How to Keyboard

• Section 1 - This mysterious custom keyboard thing
• Section 2 - A case study
• Section 3 - Making the switch
• Section 4 - The capstone
• Section 5 - The hunt for endgame

Section 1 - This mysterious custom keyboard thing

Written by ai03, last updated Oct 13 2020

In this quick series, I will cover everything you need to know to get started smoothly on the adventure of custom keyboards.
Information that usually takes months upon months to scrounge together is now available in a quick read in one spot. 

So what is a custom keyboard anyways?

In general, “custom keyboards” refers to high-end keyboards designed to maximize quality, aesthetics, comfort, acoustics, or a mix of these elements. They tend to be a fair bit more expensive than a general keyboard, and are usually very exclusive due to their low-quantity high-quality nature.

Their price can range from below 200USD to well over 1000USD, and they can vary heavily in form and function. They also require the user to choose and assemble the parts, making it a far more involving topic than simply buying and using.

 

Are they really worth their price tag?

In general, custom keyboards tend to have its benefits, such as

• Significantly better quality and design compared to off-the-shelf units,
• Less fatigue on the fingers during extended use,
• Being able to fine-tune the board to your needs in all of its aspects.

Whether custom keyboards are worth their price depends on your use case. Decide based on how you value the aspects of keyboards we’ve discussed earlier, and how much time you spend using a keyboard each day.

 

Alright, I’m sold. So I just go buy a unit and plug it in?

Not quite. Usually, the custom keyboard kit itself only includes the case parts, meaning you must source the rest of the parts separately and assemble them to build a functional unit.

You may wonder why keyboards are such a hassle rather than being pre-built; this is due to the massive variety of switches and keysets available to fine-grain tune feel and aesthetic to one’s preferences. The age where one picks switches from a few color choices is well in the past, with over 800 recorded keyswitch types and hundreds of keysets in existence. But do not worry, for this guide will cover all you need to know when we get to that.

 

My wallet is ready… or is it?

This depends heavily on how far you want to go. I personally categorize keyboards into the following ranges; do note that this is excluding the switches and keycaps as explained above.

• Under 200: Entry level boards for those newly entering custom keyboards.
• 200~300: Affordable custom keyboards that go a tier above entry level.
• 300~400: The usual range for decent boards.
• 400~500: Premium, enthusiast level boards, usually with a known brand name attached.
• 500+: The wallet black hole for those too deep into the hobby.

 

So I just buy the most expensive thing out there and call it a day?

You can, but you will likely waste all of your money and end up unhappy.

Similar to audio, coffee, cuisine, cameras, and the like, going for the most expensive units without knowing what to appreciate or how to take advantage of it properly is generally a bad idea.

Start in the affordable ranges; modern low-cost boards have been consistently improving their quality to offer great experiences for accessible prices. Use them to determine and home in on your true preferences of parts, then use that knowledge to upgrade to the next level. Less mistakes are made this way.

 

Why does everything seem to be out of stock?

Most custom keyboards are manufactured in small batches to keep quality high, and are oft limited by the capacities of the vendors. After all, these custom keyboards aren’t mass produced and globally distributed by a multinational corporation.

One very common sales format in the community is the group buy, where orders are only collected for several weeks, then the units are produced after. The in-stock sale units tend to be several thousand units at absolute maximum, selling out fairly quickly. Thus it is difficult to get in on a keyboard purchase without knowing what you wish to purchase beforehand.

 

What’s this mechmarket thing?

There are several aftermarket keyboard communities such as r/mechmarket on Reddit. It is possible to buy both used and unused keyboard units and parts from such places, but do proceed with caution. It is not uncommon for keyboards to be flipped at prices 3x higher than MSRP; this may not be a problem for those with an infinite budget, but for others it is a prime way to be taken advantage of and end up with less than paid for.

 

So what’s next?

By this point, I’m assuming that you are interested in going ahead with custom keyboards. In the next sections I will cover each component of the keyboard to understand what choices must be made with them.

Continue on by clicking here.

Section 2 - A case study

It’s difficult to make a keyboard decision without knowing what to look out for. 

 

What’s in a keyboard?

The structure of a keyboard is usually as follows:

• Keycap - The plastic bits of the keys that you press.
• Switch - The bits below the keycaps that are part of the electronic circuit.
• Plate - What the switches snap in to. Usually secured to the case in one way or another.
• PCB - What does all the electronic work. Scans the switches for keystrokes.
• Case - The exterior. What you can see and touch from the outside that isn’t a key.

 

A case of preference?

Since custom keyboard kits usually do not come with switches and keycaps bundled, let’s look into the rest of the board.

