2017: What are your keyboard plans?

[mrduul]

Restoring IBM 3278, cleaning beamspring switches.

Fixing my kishsaver.

[davkol]

I've recently revived my plan to build a 60% ergonomic 'board—something between Atreus, TECK and some of those M-Type keyboards—that would fit in a standard case. Unfortunately, when I got a quote for the custom plate and completed the BoM, it turned out to cost dangerously close to $200. I get that people pay much more for customs, but this one wouldn't even be fancy. I've already made this mistake once…

[_haru]

Bought a broken Alps keyboard yesterday. I plan on turning it into a Poker-sized handwired 60% board.

[flyboyalif]

buy korean keebs 

[romevi]

Won the Aerokeys CMY mod set. That solidified which HHKB I should purchase first.

For a while I planned on getting a Type-S. I love my 55g Realforce but find it a bit loud during long and heavy typing sessions, so I thought a silenced HHKB would be ideal. But then the Bluetooth came out. To me, white is the more default color for HHKB, but ultimately my goal was to get a black HHKB with blank black caps and blue modifiers. Thankfully, someone gifted me a beautiful blue mod set made by Aerokeys, and now I have a CMY set to pair it with.
I guess I can get the blank white caps and toss that on the board when I want to switch things up.

[Altis]

I need to cut down on the number of boards/parts I have 

I think 15 is the limit. I do want to try some different Topre boards, though. I have 87U 45g, 55g, and 2 HHKBs... but I'm really tempted to try the Hi Pro for that raw sound (though I'm worried the keycap edges will be uncomfortable), or maybe the Topre RGB. Even the TypeHeaven would be fun to try (especially if I could find one with the red case).

[alienman82]

removed.

[CommonCurt]

I just desoldered for the past 5 hours.  I plan to get a ****ing desoldering station finally.

I used a pump for 50+ boards already, but I think those days are over

What you desoldering?

[alienman82]

removed.

[PollandAkuma]

After realising Topre 45g is note for me, time to get back into the mx game. Probably going to do either JD40 or Planck. Maybe put holtites in it? Because it will probably be the only build I will buy for the rest of the year, or two.

I realised I dislike SA too, so I would like to get DSA, hopefully galaxy class, and a gmk set of some kind

[keebwarrior]

Make a split pcb for a 65% keyboard and build it one day. Buy some fancy keycaps off massdrop once they release something I want.

[Lazylewis]

I'm struggling to plan anything because all the cool keycaps are for MX stems and the only mx switch I can tolerate is clears and it doesn't seem like the 660m comes in clears so I'm in a stalemate.

[TomaHok]

I would like to really start getting into keyboards more this year. I just added to the group buy on massdrop for the carbon set and would like to get a nice tkl board to use that set on.

However, if I am able to find the funds, I would really like to make a custom TKL keyboard since it would be fun and I would get everything to my liking.

First though, I need to finish my diy mechanical macro pad project. All I need to do now is assemble it.

Really though, I would like to keep my spending under control as I am still a student and it is probably (Though sad) best to wait till after college when I have a real job to buy nice things such as keyboards.

But I have promised myself a tkl board if I get the internship which I have been pursing, hopefully the people at the work do not find mechanical keyboards annoying.

[dodgeyhack]

Going to build half a Let's Split as practice in preparation for building a Banana split.

For the 1/2 Let's Split I'm planning on putting a mix of Kailh speed switches in initially. I may put one of each Zealios in there too since I'm waiting on a sampler pack to arrive.
For the case and plate I'm going to go laser cut wood.
At some point I might desolder and make the switches homogenous, we'll see. And I might make the second half one day.

My plan for the banana split is a carbon plate in a wood case with GMK Laser caps.
Then I will stop spending money on this. Except I would like the same keyboard at home as at work so I will probably get another Banana split when round 2 runs =D

[ctrl]

Plan my first builds. Order stuff. Wait for parts. Hopefully begin building something.

1. Waiting for BananaSplit 60
2. Waiting for XD60
3. Waiting for DSA Miami Dolch
4. Waiting for GMK Nautilus
5. Waiting for Mechcables Miami Dolch, Carbon [WTS], Nautilus
6. Get gold plated stabs Done
7. Get VE.A bars for DSA Miami Dolch [WTB]
8. Get MX lock switches Done
9. Get a switch tester Done
10. Get SA Oblivion

Edit: 2017-08-08

[dante]

`

[reti]

Scrounge up enough money to get an ortholinear pcb and plate. Maybe some DSA caps too. I have Kailh switches I want to use

Sent from my SM-T237P using Tapatalk

[alienman82]

removed.

