Do I Need to Lube My Keyboard Switches?
Figure 1: Sometime around here is a good time to ask that question... If you’re new to the mechanical keyboard hobby, I have no doubt that planning your first keyboard build is a bit of a daunting task. To be entirely honest with you, it’s only a tiny bit less daunting for your second or even third keyboard builds should you stay around a little while longer. You’ve got the keyboard itself to worry about, stabilizers, keycaps, and even switches on top of all of the intangible marks you want your dream keyboard to hit. Switches are especially daunting right out of the gate as there’s just so many options out there to pick from – each with their own unique specifications, manufacturers, and more. Yet, in spite of all of these differences between switches, time and time again I find people always asking about lubing switches as one of their chief concerns when it comes to picking some up. With countless numbers of content creators talking about lubing switches, its no...
Apr 17, 2024
Check their FAQ:
19. Why are Signature Plastics’ DCS and DSA style keycaps so thin? As offshore competition for keycaps began to grow in the 1980’s, it became necessary to reduce costs as much as possible to remain competitive. As a result, subsequent families of keycaps, like the DCS and DSA families, were designed to use less material.
Is it still nessesary to reduce cost of raw materials, if we pay premium prices like those of this drop?
I do not think so.
Me neither.
The thing is that their business is meant to attend large companies. Companies that use terminals and machines of this kind. Let's say that you are the executive manager of Wal-Mart, your job is to open new stores on every city. Would you care about the thickness of the keycaps to be used on checkout terminals? Of course not, you just want them as cheap as possible. You will want them even cheaper since you're buying literally hundreds of thousands of keycaps. That's just a crappy example for you to understand that their business depends on volume to exist.
However, Signature Plastics happen to have machines to make custom keycaps and that's why they accept our orders. Group buys for colorfull and cute keys weren't a thing for them until recently. And because these group buys are getting larger and larger, they are trying to improve! An example of that is their website reboot.
They are trying to get better but they are clearly not ready for such a high demand. The latest SA keysets made are scheduled to be delivered on February, that's a really long wait. Will they hire more people to work and improve their facilities? I don't know.
Melissa basically works alone taking huge orders and giving quotes to every single e-mail she receives. She tries her best and it's a wonderful person to work with. Bob, the owner, takes her job when she's away. Also an incredible guy.
Will we have better prices, conditions and options in the future?
Well I hope so.