deskthority

So I've been experimenting with a new technique to restore Alps switches, and I believe I have something that will work well in tandem with the wax mod or even by itself.

I am aware that this is pretty rough and I don't have rock solid evidence that it's superior to other methods, but I'm in the process of collecting evidence and comparisons under a microscope.

I originally got the idea from diamond polishing mx blacks, so I decided to apply that concept to Alps switches. Dust and other debris can get in the switch over time which creates scratches and damages the slider and housing. Polishing paste such as diamond polishing paste is used to buff out scratches in acrylic or other materials, so it should work for Alps as well. Another benefit of using polishing paste would be that the click/tactile leaf surface gets smoothed out, along with the switchplate leaf (although I only recommend putting the leaf on a dummy switchplate, then using that while polishing, as polishing paste may ruin the switchplate contacts).

I used 0.1 micron or 200,000 grit diamond polishing paste I got off of amazon, and hand actuated the switch (more like furiously spamming it) for about 30 minutes on a good condition, but not perfect SKCM Orange. Cleaning the paste off was painful but I managed to get it off with a waterpik and lots of rinsing. In the future I will use a proper ultrasonic cleaner to remove the paste.

Some of the differences I noted were:

• Tactile bump was much smoother
• Overall switch action felt a little smoother

After waxboiling and lubing it with a light coat of Tribosys 3203, the switch was the best condition orange that I've ever tried. I tried the same polishing method on a very scratchy SKCL Green, and it became a lot smoother but not perfect. Waxboiling with lube was able to get it the rest of the way to a very good feeling switch.

Some things that should improve results:

• Using a break in machine for consistent key presses
• More powerful cleaning to better remove paste residue from the switch

There will no doubt be doubts about this method, so feel free to ask questions and I'll answer to the best of my ability.

I’ve not tried this method, but I’ve done my fair share of sanding stuff - wood, metal, plastic, leather, denim (don’t ask), stone, even the odd bit of ceramic.

And if this were any other sanding job, and someone told me to just keep vigorously sanding for thirty solid minutes rather than go grab a coarser grit, I’d question their sanity.

Is there no coarser polishing compound that you could use for the first passes?

Fancy seeing you here.

Scarpia wrote: ↑

19 Feb 2023, 21:56

I’ve not tried this method, but I’ve done my fair share of sanding stuff - wood, metal, plastic, leather, denim (don’t ask), stone, even the odd bit of ceramic.

And if this were any other sanding job, and someone told me to just keep vigorously sanding for thirty solid minutes rather than go grab a coarser grit, I’d question their sanity.

Is there no coarser polishing compound that you could use for the first passes?

I didn't really think of using a coarser grit and working my way up, as that's a lot of effort and much more cleaning in between. However, I think that 0.25-0.5 micron polishing paste will work better. I think the time saved by working up from coarser to finer will be offset by the time it takes to clean off all the polishing paste.

Something that could be possible would be to polish with no paste, with a dremel cotton buffing wheel thingy. I've seen someone on here do it and it could buff out some of the larger scratches much faster without any extra mess.