[DaBubbs]

just got back from keycon.  things have changed.

I want a topre board BAD.

I was similar. Really liked MX switches and then tried Topre.

Good news is that there are good ones out there... HHKB, FC660C, RF 87U / 104U. The bad thing is that they are hard to customize.

[alienman82]

removed.

[cheddarbek]

When I first got into this hobby, I ordered almost anything I found interesting, now I'm much more selective.

I've spent the first part of this year lining up parts and getting things ordered. I'll probably have a busy back half as I start to put some of these together.

• Kinesis Model 110, I plan on pulling the PCB, hand wiring this, installing Gateron Browns, with Granite keycaps.
• Satan GH60, Royal Glam wood case, 70g Gatistotles, Chocolatier SA keycaps.
• Satan GH60, skeleton lasercut case, HHKB layout, stickerbombed, Zealios, Dasher Dancer SA.
• Red Scarf II+, probably Zealios, MaxKey Cyan on Dolch SA.
• A custom split board, maybe greens, /dev/tty keycaps.

I just got my Elvish SA keycaps from Sennin32's GB yesterday. Still haven't sorted out what to do with those though.

[CommonCurt]

I want a topre board BAD.

 

[rowdy]

Finish the bolt/ANSI mod on my M122.

[davkol]

It's still 2017 and from I've planned for this year, I've only

• realized that I've actually used Alps SKCM Blue before and kind of liked it;
• done preliminary research on a custom ergonomic keyboard and concluded that I couldn't justify building it… but I've revived my ErgoDox instead;
• settled on damping my linear MX switches.

As I see Keyboard.io M01 starting to ship, I might just order one in winter and call it a day. And if I don't, I guess the ErgoDox is fine for the most part. Going back to it from even heavily remapped more-or-less-standard layouts has been a bit of an epiphany.

[gnmar2723]

Scratch everything I have ever said I was going buy. I want to sell it all.

[dante]

`

[zslane]

Update on my 2017 goals:

1. Paint the top case frame of my "Space Cadet" Topre RealForce RGB board white. DONE.
2a. Acquire a white Filco Majestouch-2 S with MX Silent Red (aka pink) switches. DONE
2b. Acquire a white Varmilo VA108M with MX Silent Red (aka pink) switches. DONE.
3. Get G20 Semiotic into production. DONE. G20 Semiotic is currently available on PMK.
4. Assemble the "Penhurst Pok3r" with Datamancer walnut case. DONE
5. Wait for Round 6 phase 2 to go into production. SP has given this a Q4/2017 production slot.
6a. Wait for LightCycle DSA to ship. DONE
6b. Replace the KBP V60 mini's case with a black Lambo (aluminum). DONE
7. Wait for SA Dasher/Dancer to finish production. Currently in production. I also plan to run a small group buy for BLANKS myself.
8. Try to pull together a killer Mercury Rocketeer group buy bundle for MassDrop. In progress...
9a. Get a Plum Nano 75 (45g), paint it tan, and put Industrial SA keycaps on it. DONE
9b. Get a second Plum Nano 75 (45g) and put Round 4 SPH keycaps on it. DONE
10. Get dark blue, dark gray, and white Norbauer aluminum cases for my NovaTouch(es). Awaiting delivery...
11. Wait for MT3 /dev/tty keycaps to go into production.

[hayt]

Realforce x 2, both white / gray, both 55g. I've fallen in love with this board and need a second one for work. 2018 (assumingly) will be Norbauer case for both

[SBJ]

Scratch everything I have ever said I was going buy. I want to sell it all.

^ I've done this 3 or 4 times already.

Not selling everything myself but I am in the process of trying to get rid of a few things to further support my addiction.

[tauburn]

Wanted to get a GON, but heard too many horror stories about wait times. Just ordered a 22mini kit from winkeyless. going to put yellow gaterons with 55g springs on it.

[ambalek]

Ages ago I posted about wanting to build an Alps board in 2017. So far I've accumulated these parts:

• Alps SKCL Green
• Granite DSA Alps (some larger keys are slightly warped so I'm not amazingly happy with them, I might try heating them if they don't fit well)

Still on order:

• Carbon fiber Alps plate
• Alps64 PCB

So I've actually made some progress. I like linear switches and the SKCL Greens feel really nice to me, they're very clean!

Apparently with the PCB you need to solder diodes, so it'll be a little more work than I'm used with with typical Cherry MX builds. I'm still looking forward to building it though.

[Niomosy]

Thus far I've managed to keep to my plans of not buying much.  Going to skip on GMK Vista.  I've got Dasher/Dancer coming in soon and that will likely do it for me for a while.  Not necessarily end-game but refocusing funds into some music gear for the foreseeable future.