The case is the easiest one to explain - it is simply the outer shell. Usually comprised of either one part or two halves, its material, finish, color, and design are crucial to the aesthetics of the keyboard, and will usually be a big determining factor in whether you want the keyboard or not to begin with.

One feature oft found in higher end boards is a weight - usually a heavy metal chunk of brass, steel, or similar adds mass to the board. This may help in preventing your board from moving around on the desk during heavy use.

Also, one thing to note is that the case does have an effect on typing sound. Internal geometry may change sound significantly, and low-profile boards which expose the switches are generally disliked due to their sound properties and aesthetics.

Above: Low profile board on left, high profile board on right. Generally you’ll find that custom keyboards are high profile for good reason.

 

The factors on the plate

The plate is key in determining the board’s final feel and sound. It is the sheet which the switches snap into, and it is the plane which receives all of the impact from your fingertips as you type.

Three things to consider are material, mounting method, and layout.

 

Material

Plates come in all sorts of materials, but the most common choices are listed below.

For the metals:

• Aluminum is a very common choice. It is a fairly soft metal which is comfortable to use, has decently deep typing sound, and is very resistant to corrosion and rust. It is also known to pair well with just about any switch, unlike other materials which may be a bit more pickier.
• Steel plates are oft found in affordable and off-the-shelf keyboards, and is generally disliked in the realm of custom keyboards. Stiff, harsh, and pingy describe this plate material, with extended use leading to significant finger strain.
• Brass plate is a typical choice for putting acoustics first in a keyboard. It is a very stiff choice, albeit not as harsh as steel, and tends to offer the deepest typing sounds. Before committing, you may wish to carefully consider the balance between acoustics and typing feel.

For the others:

• Polycarbonate is a very popular plate choice to pair with linears, due to its very soft feel which maximizes typing comfort over extended time. If you are looking to maximize typing feel, this may be one good choice to consider.
• FR-4, a fiberglass used as the core of circuit boards, is a choice that has been growing in popularity as of late. It sits between polycarbonate and aluminum in both feel and sound.

 

Mounting method

Usually, the plate is the part which connects the keys to the case. How the plate is connected to the case has a noticeable effect on the behavior of the keyboard itself.

Here are a few popular options:

• Top mount has been around since the very first custom keyboards in the late 2000s, and still remains a top pick for even the highest end boards. The plate is connected to the upper half of the case by screw points, allowing the plate to flex downwards on impact to relieve harshness.
• Bottom mount is rarely seen nowadays, and is the opposite of top mount - the plate secures to the lower half of the case. When done incorrectly, the plate may be held rigidly along the rims, leading to reduced comfort.
• Sandwich mount is exactly as described - the plate is sandwiched between the case halves and locked into place. When done correctly, it can make the plate edge a case accent and reduce cost and parts quantity, but in general leads to a very stiff typing feel.
• Integrated plate is again exactly as described - the plate is built into a case half as a single object and is non-detachable. This is usually the stiffest, most inconsistent typing experience of the bunch.
• Gasket mount is slowly becoming widespread, but is a very vague term. In general, it uses some non-stiff material, such as silicone dampers or foam pads, to absorb the typing impact and vibrations. When done correctly, it can lead to significant improvements in typing comfort and acoustics, but do watch out for subpar implementations.
• Leafspring mount is another mounting style rapidly rising in popularity. The plate is secured to the case via long slots or arms to allow the center portion to flex downwards with minimal effort, reducing the harshness of typing. 

Knowing your preferences in mounting styles can help to cut down on the options to choose from, but always be aware that there are both good and bad implementations of any of these.

For an even further look, check out a list of mounting styles by Thomas Baart.

 

Layout

Switches snap into the plate. To put it very simply, to make a certain layout within a keyboard, the plate needs the cutouts in the correct places. 

Don’t forget to check what layout compatibility options each plate has to avoid disappointments later on.

 

The circuitry choices

The PCB handles scanning the switches for keystrokes and barfing them out to the computer. The PCB also determines what features are available on the keyboard itself. 

Some features that you may wish to look out for are as follows:

• Backlight - Some PCBs allow installation of LEDs in each switch, as well as toggling their brightness during use. This is becoming much harder to find as the community moves away from fancy LED effects in general.
• Full RGB - Some PCBs have RGB LEDs built in under each switch position, allowing for full color effects during typing. Note that to take advantage of this, you must use switches with translucent housings, for opaque switches would simply block out the light.
• Indicator LEDs - A more understated option well-suited for many, this allows for installation of a LED which toggles on or off depending on the state of lock keys, such as caps lock. This may be installed within a switch, or may be located in a bezel space instead.
• Hotswap - Normal PCBs require the use of soldering to connect each switch to the PCB. Hotswap sockets allow keyboard assembly without any high-temperature tool at all, as well as disassembly at will by pulling the switches out of the sockets. This will be further explained in the next section regarding switches.

