Hopefully it's readable and not too rambling/in-depth for a couple of replica Cherry stabs!
So, I recently put an order in with a Taobao agent and ordered a number of keyboard parts (Taobao is a great place to get DIY keyboard parts imo).
One of the items in my order was a set of Cherry PCB Mount Stabilizers bought from this seller:
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=40130312432
I bought the full set (7x 2u stabs, 1x 6.25u, 1x7u) and the total was around 75 CNY (not including agent fees and shipping to me), around £7.50.
I honestly should have paid more attention when placing the order because it was only when they arrived did I realise that they were actually replicas of Cherry's original design with a couple of modifications.
Below are a series of pictures (taken with my phone, sorry!) with accompanying differences between a genuine set of stabs (bought from Gon's Keyboardworks).
Stab parts side by side (genuine on the left, clones on the right):
If you can tell from my pictures the clone stabs come pre-clipped (without the flexible extra feet on the bottom of the inner part), which means they don't feel mushy toward the bottom of the stroke.
They also feature a thicker outer housing, and a stepped stem.
The wire insert for both is pretty much identical except for the shiny nature of the clone vs the cloudy finish of the one sold by Gon (not sure if that is genuine). From my usage, I have found that a tight fit between the bottom of the inner plastic part and the wire eliminates rattling, the clones are bad for this due to the loose fit between the wire and the inner plastic part.
Stabs mounted in PCB (genuine stabs on the top switch, clones on the bottom):
They seem to grip the keycaps as well as the genuine Cherry stabs, and the pcb clips seem to be comparable as well. The clip used to keep the wire in takes more force to snap in and also to get the wire loose, something that is a good thing in my eyes (the wire would come loose with the Cherry stabilisers on some of my keyboards).
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Verdict: Don't buy these if you can!
My experience is that they ruin the feel of the keys for these reasons:
- The inner and the outer plastic part rub together if you don't press down square on the key
- The inner plastic parts seem to have a looser fit on the wire, making them rattle
They are good if you just need the wire insert (seems to be very close to the ones supplied to me by Gon), they don't require clipping, and they are plentiful on Taobao (as well as pretty cheap).
They do work though, so if you can put up with what I described above then go for them; otherwise I would go to the effort of sourcing real stabs.