Lube Quantity Estimator

Working Principle

Lubricating switches is a thin-film operation, so consumption is driven by surface area and application technique rather than by volume in any intuitive sense. Measured across community builds, a careful brush application uses roughly 6 to 9 milligrams of grease per switch when only the stem rails and housing contact faces are coated. Springs consume more if you bag-lube them with a thin oil, typically 3 to 5 milligrams per spring, because the entire coil takes a film. Housings add another 3 to 4 milligrams when both top and bottom are painted. Product choice shifts the totals: thick greases such as Krytox 205g0 are applied sparingly and stay where they are put, while thinner oils such as 105 spread further per unit mass but are used in larger quantity during bag lubing. The estimator multiplies your switch count by per-part rates, scales by an application-thickness factor for light, standard or heavy coating, and adds a waste allowance for what stays on the brush and the palette. It then maps the total to the standard retail jar sizes, which are typically 3 g, 5 g and 10 g for greases and 5 ml bottles for oils. As a sanity check, a 5 g jar of 205g0 comfortably covers a 70-switch build with stems and housings done at standard thickness, which matches the widely reported real-world figure and is the best confirmation that the model is calibrated correctly.

How to Use

1. 01Enter your switch count, including a few spares.
2. 02Tick the parts you intend to lubricate. Tactile switches usually get stems and housings only; springs are optional and risk dampening the bump.
3. 03Choose the lubricant type and how heavy your application is.
4. 04Read total grams and the recommended jar size, then buy the next size up.
5. 05Beginner warning: over-lubing a tactile switch removes the bump. Start light and add on a test switch before committing to the batch.

FAQ

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