The Mechanical Keyboards Club

[neurotix]

Alright, I ordered a Mini Cat 64 with the adorable cat keycaps and Gateron Yellow switches from Amazon for $99. Those keycaps are available separately but for almost $40 at the link you provided. So instead of buying a bare case and pcb for $79 and keycaps for $39 I got caps and switches with it for $99.

 

I also ordered 2x Box Pink switches for it from NovelKeys for about $30.

 

So I'm putting this together when it all comes and will wrap it in it's box and give it to the wife for Xmas and feel I got a good deal on it because a full size Ducky or whatever or a Corsair board is around the same price. I paid $130 for my Corsair K70 Lux and same for my Ducky One 2, that I need to sell at a big discount as they don't get used- I swap between my modded z77 with White switches and ny GMMK with Jades.

 

If anyone could provide a link to a separate mechanical numpad and keycaps thats cheap, I have extra Box White switches I can use in that as I may not have enough Pinks. Since shes an accountant she'll really need one.

 

Sorry for biting your style @Fluxmaven

Edited December 22, 2022 by neurotix

[Fluxmaven]

3 hours ago, neurotix said:

Sorry for biting your style 

@Fluxmaven

You're good. It's a gift for my sister so it's not gonna be stealing my style once I give it to her. I wonder what airport security though when they scanned it lol. 

[neurotix]

14 hours ago, Fluxmaven said:

You're good. It's a gift for my sister so it's not gonna be stealing my style once I give it to her. I wonder what airport security though when they scanned it lol. 

 

Yeah, airport security must have had no clue.

 

Speaking of which, we had to cancel our trip to LA for Xmas because of the storm/blizzard at O'Hare..

 

I'll have the kb and some o-rings (I went for blacks) probably on the 28th, dunno when I'll get the switches from NovelKeys though.

[neurotix]

Hey, can someone please recommend a quality mechanical numpad with swappable switches? I'd prefer one prepopulated with switches and keycaps so I can just swap the switches and put o rings on the keycaps and be done with it. Thanks.

 

@Fluxmaven

[Fluxmaven]

25 minutes ago, neurotix said:

Hey, can someone please recommend a quality mechanical numpad with swappable switches? I'd prefer one prepopulated with switches and keycaps so I can just swap the switches and put o rings on the keycaps and be done with it. Thanks.

 

@Fluxmaven

Sorry I don't have any recommendations. I just have an old Genovation numpad for when I need one. Haven't touched it since I moved from IT. 

 

I can research a few options when I get home in a couple days if you haven't found anything by then.

 

 

[neurotix]

13 minutes ago, Fluxmaven said:

Sorry I don't have any recommendations. I just have an old Genovation numpad for when I need one. Haven't touched it since I moved from IT. 

 

I can research a few options when I get home in a couple days if you haven't found anything by then.

 

 

 

We ended up getting one for $35 amd it has a Macaron theme. Its cute.

 

Would post a link but Microcenter has 4090s so wish us luck with getting there in time to acquire one!

[PCSarge]

i guess its time i stick my nose in here for a little advice, im intending on building my first keyboard. i've bought many that are prebuilt over the years. the most recent being the GMMK 2.

 

im over here debating if a GMMK pro is a good way to go. or of i should just start looking elsewhere. the GMMK pro has the form factor appeal (75% and i intend to take the GMMK2 to the office once i build a new board for home)

 

i do like the fox switches on this board, and ive read and heard from a few people that Glorious' lynx switches are functionally identical to foxes, but with a blue top instead of clear.

[neurotix]

15 hours ago, PCSarge said:

i guess its time i stick my nose in here for a little advice, im intending on building my first keyboard. i've bought many that are prebuilt over the years. the most recent being the GMMK 2.

 

im over here debating if a GMMK pro is a good way to go. or of i should just start looking elsewhere. the GMMK pro has the form factor appeal (75% and i intend to take the GMMK2 to the office once i build a new board for home)

 

i do like the fox switches on this board, and ive read and heard from a few people that Glorious' lynx switches are functionally identical to foxes, but with a blue top instead of clear.

 

The best advice I can give is to take your current GMMK and pull all the keycaps off and take all the switches out and open it up (requires a small sized Phillips screwdriver like the one in this set:

Amazon.com

WWW.AMAZON.COM

)

 

It's pretty easy, just remove 10 or so screws that are all on the front underneath the switches and keycaps. Once you do this, the plastic back comes off. If you look at the exposed pcb, you'll see its attached to the metal case by yet more small screws, a few might be hidden under tape: when taking things like this apart it is handy to use an ice cube tray and put the different sized screws in different places in the tray so all your front screws go in one hole in the tray, and the ones for the pcb can go in another.

