These vintage Cherry MX Black switches are from 1987.

A quick look at some switches from a time before ours. I'm not a huge fan of these but if heavy linear switches are something that you're into, this is probably what you'd want to buy.
my twitter: / kendingro
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davey's music: spoti.fi/3lMdCPA
davey's channel: / daveyperron
===MUSIC===
That Second Kiss - Nocturnal Spirits

[@erichong3430]

Good video. I just have a few (very personal and biased) gripes. 1. The main reason people seek out West German vints is its reputation for being the smoothest Cherry switch. More recent renditions of blacks are known for their 'scratchiness' that a lot of people find too harsh, while other custom brands have arguably succeeded in making smoother switches but have failed in replicating cherry's lack of leaf spring(i.e. contact) noises. 2. Stock cherry springs fucking suck ass. Apart from just being heavy in case of blacks, they squeak even when lubed and are uneven. Most just swap them out to better and lighter springs. 3. Socketing 3-pin switches into a hotswap board is probably a bad idea, esp if it has been de-soldered and has some residue. Its gonna fuck up your pcb as you've shown, and is probably going to rattle like hell since all thats holding onto that pcb are those two flimsy pins by friction alone. 4. If one is deep into the rabbit hole that is custom keyboard in the first place to be looking for vintage switches that are just as if not older than you are, then I think its safe to assume one is probably willing to lube, spring-swap, and film them one way or the other. I personally think vint switches are too fucking expensive and too much of a hassle to obtain these days not to warrant at least some tinkering around to make the best of them before making any kind of judgement. I personally had some bad experience with WYSE vintage blacks purchased from a questionable source. But I still want to be able to get my hands on good quality West German vints :(

[@ghosty8482]

I like this video, the bgm was really chill. Keep it up mate.

[@Kendingro]

thanks! I get my bgm from epidemic sound, $15 a month gets you a ridiculous amount of songs you can put in your stuff

[@samsheehan7914]

Keep it up! This is the first video I’ve watched, I thought the video was funny and although I don’t know shit about mechanical keyboards it was rather informative

[@Kendingro]

that’s exactly what i’m aiming for. if you don’t know anything about what i’m talking about, at least you had a good time. thank you for the kind words ❤️

[@AbsurdCuriosity]

I was just watching KZbin and got autoplayed your video. Your content is great man!

[@Kendingro]

i genuinely appreciate that, thank you ❤️ it means a lot to me

[@twofu967]

immaculate vibes, really chill

[@zrrion6the6insect6]

yeah, spring swap on these would be in order, as they are they're a bit too heavy IMO.

[@Kendingro]

yeah, i’ll say. any recommendations?

[@beckettday6281]

@@Kendingro Use tx xl springs. They are great

[@Kendingro]

so i’ve heard, i’ll have to check those out.

[@beckettday6281]

@@Kendingro The reason people like vints is because they are just smooth cherry blacks. Cherry stock springs are always shit so just get some after market springs and they will be great.

[@Kendingro]

i appreciate the advice, thank you

[@agentvx8320]

Two words, Ken. Solder wick. ;)

[@Kendingro]

i tried lmao, it didn’t work. i thought i got all of the solder off of the switches but then i was wondering why the hotswap sockets were making crunch noises

[@tailehuynhphat9570]

I just use a component lead cutter and cut away the solder lol. The solder is softer than the copper lead so it kinda works.

[@alexandrecosta2567]

Vintage cherry blacks are wanted for 3 reasons: - They are broken up from years of use, making them smoother - They are full POM, which is a seemingly self lubricating plastic. Modern blacks are Nylon case + POM stem, plus its a revised mold - Blind hype They are overrated imo, but they're still a great hobby project to harvest and restore. The boards i found had hard steel plates which are also restorable!

[@Kendingro]

gotta say they are overrated. I’m not too big into heavy switches for anything beyond typing and even then, i just prefer inks or something. I’ve written a couple scripts with the blacks and after about 10 minutes, my fingers felt like they had biceps

[@thuanphatchau1269]

Vint cherry are full POM!?

[@Bubblykvasir]

Great video! 🎉

[@rockets4kids]

You're not wrong on any of this. But what you're missing is the fact that these were the best Cherry switches to be had for the next 30 years. It's easy to swap in a lighter spring, there isn't much you can do about a scratchy switch. Most people seem unaware of just how much better MX switches have gotten in the past seven-odd years.

[@Kendingro]

i’ve heard the same things as of late. since then, i swapped trash panda springs into some of these blacks and the difference is night and day. it’s amazing what a spring swap does if you have the patience lol

[@rockets4kids]

@@Kendingro Yup. That's why people sought these out, or paid big bucks to someone with the patience to re-build a set of these with a new spring and a lube job. That's what you had to do for a good Cherry switch for a very long time. These days, you can get the same thing as a budget switch straight from the factory.

[@techalex1992]

i destroyed sockets on my tester68 keyboard becaose of these CRAPS. I DID NOT CLEAN THE SOLDER REMAINS

[@Kendingro]

yeeeeep lmao. i fucked up a few sockets in a test68 with those too. i don’t use them anyway, they just sit in that very same jar.

[@japplefilms3514]

Well if the imposter syndrome is still getting at ya, this video is top quality. Your writing is excellent and omg was every moment of this video hilarious. +1

[@Kendingro]

I really appreciate that. that video was almost entirely unscripted, so that means a lot to me

[@NukeZoned]

my man put one of the most sought after switches in a tofu with a brass plate 🤦‍♂

[@Kendingro]

¯\_( ツ )_/¯

[@Cringe_Anarchy]

I just put these in my keychron v1. They sound good in my GMMK compact too.

[@danialhxn3573]

Burn the spring to orange. The will get their starting springs back

[@JustSomeGuy009]

I have a massive board with really old cherry mx blacks on it. Been juat sitting in my basement from an ancient computer (orange and black screen running DOS). Maybe ill sell it for a profit 😂

[@Kendingro]

with the way the market for vintage keyboards can be, you could make some money. someone like me would be more than happy to shell for it if it’s in good condition

[@LittleMew133]

Did you punch someone, because your hands look beaten up... like they beat up someone XD

[@Kendingro]

….maybe ;)

[@justanotherpxrson]

I find it interesting that you think these are too heavy but you love halo trues

[@Kendingro]

I honestly don’t think that halo trues are that heavy compared to these blacks, considering the blacks could be anywhere between 60-80gf

[@justanotherpxrson]

@@Kendingro halo trues bottom out at ~100g though. and I bottom out all my switches. But people who don't bottom out seem to love them so idk

[@capboard9331]

How would you remove the solder on switches? I got some XD

[@Kendingro]

from what I was told, you would use solder wick and try to remove as much of the solder as possible. you can buy desoldering kits on amazon for less than 20 dollars or just get the soldering wick by itself. i hope that helps. what year are your switches?

[@ako4693]

spring swap...?

[@GenericFiredemon]

Hey happy 285

[@Kendingro]

i appreciate it ❤️

[@mehtabrai4304]

Solid jokes.

[@Gray2436-b7j]

good for ceramic keycap

[@therefinedodyssey2844]

Damn I'm so early I'm watching ken in 360p

[@nixalin5525]

You should try SKCM Alps.

[@Kendingro]

i’d like to do an alps build to be honest. there’s a company that sells alps PCBs but they ain’t cheap.

[@nixalin5525]

Bit of 87'.

[@workingeric2615]

Give me these then lol