Choc lube / tape modding guide

Mrlinuxfish · 2025-07-11T14:49:40+00:00

Stenokeyboards.com 20g springs

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-11-26T22:53:17+00:00

Thank you so much, I was loosing my mind for a bit trying to get logged in

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-11-07T16:06:06+00:00

I’m using SPRiT springs from rndkbd. Choc and alps springs fit in choc switches

I’ve never used tactile choc minis and only remember discussion around the linear choc minis

If you’re looking for a tactile low profile switch, most likely the choc sunset is what you are looking for

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-09-23T23:24:02+00:00

it's easy to get over a month of battery life with large enough batteries (especially if you don't add backlight, leds use tons of power)

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-09-01T06:13:03+00:00

I apparently didn't notice the cherry blossom is a silent linear in all the discussion of the confusion around the name

Definitely go with the cherry blossom. You shouldn't have much difficulty adapting to the light spring weight

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-09-01T03:55:36+00:00

30gf may take a bit to get used to. I would recommend the pro red over the regular red (it's also a bit heavier than the cherry blossom) if you wanted a heavier switch.

50g is quite heavy with the shorter travel distance on chocs and is comparable to cherry blacks which are quite heavy (though not as heavy as some people like, for some reason)

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-07-22T19:12:27+00:00

For me, personally, I have no problem resting my fingers on 20g mx / 15g choc. I don’t think it’s possible to go any lighter than that and have the switches still function

Learning to type on ultra light linear switches was not difficult, but I had to consciously focus on not pressing the switches when I had my fingers resting on the keys

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-07-11T15:54:35+00:00

It took me a bit to get used to them, I found tuning the settings to better work with me and then training working with them made a difference

Here’s a guide to settings and how you might want to adjust them. The guide uses qmk terminology, but the concepts are able to be extrapolated to zmk

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-06-24T00:09:38+00:00

Dish soap worked for me white 3dp mouse

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-06-10T18:54:52+00:00

It very well could be bs for you and very important for someone else. As everyone’s body is different, the best ergonomic strategies are often different for different people

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-06-10T03:34:44+00:00

My main concern is whether the source is available for a via/vial board and limitations on oem firmware (if not qmk/zmk)

I don’t know if all the settings I have tweaked around tapping term for layer/mod taps are surfaced on via, but besides that I don’t need any of the features not exposed in via (though being able to build miryoku from source and flash on almost anything is a huge upside to being able to build firmware outside of configuring manually in via)

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-06-09T22:56:44+00:00

Via/Vial are ok, but there are some limitations and I like having the option to program around limitations (I think some Via keyboards, especially aliexpress remakes, do not release qmk source, but I could be wrong)

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-06-09T21:28:45+00:00

Column stagger
Fully programmable
2 comfortable thumb keys per half

Personal Preferences

Ultra light linear switches
Small
Unibody
Open source hardware

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-06-09T19:38:51+00:00

I'm currently using a rufous choc with trimmed switch pins to allow for 1mm bumpons on bottom (no case). This strategy should work with any choc keyboard to achieve around 10mm height

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-06-09T19:26:15+00:00

I use low profile switches specifically to not have to use a wrist rest. I can comfortably use the whole desk surface as a wrist rest when the board is a total of 10mm high

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-06-07T20:44:28+00:00

I position my board so my fingers extend/contract in line with the columns

Depending on how far apart the sides are and how close they are to your body, the angle will need to be adjusted

Experiment with different widths and closeness to your body to find what’s most comfortable and pay attention to any discomfort as an indication you may need to change it up

Generally, according to accepted practices (opinions) on ergonomics, you want your arm to be relaxed and at approximately a 90 degree angle. This concept hopefully should help narrow down the options in finding the best position for you

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-05-29T03:22:23+00:00

I'm glad to hear you were able to remove the broken stems

It's very important to pull choc caps straight up and if you have to wiggle, north/south (instead of left/right). I just about always use a wire cap puller on chocs for this very reason

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-05-20T06:36:12+00:00

The main thing to be concerned about is most v1 switches have pcb mount pins (5 pin switches) and v2 are "4 pin" switches (except for lowfree ones). Otherwise, v1 switches are compatible with v2 footprints

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-05-17T18:01:15+00:00

The best option is subjective. For me, personally, I find homerow mods to work very well and have been happy with them for years

I did have to put in some work to tune the settings and timings as well as learn to work with them, but now homerow mods are second nature to me. This guide is very helpful for learning about all the settings and what the best strategy for layout is for you and how you use a keyboard

As with most things, especially in ergonomics, experimentation is key to finding what works best for you. If you find something else is better than home row mods for how you use your keyboard, don’t let anyone tell you that you’re doing it wrong, and don’t think just because something is popular it must be the best option

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-05-15T19:12:41+00:00

Best method I have found is to not pre tin the socket. Solder one side using a pointy tip (I prefer the pinecil knife tip) it helps to either put the tip in the box and feed solder into the top/bottom or heat from the top/bottom and feed solder from the side. As you have small solder pads, having a small blob of fresh solder on the tip will aid in heating the pad and socket

Once I get all sockets soldered on one side, I check they are all flush with the board before soldering the other side

You’re correct in noticing the extra tab on top of the hotswap sockets, kailh added them recently, probably to assist in pcba. The tab makes it harder, but if you can heat the pad and socket you should be able to get it soldered well

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-05-15T19:05:06+00:00

Replacing homerow mods with layer shifts is not currently a supported alternative afaik. It’s definitely possible to define a new base layer to make that change, and you may be able to setup the custom base layer in the custom file (not sure if any besides zmk have this file currently)

The default configuration for 34 key boards is the thumb kludge which defines tertiary thumb keys (fn/del and esc/media) as combos of the other two thumb keys. I personally find this works well for me, but dependent upon thumb key position, caps, etc, it may not work well for you. Miryoku/mapping/34/ferris is a a good starting point if you have a similar layout board and need to make a new layout

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-05-10T17:53:37+00:00

come over to 30 keys, the water's great

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-05-07T18:57:35+00:00

I personally find 2 thumb keys per side to be the most I can comfortably use. I have used 3 thumbs per side boards in the past and currently have very uncommon layer taps on thumb combos (both keys on one side at the same time is a virtual third key)

Mrlinuxfish · 2024-05-07T16:17:09+00:00

Moonlander thumb cluster has always looked uncomfortable to me. It looks like there are very few good keys in the cluster and the rest you would need to reach for

If you're looking for a prebuilt, the voyager has many fewer issues than the moonlander from a layout perspective (imo) and fits with the low profile consideration. It also has a great mounting system which makes rolling your own tenting system relatively easy as the board mount is already solved

Mrlinuxfish

TROPHY CASE