Anyone else into buying/building mechanical keyboards?

[hootpie]

its too small its a 75% vs a 10 KL and yes that difference annoys the fuck out of me i just cant stand the layout with the arrow keys and page cluster in the wrong spot

Have you tried it for an extended length of time? You get almost the exact same functionality while taking up a lot less desk space. I personally really like it now that I'm used to it and I used to exclusively use full keyboards or TKL before.

 

[Matren]

The same thing happened ages ago with the E-cig market of all things.

You had all of these euro and american companies asking for $300+ for their shit that would take you months to get, or you could go on aliexpress and get a knockoff with 100% of the functionality and 90% of the quality for 30% of the cost. The market decided and the euro/american companies realized they needed to change their pricing structure.

Thats def the kind of shit you are risking your life with buying off some place like Ali

 

[TheEvil1]

the desk space is a non issue for me and yes i have tried 75% and smaller layouts something about them fucks with my ability to type for some reason. took me forever even to get used to s standard 10kl. and i still would prefer a full size anyway. i use the number pad enough even for every day things that i miss it

 

[BigBronco]

You want to build it yourself or have it pre-made?

I can go either way. Don't mind building though.

Frankly it can be corded too, but I like less cables on my standing desk.

 

[SenenCito]

If I were making a wood case I'd probably go with a top layer of the wanted wood and a bottom layer of MDF, both for weight and sound issues.

Or I'd go with stabilized wood that had been milled out. That could be sexy as fuck.

how does that look? it sounds interesting.

 

[SenenCito]

i like mechanical keyboards but the lack of full size custom ones has always kept me from building

i could get away with a 10kl but anything smaller than that is just unusable to me. also im so married to the damn rotary encoder & media keys on the corsair that unless a custom clones that ill prob never move on from it

I really would love to buy a balance. But it's probably impossible to get one besides being expensive as fuck.

 

[amalgamas]

how does that look? it sounds interesting.

this is what stab wood looks like:



Large portions of it will be poured resin.

If you could get a decent sized plank and have them CNC it out to fit the PCB of your choice it could be amazing.

 

[SenenCito]

this is what stab wood looks like:

View attachment 196025

Large portions of it will be poured resin.

If you could get a decent sized plank and have them CNC it out to fit the PCB of your choice it could be amazing.

oh man that's exactly what I want.

Is this something you can buy ready to be milled?

 

[TheEvil1]

one on the back left looks like blue box elder. which is a cool looking wood. i have a knife with that as the handle

 

[yonson]

I can go either way. Don't mind building though.

Frankly it can be corded too, but I like less cables on my standing desk.

For clicky switches I've had the Cherry and Gateron Blues, Kailh Box White, Speed Bronze, Box Jade (louder, but heavier) and the Sherbets which are suppose to be the loudest, but I fucking hate mine with a passion. They might improve if lubed/filmed but I hate how they feel and I don't think that can be improved.

I would say my favorite clicky switch is the Speed Bronze followed closely by the Box White. But I've transitioned to tactile switches and moved my clicky KB's to other machines I don't use as often.

Here's a video that compares the Kailh clicky switches.

 

[amalgamas]

oh man that's exactly what I want.

Is this something you can buy ready to be milled?

you can, it's a little pricey

If you look up stabilized wood for sale you can find someone who will work with you on colors and woods you want to use.

 

[TheEvil1]

I really would love to buy a balance. But it's probably impossible to get one besides being expensive as fuck.

thats an interesting take i guess but i know id miss the F row lol

 

[amalgamas]

thats an interesting take i guess but i know id miss the F row lol

you'd think so but you can map it anywhere on a different layer

On my 40% I've got it mapped to layer 2 on my ten-key.

 

[TheEvil1]

you'd think so but you can map it anywhere on a different layer

On my 40% I've got it mapped to layer 2 on my ten-key.

yea I'm aware, i'm just so used to NOT using function/layer keys at this point that i doubt i could ever get used to it as a daily driver


part of it is ive never understood the drive to make everything so small/minimal. Maybe because ive always had a large desk and space have never been an issue

yes i know im a boomer

 

[amalgamas]

yea I'm aware, i'm just so used to NOT using function/layer keys at this point that i doubt i could ever get used to it as a daily driver


part of it is ive never understood the drive to make everything so small/minimal. Maybe because ive always had a large desk and space have never been an issue

yes i know im a boomer

it takes some getting used to but I work so much faster now than with the full size keyboard because my hands basically never have to leave a much smaller area.

But yeah, not for everyone.

