People who have owned more than one custom keyboard

[Photekq]

I'm looking for people who have owned more than one custom keyboard to give me input about their experiences with these keyboards. It's important that you have owned more than one, otherwise no comparison can be made.

To be more specific, people who have owned multiple custom MX keyboards. By "custom" I mostly mean a keyboard with a custom (metal, acrylic, polycarbonate, wood) casing, so Phantoms in Filco cases are excluded.

My question to you is: Setting layout aside, which is your favourite to use and why? Is it due to key feel, the incline of the case, the height of the case, or perhaps some other reason?

Please post here or PM me. Be as specific as possible. Your input and opinion is essential to a project I'm now starting to work on. Input from those who have owned a large number of customs will be especially useful.

Any response will be appreciated tremendously.

[heedpantsnow]

I'm very interested in what you find out bro, as I've been trying to pick from the myriad customs right now. Thanks for posting this!

[jdcarpe]

I prefer my KMAC over my LZ-GH, but I'm not really sure why. They both have linear switches, reds in the LZ, and blacks in the KMAC. I don't care about backlighting, so that isn't a factor. I'll have to think about why I prefer one over the other, I guess.

[Photekq]

I'm very interested in what you find out bro, as I've been trying to pick from the myriad customs right now. Thanks for posting this!

I should note that I'm more trying to find out what design aspects make a custom keyboard good, rather than which one is actually the best.

That said, any responses here will be useful in answering both questions. I hope other people can find it useful and not just me.

FWIW, from the people I have asked, the Koala seems to come out on top.

[Steezus]

I can't really contribute yet but I will be able to soon.

However I've been looking into a lot of customs and have two on the way and possibly a third as well. Looking around at customs I find the great ones have a few things in similar:

1. The inserts on the side of the cases to make it easy to pick up and move.


2. I noticed that the more popular ones have a lower incline, but that is subjective.

3. This one really depends on the shop but the even though it could be the same metal some cases just better produced and have a better anodization.

[shibataken]

I'm very interested in what you find out bro, as I've been trying to pick from the myriad customs right now. Thanks for posting this!

I should note that I'm more trying to find out what design aspects make a custom keyboard good, rather than which one is actually the best.

That said, any responses here will be useful in answering both questions. I hope other people can find it useful and not just me.

FWIW, from the people I have asked, the Koala seems to come out on top.

Oh definitely I am lurking since my wallet has been fat lately and I need to whip it into shape lol.  I have never dabbled in customs before so your thread definitely helps!

[childofthehorn]

Both of mine get used as they are very different.

Both have the same switch on the and the switches customized with very similar values, quality and results.

Really, it is a process of refinement and making sure that you get something that is exactly what you want and for what purpose. I have a Gen 2 Infinity with Bent Case, Gateron Blues with 68g Sprit GP springs, lubed, Costar stabs, and a modified set of Calm Depths SA keycaps with hard rubber stoppers.

The one that I just finished is Tex Case, same switches but 62g version, Sprit PCB, JTK Keycap set, and mixture of white and purple LEDs.

They look very different an function differently too. The first one is geared exclusively for coding through the function layers being set up a certain way. The second one is geared for more just general typing and coding, but more multipurpose. The first one feels like a typewriter, is very tall, and is designed to minimize mistakes whereas the second is very low profile and more multipurpose.

I love both though.

[jonathanyu]

I have owned few custom, I will go from my least favorite to my most favorite

LZ-Alu skin - Pros - Has a thick acrylic plate, which gives a pretty nice typing experience imo.
                           - Nice colour.
                           - Price
                   Cons - Two aluminium skin with acrylic middle part "sandwich style", not a huge fan of that, especially the acrylic parts are all transparent.
                           - The aluminium finish is not smooth.
                           - Screws are screwed from top to bottom, which bother me a lot. And scratch my thumb sometimes.

LZ-CE - Pros - Huge variety of colour combination of case and colour bars.
          - Cons - Boring design.
                     - Finish is not smooth.

GON NS 87 - Pros - Huge variety of colour.
                           - Awesome lighting with frosted acrylic middle part.
                           - Aluminium finish is very smooth.
                   Cons - Screws are screwed from top to bottom, but not too bad compare to LZ-Alu skin since GON NS 87 use hex screws.
                           - Sandwich style case.
                           - The feet are not close enough to the usb plug, so the whole keyboard would flip upside-down if pressing the top row too hard or cleaning the top row.
                           - Skinny case design. Some people like it, but I don't really like it.

LZ-F - Pros - The bar foot can flip around make the keyboard have two different angle .
                 - Smooth finish.
                 - The top part of the case cover the bottom of the case . Very good design imo, it can cover the little line(don't know what this called) where the top and bottom part intersect.
                    Picture of how the top part cover the bottom part:

More

                    Picture of the little line:

More

          Cons - The space above the function row and below the bottom row is much larger than the space of the side, kind of odd to me.

