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#silent

3 articles tagged #silent.

Every #silent piece

Split cross-section line drawing of a mechanical switch. The left half shows a stem with elastomer pads on the foot of its legs and the top of its rails, picked out in a dusty-rose splash; the right half shows a housing with a dampening ring seated at the floor. Rendered in a single warm-grey stroke with a brass-bronze theme dot at the upper right.

What a silent switch actually silences — and what it can't

Every keystroke lands twice — once on the floor, once on the ceiling. Cherry molds an elastomer pad onto the stem to catch both; Gazzew fits a silicone one. The undamped Boba U4T shows what either approach is buying — about 14 dB on one tester's meter — and what it costs in travel, rebound, and a bump with nowhere left to go.

thockAug 19, 202610 min read

Three switch silhouettes in a row — a tactile, a silent tactile, and a linear — sharing one continuous housing outline drawn in a single warm-grey stroke, with a coral splash pooled beneath the middle silent-tactile silhouette and a brass-bronze theme dot at the upper right

Deep Dives

The Boba Family: One Housing Blend, Five Switches, and the Sound thock Is Named For

Gazzew designs, Outemu molds, and a plastic softer than nylon does the rest. Every Boba is the same chamber with something deliberately left out — and the pattern of subtractions is the whole family tree.

thockJul 27, 202610 min read

Vertical exploded-stack diagram of a mechanical switch, drawn in a single warm-grey stroke with horizontal dashed explode-lines and an ochre splash highlighting the cruciform stem top.

Guides

A beginner's guide to picking your first switch

Switches are the single biggest factor in how a keyboard feels and sounds, and the catalog has grown overwhelming. This guide narrows the entire market into three families, explains who each one is for, and gives a three-step path from curiosity to a confident first purchase. By the end, the reader can pick a category without second-guessing.

thockApr 30, 20268 min read

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