Hello from WI

[Tagasaur]

Hey everyone!  I've been diving deep into the rabbit hole over the last couple of weeks (doing google searches, watching youtube videos, browsing reddit) and I found the forum here.  My first mech ever arrived in the mail today so I thought I would make an account and say hello.

I know eventually I will do a build because it looks awesome, and I won't be able to resist the urge.  As for now, I had no idea where to begin switch-wise since I haven't ever even used a mech before today.  So I ordered a Glorious GMMK Compact prebuilt with gateron browns preinstalled.  I can see I'm going to need a switch tester because this thing feels so amazing to me already I don't know where to start next!  I didn't think tactile sounded like something I'd enjoy and was leaning towards linear but this is incredible, whether it be because they are tactile or because the change to mech is fantastic on it's own I don't really know, I guess only time will tell!  The compact will also be a good test to see if I miss the dedicated arrows or if I eventually want to go the 65% route.

The plan for starters is to lube the switches, mainly just for the sake of tinkering and learning more about mechs in general.  Also pick up a switch tester, and I'm on the lookout for a set of keycaps because hey why not?

Thanks for having me; I look forward to being part of the community.



-Tag

[Maledicted]

Hi Tagasaur. Welcome to Geekhack, fellow Wisconsinite.

As far as your average off-the-shelf MX clone tactiles go, you did a pretty good job with Gateron browns. Much smoother than MX. You can actually tell that there's tactility there.

Here's a great switch tester that covers most of the bases: 130 switch switches tester with acrylic base blank keycaps for mechanical keyboard

65% is the smallest I could ever go myself. Too many 2-3 key hotkeys, and I'm not going to set up a bunch of complex personal macros when I use mostly old retro boards, and a lot of boards that are not my own, on a lot of computers that are not my own. Need to stick mostly to ANSI.

[Tagasaur]

Hey thanks for the link, much appreciated.  That's a lot of switches!  I haven't even heard of some of them.  I know for sure clicky is a no-go so just need to narrow down between tactile/linear and then decide which ones to go with.  I think 65% is also probably where I will end up eventually, just depends how much I miss the arrow keys.  I mostly just game though, so we'll see where it takes me.

Side-note, is there a post threshold or something that eliminates the CAPTCHA when you make a post or is this something that doesn't go away?

[Maledicted]

Hey thanks for the link, much appreciated.  That's a lot of switches!  I haven't even heard of some of them.  I know for sure clicky is a no-go so just need to narrow down between tactile/linear and then decide which ones to go with.  I think 65% is also probably where I will end up eventually, just depends how much I miss the arrow keys.  I mostly just game though, so we'll see where it takes me.

Side-note, is there a post threshold or something that eliminates the CAPTCHA when you make a post or is this something that doesn't go away?

You're welcome. It is a start to be sure. It is, unfortunately, not exhaustive. It is a shame that clickies aren't an option. A lot of people seem to like Topre, Zealios, and Holy Pandas for tactiles. Gateron inks, Novelkeys creams, Tealios, and Alpacas (and maybe optical linears) for linears. I'm sure I missed plenty, but that's a start.

That's a good question, which I can assume in the affirmative, since I seem to have already forgotten that was a thing.

[funkmon]

Hey thanks for the link, much appreciated.  That's a lot of switches!  I haven't even heard of some of them.  I know for sure clicky is a no-go so just need to narrow down between tactile/linear and then decide which ones to go with.  I think 65% is also probably where I will end up eventually, just depends how much I miss the arrow keys.  I mostly just game though, so we'll see where it takes me.

Side-note, is there a post threshold or something that eliminates the CAPTCHA when you make a post or is this something that doesn't go away?

Yes, it goes away shortly.

I hope the following confuses you, but I started out on a full size, and moved to more compact, ****ty keyboards over time, and then got progressively more and more annoyed with not having all the keys available all the time, and got bigger and bigger keyboards. Maybe you'll go that way too!

