Some of you may have seen our Ashkeebs-branded switch bags included with your switch orders, and now they’re available for order en-masse! Designed by EURApsd, the Ashkeebs Switch Bags feature a 3.5mm plastic thickness for durability, as well as a gusseted bottom to allow the bags to stand by themselves easily. Both sides of the bags are carefully designed, with the front sporting our brand colours with frosted slivers to allow switches to peek through and a cute little switch in the corner, and the back with frosted plastic and our logo over top to clearly see everything stored inside!
There are two bundles available: 10 bags for $3 USD | $3.75 CAD, and 20 bags for $5 USD | $6.50 CAD!
Durock stabilizers are a screw-in, Cherry-style PCB mount stabilizer. Unlike GMK and Cherry stabilizers, these come pre-clipped and will sit flush to the PCB making the keyboard building process just a bit easier! The V2 stabilizers show an improvement over the previous version by adding a hook at the front of the stabilizer housing where the wire presses into; this helps to prevent wire popping.
While the stock stabilizers are quite smooth, it is always recommended to lube your stabilizers in order to reduce potential rattle. Recommended lubricants are Krytox 205g0 for the housing and SuperLube dielectric grease, or our own Krytox XHT-BDZ grease!
Available in two variants: smoky and clear housing.
GEON Force Break Pads have been designed specifically for the keyboard case modification process of the same name, wherein the pads break the force between the contact point of the top and bottom case. These can be placed over the case screw holes between the top and bottom case. This process helps reduce reverb carrying through the case, improving overall sound significantly in boards experiencing pinging/reverb.
Have you ever had difficulties mounting switches to a plate made of a soft material like polycarb? Keeping a plate from flexing under pressure manually can be awkward, but is easily alleviated with a GEON plate support fork!
The fork is made of injection-moulded POM, 3.4mm thick and plenty sturdy – simply line up the mounting holes, slide the fork between your plate and PCB and clip your switches in hassle-free!
The Bongo Box is an acrylic artisan box, inspired by the original meme of the Bongo Cat, available in frosted acrylic and five other colours! There are also two variations available: one in a five-by-five grid for a total of 25 1u artisan keycaps, or one with 21 1u artisan keycap slots, and 2 2.25u artisan keycap slots for Rama Enter keys. All cases will fit SA caps, and the project has been approved by Bongo Cat’s original creator and the creator of the Bongo Box keyboard case!
Available to purchase alongside the Bongo Box artisan case is a clear acrylic stand to proudly display your artisan collection!
From your favourite anime about emotionally troubled teens and bunny girls, comes a set that brings a classy and polished feel. JTK Dreaming Girl provides a whimsical set inspired by the deep night sky and an enchanting pink intensity that even Mai would love. With this set you will simply never want to wake up. Just for you: a set made by weebs, for weebs.
Otakeebs has partnered up with Gateron to provide the Usagi switch and stabilizer sets! The switches feature an UHMWPE stem, Gateron’s proprietary KS8 housing mould, and a PC top, and the stabilizers have Nylon housing and a POM stem. Both have been designed with acoustics and keypress smoothness in mind!
TX switch films have been kindly supplied by TX Keyboards, a Korean-based company that provides high-quality polycarbonate films to improve the overall feeling of the switch. As the community continues to expand and switches continue to be developed, these films stay at the forefront of achieving the elusive endgame, wherever that may be.
These extremely thin polycarbonate films rest on the bottom housing of the switch during application.. When closed, they reduce the stem’s directional wobble and increase the tolerance of the two in combination while not increasing friction.
TX has slightly reworked their design by removing the bar that is towards the bottom of the film and instead has two short nubs. This simply makes it easier for the film to sit in the switch during application.
A thin variant has also been designed to fit Kailh switches, and is perfect for NovelKeys’ branded switches: Creams, Nolives, and the Dry/Silk series!
Deskeys Gasket Switch Films are here! From the engineer that brought forth the wonderful topre silencing rings comes their foray into the MX switch accessory market, and they have truly hit a home run with these! At a thickness of 0.3mm, the natural compressive nature of the films allows for it to work with a wide variety of switches and creates a deep, thocky sound that many chase after. Just as other switch films, they help to reduce stem and housing wobble by creating a tight seal once the switch has been enclosed with the films applied to the bottom housing.
These are twice the thickness of the standard TX films we carry, but carry the same level of effectiveness with a bass-ier acoustic effect. Below is a comprehensive list of switches we’ve used these films with and have found success:
- Gateron Milky Blacks
- Gateron Milky Yellows
- Cherry Retooled & Vintage Blacks
- FEI Matchas
- NovelKeys Creams
- All ZealPC switches
- TKC x C3 switches (V2 Tangerines, Kiwis, and Banana Splits)
- Holy Pandas (BSUN and first Drop version)
- U4 Bobas
- Keebwerk. Tacits
The only switch that we’ve tried it with that didn’t work very well were Gateron V2 Inks, as it was just too tight. This could be due to the plate having a tight tolerance already, so your mileage may vary.
GEON Switch Openers are of a small, simple design able to open MX or Kailh style switches using magnetic attachments to keep the two pieces together. A nicely-designed lip on the front of the switch opener makes separating the pieces a breeze.
Designed by VLKBD, Switch Tripods are a small rubber tripod installed on the bottom of the switch to help deepen the sound of the switch without eliminating the unique acoustic each switch brings. These are a fast, easy solution compared to foam sheets or other alternatives and don’t make the switch feel mushy to type on!
They are super easy to install: peel the tripod from the blue backing, remove the centerpiece, and place on the bottom of the switch around the center stem. It’s recommended to use fine-point tweezers for ease of application, but can be done by hand.
(more…)Installation Guide & Comparison
Many people like to have as much of their build prepared in advance so that when their keyboard arrives all they have to do is tune their stabilisers, solder in their switches and assemble.
The Stabiliser Testing Station was designed so that you can lube and tune your stabilisers in preparation when your keyboard arrives. This is achieved by mimicking as close to the properties of an actual PCB as possible.
We have also included a handy unit sizing guide for quick verification of keycap sizes. This legend was scaled for standard Cherry keycaps, other profiles may vary slightly.
Designed in collaboration with Jels__
Specifications
– 170mm x 80mm
– Standard 1.6mm thickness black core FR4 substrate
– Supports 6x 2u stabilizer and 1x 6.25u or 1x 7u stabilizer
– Standard Cherry keycap sizing guide (1u-2.75u)
– 4x BumponsTX springs have been kindly supplied by TX Keyboards, a Korean-based company that provides high-quality springs at an affordable price. Due to the quality control extent that TX Keyboards has gone through, these springs will not have a deviation outside of -1/+1 for spring weight.
They have provided a wide variety of spring weights; the force of these spring weights is measured at bottom-out. Differently-weighted springs will feel different depending on what type of switch they are put into, and it is important to understand that it can drastically change how the switch performs.
The difference in the spring length will affect the initial force for the keypress, but does not affect the bottom-out weight. So, the 16mm springs will have a higher initial weight than the 14mm springs, but the bottom-out weight will be the same on both.
