- Joined
- Oct 28, 2023
Mechanical Keyboard Autism Thread - Because Cherry MX switches get you laid.
- Thread starter LazarusOwenhart
- Start date
-
🐕 I am attempting to get the site runnning as fast as possible. If you are experiencing slow page load times, please report it.
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2023
At home I sport a Cherry G80-11800 with Compaq branding and a DAS Keyboard 4 (I think) at work. Both ANSI, Cherry browns and both bought as un-used second hands, for €3 and around €90 respectively.
I never got used to the mushy HP keyboards with those large keycaps from mid 2000's and laptop styled thin membranes with dumb layouts which you get in prebuilt systems So the DAS fulfills the role of gimick free layout with multi media controls which I use daily.
The only gripe I have with the DAS has been that gimmick ruler which is used as stand feet for the thing. The ruler sits loose between the foam inserts which are supposed to hold the ruler in its place. But then again, I only notice it when I hit the keyboard base, while typing it stays firmly in its place.
I never got used to the mushy HP keyboards with those large keycaps from mid 2000's and laptop styled thin membranes with dumb layouts which you get in prebuilt systems So the DAS fulfills the role of gimick free layout with multi media controls which I use daily.
The only gripe I have with the DAS has been that gimmick ruler which is used as stand feet for the thing. The ruler sits loose between the foam inserts which are supposed to hold the ruler in its place. But then again, I only notice it when I hit the keyboard base, while typing it stays firmly in its place.
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2018
you're all severely autistic lmao
imagine spending over 50 bucks on a keyboard
membrane keyboards are just fine and last forever
imagine spending over 50 bucks on a keyboard
membrane keyboards are just fine and last forever
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2023
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2022
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2018
Agreed brother. I had a membrane keyboard until I decided to buy a mechanical, but with my own switches (Kailh Box Jades). Just switched out a Keychron C2 with em and haven't looked back. It's a fucking perfect combination from the old Lenovo membrane keyboard I used to own (image attached)
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2018
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2018
I've put my old Dolch SA keycap set on my PC66 which I also outfitted with box whites (alphanumeric) silent box pinks, (navigation keys) super speed reds (modifiers) and a few NK box creams (Space, Tab, Return, Backspace) It's probably the nicest (as in - most comfortable to use) keyboard I ever had. The spacebar could be a bit heavier, and I might replace the spring there.
It's also the first keyboard I had where SA keycaps don't look absolutely ridiculous height-wise. These got unevenly shiny with that "greasy" feeling, because I had used them for a few months and they're ABS. The PBT keycaps that came with the keyboard started to shine up too though. (I type a lot and there's not a keycap in the world I can't get shiny)
I then decided to do the most autistic and insane and polish all of the SA keycaps to what is basically a mirror finish, like old IBM typewriter bakelite keycaps. I first took the lazy way of plastic polish and a cotton buff on a dremel but noticed a few keys in that it leads to a "cloudy" shine; They were shiny but it just didn't look that good, even though they had a minimum of structure, it was still visible and just looked kinda weird, like the keycap was ever so slightly dirty. I then sanded all of them down with progressively finer sanding paper (from 1200 up to 3000 grit) before polishing them to get rid of the structure. (everything less would leave visible scratches at the polishing stage (EDIT: In case somebody wants to repeat these steps, you need to wet sand them under running- or in a bowl of water, otherwise you'll ruin the plastic, I felt like I should probably mention that) The end result was glass-looking keycaps where the doubleshot letters look perfectly merged with the rest of the keycap, like they're one piece. (EDIT: if you have some small scratches at this stage, it might be worth it to polish it with an extra "acrylic scratch removal" compound instead of just polishing it with plastic polisher, as that might take forever, especially if you do it by hand) It looks really nice and funnily, they're not sticky feeling at all, more like the screen of a smartphone, just a bit more silky and warm, if that makes sense. What an absolutely insane amount of work though. I first wanted to "practice" on this set before buying a nicer one but I can't imagine ever doing all that again. Upside is, this set should last forever now. They really should just sell these ABS keycaps with a mirror finish.
It's also the first keyboard I had where SA keycaps don't look absolutely ridiculous height-wise. These got unevenly shiny with that "greasy" feeling, because I had used them for a few months and they're ABS. The PBT keycaps that came with the keyboard started to shine up too though. (I type a lot and there's not a keycap in the world I can't get shiny)
I then decided to do the most autistic and insane and polish all of the SA keycaps to what is basically a mirror finish, like old IBM typewriter bakelite keycaps. I first took the lazy way of plastic polish and a cotton buff on a dremel but noticed a few keys in that it leads to a "cloudy" shine; They were shiny but it just didn't look that good, even though they had a minimum of structure, it was still visible and just looked kinda weird, like the keycap was ever so slightly dirty. I then sanded all of them down with progressively finer sanding paper (from 1200 up to 3000 grit) before polishing them to get rid of the structure. (everything less would leave visible scratches at the polishing stage (EDIT: In case somebody wants to repeat these steps, you need to wet sand them under running- or in a bowl of water, otherwise you'll ruin the plastic, I felt like I should probably mention that) The end result was glass-looking keycaps where the doubleshot letters look perfectly merged with the rest of the keycap, like they're one piece. (EDIT: if you have some small scratches at this stage, it might be worth it to polish it with an extra "acrylic scratch removal" compound instead of just polishing it with plastic polisher, as that might take forever, especially if you do it by hand) It looks really nice and funnily, they're not sticky feeling at all, more like the screen of a smartphone, just a bit more silky and warm, if that makes sense. What an absolutely insane amount of work though. I first wanted to "practice" on this set before buying a nicer one but I can't imagine ever doing all that again. Upside is, this set should last forever now. They really should just sell these ABS keycaps with a mirror finish.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2021
Just want to share a little project I just finished, my girlfriend loves my custom keyboard and she wanted a "loud clicky one" like mine. However, I didn't feel like dropping a load of money on a custom mechanical keyboard that she will rarely use. She mostly uses a gamepad when we game and we rarely play the few games where she prefers a KB+M. So point of the story is I bought her a $20 Reddragon board, the k552 is actually hot swappable so I put some old akko CS crystal switches I had on the WASD-gaming keys, painted the chassis, and swapped out the keycaps with something more "pretty". Came out pretty good, for a $20 dollar board I could definitely use it without complaints.
