Author Topic: new to this sport  (Read 2289 times)

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Offline zr0n

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new to this sport
« on: Tue, 24 May 2022, 14:29:17 »
Hello guys,

recently i saw some videos on keyboards as i was planning to buy one and i found a whole new world of people who are creating and modifying keyboards
to me it seemed like an art and i'd like to start investing time and becoming more aware of this thing.

i'd like to apologize in advance of my upcoming silly questions but i'm really noob on this

i own a gamakay mk61 keyboard with gateron optical blue switches (my first "mechanical" keyboard and my first switches)

i'd like to invest on buying yellow switches along with films and lubes so as to create a more creamy one keyboard

please feel free to suggest me on what kind of switches i could buy for this keyboard as i know not all switches fit to replace them.. 

thanks in advanced and nice to meet you all! :)
greets from Europe.

Offline granola bar enthusiast

  • Posts: 316
  • Location: USA
Re: new to this sport
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 24 May 2022, 20:12:41 »
Welcome to GH!

As for the keyboard, if you purchased this one: https://www.amazon.com/GK-GAMAKAY-Mechanical-Waterproof-Programmable/dp/B093LMXLY1?th=1 it has optical switches, which are incompatible with most switches in the custom keyboard community, I would recommend Gateron's Optical Yellow switches if you are going to swap out the switches as they are considered to be close to the beloved Gateron Yellow's which are some of the best budget switches.

I have never tried switch films on optical switches but in this video: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/dkhhpu/switch_films_on_gateron_optical_switches/ they seem to be extremely helpful so grabbing some TX films or whatever is at your favorite vendor would be very helpful, and a lot of beginners see videos on spray lubing and i can't say this enough DO NOT SPRAY LUBE please follow handlube them it, spray lubing can be very bad and even break switches, here is a tutorial for modding an optical keyboard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuk-2R7NtrA
« Last Edit: Tue, 24 May 2022, 20:26:52 by granola bar enthusiast »

Offline zr0n

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Re: new to this sport
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 25 May 2022, 07:40:00 »
wow! thank you for your informative answer.

my keyboard is classified as MK61 but it's so identical to the one you posted. i suppose that all those are just clones of each other.

unfortunately i did the mistake to order this one and later i found out that it takes only optical switches :(
i tried to find optical switches to order but basically it seems that all are sold out and not reproduced anymore.
if you have any links that i could buy optical yellow switches i'd appreciate it.

question: can i use non optical switches to my keyboard if i cut off those metal leaf legs? or it won't work?

what keyboard you suggest to buy for a beginner that it can use plenty of switches and not restricted only to optical ones?

thanks in advanced and i'm really glad to find you all guys! :)

Offline granola bar enthusiast

  • Posts: 316
  • Location: USA
Re: new to this sport
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 25 May 2022, 09:28:13 »
I found these optical yellows on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Gateron-Optical-switches-Switches-Keyboard/dp/B093GHLYSR?th=1

As for cutting off the metal legs, do not do that, normal mechanical switches have leaf's where opticals don't and the leaf is what sends the signal to the pins, without the legs the mechanical switch will not work with an optical PCB, or mechanical PCB.

Some good beginner keyboards in my book are:
TES68, a nice 15$ tray mount 65% kit that's easily moddable and has hotswap sockets. you can burger mount it if you want a bit more out of it but it's nothing special.

The MK870 is basically just the TKL version of the TES68, comes at around 80$, and has south facing RGB with hotswap sockets but is tray mounted.

MW65, a more premium 80$ stacked acrylic gasket mount 65% kit that is very good for modding and fun to build and has south facing RGB and hotswap sockets. Has a more middle-ground sound and is a good experience for building but may not be as good as the Bakeneko.

The Bakeneko, an amazing 120$ aluminum keyboard option that utilizes the same mounting method as the famous Unikorn keyboards and has a really nice feel and sound to it (hotswap with south facing sockets) and is also in-stock with a 60% and 65% option. Does great with PE foam and higher pitched builds

whatever one of these you pick will be great but the Bakeneko is a great experience so if you can afford it I would highly recommend it

also one night i typed out an absolute chonker of a essay about QK65 but a lot of the stuff transfers over to this soo.....
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=116537.msg3122135#msg3122135
« Last Edit: Wed, 25 May 2022, 09:43:38 by granola bar enthusiast »

Offline HungerMechanic

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Re: new to this sport
« Reply #4 on: Wed, 25 May 2022, 16:30:28 »
I found these optical yellows on Amazon: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=116537.msg3122135#msg3122135

Hey,

You seem to know a lot about these kinds of keyboards.

I am looking for something at least 65% sized, but with a full-size right-shift key. Ideally something with the VA68 layout, but anything like that from 65-75% size.

Something about this-sized, but solderable:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002864919235.html


Do you know of anything like that? I just want something solderable that resembles a TKL in ergonomics, but is smaller and cheaper. An IKKI68 would be perfect, but I didn't get in on R2.

Offline zr0n

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Re: new to this sport
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 25 May 2022, 16:36:04 »
great post again!
thanks a lot for your info..
seems i have to invest more time on finding out those things..
i have many unknown words  :)) but i'm googling and searching this forum to find out more.

thanks a lot for your effort to be so informative.. much appreciate it!
probably i had to ask here before ordering my first mech keyb.
i wouldn't have done such mistakes buying a keyb that doesn't support switches but optical ones.

Offline granola bar enthusiast

  • Posts: 316
  • Location: USA
Re: new to this sport
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 31 May 2022, 16:42:27 »
I found these optical yellows on Amazon: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=116537.msg3122135#msg3122135

Hey,

You seem to know a lot about these kinds of keyboards.

I am looking for something at least 65% sized, but with a full-size right-shift key. Ideally something with the VA68 layout, but anything like that from 65-75% size.

Something about this-sized, but solderable:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002864919235.html


Do you know of anything like that? I just want something solderable that resembles a TKL in ergonomics but is smaller and cheaper. An IKKI68 would be perfect, but I didn't get in on R2.

Thanks so much for your compliments! this is the perfect time to brag about being in 8th grade
I spent the last few days looking around but I honestly couldn't find anything, you might be able to try to find a PCB of one of the boards and try to put it into something like a Tofu65 and see if it fits, although don't quote me on that as it may not fit, and there is always the option of desoldering the hotswap sockets from the board you found already. Once again I'm sorry for not being able to help you

Offline HungerMechanic

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Re: new to this sport
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 31 May 2022, 21:55:22 »
No problem, it turns out that solderable 70% and 71-key kits are extremely rare. Like, Aurora being one of the few, and also that new "Tenet" board.

Man, the Tenet looks tempting. But I don't have the scratch right now.

I'm just looking for something to put my Zealio V1 in, as I have 77 right now.

Offline granola bar enthusiast

  • Posts: 316
  • Location: USA
Re: new to this sport
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 26 June 2022, 21:23:31 »
hey not sure if you are still looking for a board like this but, akko has the new ACR 68 option and that has the same layout as IKKI68 aurora w/ long right shift options