[Tagasaur]

You're welcome. It is a start to be sure. It is, unfortunately, not exhaustive. It is a shame that clickies aren't an option. A lot of people seem to like Topre, Zealios, and Holy Pandas for tactiles. Gateron inks, Novelkeys creams, Tealios, and Alpacas (and maybe optical linears) for linears. I'm sure I missed plenty, but that's a start.

That's a good question, which I can assume in the affirmative, since I seem to have already forgotten that was a thing.

I will still test out clickies in a switch tester to see if I like them, i've just preemptively ruled them out because of the current location of my PC (don't think my family would appreciate them haha).  That's definitely a good start to my list of options, and I will add them to it!

[Tagasaur]

Yes, it goes away shortly.

I hope the following confuses you, but I started out on a full size, and moved to more compact, ****ty keyboards over time, and then got progressively more and more annoyed with not having all the keys available all the time, and got bigger and bigger keyboards. Maybe you'll go that way too!

Perfect, I thought/hoped it would go away sooner rather than later.

I suppose I could end up going that way.  I guess I figure the only time I really use the numpad is when I am doing my monthly budget, and if that becomes an issue I could just use a separate numpad that I can put away when not in use.  We'll see where the adventure leads!

[Maledicted]

I hope the following confuses you, but I started out on a full size, and moved to more compact, ****ty keyboards over time, and then got progressively more and more annoyed with not having all the keys available all the time, and got bigger and bigger keyboards. Maybe you'll go that way too!

Does that mean you're going to end up with an IBM battleship or battlecruiser? Maybe a whole high seas fleet?

I suppose I could end up going that way.  I guess I figure the only time I really use the numpad is when I am doing my monthly budget, and if that becomes an issue I could just use a separate numpad that I can put away when not in use.  We'll see where the adventure leads!

People certainly do roll that way. I imagine that's the most flexible way to go about it if you need the number pad. I have yeti fingers, so I just use the alphanumeric block. I don't do a lot of math with keyboards though either.

[Tagasaur]

Well, I did a little bit of tinkering tonight...not a ton though.  I clipped all the stock stabilizers and put them back in.  I was going to do the band aid mod but I don't have any band aids.  The stabilizers were pre-lubed but it looked like a lot less than what I've seen people do in youtube videos.  Tomorrow I will venture out and get some dielectric grease and some band aids and tear back into it again in the next couple of days.

I didn't order a big tester yet, but I did order the sample pack/test kit of Gateron/Kailh switches from Glorious on Amazon.  They will be here tomorrow and I really want to test out the Gateron black.  I'm not going to mess with lubing the switches until I decide which one I like the best in stock form.

[Maledicted]

Well, I did a little bit of tinkering tonight...not a ton though.  I clipped all the stock stabilizers and put them back in.  I was going to do the band aid mod but I don't have any band aids.  The stabilizers were pre-lubed but it looked like a lot less than what I've seen people do in youtube videos.  Tomorrow I will venture out and get some dielectric grease and some band aids and tear back into it again in the next couple of days.

I didn't order a big tester yet, but I did order the sample pack/test kit of Gateron/Kailh switches from Glorious on Amazon.  They will be here tomorrow and I really want to test out the Gateron black.  I'm not going to mess with lubing the switches until I decide which one I like the best in stock form.

Nice. You may be surprised by how the Kailh box linears in that set feel as well. That makes sense. It isn't worth putting all of that work and effort into a switch and deciding you're just going to swap them later anyway.

[Tagasaur]

Well I dove into the board this afternoon.  I wasn't able to find anything locally to lube the stems/housings of the stabilizers but I picked up some dielectric bulb grease for the bars.  It's Permatex brand from Walmart.  It doesn't appear to be any different than the regular stuff. The stabilizers were pre-lubed from Glorious but not very well, a couple barely had any lube at all.  I also did the band-aid mod, despite reading mixed reviews about its effectiveness on plate mounted stabilizers.  Figured it can't hurt.  When I finished up the spacebar still had some rattle so I went back in and lubed it some more which definitely helped.  There is a thin piece of foam between the PCB and the bottom plate which is a nice touch.  However, the bottom plate has rectangular shaped pockets machined in it where the sides of the rectangles seem to offer support for the PCB and the plate.  I forgot to take a photo of this but next time I have it apart I will take one.  There is opportunity to deaden some more noise by filling those pockets I think.

