Hua-Jie AKF Cherry MX mount

Hua-Jie AKF Cherry MX mount
Manufacturer	Hua-Jie?
Switch type	Linear
Sense method	Metal leaf
Keycap mount	Cherry MX mount
Switch mount	PCB mount

Hua-Jie AKF Cherry MX mount is a derivative of the Hua-Jie AKF series PCB-mount Alps clone switch, retooled with a Cherry MX mount slider. The slider colour is a similar shade of blue to a Cherry MX Blue switch, although the only known specimen to date is a linear switch. The upper shell is designed to accept a narrow click leaf. The switch is the opposite to the Cherry MX Alps Linear.

Details

The switch closely resembles a Hua-Jie AKF series switch. The base of the slider is the expected shape, but the top has been replaced with a Cherry MX mount shaft. The upper shell features a corresponding circular hole to accommodate the stem within a Cherry MX mount keycap.

Provenance

The switch was a sample provided by Strong Man in 2007 or 2008, which was not long before Strong Man went out of business; as such, it may be from a project that never ran to production. The manufacturer and specifications are not known, but it is believed to be a Hua-Jie product on the grounds of it having all of the following characteristics:

NW:##,SE:## mould numbering scheme (though currently they use NE:##,SW:## for the AK-CN2 (2) and AK-DN2 (2) switches)
Classic two-finger movable contact arrangement
Small N and S raised circles on the underside of the base
Thick walls to hold the click leaf if one were present (though Himake/Hua-Jie mostly used thin walls)

Hua-Jie are not aware of ever having made the switch, and it remains possible that it was produced by another factory rather than Hua-Jie having simply forgotten about it.

No photos of the switch in a keyboard are known, and the only known photos appear to show a pristine switch that was not desoldered from a keyboard: there is no telltale solder or heat discolouration of the legs. The switch may be a sample for a product that was not sold, or a sample of a custom switch batch that was not used in a commercially available product (such a custom sample was provided by Tai-Hao to Deskthority of one of their own custom specification switches).