I guess I just want a keyboard. Nothing too special, I just want the TKL layout and preferably black color plate and shell to match my keycaps. $200+ for just a kit sounds insane to me, it basically costs more than any Razer keyboard. It's my first time, so I wouldn't like to invest too much (as there is risk, I'd burn/break something while soldering). I've set my limit to $160 for making first keyboard, that's up to $80 for DIY kit, though I find most DIY kits priced at $45 on aliexpress. Not sure if the KBDfans or any other website would ship to me and what the shipping cost would be, so I tend to avoid those shops for now.
Unfortunately, $200 isn't very practical for a low production keyboard because of the cost of the individual items. Manufacturers can buy in bulk allowing for massive price breaks. They also tend to use faster manufacturing processes such as injection molded plastics, while low numbers tend to use machining which is slower and more costly. I get it, $200 can be a lot of money, but in manufacturing, it goes amazingly fast, even in China.
Since you are concerned about messing something up, let me offer you an alternative, buy the cheap E-Element off Amazon and mod that, or do what I did. Start with a Costar based TKL keyboard like a Filco or Cooler Master, used works as well. Mod that with your switches, add a programmable controller. You will be well under $200 and have a solid foundation, and if you go used, even cheaper. If you mess up, you can pick up a used pcb and re-use the rest. These have the added benefit of being a very good pcb and therefore more difficult to damage. Then when you get some more money, buy an aluminum case if you want.
No, it doesn't have leds (there may be something compatible that does though), but it is a solid keyboard and unlike a limited production item, you can buy parts for it if something happens to it and you end up with what amounts to a custom and will last a lifetime.
By the way, I recently did a custom kit off Ali Express.
It cost me well over $200 by the time it was done, and it took almost 4 months by the time I got everything sorted with the manufacturer after there was some shipping damage and possibly a bad pcb. The language barrier was a somewhat significant issue, but so was shipping times. Any time they had to ship something it could take up to a month to get it, and if they forgot something, another month. I came very close to returning it and getting a refund and after 7 months, I have yet to install the new pcb because it means desoldering all the switches and starting over. For the third time. I haven't even used it for more than a week straight because I'm just sick of dealing with it. The manufacturer was reasonable and worked with me, but it just turned into a nightmare.
If you do plan on ordering off Ali Express, be prepared, most transactions are not this bad, but some are also worse. You have little recourse if anything goes wrong compared to what you can do if something goes wrong buying from Amazon or even Ebay.