360Corsa - Pros - The design of the side is really really nice.
                        - Brass weight.
                        - Smooth finish.
                        - PCB mount to the top part of the case.
                        - Semi-glare, looks really nice under sun light.
              - Cons - Angle, not a big fan of 8 degree.
                        - Don't really like the 360 logo above the cursor.

456GT - Pros - Nice brass weights design.
                    - The angle of the board is very nice and comfortable to type on. 12 degree iirc.
                    - Very smooth finish, even better than 360C imo.
                    - PCB mount to the top part of the case.
                    - Semi-glare, looks really nice under sun light.
                    - Available in PINK!
          - Cons - The design of the side is little bit boring compare to 360C, but of course, 456GT is older.


Have never used or seen in real life, but I really really like the design of whale, the design of the side and back is just so nice.
Hope this information help you.
                     

[Photekq]

Thanks a lot for all that info jonathan, it's a huge help.

Out of curiosity, is there any one keyboard that has a nicer key feel? Ignoring angle and the shape of the case, just the feeling from pressing down the keys alone.

[jonathanyu]

Thanks a lot for all that info jonathan, it's a huge help.

Out of curiosity, is there any one keyboard that has a nicer key feel? Ignoring angle and the shape of the case, just the feeling from pressing down the keys alone.

They all feel about the same, but I would say the 456gt and lz-f feel the best. Maybe the lz-f is a little better.


Completely forgot I had a butterfly numpad before..

Butterfly numapd - Pros - Really easy to program.
                                   - Nice lighting.
                                   - The bumpers are not too hard nor too soft, just the right hardness. Also have a very good surface, Almost impossible to move around the desk unless you pick it up.
                         - Cons - Rough finish.

[Photekq]

bump

[bocahgundul]

i think what makes a custom keyboard good is the incline like duck keyboard and where the plate is located at the top or at the bottom

[mashby]

This is so subjective since there are so many factors and each are based on your own personal preference. Some folks prefer heavy cases over lighter ones, etc. That being said, here's what I like based on the mixture of boards that I have.

::: Case = Hammer :::
It's heavy and has a nice angle to it. Compared to the Duck Viper, I find this case to have a "denser" sound and a better angle. There's a slight "hollowness" to the Viper and the pitch is a bit high although that could be the sculpted SA caps I have on it currently. I've only been typing on the Viper for about a week.

::: Caps = SA :::
I like the heavy solid sound and the feel reminds me of my C=64 days, so I suppose I'm pre-disposed to these caps.    Currently typing on the Penumbra set which is all Row 3, but my Viper has Round 5 on it and I think I prefer the sculpted layout, but I'm still deciding.

::: Switches = Nixdorf Blacks :::
Haven't tried Gateron, or Greentech yet, but I didn't think anything could top my well worn in and lubed Cherry MX Blacks. I was wrong. I do like typing on other switches, particularly MX Whites, but since I'm on the phone a good bit, the linear switch is the best option for me and I've grown to love them.

::: PCB = Duck Viper :::
I really like the layout of the HHKB and the fact that I can program it. HaaTa's Infiniti was a close second, but I like having the option of having LED backlighting. I've come to feel that programming on a 60% is critical since layers are required, but I'm biased towards 60% sooooo...

Hope that helps!

[raymogi]

I have 2 custom so far, OTD 360c and Duck Eagle.

I like the OTD because of the case design and it's angle. Got 62g ergo clears in it currently and it's similarity with Topre is why it's in my rotation constantly.

The Duck Eagle which I just received 2 days ago has 59g vintage blacks (lubed & stickered) and it's one of the nicest feeling keyboard to type on. My only experience of linear before this is browns and I must say when done properly it's actually nice to type on linear. I don't really like the angle tbh, just a tad too steep for my liking but who cares when the thing looks so damn good.

[hwood34]

Just a note, all the kustoms I've had except for the b87 have had varying types of tactile switches.

- In terms of look, I definitely prefer the 456 to the boards I've had with legs, it looks much cleaner in my opinion. I'm a fan of fairly simple and sharper cases utilizing straight lines rather than curves.
- I preferred the angles on the Cheat and KMAC, somewhere between 7 and 10. The 456 was waaaay to steep and frankly I can't see how anyone could type comfortably on it.
- The 456 case also felt a little too dense for me. Might have just been a placebo, but it almost felt as if typing on the boards with feet felt somewhat softer with that open space underneath the board.
- The finish on the 456 was by definitely my favorite, very clean matte that felt great.
- I liked the look of the screws flush with the case on boards with legs
- Top-mounted PCBs are far and away the best
- Brass weights are dope

[metal369]

I have two custom boards. Let me introduce about them.




