Custom KBs vs Stock KB w/ Metal Case?

[cannonking]

Hi, I've been a lurker for a while now and owned a TKL Filco for about 3 years. I want something a bit more premium than my Filco and have been looking at custom KBs like the KMAC and LZ-GH. I've heard getting a stock KB and putting it in a metal case makes it feel a lot better. How different do custom KBs feel compared to simply getting a metal case for my Filco, or a Poker II with a metal case?

Also one more quick unrelated question. I bought my Filco from thekeyboardco and have used it heavily for 3 years, despite this my stock Filco caps (I assume they're single-shot ABS?) still look almost brand new, the lettering has slightly come off but only on 3 keys, other than that they look perfect, haven't even gone shiny. Other people's Filcos I've seen have been used a lot less than mine and the keys look a lot worse. Do I have some magical lucky keycaps?

[metalliqaz]

OEM keycaps on the Filco are etched ABS, correct.  Geekhackers tend to get crazy about keycap materials and whatnot, but the truth is that even "cheap" abs caps will last practically forever.  They will definitely get shiny eventually, but that hardly affects their usefulness.

Heavy, metal cases make the keyboard feel more solid and that is a good thing.  If you're considering the investment, I'd suggest going full custom if you have the money to get it done right.  They are programmable and highly attractive.  Otherwise, wrapping a Filco in a metal case is just fine, but if you are going to be taking it apart to customize it, please get one of bpiphany's controllers.  It will make your keyboard fully programmable.

[cannonking]

Thanks. How different do various custom keyboards feel (provided they're using the same switches of course)? I can't seem to find any people comparing them, or complaining about them for that matter. At the moment KMAC 2 looks like the easiest to get, I don't mind waiting/paying more for something better, because the plan is for the keyboard to last for life (though that seems to be what everyone says ).

[False_Dmitry_II]

You might have less destructive finger oils than others. I think that sort of thing is why some people seem to instantly wear caps to uselessness in 3-6 months, while others are like you and me and cause virtually no wear over a long time.

[cmadrid]

http://www.gonskeyboardworks.com/

[metalliqaz]

You can keep an eye on the classifieds, they come up with some regularity.  Feng is selling a TNS and KMAC at the moment, for example.

As to typing feel, I don't sense much difference between the CNC aluminum customs.  Mine have all different switch types, and that is obviously a much larger contributor to typing feel.

[PolaBurrr]

Keep in mind that a lot of custom keyboards have different thickness metal plates, for example the kmac 2 metal plate that rests on the pcb is quite thin, compared to something from, say, a filco mj2. The may affect the pitch of the clack and how much flex in the board you get if you press down on the keys hard.

[johndavis33]

OEM keycaps on the Filco are etched ABS, correct.  Geekhackers tend to get crazy about keycap materials and whatnot, but the truth is that even "cheap" abs caps will last practically forever.  They will definitely get shiny eventually, but that hardly affects their usefulness.

Heavy, metal cases make the keyboard feel more solid and that is a good thing.  If you're considering the investment, I'd suggest going full custom if you have the money to get it done right.  They are programmable and highly attractive.  Otherwise, wrapping a Filco in a metal case is just fine, but if you are going to be taking it apart to customize it, please get one of bpiphany's controllers.  It will make your keyboard fully programmable.

I don't think the big deal with key cap material is durability. I hate typing on ABS keycaps that have shined because they just feel so sticky and ew

[cannonking]

Thanks for the replies. Are there any customs that have a 60% layout but with the F-keys directly above the numbers? I don't want arrow keys or an extra row to the right.

[metalliqaz]

I have never seen that layout except for a proposed custom board called the GH60++/GH75, or something like that.  It was never made.

[cannonking]

Hmm, how about any that just have the F-keys above the numbers, without caring about what is on the right? 60% is almost the perfect layout IMO, except the F-keys are too important for high-level SC2 .

[metalliqaz]

Well there are plenty of 75% boards, like Choc-mini, KBTRace, Keycool 84, MX mini, etc.  There's also the KMAC mini which has the Fkeys on the left.

[cannonking]

It seems you can't get a metal case for any of those KBs . If only the KMAC Mini had the F-keys above instead of to the side.

EDIT: Found this http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=56877.0 .

[tbc]

that's a 96 key or w/e

you can get the gon 75% and it's much smaller.