Mechanical Keyboard Club!

[Nowak]

3 minutes ago, y0ur5h4d0w said:

i might have the weirdest keyboard on here u.u
Mazer E-3lue Special OPS XL Mechanic keyboard. 

(http://www.e-bluegaming.com/individual product/ekm729.html)

That looks... so cheaply made.

[y0ur5h4d0w]

3 minutes ago, Nowak said:

That looks... so cheaply made.

well yes it is hahahaha 2 years ago it costed like 60$ shipping from china included, surprisingly it's actually kinda good, the only bad part is that the keys are pretty noisy ^^ oh and the frame is alluminum

[ra2yuri]

hi everyone!

i just buy my very first mechanical keyboard for 799 TWD(≈26.4 USD)without shipping

(Hong Jin HJ221-M)

 

https://imgur.com/Oxs2EMm

[geo3]

FYI Novelkeys Cream Switches are in stock again. I just ordered 120. Get 'em while they last.

[jiyeon]

2 hours ago, geo3 said:

FYI Novelkeys Cream Switches are in stock again. I just ordered 120. Get 'em while they last.

I own 61 of the guys and I'll lubed about 1/4 with Krytox 205g0, I've been so lazy getting round to fully lubing them all. They're one of my favorite linear switches as well.

[geo3]

17 hours ago, geo3 said:

FYI Novelkeys Cream Switches are in stock again. I just ordered 120. Get 'em while they last.

Aaaannd they're gone.  That didn't take long at all. 

[Dr0y]

So I have the redragon kumara K552 white, no led, outemu blue with ymdk pbt keycaps.  The board is quite sturdy for plastic and there's virtually no flex at all.  Sadly, I don't like the switches.  I think they are way too loud and some have ping/reverb when they come back up.  The weight is a little too much for my liking too.  The space bar and other large keys sounds clunky.  I know it's not a quality board compared to reputable brand so I'm probably asking too much of it. 

 

I still would like to mod it so it could reduce the global noise of the board. I put some o-ring to dampen the bottoming out sound and it did help a bit and it also reduced the total travel distance a bit.  I'm not an expert at typing and I tend to bottom my keys a lot.  I know lot of keyboard purist hate o-rings but I don't mind them. 

 

I was thinking about opening it and put some sound dampening material to diminish the ping/reverb.  I was also thinking about changing the switches for some outemu brown or red, but I'm not sure I'll do it as buying another keyboard is probably cheaper and less trouble.  Does lubing the stabilizer and switches would help reducing the noise ?

 

Is there a place on the forum that list the proper grease to use and the ones not to use that could be dangerous for the board.  

Is there a place on the forum for a list of mods we can do to a board that will improve the global experience. 

 

[OhioYJ]

I recently replaced my V1 WASD keyboard with a V3 WASD keyboard. The V1 is now over 6 years old, blue cherry switches, no o-rings. I wanted to try something a bit quieter, so I ordered brown cherry switches with O-rings (0.2mm).

 

 

 

While there are times the quieter keys are nice, I think overall I still like the blue switches better.

[alittlepeace]

I got some storage trays  

[b emoji]

On 3/21/2020 at 2:45 PM, Dr0y said:

I still would like to mod it so it could reduce the global noise of the board. I put some o-ring to dampen the bottoming out sound and it did help a bit and it also reduced the total travel distance a bit.  I'm not an expert at typing and I tend to bottom my keys a lot.  I know lot of keyboard purist hate o-rings but I don't mind them.

Don't bother with o rings
 

 

On 3/21/2020 at 2:45 PM, Dr0y said:

space bar and other large keys sounds clunky.

Bad stabs, if they're cherry style stabs get some genuine cherry plate mount or gmk screw ins (pcb mount) depending on what type of stabs your board uses, lube the areas with wire-plastic contact with super lube, and the plastic to plastic contact area with Krytox 205g0 
 

 

On 3/21/2020 at 2:45 PM, Dr0y said:

I was thinking about opening it and put some sound dampening material to diminish the ping/reverb.  I was also thinking about changing the switches for some outemu brown or red, but I'm not sure I'll do it as buying another keyboard is probably cheaper and less trouble.  Does lubing the stabilizer and switches would help reducing the noise ?

 

Filling your case with some foam or felt is a good idea and should help. Changing the switches would require desoldering and resoldering, and if you're changing the switches, go and get yourself some switches that are better than outemus. Outemus have some of the worst stock springs known to man, and they ping like hell. If you're getting new switches (I would recommend JWK or gateron switches as they're cheap and smooth), you probably should mod them while you're at it, get some lube (I recommend 204g0 or 3204 [same thing] for beginners), switch films (if needed), and imo most importantly better springs. 

 

[Newblesse Obblige]

i wish someone add an in-depth guide of mech switches.

[jiyeon]

The Verge covered Taeha Types and his rise into the mechanical keyboard scene! Awesome bit of exposure for Nathan.

 

 

[Duckson McQuack]

9 hours ago, sowon said:

The Verge covered Taeha Types and his rise into the mechanical keyboard scene! Awesome bit of exposure for Nathan.

 

 

But.. everyone knows their infamous guide.
Bad rep amongst enthusiasts.