356CL V2 - Pros - Hyper-silver color
                        -Poly-carbonate partial plate provides very nice feeling.
                        -very fast repeat input speed
                        -356.2 logo is just cool. THIS IS 356.
              - Cons -Its color is near to blue, so I have to buy a olivetti
                       





356mini V1 - Pros -minimalism. its gap between switch is narrow than other keyboard, so it is smallest 60% keyboard
                    -anodizing color is so cool. semi glare.
                    -very fast repeat input speed
                    -cute.
                    -suitable for any switch. i choose mx clear for mine.           
          - Cons -it have old pcb, so difficult to mapping the keys(but possible)

[Leslieann]

On the Filco, I went for an aluminum case for a few reasons.
One was a solid construction, I wanted some heft so it didn't slide around like a cheap flimsy thing, not that the stock case was bad, but I wanted something a bit more luxurious than plastic. It wasn't about looks, despite usually hating pink (limited edition Filco case) I actually liked the look of it, enough that I even painted it match. The other part was flex, I wanted as stiff a case as I could get. Lastly, I figured the aluminum could dampen the sound, or at least make it sound more solid, which it did.

I really didn't care much for the Vortex, and at the time, the quality was questionable, but the only realistic other option was the MKC, which were no longer made and fetching about $350 on the used market. So I got a Vortex and did some cleanup on it with some files and sanders. I took off the casting marks and squared it all up. It's probably comparable to the KMC case now. I was trying to avoid spending hundreds on a KMAC, 356, etc , but by the time I finished with this keyboard, I just about could have bought one anyhow, if you count labor I spent on it I easily could have.

After getting it installed, I swapped out the stock Filco plate for a stainless steel universal plate (with adapters), this allowed switch maintenance, and anyone who has done Jailhouse Blues can tell you, it doesn't always go perfect. The other half of that, was that it was a thicker, stronger material. This gave the center of the keyboard an even stiffer feel than it already had. Basically, my plate doesn't have any flex. Even if you try and flex it on purpose, there is none, which is exactly what I was after.

When I got the case it didn't come with feet so I used some low profile rubber pieces I had. I HATED it. Then I built a custom bar style foot, which I liked but it was quite tall in height due a miss-calculation. Then I got the stock feet, which now felt too low after using the tall bar. So I'm looking at making some adjustable ones on my printer or something.

Besides all that, I put a lot of time into adding a removable cable, sound dampening inside, filing, sanding, painting, creating adapters for the plate, figuring out how to put o-rings on SP caps, cutting springs, etc...  So I have a lot of time invested trying to get the feel just right. I'm kind of bored with it, but I have no idea what I would replace it with, other than a complete one-off. It's so close to that already.



For my complete custom keyboard, I was using Plex mostly for cost and time reasons, it's a custom layout and originally, the plan was to use a 3d printer to make it (I did two that way), but then I got access to a laser cutter and decided I could add heft and stiffness with thick Plexiglas (plus it was so much faster). This unfortunately also made it very thick and before I even got switches in it, I realized it would be much taller than the Vortex/Filco at the leading edge which is something I don't like (I'm now opposed to a Plex case entirely). So while it worked to kind of test out key layouts, I'm back to the drawing board. I may just get it milled from aluminum now that I know someone with a mill (maybe cast then milled), I could also print it with carbon or aluminum impregnated material (my printer is large enough), I'll figure it out once I have time to get back to that project. I'm still playing with key layouts a little too. While I've made four cases for it (two were printed), all I have now is a basic layout and tilt, I just have to figure out everything else.




Other keyboards and thoughts
On the Race, once I got the Vortex, I realized I wasn't so sure I wanted to bother making a custom plastic case for it, so it sat unfinished on the drawing board. It just feels cheap compared to the Vortex/Filco due to weight and flex. It still needs some feet for incline though so I may still do that. I used it the other day when the cord on the Vortex failed, and while I liked the compactness and how easy it was to toss around (I don't dare toss the Vortex/Filco, it will break whatever it hits!), I hated almost everything else about it. It was light which was okay, but flexy as could be and I hate some aspects of the layout. So now my goal is to somehow make it stiff, but still light. So if I do revive the custom printed case it will now get lots of ribbing and probably a carbon fiber blended plastic, possibly a carbon fiber plate. Still undecided on if it's worth doing.

I also started working on plans for a printed TKL case for my Model M (with custom weighted springs), but I'm having the same concerns regarding plastic as I do the Race. This is a long term project, and who knows it could be a pipe dream as I'm not sure I care to go back to the Model M. It's just such a loud and massive keyboard.

I have a couple innovative ideas for the cases but I'm not sure if they are really feasible. I have however determined that weight is less an issue so long as it feel stiff and luxurious. I'm in no real rush, like I said, I like the Vortex/Filco, I'm just a bit bored with it and want to try something new and I have access to lots of equipment I didn't before which are giving me ideas.