I could have worded that better. I meant that keyboard addiction probably won't lead to those things, but I guess if you start buying up rare caps left and right, discontinued limited run boards, and/or rare retro boards with long-dead switch types, then you must do what you must do. Who needs shelter when you can build your own out of keyboards? I imagine wild walnuts are edible, might just have to fight a few squirrels for their stashes.
For my defense I am not a native English speaker, but you got me there.
I mean I got my Pok3r with blue switches 4 years ago, good keyboard, might change the switchs though. But I feel like this is not enough and I want to make something for myself, I don't think I would buy something from a group buy per say (well not now, I am still a student). So I am here to find tips on how to design and do a keyboard from scratch and how to do it. This is going to be a fun journey for my first custom keyboard hehe
Nah, I imagine that's my fault, not yours.
What sort of switches are you thinking of going with? Which have you tried? I think of keyboard modification a bit differently. If you take an off-the-shelf board, desolder all of the switches, and solder in a switch that was never offered for that particular board, then you really basically have a one-of-a-kind board. Ironically, that will likely make it more unique than the LEGO boards you can assemble, as it takes more effort and is unlikely to necessarily be a common thing to do to a given board.
I have many such boards now. I put Kailh box jades in a vintage Unitek K151L (some of the original switches, which I don't like because they're MX black, were not working due to rusted diode legs), Kailh box navies in a Corsair K65, jades in a few TG3 boards, navies in a Das Pro 4. I modded some GX12 aviator sockets directly into the cases of some, a 5-pin din socket on another, so they're pretty unique now.
By scratch, do you mean design a PCB and/or entirely custom layout/plate and case, or buying a PCB the layout and features you desire, and assembling everything you purchase for it? Something like this is also an option:
A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
No PCB required.
So for the switched, I've tried MX Blues, MX Brown, MX Red and Outemu Brown. I like the feel of the cherry MX switched except the reds because there too light. Outemu browns are really weird they are quite scratchy and haa a weird ping sound (that might be a plate thing and I think that this is a known issue and the magicforce, you got what you paid for).
At first I really enjoyed typing with the blues, but the sound is too high pitched for me now, so I want change that completely and try to replace them for some Novelkey's Creams or Everglide's Oreo. I also want to put some neoprene rubber between the plate and the pcb.
And yeah I do agree on tour point with off-the-shelf keyboard, that's why I feel like changing the switches might be good.
And by scratch, I mean literally everything except the key caps. I would really like to design a custom pcb and layout as well as the case and the plate. I feel like if I am going to spend a stupid amount of money it might as well be on something that comes from my head and my hands. I mean I am saying that but I need to learn a lot of stuff before doing anything hahaha.
I am aware that hand wiring is also a possibility, so I still have to think about that because I don't know how it will affect the typing experience since all the switches will sit on a plate. When I saw the Polaris project or the the 7V by gok, I was like :"I want to do something like that"
