Mechanical Keyboard Building Help

[Cazmania]

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a mechanical keyboard that has swappable switches, a full num pad type layout (not sure if there is a proper term), and is decently priced. I wanna find one that has the perfect feel and weight for me but am not sure where to start.

[191x7]

6 minutes ago, Cazmania said:

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a mechanical keyboard that has swappable switches, a full num pad type layout (not sure if there is a proper term), and is decently priced. I wanna find one that has the perfect feel and weight for me but am not sure where to start.

A decent place to start would be:

Switch and click https://www.youtube.com/@SwitchandClickOfficial

Hypio tech https://www.youtube.com/@HipyoTech

Glarses https://www.youtube.com/@Glarses

Keybored https://www.youtube.com/@Keybored

[saintlouisbagels]

5 hours ago, Cazmania said:

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a mechanical keyboard that has swappable switches, a full num pad type layout (not sure if there is a proper term), and is decently priced. I wanna find one that has the perfect feel and weight for me but am not sure where to start.

It seems like your title and your body paragraph are asking for two separate things.

You shouldn't be building a keyboard unless you have a lot of disposable cash (like $200-$300) and you have a good grasp of switch types.

 

Have you done any research at all?

A typical recommendation would be getting a Keychron.

Ducky, Varmillo, and Leopold are also solid choices. Make sure you're getting hot-swappable before you place an order.

Here are some 100% keyboard recommendations:

https://www.keychron.com/collections/normal-profile-keyboards?pf_t_layout_size=LayoutSize%3A100%+|+Full+Size

https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=26

 

We can't help you with key switch type because it is entirely subjective. You should buy a key tester if reading descriptions is too abstract, and there are no stores around. I'm a fan of Red (linear). Brown is tactile and a little louder. And it seems like most people HATE Blues (clicky) nowadays.

I'm also a huge fan of NuPhy's keyboards - have owned their Air and Halo series.

Their Halo96 would meet your specifications, as long as you don't mind having a smaller Zero key on the numpad.

https://nuphy.com/collections/keyboards/products/halo96?_pos=1&_fid=5f1da8a19&_ss=c

It also comes with extra switches of each type if you're interested in sampling others.

 

Switch prices can have a huge range, but you should stick with like the Gateron G Pro 2.0 line of switches before you delve into the more nuanced-feeling ones from like Gazzew, Durock, etc.

https://www.keychron.com/collections/keychron-mechanical-keyboard-switches/products/gateron-g-pro-2-0-switch#

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

7 hours ago, Cazmania said:

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a mechanical keyboard that has swappable switches, a full num pad type layout (not sure if there is a proper term), and is decently priced. I wanna find one that has the perfect feel and weight for me but am not sure where to start.

Others above have already pointed you towards some good resources, but I want to highlight how tricky this is really to answer: "perfect" feel and weight are not translatable to text and images imho.

 

If you have access to a store with keyboards nearby, even if it is only a big brand one carrying the usual gamer rbg boards, I would suggest going there and spending a few minutes with each board. Look for what you like and dislike in each board and take note of it. That way you can at least look for comparisons to these boards. They should also have at least red, brown, and blue switches in those keyboards, allowing you yo compare those to at least some degree.

 

Even if none of the boards feel good to you, look for parts of it you like: how heavy is too heavy/light for you? Are you fine with rattling spacebars and enter keys, or do you hate that? Any thoughts on layouts?

 

If you do go an get a keyboard then (with hotswap, no compromise there!), don't go for the fancy switches and stick with e.g. cherry reds or Gateron G Pro or anything more affordable. The reason is, that for the price of e.g. a set of Oil Kings you can get about three sets of regular G Pros. This allows you to try out more variety for the same money, and those more expensive switches, while often better, are most often not 3x times better like their price would suggest.

 

It is an unfortunate reality, but in my personal experience I didn't really know what I liked and disliked until I tried in person. Yes, youtube can help a lot to weed out some things, but apart from visuals it gets murky really fast: audio depends heavily on how it was recorded, compressed for/by YT, and replayed on your end. Feel can be described, but not really shown.

 

So don't worry about getting it 100% right the first time, instead go look for a board that can be adapted or changed a lot after the fact. Examples I have bought in the past are the Keychron V6, Q6, and K10, of which I would recommend the V6 due to best price to quality ratio. It can also be taken apart really easy and there are a lot of guides out there on how to mod it with little to no tools. K10 Pro might be another great option, but I don't have one so I can't say much about it. Q6 is great, but quite expensive in comparison and doesn't offer that much more apart from weighing like 2.5 kg due to the full Al construction, and the K10 is a pain to disassemble in comparison (K10 Pro might be much improved here, don't know though).

 

Ducky boards are great as well, though I have never taken one apart (only owned a One 2 tkl, which was soldered so no modding) and you need to make sure it is indeed hotswap. The other suggested brands should be great, if not better, but I have no first hand experience (can't wait for labs to start work on all of these).

[Cazmania]

On 7/22/2023 at 9:05 PM, 191x7 said:

A decent place to start would be:

Switch and click https://www.youtube.com/@SwitchandClickOfficial

Hypio tech https://www.youtube.com/@HipyoTech

Glarses https://www.youtube.com/@Glarses

Keybored https://www.youtube.com/@Keybored

Thank you! They are added to my research.

