That said, my mood is a big determinate of how hard I type, and a significant part of the time I am pounding the keys. And I feel certain that earlier in the day when I am rested I type better and gentler, and by the end of the day I am being more sloppy and striking harder.

I can't agree with this more. Maybe my previous point about "background noise and aggressive music" is maybe a symptom of what you're describing. I certainly type lighter in the morning, after a shower, with a tea, listening to relaxing music. Typing is inherently a sensory experience, albeit a subtle one. I care more about my typing posture and key pressure when I'm more willing to monitor and adapt to subtle sensory stimuli. I care more about speed and "just getting it done" when I couldn't care less about 'enjoying the force curve' or whatever.

I'm somewhat annoyed by some people's narrow definitions of "the hobby".

I'm on this board because I type a lot every day and want good tools and I like to create and modify things. That is what Geekhack was about when I registered a long time ago. But apparently there are people who are here only because they have been bit by a collecting bug. I avoid the shiny colourful stuff: it is not for me.

I almost want to differentiate between "culture" and "hobby". I'll get flayed for saying this, but that's almost the distinction between Reddit and Geekhack respectively. There are shiny keyboards and there are custom, utility keyboards -- they rarely merge. I think that's why there is so much (helpful, constructive) disagreement in this thread in finding non-tech analogues to mechanical keyboards. Keyboards mean something different to everyone. Hell, they mean something different to me on an intra-daily a basis. I might choose different keyboards when I'm writing code vs when I'm browsing the web.

But I agree. I prefer keyboards on the shiny end of "creative utility". That's a smaller target on this forum so I'm often flipping back and forth between "culture" and "hobby"

This is quite nice and will definitely pick one up... chocolatier on Earth will be hot. I see the update for LED support for solder pcbs, would you consider LEDs already on hotswap pcbs? I'm sure folks buying hotswap at extra cost wouldn't mind the added cost for num/scroll/capslock indicators even in cool white.
Nvm I took a closer peep at proto pcb heh.

the hotswap PCBs will have SMD LED's pre-installed for indicator keys.

please xbox backspace PLEASEEEEE

You know what, I second this! A 1.5u R2 Xbox backspace key would have me grabbing a kit just for that!

Review from BokehhBob is live!!!