Frankenswitch

Frankenswitch (or Frankenswitching) is a mod where the switch parts are swapped out for a part from different switches. This is often done to improve the feel and sound of the switch but it can also be done for their aesthetic.

The NK cream switches are known for their “self-lubricating” properties due to the switches being fully comprised of pom. However, due to the nature of pom, the friction between two pom surfaces creates a sensation in the community called “Stick-Slip” where the slider gets stuck in the housing momentarily before an increase of force is applied to move the switch again. To alleviate this people tried to use parts of the switch separately in order to not have the same pom material for both the housing and stem.

Examples of Frankenswitches that use the Cream stem are:
“Creampacas” which uses the JWK Alpaca housing with a Cream stem.
“Creamsicle” which uses the TKC Tangerine housing with a Cream stem.
“Creameron” which uses the Gateron housing with a Cream stem.

Alternatively, people found out the stem from Kailh Red and Kailh Black are comparable to the NK Cream. However, there is no evidence that the stem uses the same material or not. But it is a cheaper and more widely available way to create the Frankenswitch listed above. This in turn created many variations of the Frankenswitches listed above with Kailh Red and Kailh Black stem instead.

Examples of Frankenswitches that use the Cream housing are: are:
“Paco” which uses the Kailhua Halo stem with a Cream housing.
“Butter Cream” which uses the Gateron Yellow stem with a Cream housing.
“Macchiato/Krelbos” which uses the Cherry Silent Red stem with a Cream housing.

Cherry switches have been regarded for their unique sound but with a major flaw of being scratchy. A way people tried to alleviate this is by swapping out the Cherry stem with a stem from another manufacturer. The earliest examples of these switches are the “Bumblebee” which uses the Gateron Yellow stem and the “Vintage Burgundy” which uses the Kailhua Burgundy stem. However, this practice has faded out for other modding tricks such as the use of break-ins and diamond polishing.

This Frankenswitch tries to solve the same problem as the one listed above, which is the scratchiness of Cherry MX switches. In this case, the Cherry Silent switch is both scratchy and louder to due the Cherry Housing. To alleviate this, people often swap the silent stem of a cherry for different manufacturer housing instead. The most popular Frankenswitch at the time is called the “MX Zilent” which uses a Linear Zeal housing found switches like Tealios with the Cherry Silent stem. This gave the switch a smoother and cleaner sound compared to the original.