 

Amazon.com

WWW.AMAZON.COM

^ thin crafters foam you can stick inside the case for noise dampening, this is what I did to my GMMK as it is pretty loud and metal clangy sounding by default. You can get this stuff at Joann Fabrics or Michael's or Hobby Lobby too.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Scrapbooking-Permanent-Adhesive-Dispenser-Photo-Safe/dp/B09WYLLX4V/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=3KAL2X09N17WX&keywords=roll+on+tape&qid=1672774769&sprefix=roll+on+yape%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-3

 

^ roll on double sided tape. I used this to attach some of the thin foam underneath where the space bar is, as well as underneath the gap between Home, Del, End, etc. And the arrow keys (my GMMK is 104 key full size). I just cut strips and squares of the foam with scissors and rolled some of the tape on one side and stuck them on the front side of the pcb. I put more of the foam on the back side of the pcb underneath the stock thin foam mine had in it, too.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Magnetic-Holder-Adhesive-Compatible/dp/B07CJ1SPY7/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?crid=2R7FZM0A5ZEUR&keywords=metal+plate&qid=1672775072&sprefix=metal+plate%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-4

 

^ metal weights you *might* be able to fit inside the keyboard case, I used a small flat rectangular one I had laying around on mine as the board is quite light stock. This will keep it from sliding around on your desk and just make it feel more substantial overall.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Lucas-Oil-10533-Lithium-Grease/dp/B004X70LZA/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=4OCOI334PC0K&keywords=lithium+grease&qid=1672778122&sprefix=lithium+%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-3

 

White lithium grease. Look up a YouTube video on how to remove all your stabilizers, clip them (buy a flush cutter for this) and put lithium grease on the metal bars. This will reduce the sound and clang made by the spacebar and backspace, enter, etc. I did this to my GMMK as well.

 

Consider cutting masking or painter's tape and putting it carefully on the sides of the top metal case (don't cover the aluminum going around the board) and then Plastidip it your favorite color. I did mine in white on top and used Plastidip pearlizer on it too to give it a sparkly finish. I also plastidipped the inside top of the case to help with making the LEDs brighter.

 

Consider looking into different switches, I am not familiar with the ones you are using now and if they are linear, tactile like MX Browns or clicky. Then consider travel distance and get some o-rings to your preference. Finally, invest in some high quality PBT keycaps. Mine are genuine Filco Sakura keycaps and cost me $80 from caseking.de I think.

 

The possibilities are endless really and opening and taking apart your current board and modding it this way will teach you a lot about how modern mechanical keyboards are assembled and how they work. Most of all, have fun doing it. I've attached a photo of my GMMK which is my endgame board: Kailh Box Jades and WASD blue o-rings. Here is a video of how it sounds, too. I think I got the space bar and backspace pretty quiet compared to stock with all the mods.

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2023 by neurotix
Added section about clipping and lubing stabs

[neurotix]

Guess maybe my advice isn't what you wanted...

 

Anyway, a few weeks ago as a late Xmas gift, I built my wife a Mini Cat 64 as well as a seperate numpad to go with it, as she's an accountant and requires a numpad. The numpad is Macaron themed on the top. Brand is Yunzii.

 

Both came with Gateron Yellow switches, someone should enlighten my as to what they are (are they linear? Are they tactile like Browns?) And the Mini Cat came with the MIA cat keycap set. Which is $40 on its own, so a bare board was $79 on Amazon + $40 for that keycap set. Buying a prepopulated board with Yellows and that keycap set was $99 so we saved $20, of course it made extra work for me but w/e.

 

Her board has Kailh Box Pink switches and generic black o-rings (reduces travel by 0.2mm). She loves it. And if she takes it into work and gets complaints about the noise, we can throw the Gateron Yellows back in as I thought they felt nice and they were very quiet.

 

Here are a few photos. Man this thing glows.

 

[PCSarge]

i finished my first custom build today

 

Kaychron Q1 V2 Knob edition 75%, gateron north pole 50G linear switches, GMK awaken neotokyo keycaps

 

 

[neurotix]

8 hours ago, PCSarge said:

i finished my first custom build today

 

Kaychron Q1 V2 Knob edition 75%, gateron north pole 50G linear switches, GMK awaken neotokyo keycaps

 

 

 

 

Looks great man. Nice keycaps.

[neurotix]

 

Would like this board added to the spreadsheet.

 

Mini Cat 64, Kailh Box Pink switches, Black orings and Epomaker MIA keycaps.

Edited January 20, 2023 by neurotix

[Supercrumpet]

Been absent over the holidays, but I'm back in the swing of things now.