[E3E]

Ages ago I posted about wanting to build an Alps board in 2017. So far I've accumulated these parts:

• Alps SKCL Green
• Granite DSA Alps (some larger keys are slightly warped so I'm not amazingly happy with them, I might try heating them if they don't fit well)

Still on order:

• Carbon fiber Alps plate
• Alps64 PCB

So I've actually made some progress. I like linear switches and the SKCL Greens feel really nice to me, they're very clean!

Apparently with the PCB you need to solder diodes, so it'll be a little more work than I'm used with with typical Cherry MX builds. I'm still looking forward to building it though.

Nice! SKCL Greens are quite nice with the right setup. Embrace the carbon fiber. 

[Kavik]

Update from my post in February:

-Aluminum case for KBP V80. --Probably not going to happen. Black Tex TKL cases have been out of stock all year.
-DSA Lightcycle for KBP V80. --Installed. Need to wait on replacement caps for broken stems.
-Ellipse F77 and all its extra goodies.  --Hope to receive this this year.
-RAMA M65-A with Zealios. --Should be receiving in the next couple weeks.
-GMK Nautilus. --Decided on GMK Dark Solarized instead.
-A custom TKL or 60% would be cool, but may wait on that until 2018. --Definitely not happening this year.
-Filco KOBO KEYBOARD FRAME (one of the faux wood-ish colors) and SA 1965 for my Rosewill. (or maybe a cheap uniform SA set) --Not sure about these anymore, but SA 1965 is due in Sept, I think.
-Screw mod my third Model M that's just sitting here broken. --Done and gifted to my brother.
-Build something out of the spare Unicomp barrel/plate assembly I have. --Not really sure where to get the parts and such for this. It may continue sitting there for a while.

Added:
-Receive and build The Moon Keyboard with Gateron Greens.
-Receive MX Silent Blacks. Use on extra plate and PCB for The Moon.
-Receive MX lock switches. Use on RAMA M65-A and maybe The Moon.

[hehe13]

0. Be filthy rich.
1. Build 96 key keyboard.
2. Own original DSA Dolch and SA Gradient.
3. Build Planck and get fluent with that.
4. Learn Touch typing for real.
5. Make some caps and share this to the community.

[gnmar2723]

I'm still trying to sell all my stuff. You guys should help me with that...


Sale thread

[Myoth]

Well I don't really know in which order I'll do these but they are "projects", I guess ...


+ Have a fully sculptured SA in ISO-FR (almost done !)
+ Convert my linearised Cream Dampened AEK2
+ Convert my Orange Alps ASK
+ Restore an old Futaba MA keyboard
+ Find a french Model F (AT if possible since I can't be arsed to convert an XT (plus that stepped Alpha key is bothering me very much if it's not an original French model) ) (or a F122 but gl hf to me !)
+ Find a ISO Winkeyless 1800 (to put that sweet SA ISO-FR of mine )
+ Make a TKL out of the generatious donation of switches from ramnes (thanks again !)
+ Find my favourite MX-style switch to be able to use it everywhere
+ Try Zealios, Clears, some weird combos maybe ?
+ Tidy my keyboards as they are a mess right now, there is some on the ground, they are everywhere.
+ Try to find some nice French keysets
+ Acquire more nice keyboards
+ Get into Artisans and Kustoms

[TheNamesTy45]

Bought two HHKBs a white Type-S and a black Pro 2. This ruined all of my former keyboard plans. I don't want any MX boards right now.

So new plan: I just listed all of my old boards and GMK / JTK keycaps on eBay and posted my miscellaneous items in the pay it forward thread.

After this mass sale is done..

• Get my GMK Spyro kit to Group buy
• Get a Realforce 87u with 55g domes
• Cross my fingers that the HHKB pro 3 is a thing that happens soon. And it's factory silenced. And it has the MX compatible stems the Realforce RGB has. And it cooks and cleans for me. And my girlfriend lets me buy it.
• Tempted to try a Unicomp and experiment with new switch types (new to me that is). I've been watching too much Chyrosran22 on YouTube recently, and it's made me morbidly curious about keyboards outside of the MX world.

[ambalek]

Ages ago I posted about wanting to build an Alps board in 2017. So far I've accumulated these parts:

• Alps SKCL Green
• Granite DSA Alps (some larger keys are slightly warped so I'm not amazingly happy with them, I might try heating them if they don't fit well)

Still on order:

• Carbon fiber Alps plate
• Alps64 PCB

So I've actually made some progress. I like linear switches and the SKCL Greens feel really nice to me, they're very clean!