 

Key positioning

In the realm of custom keyboards, most keyboards are reprogrammable, in that you can configure just about any key to type any letter.

What isn’t as configurable is the physical positioning of the keys once built. Take a few minutes to check the common physical layout options available:

TKL (Tenkeyless)
The tried and true, with nearly four decades of history behind it. Dropping the numpad, the keyboard compacts down to a size fit for modern use while maintaining nearly full functionality. Often found in the higher end as flagship keyboards of each brand.

 

75%
Downsizing the TKL further, this layout retains the function and arrow keys suitable for modern use while doing away with the rest. 

 

60%
The tiny board that could. Simplifies the keyboard down to only the main alphanumeric cluster, freeing up significant desk space while allowing for more portable use. Usually, a function key changes select keys to fn and arrow keys when pressed, allowing for full keyboard functionality in tiny size.

65%
Adds one column to a 60% to add physical arrow keys back in. If your typical use involves heavy arrow key usage, this may be a top choice.

Sub-60%
Enter the world of 50, 40, even 30% boards that cram functionality into the tiniest footprints. Makes use of heavy layer shifting akin to holding shift to change characters being typed.

Ortholinear
The grid of keys. All the keys are lined up in both row and column for a very uniform look and compact size. 

Column-Stagger
Oft referred to as ergonomic layouts, these stagger the keys vertically to match the curvature of the fingers for comfortable typing.

A mass of information

Yes, that is quite a bit of information to discuss in one page. It doesn’t cover every possible detail of a keyboard, so go forth in your quest for an endgame keyboard with an open mind when it comes to new information. But do congratulate yourself for covering this much information in such short time - after all, choosing a keyboard is no easy task.

Next comes a section on switches.

Section 3 - Making the switch

The keyboard switch determines the typing experience - it controls the weight, feel, and sound of the typing for each key. Make sure to know the choices available.

 

What about the red, black, brown, and blue?

If coming from pre-built mechanical keyboards, you may recognize the typical choices available for Cherry MX switches - red lightweight linear, black heavyweight linear, brown tactile, and blue clicky. 

However, what if I told you that you have been tricked into seeing only four of 800+ switch variants in the world?

In the realm of custom keyboards, you are no longer constrained to just a few choices; choose freely based on preference, and mod them to your needs.

 

What’s this linear and tactile thing anyways?

If coming without mechanical keyboard experience, you may be bewildered by the descriptions of switches. 

To explain it very simply, these are the three realms of keyboard switches to pick from:

• Tactile - Similar to your laptop keyboards, cheap office keyboards, and the like. A distinct “bump” notifies of keypress as you press before the key hits the bottom.
• Linear - The key travels smoothly down until it hits the bottom, with no bump or tangible event along the way. This is the preference for a massive majority of custom keyboard users (and for good reason).
• Clicky - Click, click, click. If loud is your preference, this is the one to choose. The switch makes extra sound beyond the bare minimum to notify of keypress audibly.

If you have absolutely no preference, I highly recommend giving linears a try. With enthusiast-grade smoothness and the correct weighting, they usually become the effortless, comfortable choice.

 

Feel the rainbow

800 switch choices is a lot to choose from, and it’s simply overwhelming to pick as a first-time keyboard builder. To make the job very easy, I’ve organized a simple switch choice flowchart here. Simply follow along to end up at a proven choice.

 

Beyond the colors

You may have heard rumors of customizing the switches even beyond the many variants. This indeed happens in the realm of custom keyboards, with each modification multiplying the possible switch combinations even further. 

• Spring swap - Open up the switch, take the default spring out, drop a new one in. This allows for fine-tuning the weight of the switch to your preferences. Not too heavy, not too light, just the perfect goldilocks-weighting to match your fingers.
• Lube - Switches have moving parts, and lube makes movement smoother. Not only that - lube can drastically affect the switch’s sound, cancelling out any sort of ringing and pinging while reducing the pitch to a deeper tone. A must-have on any higher end build.
• Switch films - The typical MX-style switch housing is comprised of two parts - a top and a bottom. There is a small gap between them when assembled; a switch film shims this gap to decrease the rattle and wobble of the key even further.
• Frankenswitches - Become a mad scientist, and mix parts from differing switches. This can yield brand new combinations that were unknown before.

