How to Build Your Own Custom Keyboard--Dwayne

 

During this time of pandemic and quarantine, many students sat down at their desks in their foldable chairs, Mac or PC, and whatever keyboard and mouse that came with the unit. Earlier in the year, Anthony wrote a blog on how to build a PC. And if you are going through the process of building a PC, might as well give yourself the best tools possible to operate it. I was one of those people using the wireless keyboard and mouse that came with the computer. However during quarantine, I was introduced to the world of Mechanical Keyboards. Mechanical Keyboards are keyboards that have mechanical switches. Most keyboards today such as the Apple Keyboard and other basic keyboards come with membrane switches that allow the keyboards to follow suit with the current ‘minimalistic’ design language manufactures are catering to.

Credit to RTINGS.com Credit to Forbes.com
Although functional, the membrane dome switches don’t allow for the user to feel the keys on the keyboard and does not allow the user to customize their typing experience leaving them with a dull, muted, almost squish-like feeling when pressing down a key.
Mechanical Keyboards allows the user to fully customize their experience with a plethora of different switches, keycaps, boards, and cases. Having a custom keyboard allows you to personalize the second most important tool in your computer set up (next to the computer itself, which is also customizable). As I have said before, there are many different options you can use to fit whatever theme you are trying to achieve, with many different pre-built options for inspiration.
Building a mechanical keyboard may seem like major task that requires a high level of skill, but with today’s technology, anyone with a hands and a screwdriver can put one of these boys together, no problem. Like with most activities, there are different levels of keyboard building of varying difficulty. I will go over the easiest and quickest way to build your keyboard.

Materials You Will Need:
(Sites to get materials will be linked, as well as my personal build) 60% Keyboard Case
Hot Swappable 60% PCB
Plate (if needed)
Foam (if needed)
Mechanical Key Switches
Screw-In Stabilizers

Keycaps

Lube

Basic household tools And A Lot of Money

Step 1
First things first, you want to install your screw-in stabilizers to your PCB. Stabilizers are exactly what you think they are, they are stabilize the keys such as they space bar, shift keys, and the enter key. It is common practice to lube the stabilizers with contact grease or a specialized stabilizer lube to negate any rattling from the metal-to-plastic contact from the stabilizers, however, it is not required but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Take the stabilizers and screw the correct stabilizer to it's designated place on the PCB (it will be labeled on the PCB)

Step 2
Mount the plate onto the PCB, aligning the holes on the pate to the holes on the PCB. The mounting plate is where the key switches will be mounted onto, hence the name mounting plate. These plates could be made out of many different materials such as aluminum, brass, gold plated aluminum, and more, all producing different sounds when typed on.

Step 3
One of the easier steps, this is where the mechanical portion of mechanical keyboard comes into play. Mechanical switches are one of the most if not the most varying aspect of the keyboard with hundreds of different kinds of switches. There are three major types of switches: Linears, Tactile, and Clicky. In three categories of switches there are even more types of switches. Each switch have what is called an activation force, which is the amount of force needed to activate the switch. The most common is a linear switch with a 45g actuation force, usually noted by different companies as “reds.” The three most common “red” switches being Cherry MX Reds, Gateron Reds, and Outemu Reds.

What ever switch you choose, you must mount one switch to each space shown on the plate. When completed, it will look like this.

Step 5
The next thing you will need to do is to grab your keyboard case. There are many different kinds of cases of many different colors and materials. Some are made of plastic, various metals, or even wood. And just like the mounting plate, each case will have their own distinctive feel and sounds when typed on. This particular case is made of aluminum.

Once you have your case, you want to align the stand-offs and USB hole with the PCB and carefully place it into the case. Then, screw in the PCB to the case with the included screws. When completed, it should look like this.

Step 6
Now for the easiest, most exciting step, we move onto the keycaps. This is where the theming and customization of your keyboard can get wild, there are thousands of different options for keycaps with different designs, materials, and shapes. The most common shape for a keycap is Cherry shaped keycaps, and the most popular material for keycaps is PBT plastic, which gives the keycaps a *THOCK* kind of noise. However, if you are truly passionate about your keyboard, you may want to look into GMK keycaps. These can run you about 200-600 dollars for one set, however the designs and quality of the keycaps are second to none.
So once, you have your selected keycaps, make sure the space-bar, shift keys, and enter keys fit, and press the keycaps onto the switches. And this is what the final product will look like.

Custom keyboard building is a simple and easy way to take your office or gaming set up to the next level. With the endless combinations of switches, keycaps, cases, and plates, no keyboard builds are really the same which really allows you to have that individuality. And there is no short supply of information either, there are many YouTube accounts dedicated to help you learn the in’s-and-out’s of keyboard building such as TaeKeyboards, Hamaji Neo, :3ildcat, and my favorite Taeha Types. There are multiple subreddits and forums you can go to for inspiration on your build, as well as an great community that is eager to help beginners who are starting out.

PIcture Credits to TaeKeyboards (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deVaUvywGMw)