I recently stumbled across Punk Workshop (https://pws.top/), a Hong Kong-based manufacturer of arcade joysticks, buttons and complete sticks. Their prices are good, the designs interesting, so I placed an order.
I picked up a bunch of their standard
PWS-2 buttons and a couple of their Blaze microswitch variants, the clicky one is called Spark and the quiet one is called, unsurprisingly, Silent.
I also picked up one of their silicone rubber joystick mechs (https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=7656.0), because I'd never tried one without a spring, and it was also inexpensive.
The standard
PWS-2 buttons are very interesting, with a very shallow overall depth, sideways mounted .180 faston-compatible connectors, and a Cherry low profile Red (https://www.cherry.de/en-us/product/mx-low-profile-2-0-red) switch. It's a snap-in button, there's no threaded option available. Black, white and several translucent colour options are available.
This is a
VERY low profile button. The outer ring is much lower than Hori's Kuro, which was the slim leader until now.
PWS-LowProfile-1.jpg
Seimitsu's Alutimo (left), PWS-2 (center) and Hori's Kuro
and Seimitsu's PS-14 (bottom row)
The plunger, the part of the button pressed by the player, does not descend into a solid bucket like most Sanwa or Seimitsu buttons. Instead, it's kind of an
open frame. This, combined with the button's lack of side contact elements, means the plunger sort of
floats in the middle of the button's outer ring, and the inside of the joystick or control panel seems
weirdly open to the outside. There's very little gap between the plunger and outer ring, but if you could manage to fit something in there it'd fall into the inside of the panel without restriction. I don't see any downsides of this, but it's unlike any button I've seen before.
PWS-OpenFrame-2.jpg PWS-OpenFrame.jpg
From the top there's not much room beside the plunger.
From the bottom all four sides around the switch are open.
Despite this
floating arrangement it has
less lateral movement than any other button I've used. The Cherry switch is doing all the work of keeping the plunger where it should be (and doing it very well).
However, since there's no side contact with the bucket (and therefore
no restraining clips) it wouldn't be difficult to pop the plunger out of the panel in a public-facing installation. It's
not loose, it might take a screwdriver or something, but it's not locked down in any way. Definitely designed for personal use only.
NFG40059.jpg
PWS-2 (left) and Seimitsu's Alutimo
It's
very well designed, and construction is really solid. Even though it uses keyboard switches, like Seimitsu's Alutimo buttons (https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=7552.0), the design is much better with fewer parts and no need for all the spacers Seimitsu had to make available. It uses single-piece bent metal pins to connect the Cherry switch to the .110 tabs. Disassembling this button
will not eject tiny parts that you'll never find again.
It's a quiet button with very little vertical movement, just 2mm according to PWS. It activates sooner than Hori's Kuro buttons, and has less total travel. It
feels amazing, it's quieter than any other button I've used. Every other button, including the Alutimo and the Kuro, feels rattly and loose in comparison - and at the same time the other brands feel like there's more friction when they too easily rub the plunger against the bucket.
The
Blaze buttons are similar, but different. From the top they're visually identical, the player won't notice the difference. But the travel! These buttons move downward
only 0.5mm when pressed. It's amazing.
PWS-Blaze-Assembled.jpg
underneath the PWS Blaze
Instead of a keyboard switch they use small microswitches, similar to what you'd find under the buttons of
most computer mice. A small PCB is screwed to the button body, and it connects to the switch with slide-in sockets. The 110 Fast-on connection is made with two metal tabs soldered to the PCB. It's very compact and effective.
The button as a whole though is
more complicated than the V2, as it uses an intermediate assembly which is not unlike a normal sized keyboard switch to connect the button's plunger to the microswitch. This is very functional, and I'm not sure how else they could have made this work. And
work it does.
PWS-Blaze-Interface.jpg
the white box connects the player-facing plunger to the microswitch
The result is sublime. I've tried using a clicky Kailh switch with Seimitsu's Alutimo buttons, and the result was loud and irritating, and if I'm honest, a little stiff to use. For sure the
activation pressure was much higher than arcade buttons should be.
But the
mouse-like switches used in the Blaze buttons are
really well suited to the task. They're light, easy to press, and have a snappy return response.
What surprised me most is the Silent version. Unlike the silent switches used in Sanwa's JLF and JLX sticks,
these aren't leaf switches in a microswitch shell. Holding it up to my ear I can hear that reassuring metallic click, but it's
so very quiet compared to the normal microswitch used in the Spark.
PWS-Blaze-Disassembled.jpg
the PWS Blaze disassembled
They have an even shorter vertical movement than the V2 buttons, and the Silent has a subtle bit of tactile feeling when pressed.
All up I think
these Punk Workshop buttons are the best I've ever used. They're short enough for the shortest builds, and they have a wonderful texture and feel.
Have you tried 'em? What do you think?