I was living under a rock for the longest, I'll be upfront about it. I never felt the need to use mech keyboards. In fact I was pretty fast with flat membrane types. Then one day I purchased a Logitech G613 with Romer G keys. They're pretty responsive and I love the feedback, it feels good. Now I can't go back to any other keyboard, in fact when I'm typing in another keyboard I'll hit keycaps like crazy, and type very slow is a strange feeling like I'm expecting the spring feedback.
Lately I been thinking about making my own keyboard from scratch, I'll 3D print the plate and create a custom pcb if I feel dangerous enough, else I'll go for handwire. Or purchase the pcb ymdk 96. That layout has num keypad, arrows, function keys, but got a compact layout.
I would like to get Brown switches, or maybe reds. Do you like mechanical keyboards? Do you fancy colorful keycaps?
Top comments (13)
I got a mechanical keyboard kind of by accident. I started my first job and had a normal generic full size keyboard, but I was used to narrower Mac & Macbook keyboards and my right hand felt so far out to the side.
So I went looking for a good tenkeyless keyboard that would work with Windows. I wasn't looking for or even aware of mechanical keyboards.
When I find what I want and I can afford it, I don't mind paying a premium so £125 later a Filco Majestouch Tenkeyless keyboard arrived. It looked... like a keyboard. A loud keyboard.
I used it for a while, thought it felt a bit better but didn't think too much about it. I only wanted it because it was narrow. Then I had to use a normal keyboard for some reason and wow it felt like typing on a keyboard covered in honey. Slow and gooey. Not what you want from a keyboard.
The keycaps felt weird too – not something I ever thought I'd think about.
I now have two of the same, one for work and one for home. I use them on a huge neoprene mat to try and cut down on the noise for the sake of my colleagues' sanity. I took the new one to work and left the old one at home. The old one had been used for 2-3 years everyday and did feel different to the new one.
Nice setup! I felt the same way when I tried to type on my Mac keyboard.
I gotta have my num pad. I had been wondering if I should do a minimal keyboard like a 65% but with function key row. Then build a num pad separately. In the end I gotta have arrows, num pad, function keys, and maybe an additional vertical row on the left side for macros.
I'll probably play around with the keypad first to make the custom pcb.
i love my mechanical keyboard.. i have 2 atm and will get hopefully soon one i kickstarted(dygma raise as i like the idea and design).. i'm still new to coding(still learning it) and had to bring my own keyboard with me as i hated the membrane ones they have there..
Ugh membrane lol just the thought of using membrane makes me feel weird. I'll be interested to know how split keyboards feel. All I ever know is typing with hands close together. Dygma looks interesting, nice rests too.
hahah yeah don't tell me that's why i take my own keyboard with me so i don't have to use those membrane keyboards .. and yeah the dygma will be my first split keyboard and i am excited (waiting now over 2 years i think but that's kickstarter)
They got some nice split keyboards on reddit/mk, if you have access to 3D printer might be quicker lol.
I'm also planning to build my own eventually. I made the mistake of jumping on a pre-fab and then discovering the rabbit hole, but it's been enough years that I don't feel completely stupid about a new keyboard.
I will say that my current one has reds. I don't like them for coding, for home office work I want blues and I think for versatility I want browns. Luckily, I've got a friend with a tester desk toy :)
I bought the ducky one for my kiddo with blues, they feel good but honestly I can't concentrate with the clicking sound even after putting headphones lol. Yes a tester is a must, I bought the 9 switch cherry mx tester off of Amazon. I might get another one with more brands.
Yeah, if I got blues I'd want to try the O-ring sound dampening thing, but now we've got a real project on our hands.
Oh boy, don't get me started on mech... With 6 of them and they keysets, I'm spending waaayyy too much on plastic 😄
Building one is really fun. And not as hard as it looks. Suggestion would be to found a already made PCB. Way easier and you won't have to fight with the firmware. You can check on KBDfans, they have quite the choice and are totally reliable 👍
For the switch color, I'd suggest you to check on the Purple Zealios also.
But, be careful, once you start that hobby, that's it, you're done...
Yeah I know is an expensive hobby lol. I really want to go through the whole process from scratch, but yeah for me the ymdk 96 pcb is almost what I want.
I'll try to order a switch tester for gateron and zelios to test them out. I really enjoy the cherry browns and clicky whites.
I love the typing feedback, I have Brown switches for coding and reds for gaming.
Building your own sounds like fun!
Yeah wife is not overly excited on my love for keyboards lol but hey when your work is about typing might as well making enjoyable and look good.