[Cazmania]

On 7/23/2023 at 2:27 AM, saintlouisbagels said:

It seems like your title and your body paragraph are asking for two separate things.

You shouldn't be building a keyboard unless you have a lot of disposable cash (like $200-$300) and you have a good grasp of switch types.

 

Have you done any research at all?

A typical recommendation would be getting a Keychron.

Ducky, Varmillo, and Leopold are also solid choices. Make sure you're getting hot-swappable before you place an order.

Here are some 100% keyboard recommendations:

https://www.keychron.com/collections/normal-profile-keyboards?pf_t_layout_size=LayoutSize%3A100%+|+Full+Size

https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_list&c=26

 

We can't help you with key switch type because it is entirely subjective. You should buy a key tester if reading descriptions is too abstract, and there are no stores around. I'm a fan of Red (linear). Brown is tactile and a little louder. And it seems like most people HATE Blues (clicky) nowadays.

I'm also a huge fan of NuPhy's keyboards - have owned their Air and Halo series.

Their Halo96 would meet your specifications, as long as you don't mind having a smaller Zero key on the numpad.

https://nuphy.com/collections/keyboards/products/halo96?_pos=1&_fid=5f1da8a19&_ss=c

It also comes with extra switches of each type if you're interested in sampling others.

 

Switch prices can have a huge range, but you should stick with like the Gateron G Pro 2.0 line of switches before you delve into the more nuanced-feeling ones from like Gazzew, Durock, etc.

https://www.keychron.com/collections/keychron-mechanical-keyboard-switches/products/gateron-g-pro-2-0-switch#

I do have the money set aside for this project, I just didn't want an overly expensive starting point. The tester keycaps are a very good idea as well. 
I'm in quite a small city so I don't have the luxury of going to a store to check switches and such out.

The Halo96 does also looks close to what I was thinking. 

Thank you!

[Cazmania]

On 7/23/2023 at 4:23 AM, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Others above have already pointed you towards some good resources, but I want to highlight how tricky this is really to answer: "perfect" feel and weight are not translatable to text and images imho.

 

If you have access to a store with keyboards nearby, even if it is only a big brand one carrying the usual gamer rbg boards, I would suggest going there and spending a few minutes with each board. Look for what you like and dislike in each board and take note of it. That way you can at least look for comparisons to these boards. They should also have at least red, brown, and blue switches in those keyboards, allowing you yo compare those to at least some degree.

 

Even if none of the boards feel good to you, look for parts of it you like: how heavy is too heavy/light for you? Are you fine with rattling spacebars and enter keys, or do you hate that? Any thoughts on layouts?

 

If you do go an get a keyboard then (with hotswap, no compromise there!), don't go for the fancy switches and stick with e.g. cherry reds or Gateron G Pro or anything more affordable. The reason is, that for the price of e.g. a set of Oil Kings you can get about three sets of regular G Pros. This allows you to try out more variety for the same money, and those more expensive switches, while often better, are most often not 3x times better like their price would suggest.

 

It is an unfortunate reality, but in my personal experience I didn't really know what I liked and disliked until I tried in person. Yes, youtube can help a lot to weed out some things, but apart from visuals it gets murky really fast: audio depends heavily on how it was recorded, compressed for/by YT, and replayed on your end. Feel can be described, but not really shown.

 

So don't worry about getting it 100% right the first time, instead go look for a board that can be adapted or changed a lot after the fact. Examples I have bought in the past are the Keychron V6, Q6, and K10, of which I would recommend the V6 due to best price to quality ratio. It can also be taken apart really easy and there are a lot of guides out there on how to mod it with little to no tools. K10 Pro might be another great option, but I don't have one so I can't say much about it. Q6 is great, but quite expensive in comparison and doesn't offer that much more apart from weighing like 2.5 kg due to the full Al construction, and the K10 is a pain to disassemble in comparison (K10 Pro might be much improved here, don't know though).

 

Ducky boards are great as well, though I have never taken one apart (only owned a One 2 tkl, which was soldered so no modding) and you need to make sure it is indeed hotswap. The other suggested brands should be great, if not better, but I have no first hand experience (can't wait for labs to start work on all of these).

Ahh I see, it's more of a trial-and-error type of thing. I also cannot wait for labs to start working on a vast keyboard library! Will make stuff like this a little easier for researching at least.

I'll look into the places you suggested as well and see if I can get my first board.

Thank you!!

[saintlouisbagels]

9 hours ago, Cazmania said:

I do have the money set aside for this project, I just didn't want an overly expensive starting point. The tester keycaps are a very good idea as well. 
I'm in quite a small city so I don't have the luxury of going to a store to check switches and such out.

The Halo96 does also looks close to what I was thinking. 

Thank you!

It appears there are reasonably affordable switch testers on the market.

Here is a 3x3 board with all 3 switch types of varying actuation forces.

https://www.amazon.com/Cherry-Switch-Tester-keyboard-Sampler/dp/B01GZHU1EG/

 

I love my Halo75 board. The keycaps are perfect and it's such a beautiful white.

 

The only downside to the board is that it doesn't feature "gasket mounting" that modern keyboards (kits) include. This means there won't be any "give" while typing. I think it's bizarre this is a feature in the mechanical keyboard community, while in the laptop world this would be considered a symptom of a crappy laptop.