Hola

[villainocity]

Hey folks! I'm a HS teacher in Missouri, who only recently caught the MK bug.

Pretty new to the site, but I've lurked for a couple weeks (started on /r mk) and I love what I'm seeing here. For my first mech, I picked up a used Filco Majestouch TKL with the side-printed caps and MX blacks last month and it's easily the best board I've ever owned. Not sure that I'm all-in on the switches at this point, and I'm looking at getting something like a full size, back-lit blue or brown next.

I'm also really interested in putting a board together and I've been eyeing the Atomic, but I'm also looking for a nice entry level TKL or full-size option, as well. Other than that, my free time has been eaten up lustily drooling over pictures of old group-buy key sets that I'll likely never own (looking at you, bro set, pulse, eve, and penumbra).
 

 

[Bromono]

Hey folks! I'm a HS teacher in Missouri, who only recently caught the MK bug.

Pretty new to the site, but I've lurked for a couple weeks (started on /r mk) and I love what I'm seeing here. For my first mech, I picked up a used Filco Majestouch TKL with the side-printed caps and MX blacks last month and it's easily the best board I've ever owned. Not sure that I'm all-in on the switches at this point, and I'm looking at getting something like a full size, back-lit blue or brown next.

I'm also really interested in putting a board together and I've been eyeing the Atomic, but I'm also looking for a nice entry level TKL or full-size option, as well. Other than that, my free time has been eaten up lustily drooling over pictures of old group-buy key sets that I'll likely never own (looking at you, bro set, pulse, eve, and penumbra).

This is just the start. Soon you will want to try all the switches and try all the layouts. Teachers are already underpaid for the job they do. Sorry for your wallet

[villainocity]

This is just the start. Soon you will want to try all the switches and try all the layouts. Teachers are already underpaid for the job they do. Sorry for your wallet

Heh, yeah. Probably not the best hobby for someone in my tax bracket, but it was either this or alcoholism. 

[Bromono]

This is just the start. Soon you will want to try all the switches and try all the layouts. Teachers are already underpaid for the job they do. Sorry for your wallet

Heh, yeah. Probably not the best hobby for someone in my tax bracket, but it was either this or alcoholism. 

Lol! I know the pain. But I am both a collector and beer enthusiast don't find the beer thread on here. Though as a high school teacher I'm sure you have some amazingly funny stories to share. If you ever have time should put a thread in offtopic about some. God knows I have some from working with my city as a recreational attendant.

[DrHubblePhD]

Welcome to GeekHack! Have fun poking around 

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

Happy to have saved you from alcoholism

A Filco is a very sturdy board to start with, and MX blacks are great switches!  If you have fairly strong hands.  Otherwise MX reds are also linear, but much lighter.  Blues are lighter and also clicky, whereas browns feel like gritty reds (so many say).

If you can, see if you can find a shop nearby that sells mechanical keyboards and will let you try a few different switches.  It's really the best way of trying the switches.

[Mandolin]

Bienvenido 

[villainocity]

Welcome to GeekHack! Have fun poking around 

Thanks. I already have!

Bienvenido 

Gracias!

Welcome to Geekhack!

Happy to have saved you from alcoholism

A Filco is a very sturdy board to start with, and MX blacks are great switches!  If you have fairly strong hands.  Otherwise MX reds are also linear, but much lighter.  Blues are lighter and also clicky, whereas browns feel like gritty reds (so many say).

If you can, see if you can find a shop nearby that sells mechanical keyboards and will let you try a few different switches.  It's really the best way of trying the switches.

Yeah, I love the weightiness of it. If the zombie apocalypse happened, I'd probably eschew the shotgun or machete and just wade outside with this thing, crushing everything in my path. I guess my only issue with the board is the side-printed caps. It looks cool and all, and while I can touch-type, I'm not the greatest at it. I keep my room somewhat dim, so occasionally when I glance down, I really can't even see the marks on the side. I have a cheap set of blue keycaps arriving tomorrow and I'll try those out. If they suck, I'll switch back and wait until payday and see what I can find in a nice SA or DSA set.

I had never really tried blacks before I bought this board. I do like them, but I also really like the clickiness of the blues. Reds, I'll probably avoid, unless I breakdown and buy one of those Das boards Woot occasionally sells. I only ever see them with reds on that site. I also haven't used browns before. I heard that they were like a less-clicky blue, which is where my interest in them started. If they're closer to reds, I'll probably skip them. Maybe I just need to give in and pick up a switch tester.

[rowdy]

Yeah, I love the weightiness of it. If the zombie apocalypse happened, I'd probably eschew the shotgun or machete and just wade outside with this thing, crushing everything in my path. I guess my only issue with the board is the side-printed caps. It looks cool and all, and while I can touch-type, I'm not the greatest at it. I keep my room somewhat dim, so occasionally when I glance down, I really can't even see the marks on the side. I have a cheap set of blue keycaps arriving tomorrow and I'll try those out. If they suck, I'll switch back and wait until payday and see what I can find in a nice SA or DSA set.

I had never really tried blacks before I bought this board. I do like them, but I also really like the clickiness of the blues. Reds, I'll probably avoid, unless I breakdown and buy one of those Das boards Woot occasionally sells. I only ever see them with reds on that site. I also haven't used browns before. I heard that they were like a less-clicky blue, which is where my interest in them started. If they're closer to reds, I'll probably skip them. Maybe I just need to give in and pick up a switch tester.

For hand to hand combat you'd really want a Model M or Model F keyboard - larger, heavier and, in the case of the F, considerably more metal than the Filco.

With the Filco you are lucky - it has a standard layout, so almost any standard keycap set will fit.  Unless yours is ISO, in which case you'll have to choose keycap sets a bit more carefully.

[villainocity]

Nope, just the regular ol' Filco layout: http://imgur.com/a/CK5fb. I've since added the blue keycaps, and while they don't look awful, I'm definitely replacing them. I also ran into an issue with them that I didn't foresee. The spacebar, shift keys, and backspace only came with the cherry mx connectors in them so I need to figure out what I need to do to connect the stabilizers. I've currently got the blue caps on the alphas, f keys, arrow keys, and such, with the old black ones on the rest.

Edit: Sorted out the stabilizer issue. I am not a smart man.

[rowdy]

Nope, just the regular ol' Filco layout: http://imgur.com/a/CK5fb. I've since added the blue keycaps, and while they don't look awful, I'm definitely replacing them. I also ran into an issue with them that I didn't foresee. The spacebar, shift keys, and backspace only came with the cherry mx connectors in them so I need to figure out what I need to do to connect the stabilizers. I've currently got the blue caps on the alphas, f keys, arrow keys, and such, with the old black ones on the rest.

Edit: Sorted out the stabilizer issue. I am not a smart man.

You are learning, and believe me, there is so much to learn about what you might have previously thought of as a simple keyboard!