Apparently with the PCB you need to solder diodes, so it'll be a little more work than I'm used with with typical Cherry MX builds. I'm still looking forward to building it though.

Nice! SKCL Greens are quite nice with the right setup. Embrace the carbon fiber. 

The ones I've got feel very smooth so I'm hoping it'll all work out well, but it might get built in 2018 at this rate 

[[Lewynlight]]

update! it would be nice to write at this thread once in a while to reminds me at my ongoing projects.

let's see, i'm already at end-game with 75% as i have my ergo pro sold. and ve.a already.

keycaps;
-GMK Plum/Nautilus.. decisions to be made. >still haven't made a decisionNautilus. done. plus oblivion. plus royal alpha. all that left is to find a hyperfuse for myself.

keyboards;
-try to look for a fullsize keyboard with left numpad (another run of LZ RV will be amazing) this will be my fullsize end-game with cherry-stotle switches. >Still trying giving up on LZ RV. instead, got my rt80, waiting for anything good to come.. meanwhile, i got my filco phantom project to keep me busy. em7 is still on the way as well.

-as for 60%.... HHKB case from RAMA might make me buy HHKB again.EXENT. Fjell Pro. or anvil60.

Switches;
getting silent red or silent black and tealios, actually building my gatlistotle, utilizing my vintage clears and zeal stems...

other projects;
should start learning solidworks for my lilly..

pretty much i'm gonna be so finished for keyboards at 2017. maybe not gonna stop at keycaps, but pretty much for the keyboard. still on the game.

retiring is just a myth, after all.

[Leska]

Will hopefully get my hands on a kbd75 with iso layout. I have to get my whitefox sold first though. Dont want 1 expensive keyboard sitting around, not getting used

[AlexAtPanc]

Milled alu everything.

Might try a sand cast alu for the lulz.

[Kavik]

Update from my post in August February:

-Aluminum case for KBP V80. --Probably not going to happen. Black Tex TKL cases have been out of stock all year.
-DSA Lightcycle for KBP V80. --Installed. Need to wait on replacement caps for broken stems.
-Ellipse F77 and all its extra goodies.  --Hope to receive this this year.
-RAMA M65-A with Zealios. --Should be receiving in the next couple weeks.
-GMK Nautilus. --Decided on GMK Dark Solarized instead.
-A custom TKL or 60% would be cool, but may wait on that until 2018. --Definitely not happening this year.
-Filco KOBO KEYBOARD FRAME (one of the faux wood-ish colors) and SA 1965 for my Rosewill. (or maybe a cheap uniform SA set) --Not sure about these anymore, but SA 1965 is due in Sept, I think. --You have to buy a Filco to get these cases. Not worth spending over $100 on.
-Screw mod my third Model M that's just sitting here broken. --Done and gifted to my brother.
-Build something out of the spare Unicomp barrel/plate assembly I have. --Not really sure where to get the parts and such for this. It may continue sitting there for a while.

Added:
-Receive and build The Moon Keyboard with Gateron Greens.
-Receive MX Silent Blacks. Use on extra plate and PCB for The Moon.
-Receive MX lock switches. Use on RAMA M65-A and maybe The Moon. --MX lock switch installed on M65-A. It is finicky, and I'm not sure I'd like it even if it weren't.

Added 2:
-Receive GMK Dark Solarized. Not sure that will happen this year.
-Receive SA 1965.
-Receive DSA Miami Dolch

2017 has seemed like the year of waiting.

[Sifo]

****ing build the two 60% that i have waiting to be assembled, get more clacks becaus they're going down in price, and tell bee to buzz off

ayy i have achieved my goals excpet still waiting on lustro. not bad!

other than getting more clacks, goals 100% completed

not too late to contribute btw

[xtrafrood]

I might buy a keyboard. Who knows

Forgot about this thread. I guess my goal was met; still lots of room for improvement.

[OfTheWild]

My primary goal this year is to actually start production on some of my prototypes of things i've been working on. I have piles of failed molds, castings, and clay bits all over the office!  )

Other than that... goals this year are:
1. I need to build a shelf for storage and display of my boards that allows me easy access to rotate them through duty.
2. Setup a work area out in the shop to do resin casting and more "Making Stuff Together" projects.
3. Buy a Realforce 104U White and convert it to 55g domes with Novatouch sliders for work.
4. Find the blue AeroKeys mods and 55g domes for my HHKB so it can be done.
5. Design and machine a matching aluminum 5 row numpad for the Smart68 (or any other 5 row/60% boards) when it shows up in hopes of having a true end-game setup for home.
6. Get a Booper keycap somehow

Gave up on the smart68 and sold it... otherwise the rest are complete. Booper hooked me up with a pretty rare Col. Tussock at the keycon to finish this years goals! 

