Ancient KBTalking Pure aluminum case needing a new pcb... recommendations?

[irjoe]

Hi all,

I got into the 60% setup back in 2013 when KBtalking/KBC/Vortex was a thing and everyone and their mothers had Poker/Poker 2 setups. For some reason I chose the Pure edition for that extra tilde key, but since has been using the keyboard with some issues with failing keys which i presume to be an issue within the PCB itself. It's got this nice aluminum frame that I want to keep using as it'd be rather a waste to just throw it out, and want to use the housing to situate a new 60% keyboard. However I'm very new to the mod community and this is rather a new subject that I'm not very well versed in, so I wanted to pop in here to see if anyone know if this keyboard can be fitted with a different PCB that is more widely available.
It doesn't need to have the same setup as the KBT pure, and I'm open to any ideas as to how to salvage this aluminum frame.
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There is a small opening on the bottom left side for dip switches, and the usb-A comes out from the top left of the frame. I looked up GH60 but it seems the USB port is located on the right? Or unless I'm looking at it flipped and the port ends up on the left afterwards...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
website and what limited information is listed here: https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3645

photos of the keyboard attached.. hopefully it shows up on the thread. been a while since ive been on here and used a forum, forgive me.

[nevin]

from one pure owner to another.... yes the standard GH60 works well. swapped one into mine... years? ago...
my pcb was failing too. i got mine from techkeys.us $35. done. no brainer. https://techkeys.us/collections/accessories/products/gh60

the pure case is pretty sought after. as it was one of the first/few heavy cast? aluminum tray mount cases.

yours is about a generation newer than mine. mine is a black case with the horrible painted backlit caps.
back in the day i searched & searched for the dark grey caps but were always out of stock, etc...

yes, that is the picture of the bottom side of the pcb. usb will be on left when assembled & mounted in case.

give me a min i'll pull it apart & i'll send you pic.

[irjoe]

That is awesome! I was afraid that I wont have much use for it, but realized that there is a huge modding community within kb enthusiasts.

So it looks like GH60 is a safe choice, but I did a little more digging and found some other 60% PCB's.. such as the GK61xs which lists as hot-swappable with bluetooth capability.
If I do go for the hotswap option, do I need to get the faceplate in order for the switches to stick?

I hope that the battery will have enough room to be housed in the case, but I took it apart and it seems the clearance on the aluminum board is quite small.. bad idea?

[Leslieann]

Be sure that will work in that case, remember there's going to be a battery (not included with the pcb) and it needs to go somewhere. Probably nothing a Dremel couldn't fix. Bluetooth won't work without the battery.

As for the plate, yes, with hot swaps you really should have a plate if you want it all to last very long. Hot swaps really only act as a connector, not a mount.

[nevin]

if you were going to do that... BT, etc... yeah, i wouldn't use this case.
1. all the ridges = lots of grinding.
2. it's metal, BT would be better off in a plastic case
3. if you want, i'm sure you wouldn't have a hard time selling just the case.
4. the GH60 is fully programmable with QMK. QMK documentation
5. as far as i know, the GK61xs is not programmable *cheap overseas board

the pure was pretty good at the time, the pcb was it's achilles heel. but the GH60 pcb makes it wonderful. (programmable, options, etc,)

there are tons of good 60% boards.

yes, if you go with hot swap, you will need a plate that supports the layout you want to use.
here's a hotswap one: 1UP RGB 60% PCB HSE
the nice!60 60% BLE PCB is BT but not hotswap
kdbfans DZ60 is available in various configurations including hotswap & RGB

almost all 60% boards use the same "poker" mounting points (same as the pure)

.... take some time and look around, you're sure to stumble across something good.

[irjoe]

if you want, i'm sure you wouldn't have a hard time selling just the case.

Although I do like typing on the heavy aluminum frame, if I can sell it to put together a bluetooth 60%, I wouldnt be opposed to it. I just dont' know how much it would be worth, any ideas? I'd rather sell than try to frankenstein a bluetooth board that might not be as effective because it's metal.

The 1up and DZ60 appear to be pretty similar to each other, some prefer one over the other over rgb/led's, but I'm personally not super concerned with that.

Thanks for the recommendations!