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2020
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2021
Looks like I'll be getting a mech-keyboard for once. Problem is I have no idea what to pick. I'm more on price-performance-longevity and my plan for PC use is 60% gaming and 40% other. I'm also going for physical shop only when it comes to keyboards so my range is severely limited and most shops I go to have Corsair-Razer(ew)-Logitech with the occasional Steelseries and Redragon ones. Is there one that is noob-friendly without resorting to online-shopping items from China?
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2021
Neat suggestion, sadly its only a wireless option. The keyboard I'm planning needs to be big because my arms and hands are a bit chunky and I like my ten-key options available rather than the recent trend of wireless + TKL. Should have mentioned earlier that the keyboard I wish to get is something desktop oriented.
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2022
You can just leave it plugged in though? It comes with a cable for charging. Or don’t leave it plugged in, a charge still lasts for months. No idea what you mean it isn’t desktop oriented, it’s got both a TKL and a full size option. Certainly neither one is something you’d want to bring in your laptop bag, they’re mechanical keyboards.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2023
Why brick & mortar only? You're basically killing all the decent options and leaving yourself not only with chinkshit but overpriced ugly gaming branded chinkshit in particular. Are you new to mechs and wanting to try out common switch types first or something?
I can recommend Keychron as a brand, if you're able to find that anywhere in your area. No nonsense, decent quality, feels good and looks good.
I can recommend Keychron as a brand, if you're able to find that anywhere in your area. No nonsense, decent quality, feels good and looks good.
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2021
Definitely new to mechs. Also depends on "decent". The online shops available in the Philippines are mostly chinkshit. Monitors are far worse on that regard. Not to mention the golden rule that ordering electronics via online shops is a big risk as I've seen in other threads.
Oh, currently slowly building a desktop. I'm not gaming in a laptop. Grew tired of that shit.
EDIT: Keychron C2 Wired is the closest but it's out of fucking stock.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2023
I think keyboards are basically risk free. I definitely agree about monitors and anything else with a screen but I've been buying both new and used keyboards for years and never had an issue.
If you're new then go to a b&m and try as many different kinds of switches as you can. I recommend staying away from "tactile" especially if you can't try the specific switch first because everything based on cherry mx brown feels like sandy dogshit. If you don't mind the clicky noise, going for clicky is a safe route, those tend to feel really nice.
After you've figured out what kind of switch you like, order a decent chink keyboard with said switch online, like a keychron, vortex, leopold, IKBC or something like that. You're gonna get a much better quality product and probably even save money.
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2018
Honestly, you'll find a lot of elitism but most mechanical keyboards are really decent and worlds more solid than your average $10 noname membrane. Used to be worse but these days it'd be hard to find something that is *truly* bad, even directly out of china. (and to be frank, pretty much all of this stuff comes out of china) I bought a $40 super cheap ortholinear keyboard on aliexpress to try it out and even that was pretty alright for what it was and even had hot-swappable switches, an option I'd recommend if you wanna play around with different switch types. (on a hotswappable board you can exchange the switches without soldering)
Even the really cheap keycap sets and "budget" switches are pretty good these days if you avoid the obvious fails which are usually well documented and an internet search away to find. People dropping $500-$800 on a keyboard is pure autism and attention whoring for updoots, you can have something fairly luxurious for around $100, above that it's pretty much all the same from a practical standpoint. It's pretty hard to go wrong if you follow advice for the common recommendations.
People like to laugh at the "mech keyboard meme" but it's actually pretty cool to have all these wide options you can mix and match, modify and easily repair with cheap to get spare parts. If just all electronics were like that.
Even the really cheap keycap sets and "budget" switches are pretty good these days if you avoid the obvious fails which are usually well documented and an internet search away to find. People dropping $500-$800 on a keyboard is pure autism and attention whoring for updoots, you can have something fairly luxurious for around $100, above that it's pretty much all the same from a practical standpoint. It's pretty hard to go wrong if you follow advice for the common recommendations.
People like to laugh at the "mech keyboard meme" but it's actually pretty cool to have all these wide options you can mix and match, modify and easily repair with cheap to get spare parts. If just all electronics were like that.
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2022
$20 Redragon ripoffs are a happy medium. They're good enough.