 

All the new boards look great guys! I'm now also interested in a Mini Cat to gift haha. The Yunzii numpad pairs quite nicely @neurotix, I'll consider that as well.

 

Everyone's new boards have been added to the list.

 

Additionally, I got myself a new board a couple months ago that I seem to have neglected to post about here. It's my new daily driver, a GK96X with the Halo Clears. Got some pudding caps for it, was a bit tricky to find a set that fit the layout but I got one that works with the correct profiles and everything. Big downside about favoring the 96%/1800 layout so much. Looks pretty tame but it's a nice balance for me between heavy weight, not being obnoxiously loud, and looking nice but not over the top, so it fits with the rest of my setup fairly well. Also temporarily had the original set from my Tab90 on there until the pudding set showed up.

 

 

 

[neurotix]

19 minutes ago, Supercrumpet said:

Been absent over the holidays, but I'm back in the swing of things now.

 

All the new boards look great guys! I'm now also interested in a Mini Cat to gift haha. The Yunzii numpad pairs quite nicely @neurotix, I'll consider that as well.

 

Everyone's new boards have been added to the list.

 

Additionally, I got myself a new board a couple months ago that I seem to have neglected to post about here. It's my new daily driver, a GK96X with the Halo Clears. Got some pudding caps for it, was a bit tricky to find a set that fit the layout but I got one that works with the correct profiles and everything. Big downside about favoring the 96%/1800 layout so much. Looks pretty tame but it's a nice balance for me between heavy weight, not being obnoxiously loud, and looking nice but not over the top, so it fits with the rest of my setup fairly well. Also temporarily had the original set from my Tab90 on there until the pudding set showed up.

 

 

 

 

Those look great! Enlighten me as to what Halo Clear switches are like (I'm guessing not clicky but linear or tactile like browns).. you should do a video demonstration.

 

Thanks for adding my wife's new board and numpad. One word of warning regarding the Yunzii numpad: it came with Gateron Yellows and they were extremely difficult to get out- I couldn't do it, I had to ask my wife to get the switches out. They do provide a combo keycap puller (wire type) and switch puller in the box but my grip strength and lower arm strength wasn't enough to get all the switches out. I assume the ones I put in it (mostly Kailh whites because I only had like 4 Pinks left over) would be difficult to get out as well. If you're strong and not physically disabled like I am it might not be an issue. I think the problem is simply that the square holes for the switches are like just big enough to get a switch in and smaller than most normal swappable boards.

[Supercrumpet]

On 20/01/2023 at 12:36, neurotix said:

 

Those look great! Enlighten me as to what Halo Clear switches are like (I'm guessing not clicky but linear or tactile like browns).. you should do a video demonstration.

 

Thanks for adding my wife's new board and numpad. One word of warning regarding the Yunzii numpad: it came with Gateron Yellows and they were extremely difficult to get out- I couldn't do it, I had to ask my wife to get the switches out. They do provide a combo keycap puller (wire type) and switch puller in the box but my grip strength and lower arm strength wasn't enough to get all the switches out. I assume the ones I put in it (mostly Kailh whites because I only had like 4 Pinks left over) would be difficult to get out as well. If you're strong and not physically disabled like I am it might not be an issue. I think the problem is simply that the square holes for the switches are like just big enough to get a switch in and smaller than most normal swappable boards.

 

Thanks! The Drop Halo Clears (and Trues, for that matter) are indeed tactile like MX clears, and I should do a video since the key switches themselves sound pretty good. However, I definitely get a resonating pinging noise in my keyboard when I type, and that completely ruins the sound lol. I definitely want to address it, but don't know off the top of my head how I should go about doing so.

 

That's interesting, I suppose that's good in the sense that taking off a keycap won't rip out the switch with it (had that happen a few times) but it doesn't seem like it should be that difficult. Something to keep in mind then.

[neurotix]

11 hours ago, Supercrumpet said:

 

Thanks! The Drop Halo Clears (and Trues, for that matter) are indeed tactile like MX clears, and I should do a video since the key switches themselves sound pretty good. However, I definitely get a resonating pinging noise in my keyboard when I type, and that completely ruins the sound lol. I definitely want to address it, but don't know off the top of my head how I should go about doing so.

 

That's interesting, I suppose that's good in the sense that taking off a keycap won't rip out the switch with it (had that happen a few times) but it doesn't seem like it should be that difficult. Something to keep in mind then.

 

A few posts back I posted to PC Sarge (in a very long post) about taking apart my GMMK and using thin crafters foam to pack the hollow areas of the case with, as well as putting this foam on the front of the pcb between the space bar stabs and using double sided tape to keep it in place. Go read it, and then you might want to consider doing it to get rid of any metal clang sound from your board. It worked great for my GMMK, and it made it heavier so it wouldn't slip around as much and when you lift it it doesn't feel hollow or cheap.

