Why'd you delete your post?
Heres my thoughts: (also just needed a thread to test out these new cherry silent switches 
)
Step 1: get a switch tester, preferably a big one with more options than just cherry. Recommending something like NovelKeys (although i havent order from him yet)
Step 2: go to a mechanical keyboard meetup if possible to get the actual feel of what a full board of a particular switch feels like. Also to see whats available out there.
Step 3: Find something cheap to get started. Either plan for a desolder/switch swap project on a cheap board, or watch massdrop for something easy and complete. Sentraq, Planck, etc.
Step 4: Get an adjustable temp soldering iron with a small chisel or point tip. Get a cheap solder sucker. Get some 63/37 or there abouts leaded solder in .031 size. Weller, Kester, Radioshack... doesnt matter.
Step 5: Read, Watch youtubes, ask questions... but more importantly - just get to it. Nothing will teach you more than actually doing.
Step 6: Ask for help, questions, locals... this community is (generally) very helpful and friendly.
Good luck to all the noobs! Everyone starts at the same place.
Thanks for the info. I'm thinking of trying a Sentraq with Gateron blacks or silent switches (tell me what you think of them!). I just learned to properly type December 2016 (~100 wpm average QWERTY) and trying a keyboard without a different layout would throw me off too much at the moment. In total for the Sentraq I would probably be spending about 130-150, can you personally recommend it? Is soldering really difficult? I'm quite anxious about destroying the PCB. Thanks for all the help everyone on the forum has given me so far!
Sent from my school laptop using a crappy rubber dome keyboard
Sure, if you want to read, i'm happy to type!:
Sentraq - The kit i got was $114 to my door, it included a case, pcb, plate, 65 switches, pbt keycaps, stabilizers, ...and no documentation on how the **** to get it all to work
) And its the exact same way I would recommend to anyone to get started. Figuring out each step of the way is how you learn whats involved. The resources are around, but you have to get stuck and then go find them to really understand what you're doing with flashing the chip on the pcb and binding keys to function layers, etc.
Gateron Blacks - These are the 'slippery smooth' version of Cherry Red switches. They are 50g 'linear' which means the key press is smooth from top to bottom. Tactile switches would have a bump, Clicky would obviously have a bump and an audible click. I absolutely love Gateron Blacks (or Yellow for that matter) for typing a lot. They are a bit on the 'light' side compared to what people gravitate toward but to be honest, the heavier spring switches can really be uncomfortable to type in over long periods of time. They do feel great when you're scrutinizing them individually though. Massdrop just opened up a group-buy on Gateron switches. That is a great opportunity to get 120 of them for a great price. Alternatively,
http://www.switchmod.net just opened up shop as well and I jumped in on their group-buy instead.
Congrats on forcing yourself out of your old typing habits! Although it's been ages since I learned to 'touch-type' I still have some bad habits like using my ring finger for P and 0... or skipping capitalization where it should be.
"Different layout would screw you up" - You mean like switching to Colemak or Dvorak? Yes, yes that will screw you up... until you learned it, and then everything
not that layout would screw you up. Changing layouts is something I haven't delved into although I did try someones online typing overlay web app that teaches you Colemak and it wasn't as difficult as you might imagine. If by switching to a different layout meaning keyboard size... e.g. 60% or even 40%... I think you should try it. Right off the bat you'll miss your arrow and delete keys, until you got used to holding 'Fn'(function). I feel like most people like to set up 'right alt' to by 'fn' and pl;' to be up/L/down/R... and then obviously fn+backspace to be Delete. I do mine a little differently but same idea. You'd be surprised how intuitive it is.
Which brings us to the soldering.
This is an area i really do like to show someone in person because it just gives you that much more confidence. First things first...
It is extremely difficult to ruin a PCB beyond correction or repair. Do not be scared! The good PCB's are expensive because they are very well made.
I will say however that if you were to watch a few videos on youtube of people building keyboards and then gave it a try yourself on a cheap board, you would feel fine about building your first PCB. I have given away a couple old WYSE boards to people just to practice on. You could totally grab some cheap used board on eBay and take it apart for the switches or LEDs or whatever and use that to practice getting good solder joints. When you're happy with your results, go to the new PCB and start going at it. I'll bet that when you're done, you flash the board with your config and its all working you'll be hooked. Maybe you'll be like me, years later going back to your first boards and redoing the imperfections and cleaning off flux/rosin residue etc.
Everyone has their own process and almost artistic touch to their soldering process. I like my 'claw point' soldering tip, a lot of people prefer the narrow chisel point. I like to fill the solder in from the heated pad and then do this kinda loop swirl with the tip to make sure its seated all the way around the pin before letting it cool... some people like to fill from the top and let it plop down and soak/flow into the hole. I like smaller gauge solder with rosin core flux... some people like big thick solder with brushed on flux. As with everything keyboard related, it comes down to personal preference and what you like.
Good luck! Ask questions, people will answer. Everyone here loves mechanical keyboards and started in the same place with a curiosity and a question... so don't worry about being 'new'.