[[Lewynlight]]

Update from august. man, so much things happened. 
now i am really thankful to OP for making this thread (and for myself for continuing to write this) . you should create for 2018 as well, as 2017 is ending soon  )

let's see, i'm already at end-game with 75% as i have my ergo pro sold. and ve.a already.

Still got my ve.a. this will be in my possesion for a long time.

keycaps;

-GMK Plum/Nautilus.. decisions to be made. >still haven't made a decisionNautilus. done. plus oblivion. plus royal alpha. all that left is to find a hyperfuse for myself.

Got RA. Oblivion and Nautilus is still on the way.. hyperfuse still nowhere to be found. no changes here.

keyboards;
-try to look for a fullsize keyboard with left numpad (another run of LZ RV will be amazing) this will be my fullsize end-game with cherry-stotle switches. >Still trying giving up on LZ RV. instead, got my rt80, waiting for anything good to come.. meanwhile, i got my filco phantom project to keep me busy. em7 is still on the way as well.

heh. didn't continue my filco phantom. rt80 is out for a while for some body repair. em7 still on the way (great GB so far /s  )

-as for 60%.... HHKB case from RAMA might make me buy HHKB again.EXENT. Fjell Pro. or anvil60.

hah. as i got my 910 already there's no need for another 60-65%. but i might join SKBXX for the giggles tho. that case is cool.

Switches;
getting silent red or silent black and tealios, actually building my gatlistotle, utilizing my vintage clears and zeal stems...

no more silent shawarma. tealios already goes into 910 and it feels amazing. gatistotle already completed but i don't have any place to put in on  ) . vintage and zeal stem also in same condition as gatistole.

other projects;
should start learning solidworks for my lilly..

haven't started.

pretty much i'm gonna be so finished for keyboards at 2017. maybe not gonna stop at keycaps, but pretty much for the keyboard. still on the game.

retiring is just a myth, after all.

still on the game. retiring is a myth.

[dante]

I'm retired from keyboards until something catches my eye. My Dell KB-522 is my BFF.

Am I interested in anything for 2018?  Possibly a Realforce 87 R2 45g Silent if that variant ever gets made.

If not, no worries.

[davkol]

I've tried a bunch of Kailh [Speed/Box/Pro] switches and various dampeners over the last few months, and to be honest I'm not particularly eager to try more at this point. I wanted to get some of the Input Club's Halo switches, but then the whole ****show happened and I'm not fond of Kailh Box switches enough to go for the Hako spin-off.

I've also made some progress in documenting and then reducing my pile of older keyboards. It's not as much as I hoped, but at least something. There's a lot of desoldering left, among other things, and I can't bring myself to finish it.

Coming up next… Build some converters and replacement controllers, finally. That can't be hard, right?

[zslane]

Update on my 2017 goals:

1a. Paint the top case frame of my "Space Cadet" Topre RealForce RGB board white. DONE.
1b. Install custom blue Pexon cable in the "Space Cadet" board. DONE.
2a. Acquire a white Filco Majestouch-2 S with MX Silent Red (aka pink) switches. DONE
2b. Acquire a white Varmilo VA108M with MX Silent Red (aka pink) switches. DONE.
3. Get G20 Semiotic into production. DONE. G20 Semiotic is currently available on PMK.
4. Assemble the "Penhurst Pok3r" with Datamancer walnut case. DONE
5a. Wait for Round 6 phase 2 (Honeywell colors) to ship.
5b. Paint the top case frame of my "Honeywell" Topre RealForce RGB board white.
6a. Wait for LightCycle DSA to ship. DONE
6b. Replace the KBP V60 mini's case with a black Lambo (aluminum). DONE
7. Wait for SA Dasher/Dancer to finish production and ship. DONE. I plan to run a small group buy for BLANKS myself.
8. Try to pull together a killer Mercury Rocketeer group buy bundle for MassDrop. In progress...
9a. Get a Plum Nano 75 (45g), paint it tan, and put Industrial SA keycaps on it. DONE
9b. Get a second Plum Nano 75 (45g) and put Round 4 SPH keycaps on it. DONE
10a. Get dark blue, dark gray, and white Norbauer aluminum cases for my NovaTouch(es). Almost done. Waiting for dark blue replacement case.
10b. Paint one Plum numpad dark blue and another one dark gray (these are to be paired with the NovaTouches).
(Had to remove /dev/tty keycap plans from 2017 since they've been delayed until Q1/2018)