These modifications have their own abundance of information, so I will not go into detail here. Just don’t forget that these choices exist, and don’t forget to apply them when building a truly custom keyboard.

 

Moving the big keys

You may be curious about the large keys. Spacebars, enters, shifts, and backspaces - they are much larger than the basic alphanumeric keys, and one switch doesn’t seem like enough for any of them. This is where stabilizers come in - they are wire contraptions which pull down one end of the key when the other end is pressed, allowing the entire key to move down at once rather than seesawing and flying off the board. 

As much as the stabilizer solves problems, it also creates some of its own; the main problem with stabilizers is wire rattle. An untuned stabilizer may sound like a rattlesnake on keypress and ruin the entire board; it is highly recommended to use a thick lube to control the movement of the wire even on the lowest cost builds, and is an absolute necessity for anything higher. For a quick stabilizer tuning tutorial, check here.

One thing to note is that these larger keys are measured in keycap units (denoted U), where 1U is the width of a single-unit alphanumeric cap. 

 

Liquid metal

The switches don’t function on their own; they must be joined to an electronic circuit on a PCB (printed circuit board) to send keystrokes to the computer. This is done in either one of two ways:

• Soldering - A technique which uses heat to melt a metal to form a joint. A solder metal is added between the contacts of the switch and the metal pads of a PCB to have them conduct electricity. For this, you will need some soldering tools; see this page for more info.
• Hotswap - Certain PCBs have sockets built-in to make switches plug-and-play. This usually makes assembly a lot safer and easier, and allows for quicker maintenance if something goes wrong. Just don’t forget to double check that the board you are buying comes with a hotswap PCB.

 

And that concludes brief information regarding switches.

Now onto the keycaps.

Section 4 - The capstone

So you’ve decided on a fancy case and planned out some comfy switches. But you aren’t going to type on the stems of the switches, right?

Keycaps are a major factor in how the keyboard feels, for they are what your fingers press to use the board itself. In addition, the keycap determines the face of a keyboard, so make sure to pick a set that suits your aesthetic preferences.

 

Expensive plastics

The first thing you may be shocked at when hunting for a keyset is their price tag.
“Over a hundred dollars for bits of plastic? Impossible!”, you may say.

However, do keep in mind that although the raw material cost of these plastics is low, they are produced to extreme accuracy with very unusual methods. By the end of the page, you’ll have a rough idea of why these keycaps may end up adding quite a bit of cost to your keyboard’s price.

 

Making a legend

Legends refer to the printed letters and characters on the keycaps. These are printed onto the surface of the keycaps in a variety of methods described below:

The cheap-for-good-reason methods

• Laser-engraved - A laser is used to blast into the keycap, etching the legends into place. Usually has a burnt-out look that is far from photogenic, and is usually tangible upon touch.
• Pad-printed - The legends are printed onto the surface of the keycap. These are also tangible upon touch, and also tend to scrape and fade off from extended use.

Enthusiast grade

• Dye-sublimation, or dye-sub for short - Ink is heat-transferred deep into the plastic, well beyond the depth that can wear off from regular use. These sharp prints are very permanent, and can last decades easily without much issue.
  Due to the heat involved during printing, this cannot be done on plastics that deform under heat such as ABS. Also, lighter ink can’t be printed onto darker base plastic.
• Double-shot - One layer of plastic is cast to form the base of the keycap, and another layer of plastic is injected into it to “form” the legends. This is the community’s top pick when it comes to legend quality, for it creates an infinitely sharp print which can go decades without wearing out. There is no color restriction for this method save for the colors creatable with the plastics themselves.
• Blanks - Who needs legends anyways? High-quality blank keycaps can be a quality choice if going for a minimal look and having no dependency on the legends. 

In general, the enthusiast grade options are the ones to put on your custom keyboard. After all, you don’t want to ruin all the hard work you’ve put in on making your ideal board with a subpar facade.

 

A material world

There are two main plastics to be aware of when dealing with keycaps.

• ABS is a colorful choice that is used in both cheap options (pad-printing, etc) and premium options (double-shot). Usually tends to deliver a deeper tone in terms of acoustics, and becomes shiny as it wears down from heavy use.
• PBT is a duller choice that is oft used for laser-engraving and dye-sub. More resistant to heat and shining, but is prone to warping and twisting as it cools when it comes out of the cast used to form it.

There are other choices such as POM and PPS, but those will be excluded from this guide for the time being.

The sculpt

In the custom keyboard realm, keycap profiles usually refers to the physical shape and sculpt of the keycaps. Yes, multiple keycap profiles exist; the major ones are listed below.

