Author Topic: Custom Keyboard Help  (Read 1488 times)

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Offline dwang040

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  • Posts: 12
Custom Keyboard Help
« on: Sun, 04 August 2019, 11:02:46 »
For a couple of years now, I've been using the Ducky Shine 6 SE with Cherry MX Nature Whites and Vortex PBT keycaps. I really enjoy the keyboard but I have been thinking about getting/ building a custom keyboard. While I'm not planning much currently, I do have a couple of questions about them.

How hard is it to build one and get them working? It's been years since I've actually soldered something, so I'd be rusty and would probably burn the pcb or something.

Are there any 104 key layouts? The closest layouts I have seen are Massdrop's Shift, KBDfan's KBD19X, and tx108se. But those are "rare" and the group buys already ended (There's a black prebuild 19X avail, but will probably go out of stock by the time I start getting parts in the future). I use the num pad quite a bit when inputting numbers so it's a must-have for me.

How fast and how bad is the shine on a GMK keycap set. The GMK 8008 was finally placed on sale, I'm really into the color combination of that set, but I'm not sure if those might be good for me? Again, I have oily fingers and am afraid that the shine will get really bad after some time. Not to mention, I can't tell how much losing backlit keyboard will be for me. I feel like I would never be able to find the special characters during my late-night coding sessions.

Any good switches that are similar to Nature Whites? I find Cherry Reds to be too light and I think Blacks might be too heavy. Having a Nature White keyboard right now, I can say the force is near perfect, maybe slightly lighter. I've looked at some other key switches, like pandas, a couple of zelios switch types, but maybe someone can give me a direct recommendation.

Thanks for the help!

Offline dexie

  • Posts: 92
  • Location: Riga, Latvia
Re: Custom Keyboard Help
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 06 August 2019, 00:38:55 »
Honestly, if you are satisfied with your current keyboard, why build a custom one? If you choose only what you are used to, you will end up building the exact same keyboard you have now.

Answering your questions:

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How hard is it to build one and get them working?

It is definitely not an easy road, but I am sure 99% people out there could manage that. There are hundreds of guides and videos about building a keyboard online. You might even be interested in some of the build logs people post. After all, if you are not going for a high-end keyboard burning a PCB is nothing terrible.

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Are there any 104 key layouts?
There are really few full-size boards available, with 1800 layout (KBDfan's KBD19X, Massdrop's Shift) being the closest ones. The reason is that practically nobody "needs" keyboard that big. Full-size keyboards don't really give you many benefits, but are less ergonomic (asymmetrical in design, which requires tilted body posture), harder to work with (less space for a mouse, need to move hands to reach certain keys), harder to transport, harder and more expensive to build, and, imo, just look worse. I am sure most people can get away with at most TKL keyboard, with 60/65 keyboards being the sweet-spot.

If you *really* need numpad for entering numbers and don't want to use numpad on keyboard layers you are better getting separate numpad, not a full-size keyboard.

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How fast and how bad is the shine on a GMK keycap set.
That's really personal. Depends how heavy you use your keyboard and how much you dread shiny keycaps. Some people actually enjoy shiny look. IMO it's really not bad at all, and just proves your love to certain keyset. After all, you don't need to keep that one keyset and replace it as soon as you start hate it, or you could even try to sandblast your keys. https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12946&start=

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I can't tell how much losing backlit keyboard will be for me.
You should be touchtyping anyway. Not seeing actual letter on a keyboard actually pushes you into learning those weird key location.

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Any good switches that are similar to Nature Whites?
Switches are as personal as it gets. Most people would recommend you to get a switch-tester, but if you like a particular switch on a tester does not mean you will like it on a keyboard. If you enjoy linears I'd suggest Gateron Yellows or Gateron Inks. Both are pretty good starter linear options, but you definitely need to investigate yourself what works for you better.

Some people prefer to buy hotswap keyboard to try-out and swap different switches. That might be an option for you.
« Last Edit: Tue, 06 August 2019, 00:41:50 by dexie »
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Offline dwang040

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Re: Custom Keyboard Help
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 07 August 2019, 10:54:46 »
Thank you for the detailed reply.

I'm satisfied with what I'm using right now, but that's mainly because I'm comparing this to a bunch of membrane keyboards. In short, I was hoping that building a custom keyboard would allow me to get more "personal" with the choices and allow for a smoother typing experience by modding the switches/ lubing them before assembly. The other reason was that I'm really into the color combo of the GMK 8008 and very tempted to get the set. However, they wouldn't match the current keyboard that I'm using. The frame currently is a dark/ midnight purple and it's a 108 key layout. So colors don't match and I'm short 4 keys.

I see your points, but I guess there's not one day that goes by without me using the num pad. As you suggested, I have thought about getting a 80% and a num pad on the side, but if that were the case, I would much prefer a matching set and other than the KBDfans 8X, I have yet to see any matching keyboard + num pad kit. Not to mention, would personally prefer to have the keyboard and num pad as one unit since it'll save me a usb slot from my already crowded motherboard io. But if it really came down to this, I guess I'd be fine with getting them separately.

I have looked into some switches, Gateron Yellows and Box Reds have caught my eye a bit. Will look into those a bit more. Might just have to try out a switch tester since stores only offer so many switch options.
« Last Edit: Wed, 07 August 2019, 10:59:49 by dwang040 »