Hey everyone. So, I grew up with things like the Model M, and such. Then in my late teens, I went through the late 90's. The cheap rubber dome keyboards that persisted into the mid 2k's. Back then however, my hands were healthy, and didn't mind the various horrific "switches" a lot of cheap keyboards used. Now that I'm in my 40's, and having severe arthritis in my whole body, but for this, my hands, I have become far more picky about what keyboards I type on. I didn't notice it at first, but one day my wife flags me down, and asks me why we have so many different keyboards that are hardly used, I had to admit to myself that I probably had an issue.
I love writing. I type tons every day, whether it be chatting, or emails, or even writing books, or attempting to. The feel of dropping words into a file is good to me, and I hope I'll leave a legacy that my family can have after I'm gone. With that being said, I've been slowly, but somewhat expensively honing my keyboard taste. Most of my experiences come from buying expensive gaming keyboards, not liking them, then buying cheap Chinese knock off keyboards that I like more, but are built with crappy parts, so they end up falling apart or the keys end up delaminating when cleaning them, things like that. Where I'm at now, I want to find a build that suits my needs, and I can use for years. I know getting things dialed in is going to take some time, but buying cheap keyboards is just taking up space, and not giving me the feel I want.
With all of that being said, I need something tactile for sure, but I also need cushion at the bottom end, as with the pain in my hands, the slam stops of really light keys kinda hurt after a while. Because of this, I swap during the day between some cherry brown clones, and the Razer rubber dome keys from the cynosa. Both are good for certain conditions, but neither really deliver the feel I want. I remember the Model M buckling springs feeling really good, but it's not like you can run to walmart to see if that's the key you want. Buckling springs are pretty rare obviously. As far as the cherryMX keys, I've found some satisfaction with the reds, and browns. Blues feel good but are too loud, and they all have a hard stop at the bottom that is okay for a while, but after a bit, make my fingers ache pretty bad.
I guess at this point, what i want to do, and why I am here, is that I want to find the build that will fit this weird, probably only me niche. I'd like to be able to type longer without the need to switch keyboards, or take hours, if not days off.
I'm not scared of doing some work, like soldering. I do it for a living, all be it part time, since I'm disabled. I just want to get the right feel. I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks for the read, and for the assistance!
