futurebrian

Lube stations help me stay organized while I'm lubing switches. I recommend this for anyone who likes to open lots of switches at a time while lubing. I bought a small version of this station.

Likes

• switches can be seated with just enough force to let me brush the rails without the switches coming out
• brush holder is very underrated, saves a little bit more desk real estate by having that integrated with the station
• the integrated tray is helpful, this is where I put all my switch stems.

Other considerations

• I don't personally use the lube container that comes with this lube station but I can imagine it being useful if you buy lube from Kinetic Labs. Since they sell their lube in syringes, you can squeeze the lube into the container as needed. Personally, I haven't done this but I can see this being useful if you're already buying lube from them.
• For me, I noticed that I like to lube my switches in small batches, about 5 switches at a time. At the time of this writing, I'm considering changing over to using the Fat Cat Handheld Lube Station.

Using a switch opener is highly recommended when opening switches. It'll save you lots of time and effort when you're lubing switches. I bought mine from Amazon, however, I would recommend buying from a vendor directly. Mine works, but at the time of this writing, it's cheaper to buy from a vendor. You can buy the ai03 x KBDfans switch opener from pretty much any vendor that sells it. I would recommend buying it from one of the following places:

• Divinikey
• Mino Keys
• Kinetic Labs

I buy my lube from two places:

• Mino Keys
• Kinetic Labs.

The main reason I recommend these two places is because they pack their lube securely.

• Mino Keys uses child-proof containers
• Kinetic Labs ships you lube in syringes officially packaged from the supplier

I've purchased lube from a few other vendors and they've all leaked in transit resulting in a very slimy unboxing experience.

I use mostly linear switches and find that it's easiest to buy Krytox 205g0 for lubing switches and stabilizers.

• I'll brush lube all my switches and stabilizers with Krytox 205g0 from Mino Keys
• Then I'll use the "plug the butt" method for my stabilizers using Krytox 205g0 from Kinetic Labs. This is a method from Minterly but here's Alexotos demonstrating the method in this video.

For tactile switches, you may want to purchase Tribosys 3203 or 3204 depending on your preference. I'm still figuring out which one I like best.

You'll need a small brush for applying lube to your switches and stabilizers.

Although I bought my initial brushes from Amazon, most of the brushes I found came in bundles that included a lot of brushes that wouldn't be suitable for applying lube.

Most vendors sell the right kind of brushes you need so I would recommend buying from any one of them. Most of them sell the same kind of brush so pick a vendor with the best price and is local to you. Right now, I'm using 3 of the same brush, I use each brush for a different kind of lube so that I don't mix lubricants.

At the time of this writing, Mino Keys has the best prices on the brushes that I like to use.

When I decide to use films on a switch, I only want to use Deskey switch films and I normally find them in-stock at Divinikey.

Likes

• easy to apply
• easier to find if you drop it compared to clear plastic films

Switches I film

• Gateron Black Inks
• Gateron Milky Yellows
• Durock JWK Linears
  • Banana Splits
  • Mauves
  • Lavenders

The keycap puller I'm using came from a Drop Ctrl Keyboard I bought a long time ago but the same one is sold at many vendors.

Basically, you should get one that uses wires. I haven't tried a lot but they look the same, and I'm told they all work the same. Of the vendors I like to shop at, Kinetic Labs seems to have the best price in the US.

If you're buying in Canada, you can get the same one from Mino Keys too.

Right now, these keycap containers from Kinetic Labs are my favorite.

I can technically store two sets of keycaps in one container but now I like to use one keycap container per GMK set or any other set I buy from a group buy.

There are 10 compartments: 8 small, 2 large.

The large 2 compartments I use for:

• Spacebars
• Numpad

I use the small compartments for:

• Row 1
• Row 2
• Row 3
• Row 4
• Novelties
• Arrows

And 2 remaining compartments are used or unused depending on whichever keycap category needs extra space.

Later on, I do plan on trying out some JTK trays but for now, the keycap containers are the kind of storage that works best for me.

Right now I change between two kinds of switch pullers:

• Rama Switchpuller XO for pulling switches close to keyboard bezels
• Green Switchpuller from Amazon

The Green Switchpuller is easier to use when pulling switches but it can't fit between switch edges and keyboard bezels, so that's why I've been using the Rama Switchpuller as well.

However, I just bought a Stainless Steel Switchpuller from Amazon that might be able to replace both of my current switch pullers so I'll update this later if it ends up working out okay.

I'm personally using a generic stem holder that I found on Amazon - but most vendors sell a similar one too. Although I haven't tried a bunch of different stem holders, I imagine they all work the same and I've been happy with mine so far.

All of my builds use PCB-mount screw-in stabilizers and I've had really great results with Durock V2 Stabilizers. These are readily available on Amazon and almost all keyboard vendors I like to shop at. I normally just buy them as I need them and buy from whoever has them in-stock with the cheapest price.

• Kinetic Labs
• Mino Keys
• Divinikey
• Amazon

Strongly recommend getting a screwdriver set with long bits.

I previously used this Wiha / Xiaomi set until I tried to build my Savage65 and that thing needed longer bits to reach those screws.