[Robert_Stanford]

 

 

I have an 11 year old son who wants to get into mechanical keyboards.  He knows how to solder.  Wants to do a diy project, but I don't want to spend over 100 USD on him. Really likes math, I was thinking maybe a numpad?  Please let me know of what to do for him, any projects that he could do,

[seon123]

1 hour ago, Robert_Stanford said:

 

 

I have an 11 year old son who wants to get into mechanical keyboards.  He knows how to solder.  Wants to do a diy project, but I don't want to spend over 100 USD on him. Really likes math, I was thinking maybe a numpad?  Please let me know of what to do for him, any projects that he could do,

KPRepublic has a numpad, the Cospad/XD24. $21 PCB, $9 plate, and $23 case. A set of 4x 2U Everglide stabilisers are $11. You should get ~30x switches, from Novelkeys or KBDFans. Gaterons are $2,00 per 10x.

[geo3]

1 hour ago, Robert_Stanford said:

 

 

I have an 11 year old son who wants to get into mechanical keyboards.  He knows how to solder.  Wants to do a diy project, but I don't want to spend over 100 USD on him. Really likes math, I was thinking maybe a numpad?  Please let me know of what to do for him, any projects that he could do,

Here's everything you need to build a fully functional 60% keyboard for $87

https://kbdfans.com/collections/keycaps/products/backlit-mechanical-keyboard-translucent-keycap

https://kbdfans.com/collections/gateron-swithes/products/switch-68-cherry-gateron-zealio - (pick some Gateron variant )

https://kbdfans.com/collections/60-layout-case/products/60-plastic-case

https://kbdfans.com/collections/60/products/dz60-60-pcb?variant=28607000707120 (note this variant includes stabs which you will need so don't change the options. unless you have a USB mini (not micro, they're different) cable you can save 5$ by switching that option instead of usb-c)

 

A plate is usually recommended but with this one included the price goes to $105

https://kbdfans.com/collections/plate/products/dz60-cnc-aluminum-plate

 

You maybe able to save some more by making or reusing some of the parts. A case can be 3d printed or carved from wood or made from sandwiched acrylic sheets. Key caps can be reused from an existing mechanical if you have one. 

 

IMO if he wants to get into mech keebs he would enjoy something like this a lot more than just a num pad. 

[alittlepeace]

On 4/2/2020 at 10:59 AM, Robert_Stanford said:

 

 

I have an 11 year old son who wants to get into mechanical keyboards.  He knows how to solder.  Wants to do a diy project, but I don't want to spend over 100 USD on him. Really likes math, I was thinking maybe a numpad?  Please let me know of what to do for him, any projects that he could do,

could just start him off with a cheapo macropad kit

[alittlepeace]

[Pancaek]

I'm hoping you guys can help me in my search for my first mech. I'm basically looking for the following:
- Budget of around 120, but can bump it up a bit more

- Some sort of quiet switch. Something like the cherry silent red/black seems ideal

- ISO layout, preferably with azerty-BE keycaps

- PBT keycaps

- 65% or bigger

 

So far I've only found Ducky keyboards locally here in Belgium, but apparently their belgian azerty keycaps are made of some thin ABS that rub off quite fast. My reason for wanting silent switches is because I mostly want a mech to have quality, durable keyboard that I can take apart to clean. My current keyboard has scissor switches like those of a T420, but they were clearly not made to be removed so I can clean under them. In fact, me doing so has led to several keys becoming very inconsistent. 

Currently my best bet seems to be a custom keyboard directly from Varmilo, which would come to about 125 euro for a basic 65% plus 20 euro shipping cost. 145 euro is still acceptable for me, but I'm worried that I'll have to pay some major import tax/fees that will push it straight into "I paid too much for this". 

I don't mind soldering and DIY, if that helps. Any tips or reccomendations are appreciated. 

[geo3]

Tada68 would have been ideal but It looks like they are sold out most places, and the few that are in stock are ANSI. A lot of other options are above your budget. 

 

This is a relatively affordable 75% option, but still a bit above your budget.

Kit - PCB, Plate, Case, Stabs,

Switches,

Caps

[alittlepeace]

custom aviator magnetic cable

[zot3]

Is the Corsair K70 MK.2 a good keyboard? 

 

I have a Corsair Strafe for 6 years and it developed a severe key chatter.

 

[Nowak]

7 minutes ago, zot3 said:

Is the Corsair K70 MK.2 a good keyboard? 

 

I have a Corsair Strafe for 6 years and it developed a severe key chatter.

No. Corsair is notorious for cheap build quality relative to their price, chattering, overexposure, a mediocre at best typing experience, awful, bloated software, non-standard bottom row (which makes keycap replacement hard) and how difficult it is to take them apart.

 

May I suggest the Hexgears Supernova instead? It also doesn't have a standard bottom row but it's built better than the K70 while costing much less.

[zot3]

41 minutes ago, Nowak said:

No. Corsair is notorious for cheap build quality relative to their price, chattering, overexposure, a mediocre at best typing experience, awful, bloated software, non-standard bottom row (which makes keycap replacement hard) and how difficult it is to take them apart.

 

May I suggest the Hexgears Supernova instead? It also doesn't have a standard bottom row but it's built better than the K70 while costing much less.

Forgot to mention, I'm from Portugal and I need the portuguese layout. I can't find that keyboard in any stores here.

 

What about the Ducky One 2 Skyline MX Brown?

 

I don't care about RGB, if its all black that's good for me.

[Nowak]

2 minutes ago, zot3 said:

Forgot to mention, I'm from Portugal and I need the portuguese layout. I can't find that keyboard in any stores here.

 

What about the Ducky One 2 Skyline MX Brown?

 

I don't care about RGB, if its all black that's good for me.

Ah, alright. I guess? I'm not really big on Cherry MX but just about anything's better than Corsair lmao