• OEM - This is what 99% of the prebuilt mechanical keyboards come with. A tad choppy and tall, usually made of extremely thin plastic to cut costs.
• Cherry - The community choice. Originally designed by Cherry themselves to match their switches and keyboards, they offer a lower profile, more fluid form that makes typing enjoyable. Usually these are formed from very thick plastics.
• SA - A very tall profile, with a “spherical” round top unlike the typical “cylindrical” form which curve from side-to-side. A fairly retro look which is available in both uniform and differing row forms.
• KAT - A similarly spherical style of keycap, but much shorter than the tall SA. 
• MT3 - Takes spherical to the extreme with very “deep-dish” keytops. 

If you ever find that your typing doesn’t seem to work nicely with the keyboard, try giving a different keycap profile a shot. You may be surprised by the difference it makes.

Image credits: TheBelgian/spamblock

The other sculpt

It’s possible to go beyond these profiles to an extreme degree. Such is the world of hand-sculpted, hand-painted artisan keycaps, in which each cap is an art piece upon your keyboard. These are usually very high-demand and expensive, and are difficult to obtain. For your very end-game keyboard build, you may wish to crown it with a sculpted keycap of your choice.

 

Making it fit

One thing to note is that not all keycap sets come with every single possible key size in existence. This is where the key size units discussed earlier comes into play - make sure that the keyset you are buying includes the key sizes needed to fill the layout of your build. 

 

Now you are ready for the final section.

Section 5 - The hunt for endgame

So you have an ideal board, ideal switches, and ideal keyset to buy. Yet looking them up yields Out of Stock for each. What gives?

As described in the very first section of this series, the low-quantity high-quality style of custom keyboards and the unique sales formats that come with it make purchasing alone a challenge. Time to learn the typical flow of keyboard product sales to maximize your chances of purchase.

 

The group buy

As described in the first chapter, the group buy is a typical choice for keyboard product sale. Here’s a quick explanation of how it works:

• Interest check: In this phase, the product is initially designed and published for public feedback or publicity. Usually, you want to spot the product you want to buy while it is still in this phase. One common place to check is GeekHack’s interest check board. 
• Group buy: In this phase, the product begins transition to reality. 
• First, the orders are collected and payments are received. This can be done in one of few ways:
• First-come first-serve: The first people to put in their order get to join in.
• Raffle: People eligible for purchase are chosen out of a pool of entries.
• Private buy: These are usually not advertised to the public, so no need to worry about these. However, they do exist in private groups behind the scenes for very exclusive products.
• Then, the group buy sells out or the ordering period ends, and the GB moves to production phase.
• The products are produced to order.
• The products are shipped to the buyers.
• Post-GB: One of few things can happen.
• Round n+1: Another round of sales can occur if the product is in high demand and the runners wish to sell the product again. This usually occurs with a significant time gap between rounds.
• Extras sale: Leftover units from the group buy produced as potential replacement units may be put on sale.
• Nothing at all: The group buy may be over permanently, with no more plans of sale in the future.

Do note that there is plenty of chance for a group buy to fail if the production fails in one way or another. In addition, the group buy runner may run off with the money. Always double-check that you are buying from a reputable vendor or group buy runner.

 

The aftermarket warning

As explained in the first section, the aftermarket is a very active place for resale of both new and used products.

This may be beneficial if trying to purchase a past group buy product; however, be aware that the aftermarket is a very dangerous place:

• Flippers and resellers oft sell brand new units for multiple times higher price than MSRP. You may end up overpaying significantly for a product if buying from such people.
• Scammers oft take advantage of the aftermarket to either steal boards or money from unsuspecting traders.

When dealing with the aftermarket, proceed at your own risk.

 

The closing words

Yes, you made it all the way through. Info that usually takes months to scrape together, all consumed in significantly less time.

Before you go, a few tidbits that will help along the journey:

 

It’s a hobby after all

Don’t despair if you don’t make it into a group buy. There is always something better around the corner, and after all, it’s just a rectangle with buttons. Take it lightheartedly.

 

Read, read, read

In this hobby, knowledge is power. Being in the know leads to better keyboards built, and more satisfaction for yourself.

There is a wealth of information everywhere. Take full advantage of it, but at the same time know how to pick between quality and unreliable info.

 

The power of testing

No matter how much you read descriptions, watch typing tests, and inspect force curves, nothing compares to trying the real thing. Visit keyboard events when possible, try various options, and build up your personal preferences.

 

And with that said, welcome to the world of custom keyboards. I wish you the best along the journey, and await the words you will type into this world.

 

Sincerely,
ai03