I like how it's coming along so far and amazed at how something seemingly so small made the amount of difference it has.  On to switch selection!

[Maledicted]

Well I dove into the board this afternoon.  I wasn't able to find anything locally to lube the stems/housings of the stabilizers but I picked up some dielectric bulb grease for the bars.  It's Permatex brand from Walmart.  It doesn't appear to be any different than the regular stuff. The stabilizers were pre-lubed from Glorious but not very well, a couple barely had any lube at all.  I also did the band-aid mod, despite reading mixed reviews about its effectiveness on plate mounted stabilizers.  Figured it can't hurt.  When I finished up the spacebar still had some rattle so I went back in and lubed it some more which definitely helped.  There is a thin piece of foam between the PCB and the bottom plate which is a nice touch.  However, the bottom plate has rectangular shaped pockets machined in it where the sides of the rectangles seem to offer support for the PCB and the plate.  I forgot to take a photo of this but next time I have it apart I will take one.  There is opportunity to deaden some more noise by filling those pockets I think.

I like how it's coming along so far and amazed at how something seemingly so small made the amount of difference it has.  On to switch selection!

That's all good to hear. I'm a clicky guy, so I don't really bother with lubing stabilizers/switches, deadening, etc. The most I have done is slap some dielectric grease on a particularly bad F77 space bar stabilizer.

[Tagasaur]

I tested out the switches in the Glorious sample pack today.  It included Gateron (clear, red, black, blue, green, brown) and Kailh (Box black, box brown, box red, box white, speed bronze, speed copper, speed silver, pro purple).

I officially ruled out clickies, although I like the feel of them the sound would drive me nuts as well as my family.  As far as linear goes I ruled out gat clear and both varieties of red because they felt too light to me. 

Here's my ranking of what's left (so far).

Tactile: 
Pro Purple
Speed Copper
Box Brown
Gat Brown

Linear: 
Box Black
Gat Black
Speed Silver

[Maledicted]

I tested out the switches in the Glorious sample pack today.  It included Gateron (clear, red, black, blue, green, brown) and Kailh (Box black, box brown, box red, box white, speed bronze, speed copper, speed silver, pro purple).

I officially ruled out clickies, although I like the feel of them the sound would drive me nuts as well as my family.  As far as linear goes I ruled out gat clear and both varieties of red because they felt too light to me. 

Here's my ranking of what's left (so far).

Tactile: 
Pro Purple
Speed Copper
Box Brown
Gat Brown

Linear: 
Box Black
Gat Black
Speed Silver

If you like the box browns, you should probably try the box royals as well. There's more tactility. The spring is also a bit heavier, but in some quick testing the other night, I think that could be adjusted without issue.

I'll have to see again if I have any pro purples or speed coppers.

I find red switches to be just a bit too light as well. I can accidentally actuate MX reds by resting my fingers on them. I think the box reds may be a bit heavier though, not sure about the MX clones offhand. Black switches, although I think both of those are lighter than their MX counterpart, can be fatiguing for a lot of people when typed on for more than a few minutes straight. Just something to consider. If they do end up seeming too heavy, Gateron yellows are a good balance between their red and black switches as well.

If there's a switch you do particularly like, but do not like the weighting, you can usually find replacement springs in whatever weighting you may prefer as well.

It is a shame that that tester didn't include any bassy box clickies like pinks or jades, jades having a lot more tactility as well. Even box whites, still sounding much better than MX blues/etc, are a little high pitched.

[Tagasaur]

I tested out the switches in the Glorious sample pack today.  It included Gateron (clear, red, black, blue, green, brown) and Kailh (Box black, box brown, box red, box white, speed bronze, speed copper, speed silver, pro purple).

I officially ruled out clickies, although I like the feel of them the sound would drive me nuts as well as my family.  As far as linear goes I ruled out gat clear and both varieties of red because they felt too light to me. 

Here's my ranking of what's left (so far).

