Tools to Mod Your Mechanical Keyboard Switches

Having written more than a few articles for Kinetic Labs over the years, I feel like I’ve covered quite a few topics that seem obscure to beginners that are looking into mechanical keyboard switches for the first time. I’ve written above everything from the different types of switches, to how to discuss the differences between linears, tactiles, and clickies, and even the different types of mechanical (or not quite mechanical) mechanisms that they may encounter when looking for new switches for a build. However, while I recognize that these articles are great for learning the nuances of switches, I can admit that I have been lacking in writing more direct, instructive articles.

A lot of the questions that beginner keyboard enthusiasts ask seem to be focused on how to do certain things or what it takes for them to accomplish x, y, or z, rather than wanting to understand why these things are the way they are. I suppose that this makes a bit of sense when I look back and recognize just how overwhelming the hobby felt when I was first introduced to it over 8 years ago. So in order to be a bit more direct about the specifics of switch modification - something that everyone who stays in the hobby will do at least once - here’s the exact types of tools you will need to interact with, modify, and customize your mechanical keyboard switches. Don’t worry, this advice is all the same if this is your first or your hundredth keyboard build!

Tools For Accessing Your Switches

Despite being immediately overlooked in the pursuit of all the tools that will come later in this list, this first pair of tools is among the most important for you to pick up for your builds as they will be how you get switches out of your keyboard builds and open them up if you want to do any modifications. These tools are a switch puller and a switch opener. With the increasing prevalence of hotswap friendly keyboards available in today’s market, a switch puller tool is crucial to help remove or swap switches from your keyboard builds that already have switches in them. They work just about as simply as you think and can be placed squarely over the top of the switch and squeezed so that the little nubs go under the north and south sides of the tops of switches above the plate and give you enough grip to pull them straight out. However, please make sure first that your keyboards actually have hotswap sockets and that the switches are not permanently soldered in, otherwise you risk permanently damaging your keyboards or potentially hurting yourself in this process.

Once you’ve removed your switches from a keyboard with a switch puller, or purchased them separately from a build kit, and want to modify them by swapping springs, lubing, or frankenswitching them, you’re going to need a switch opener. These fancy pieces of metal act as tools that you can press switches into in order to separate the top and bottom housings from one another and get access to the stems and springs inside of switches. While there are countless different types of switch openers that you can buy, you should strongly consider picking up one that has both Cherry (4 Pin) and Kailh (Winglatch) style opener on them so that you’ll be able to open your switches no matter what. Kinetic Labs’ Kelowna Aluminum Switch Opener is a great example of one of these! Once you have your switches opened up, though, you’re going to need some tools to help prepare for whatever modifications you have in mind, such as…

Tools for Staging Your Switches for Modding

Back all those years ago when I opened and lubed switches for my own first keyboard build, I wasn’t lucky enough to have all of the organizational tools and part accessories that exist to make the task easier today. And admittedly I’m a bit jealous of that fact. While you can ultimately just take your different switch parts once they are opened and sort them in some plastic tupperware containers, vendors like Kinetic Labs offer special part holding tools and organizational trays which make this process much more streamlined and well put together. Switch stem holders are a great example of these tools and allow you to easily pluck and hold the stems of switches in such a way that you won’t have to awkwardly bend and twist to lube all sides of them or risk accidentally dropping them. As well, a switch lubing station can be used to hold all of your parts.

Often times cut out of thick acrylic, these stations have slots to neatly line up your stems, springs, and housings in an organized fashion that also helps you keep switch lube off of your desk. While not something that most people will recommend for these kinds of guides, I also prefer to keep a magnet nearby incase switch springs get out of hand or you drop them into the carpet like I do more often than I care to admit. If you go down the route of buying stem holders or switch lubing stations for yourself, you’ll hopefully end up also lubing your switches as well. If that’s the case, then you’ll definitely end up needing…

Tools for Lubing Your Switches

I am a bit ashamed to admit that my very first attempts at lubing switches employed toothpicks, q-tips, and seemingly every ill-suited tool that I could get my hands on for the task. You can learn from all of my pains in doing such by just listening to my direct advice to buy fine tipped paint brushes for applying switch lube to stems, springs, and all of the intricate nooks of switch housings. Of all of the different brushes I’ve tried in recent years, I will be 100% honest in saying that I have never come across any in this hobby as good nor as long lasting as those sold here by Kinetic Labs. In fact the set I bought from them long before I ever started writing for them are the exact same ones I still use to lube switches to this very day - over four years ago. Just trust me and buy them. If you’re also going to go through the effort of opening your switches, parting them out, and lubing them, I would also encourage you to actually buy keyboard switch lube from a mechanical keyboard vendor as well.

While I get that this isn’t so much a tool recommendation and also somewhat obvious to some of you reading this, I know a lot of beginners initially get sticker shock about the price of switch lube and will try and find any other possible substitute to save a few dollars. It’s not worth it to skimp on this. WD-40, random hardware store lube, or something from a cosmetic aisle can and very likely will ruin your switches eventually if you try and use it. The only lubricants that we know for a fact are safe for switches are those sold by keyboard vendors like Kinetic Labs. If you’ve also gone the extra mile of opening and lubing your various switch parts, there’s also a decent chance that you’ve considered modifying your switches in other ways. For these kinds of customizations to your switches, you’ll probably need…

Tools for Advanced Modifications

In addition to needing almost all of the tools listed above to comfortably get you to this stage of switch customization, any advanced modification techniques you’re going to want to explore will require additional parts. For things like ‘filming’ your switches in order to reduce top housing wobble, you’ll need to pick up specifically cut sheets of switch films. Kinetic Labs sells quite a few different grades and types of switch films, but all of them come in tiny sheet form and can easily be peeled off and stuck onto housings in perfect fashion with little struggle. If you’re wanting to deaden the sounds of the switches in your keyboards, consider foam stickers that attach to your PCB and go between the switch and the circuit board. Wanting to change up and truly make your switches unique to your build? Well, you’re going to need to pick up springs, aftermarket stems, or even entirely different switches so that you can mix and match the parts between switches.

If you ultimately go down the route of “frankenswitching” - or combining parts from different switches together to make one new, unique switch - and think that you may do this more than once, I would highly recommend picking up baggies and some sort of switch/keycap storage containers in order to help organize your parts. I realize that these kinds of things seem like they might not be all that necessary and you can just ‘get to them eventually’, but trust me that this is something you want to be ahead of. Otherwise you’ll end up like me and having thousands of different switches and not a particularly great storage system for them…

There you have it - a list of tools that I feel are pretty important in helping make your switch handling, modifying, and customization efforts as easy and as seamless as possible. While it’s not truly necessary to buy any of these tools, as older hobbyists made it plenty of years without them, a couple extra dollars at the start of your journey can save you a lot of time, effort, and stress for every potential keyboard build you may ever touch in the future. Sometimes it’s just worth a little bit of upfront effort. Speaking of which, if you want to learn a bit more about switches rather than just jumping headlong into the building process, consider checking out some of the other articles I’ve written here on Kinetic Labs such as ‘Keyboard Switch Lubing: Is It Really Necessary?’ or ‘What Some Switch Marketing Terms Really Mean’!