Keyboard Modification Terms

Stabilizer Tuning

Stabilizers are used on longer keys such as the Spacebar, Enter, and Shift keys to ensure that the keys are well balanced. Tuning & Lubing removes the rattling of the stabilizers, ensuring that it sounds smooth and consistent.

At LandingPad, we pride ourselves in our stabilizer tuning abilities, ensuring that every stabilizer wire is perfectly straight through our tested and proven wire balancing techniques.

We also lube our stabilizer housings using industry grade lubricants to ensure little to no direct “plastic-on-plastic” housing contacts.

Switch Lubing

Switch lubing makes switches smoother on press and makes them sound deeper or more muted. The sound and feel of the switches tend to be more consistent when they are hand lubed.(Stem legs are not lubed on tactile switches so that they don’t lose tactility.)

Lubricants that we use: Krytox205g0 + 105 mix for switch housings and stems, GPL105 for springs.

Lubricants can last really long, up to 4-5 years a time. So they are a once and done thing!

Switch Filming

Switch filming is a thin piece of plastic film, placed between top and bottom switch housings, creating a consistent feel and sound when you press on every different angle of the switch. Goes well with switch lubing, and both can be done together after the disassembly of the switches.

However, filming is only essential for switches that have loose switch housings. Switches from certain brands such as AKKO and KTT, who produces switches using the “box housing” style do not require them as their housings are tight enough.

PE Foam & Tape Mod

PE Foam is a thin piece of foam placed between the switches and circuit board, it improves the sound of high pitch switches on keyboards by reducing the higher pitch frequencies.

Masking tape is placed on the underside of the keyboard’s circuit board to improve the acoustics of the keyboard. The masking tape absorbs the mid to high frequencies of the keyboard, creating a “poppy” sound profile. Generally two layers of tape is effective enough.

Polyfill

A polyester fiber material that acts as a dampening material, polyfill is great for filling up keyboards of different shapes and sizes.

It fills up keyboards with large gaps between the circuit board and the bottom case, mitigating hollowness and resonance. A highly recommended modification, as starter keyboard kits tend to have larger gaps between the circuit board and bottom case.