Switch marketing says "smooth" and "bumpy." The force curve shows it: a graph of force (grams) against travel (millimeters) measured as the stem presses down. Ten seconds of curve-reading beats ten forum threads.
Anatomy of the curve
| Feature | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Starting force | Spring preload — higher starts mean heavier feel immediately |
| The bump (tactile) | A rise-and-fall mid-travel — its height and width ARE the tactility |
| Click event | A sharp spike-drop at actuation |
| End force | Bottom-out weight — the fatigue number |
Linears print smooth ascending curves. Tactiles print a hill mid-travel — the hill is the bump, and its steepness is sharpness. Browns show a barely-there hill; Holy Pandas show a mountain. The graph ends the argument.
What lubing does to the curve
- Nothing to the shape — lubing changes friction, not spring force. The curve's form survives.
- Removes "scratch" — the high-frequency friction noise of unlubed sliders; the curve can even show it as jaggedness.
- Spring ping: a sound issue — lube or swap springs to silence it.
Where to find curves
Manufacturer curves exist but run marketing-soft; community force-curve testers (ThereminGoat's archive is the standard) publish honest measured curves for hundreds of switches. Cross-reference any switch on this database with its curve, and "creamy," "thocky," and "marbly" resolve into geometry — which is where they belonged all along.