Tactile: 
Pro Purple
Speed Copper
Box Brown
Gat Brown

Linear: 
Box Black
Gat Black
Speed Silver

If you like the box browns, you should probably try the box royals as well. There's more tactility. The spring is also a bit heavier, but in some quick testing the other night, I think that could be adjusted without issue.

I'll have to see again if I have any prop purples or speed coppers.

I find red switches to be just a bit too light as well. I can accidentally actuate MX reds by resting my fingers on them. I think the box reds may be a bit heavier though, not sure about the MX clones offhand. Black switches, although I think both of those are lighter than their MX counterpart, can be fatiguing for a lot of people when typed on for more than a few minutes straight. Just something to consider. If they do end up seeming to heavy, Gateron yellows are a good balance between their red and black switches as well.

If there's a switch you do particularly like, but do not like the weighting, you can usually find replacement springs in whatever weighting you may prefer as well.

It is a shame that that tester didn't include any bassy box clickies like pinks or jades, jades having a lot more tactility as well. Even box whites, still sounding much better than MX blues/etc, are a little high pitched.

I like how smooth the box black feels but I think I'm leaning more towards tactile at this point and I really like how the pro purple feels.  As far as clicky, I think what I like about them is the tactility and I agree with what you said about them (of the ones I got in the kit, the white sounds the "best" but is still too high pitched for me).  I will have to pick up a larger tester like the one you told me about previously and really narrow down what I want to go with for the whole board.  I'm glad I went with a hotswap board for my first!

[funkmon]

If you like tactile, there's something which is a bit difficult to build I think right now, which is Matias Quiet Click (there's no click). They're sharply tactile switches without any click element, but they're Alps based, so it might be harder to do unless you know a bit about soldering. Or you can buy a Matias keyboard, or I think one of the keyboards on mechanicalkeyboards.com comes with Alps quietclick.

Yes, that's true. Here's Geekhack member Chryos on a review of them.

Matias switches are my favourite modern switches.

[Maledicted]

If you like tactile, there's something which is a bit difficult to build I think right now, which is Matias Quiet Click (there's no click). They're sharply tactile switches without any click element, but they're Alps based, so it might be harder to do unless you know a bit about soldering. Or you can buy a Matias keyboard, or I think one of the keyboards on mechanicalkeyboards.com comes with Alps quietclick.

Yes, that's true. Here's Geekhack member Chryos on a review of them.

Matias switches are my favourite modern switches.

I heard too many horror stories about chatter with Matias to be too enthusiastic about picking up anything with their switches. I would love to try them some time though, to compare them to Alps.

[Tagasaur]

If you like tactile, there's something which is a bit difficult to build I think right now, which is Matias Quiet Click (there's no click). They're sharply tactile switches without any click element, but they're Alps based, so it might be harder to do unless you know a bit about soldering. Or you can buy a Matias keyboard, or I think one of the keyboards on mechanicalkeyboards.com comes with Alps quietclick.

Yes, that's true. Here's Geekhack member Chryos on a review of them.

Matias switches are my favourite modern switches.

Thanks for another option to look into.  I'm definitely not a pro at soldering but I have some experience (albeit limited to RC cars).  I just discovered Corne and Lily58 within the last couple days and I'm probably going to build one just for fun and to practice soldering.

[Maledicted]

Thanks for another option to look into.  I'm definitely not a pro at soldering but I have some experience (albeit limited to RC cars).  I just discovered Corne and Lily58 within the last couple days and I'm probably going to build one just for fun and to practice soldering.

You'll do fine. Keyboards are easy soldering compared to most modern PCBs. I consider them one of the best modern/relevant ways to start out.

[Tagasaur]

I ordered pro purples from Glorious for the time being.  Waiting for NK to get their switch testers back in stock and then I will order one with a bunch of tactiles in it to try out.

[Maledicted]

I ordered pro purples from Glorious for the time being.  Waiting for NK to get their switch testers back in stock and then I will order one with a bunch of tactiles in it to try out.

Nice. I just had my testers out last night, I should have tried out pro purples again.