 

[SenenCito]

thats an interesting take i guess but i know id miss the F row lol

In my case I barely uses F keys..the F5 Is my most used one and I already mapped that one to menu + ctrl so it stays in the lower part of the keyboard.

But of course, it's not the same for everyone.

 

[hootpie]

Got around to fully disassembling the GMMK Pro so I could install Durock V2 Stabilizers with the Holee Mod.

Enter, Shift, Backspace, and Space Bar all sound and feel different from each other now

Not sure how much it bothers me. The rattling that was annoying me is gone. Space Bar is maybe like 20% harder to press now even though the band-aid material of the holee mod looks fine. Backspace feels and sounds the best out of all the keys. Enter key doesn't rattle but it's weirdly not thocky now. Left Shift key is a tiny bit mushy, but I think I can live with it. The most noticeable thing is the Space Bar being harder to press now

 

[hootpie]

Also I realized my GMK spacebar is fucking straight up tilted in one direction. One side sits higher than the other and it is lightly driving me insane

 

[monolith]

Got around to fully disassembling the GMMK Pro so I could install Durock V2 Stabilizers with the Holee Mod.

Enter, Shift, Backspace, and Space Bar all sound and feel different from each other now

Not sure how much it bothers me. The rattling that was annoying me is gone. Space Bar is maybe like 20% harder to press now even though the band-aid material of the holee mod looks fine. Backspace feels and sounds the best out of all the keys. Enter key doesn't rattle but it's weirdly not thocky now. Left Shift key is a tiny bit mushy, but I think I can live with it. The most noticeable thing is the Space Bar being harder to press now

This happened to me, it took me no joke probably 6 or 7 times to finally dial everything in. It was worth it because I wasn't happy with how it felt plus I learned quite a bit on what not to do next time.

Also I realized my GMK spacebar is fucking straight up tilted in one direction. One side sits higher than the other and it is lightly driving me insane

That sucks. With certain types of plastic you can straighten them with hot water.

One of my sets space bar was tilted really bad and Drop's trash customer service told me to fuck off so I found this site.

Keycap Colors

pimpmykeyboard.com

If you can figure out the color + profile you can just buy a single replacement. I did it and it worked out perfectly.

 

[hootpie]

This happened to me, it took me no joke probably 6 or 7 times to finally dial everything in. It was worth it because I wasn't happy with how it felt plus I learned quite a bit on what not to do next time.


That sucks. With certain types of plastic you can straighten them with hot water.

One of my sets space bar was tilted really bad and Drop's trash customer service told me to fuck off so I found this site.

Keycap Colors

pimpmykeyboard.com

If you can figure out the color + profile you can just buy a single replacement. I did it and it worked out perfectly.

I wouldn't mind disassembling this thing and adjusting the holee mod, relubing, etc., but holy shit I have to disassemble the whole god damn thing to do it

And I mean disassemble the whole thing: remove key caps, remove switches, 8-10 case screws, unplug PCB, remove PCB + mid-plate, then another like 12 screws

 

[ghost.prawn]

TONTO: The 50-Year Saga of the Synth Heard on Stevie Wonder Classics

The Original New Timbral Orchestra fueled Stevie Wonder’s most legendary albums and a slew of Seventies hits. Inside the remarkable half-century saga of the world’s largest synth

www.rollingstone.com

 

[monolith]

I wouldn't mind disassembling this thing and adjusting the holee mod, relubing, etc., but holy shit I have to disassemble the whole god damn thing to do it

And I mean disassemble the whole thing: remove key caps, remove switches, 8-10 case screws, unplug PCB, remove PCB + mid-plate, then another like 12 screws

Yep, that's they way it is, it fucking sucks but you get really fast at it.

 

[monolith]

TONTO: The 50-Year Saga of the Synth Heard on Stevie Wonder Classics

The Original New Timbral Orchestra fueled Stevie Wonder’s most legendary albums and a slew of Seventies hits. Inside the remarkable half-century saga of the world’s largest synth

www.rollingstone.com

Very cool

I've recently started watching videos about synths (modular and non-modular) and some of them are fucking insane




Not mechanical keyboard related but I just picked this up because I'm an idiot. It's really fun just to fuck around with.

 

[hootpie]

Yep, that's they way it is, it fucking sucks but you get really fast at it.

I just want to be fucking done messing with this thing and go back to enjoying typing on it

 

[The Great Deceiver]

I'm looking for a full size mechanical keyboard with mx brown switches, hopefully with key rollover . but looks retro like a model M

I found this, keychron c2, it's close, but it's not quite the look i want, and the red esc button is just irritating. I want the 80s 90s look