A while back I built my first custom mechanical keyboard and decided to leave my stabilizers un-modded, my reasoning being that I thought the stabilizers were only accessible through the back and couldn't be bothered with disassembly after 6 hours of lubing switches.

Building My First Mechanical Keyboard

Turns out I was completely wrong and snap-in stabilizers can be taken out from the front after only removing the switch. And thus I decided to fix the stabilizer rattle (that annoying metal sound you get when you press down on stabilizer keys, most notably the space bar) that plagued me for the past 6 months.

Parts

For this mod I got Durock stabilizers, Dielectric grease and a new set of PBT keycaps. First I disassembled the stabilizers and used left over Krytox GPL 205 on the inside of the housing, the part which would come in contact with the stem. This lubricates the plastic on plastic contact resulting in a smoother key press but doesn't really affect the rattle symptom.

For that I used a generous amount of Dielectric grease on the ends of the metal wire, making sure to coat slightly past the bend. The grease acts as a dampener for the wire as it hits the bottom plastic. The idea is to use enough grease to mute the metal rattle but not so much as to make the stabilizer keys feel mushy.

After some trial and error (hint: it's more grease than you think), the result was a significant reduction in rattle. As a realistic disclaimer: it's not completely gone, there's still a minor 'ticking' when tapping on the edges of the space bar. There are further tweaks to pursue like the Holee mod or wire balancing if one really wanted to go down that hole but I think I'm happy with how they are right now.

They sound creamier like the other normal keys and feel much more satisfying to type with. Relative to the time spent, the benefit of stabilizer lubing is insane and I recommend it to anyone building their own keyboard. If you're tight on time or simply lazy like me you can honestly pass on lubing normal switches given that it takes around 6 hours to do. Stock or factory lubed switches don't even feel that bad to type with, maybe just slightly scratchy, but they're perfectly usable. However the 20 minutes it took to reduce stabilizer rattle was so, so worth it. Skip any modification but this, they're mandatory.

Akko Switches

The PBT key caps have a smooth surface and have an XDA profile, I like the uniform height compared to more orthodox profiles. I also ordered 3 different switches from Akko, the V3 Cream Blues, Macha Greens and Wine White. The latter 2 were advertised as being hand-lubed for around 7 extra dollars per set of 45 switches.

Starting with the Cream Blues, these are tactile switches with an actuation force of 38g and tactile force of 53g which makes them easy to press whilst retaining a noticeable tactile click. They have a slightly shorter travel time distance of 3.5mm and as the name implies, have a creamy pitched sound.

The other tactile switch are the Wine Whites with an actuation force of 36g and tactile force of 55g. Compared to the cream blues, they have a sharper, more pronounced tactile feel. It's difficult to say how effective the pre-lube is given that I don't have an unlubed set to compare with but they're good enough that I don't feel the need to do them my self.

Finally the Matcha Greens are linears with an actuation force of 50g. Not too much to say here, they're solid switches. After having experienced a variety of linears, tactiles and membrane switches I've come to realize I like light linears of around 45-50g the most. I spend a lot of time using the keyboard whilst either gaming, coding or just typing normally so I find the lighter actuation force to be comfortable on the fingers throughout the day.

For all three switches I'm fairly happy with their feel and cost effectiveness (especially considering the labor offset of pre-applied lube) but the one downside for me was how loud they were compared to my current Ice Grapes. The Ice Grapes are on the lower end in pitch and already sound fairly loud in a quiet office environment. The three Akko switches are all higher pitched and noticeably louder when the keys bottom out. The sound profile of a keyboard depends on the full build (such as the material of the key caps or physical space in the case), so I suspect that removing the tempest tape mod and apply the pe foam mod would make it more muted and to my liking.

For now I'm satisfied with how the Tecsee Ice Grapes sound and feel in the Epomaker EP84. I still want to see how these new switches do in another setup so I'm currently eyeing the Keychron K2 (V2) or Q2 (V2) as an alternate 75% keyboard.