it's like a whole new board. Has anyone else missed a small step that made a big difference in sound or feel?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_val16d ago

That spring ping is a dead giveaway you missed a spot.

elizabeth_gonzalez18d ago

Classic keyboard builder moment right there. A whole year with half-lubed switches is brutal. At least you figured it out before building another board. That sound difference is no joke though. Makes you want to redo every switch you've ever touched.

sage5218d ago

Honestly used to think lubing was just for the super picky crowd. After hearing the scratchy mess on my first build compared to the smooth ones I just did, that mindset is gone for good. The difference isn't subtle, it's like going from a rusty hinge to a quiet click. Makes that tedious work feel totally worth it.