This is a really good read, thanks for sharing it! I’m currently in the process of deciding how to move forward with the sale of the keyboard I designed so this is all really relevant information for me.
I don’t understand this. Why would you take a commonly used vowel off of the home row and put it where you have to shift your whole hand to get to it? What am I missing?
The context is that the original version of the keyboard didn’t have the q a and z keys on the right side at all. QMK and similar keyboard firmwares have features that let a key send one code when tapped and a different code when held or pressed, and even another when double tapped.
The keyboard designer made themself a keyboard where ESC, Tab, and Shift keys were set up to send q, a, and z on a quick tap, and got so many comments on multiple videos asking how they could possibly use a keyboard missing three letters that they made another keyboard with the three cockeyed keys added on the right as a joke.
Haha it was at my wife’s family cottage for decades and we tried to sell it in a garage sale but nobody wanted it so it’s been sitting in our basement for several years. I had a SNES and N64 hooked up to it for a while but didn’t play them much so now it’s back in the basement.
Also getting a screenshot of a typing test on it was kind of a huge pain and I probably did it in the most convoluted way possible. But in the end I was super happy with how the shot turned out, especially since a friend of mine made this insanely cool video out of it.
Well I personally think thats one of the smoothest keyboards I have ever seen. Its giving me the same feeling a really smooth rock does when you hold it or look at it.
The ancient monitor in the background is what adds this vibe of mystery to it, makes your brain question the image a little. But it also completes the image.
I’m just disheartened on the number of otherwise beautiful keycap sets that fail to use symbology for special keys. I’m talking shift, tab, enter, backspace, caps lock, num lock, home, end, page up, page down…
There is a certain amount of wank factor in mechanical keyboards. But if you are a high volume typist or heavy keyboard user, a keyboard that suits your typing style (with regards to springiness and feedback) absolutely helps.
If you primarily just use the WASD keys a few hours a week with a bit of half assed sorta touch typing in between then they’re not really needed.
If it’s something that people are using a lot then anything that improves the experience can be seen as increasingly important/valuable.
From a practicality perspective, they offer precision, feedback and speed advantages over membrane/rubber dome types which can be valuable in different use cases.
I haven’t used gamer brand mechanical keyboards in a while, but my previous impression was that they were overpriced and generally at the lower quality/poorer experience end of the spectrum. I think there are likely far better options out there at all price points.
It’s a tool first and foremost. If you’re professionally using a power drill all day everyday, you’ll want a very good one that’s powerful, reliable and comfortable to use. If you professionally type all day everyday, you’re absolutely entitled to use a keyboard that perfectly fits your preferences in terms of feel, comfort, feedback and layout.
What switches does it have? Are they lubed? Are the stabilisers modded? Does it have case foam or other case mods? What type of mount is it? What about the plate? Swing weight and force curve? Linear, clicky or tactile? Silent, oring, ball bearing mod?
There are so many different variables and that’s before you even get to layout changes it’s perfectly possible to build your own keyboard that is perfect or close to it for you.
I have keyboards with different layouts and typing feel that I pick for how I want my typing to feel on any given day. It’s no different from a guitarist having multiple different guitars chasing a different feel and sound.
Not everyone is going to appreciate it, but there are significant differences with the right changes during a build.
I’m looking for unix keycaps, I’ll end up designing them myself and having them printed.
At about 150 dollars at most, it’s probably the simplest way to get what I want. Must simpler than endlessly waiting for a group to come up with what I want.
I’ve done a couple of boards worth of lasering dye-sublimation markers into PBT keycaps. It comes out pretty nice, and blanks from Amazon or AliExpress are cheap.
I’ve done this before with hot swappable boards plenty of times, no problem. If the leg appears to actually be damaged, don’t use it, but if you can bend it back and if seems solid, send it!
Don’t use previously-soldered switches in a hotswap, but otherwise it should be fine to unbend them. I use Outemu switches a lot and it just is what it is. They’re cheap, so the metal is thin and the packaging is minimal, but I really like some of them, like the dustproof green.
One thing to note is that hot-swaps were not really invented with an eye towards frequent switch changes, and can get pulled off the PCB with rough or constant changes, particularly when putting them in, or the internal contacts can get bent (lumps of old solder on switch legs are particularly bad for this). If it’s a pricy keyboard, I’d recommend installing switches with the PCB out of the board so you can support the socket from behind.
I have Outemu switches, and I haven’t had problems bending pins back. And as someone who majored in metalsmithing in college, as long as it’s not obviously cracked or loose-feeling before you install, you shouldn’t have to worry about it breaking inside the keyboard.
Just try to keep the corrective adjustment to a minimum (i.e. don’t go back and forth), and you shouldn’t have to worry about work-hardening the pin to the point of breaking.
Use a set of flat-jawed pliers, if you have them, try not to crush the pin, and you should be fine. If you do decide to order a full set, iirc they often come with a few extra switches to cover any bad ones.
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