Edited January 23, 2023 by neurotix

[Supercrumpet]

On 23/01/2023 at 09:44, neurotix said:

 

A few posts back I posted to PC Sarge (in a very long post) about taking apart my GMMK and using thin crafters foam to pack the hollow areas of the case with, as well as putting this foam on the front of the pcb between the space bar stabs and using double sided tape to keep it in place. Go read it, and then you might want to consider doing it to get rid of any metal clang sound from your board. It worked great for my GMMK, and it made it heavier so it wouldn't slip around as much and when you lift it it doesn't feel hollow or cheap.

 

Ah, I'll definitely consider that. I've heard about foam packing, but haven't seen an example of an exact type of foam that's usually used, so the Amazon link in your previous post is super useful. Thanks!

[neurotix]

20 hours ago, Supercrumpet said:

 

Ah, I'll definitely consider that. I've heard about foam packing, but haven't seen an example of an exact type of foam that's usually used, so the Amazon link in your previous post is super useful. Thanks!

 

Just a moment...

WWW.OVERCLOCK.NET

Hopefully if that link works, it was my documentation on OCN of building the GMMK and should give you a few reference points or a visual idea on what to do.

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by neurotix

[Fluxmaven]

So the astrolokeys set was lost in the mail. Took a refund and bought a different AliExpress special. This time an Evangelion theme. 

 

The glorious lynx are smooth and quiet but it turns out I still don't like light linears. The magical girl tactile switches are really nice so I'll swap all the switches over to those at some point

 

[neurotix]

Nice. Like the theme and caps a lot.

[Supercrumpet]

On 01/02/2023 at 16:49, Fluxmaven said:

So the astrolokeys set was lost in the mail. Took a refund and bought a different AliExpress special. This time an Evangelion theme. 

 

The glorious lynx are smooth and quiet but it turns out I still don't like light linears. The magical girl tactile switches are really nice so I'll swap all the switches over to those at some point

 

 

Looks good! Updated photo and added keycaps to the list.

[Simmons]

On 01/02/2023 at 15:49, Fluxmaven said:

So the astrolokeys set was lost in the mail. Took a refund and bought a different AliExpress special. This time an Evangelion theme. 

 

The glorious lynx are smooth and quiet but it turns out I still don't like light linears. The magical girl tactile switches are really nice so I'll swap all the switches over to those at some point

 

Clearly I don't know how to read or see because I am just now noticing the Eva themed keycaps.  This build looks absolutely amazing!

[neurotix]

@Supercrumpetcan you update my Doraemon keyboard?

 

I checked the box the other day and it is apparently a E-Yooso Z-88 not Z-77. Also known as an E-Element Z-88. It's made or probably made in the same factory as the Redragon keyboards.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Element-Ergonomic-Top-Panel/dp/B08P5RFMSW/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?crid=KDWAWNEN3ELY&keywords=e-element+z-88+mechanical+keyboard&qid=1676662069&sprefix=E-Element+%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-6

[Mastertrixter]

Oh man. This has become somewhat of a money pit for me the last 2 years or so.

 

first is a flesports mk870, Keychron mx red switches, some generic blue and white keycaps from drop, cherry stabs

 

next is my current main. Keychron q1 v2, aqua king everglide switches and the drop x mito marvel infinity war key caps.

 

3rd is a Keychron v4 with holy panda x switches and drop jasmine keycaps

 

4th is the same as 3rd

 

5th is a few others

 

gmmk v1 with holy pandas and hyper x pudding caps

 

ducky x akko 8710 with max blues and the stock caps

 

gk61 with gateron blacks and some Etsy keycap set

 

a Corsair k100 with the max speeds and hyper x pudding caps

 

a skyloong rk61 with whatever switches it came with and another Etsy keycap set.

 

 

 

[Supercrumpet]

22 hours ago, neurotix said:

@Supercrumpetcan you update my Doraemon keyboard?

 

I checked the box the other day and it is apparently a E-Yooso Z-88 not Z-77. Also known as an E-Element Z-88. It's made or probably made in the same factory as the Redragon keyboards.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Element-Ergonomic-Top-Panel/dp/B08P5RFMSW/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?crid=KDWAWNEN3ELY&keywords=e-element+z-88+mechanical+keyboard&qid=1676662069&sprefix=E-Element+%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-6

 

Updated!

 

20 hours ago, Mastertrixter said:

Oh man. This has become somewhat of a money pit for me the last 2 years or so.

 

first is a flesports mk870, Keychron mx red switches, some generic blue and white keycaps from drop, cherry stabs

 

next is my current main. Keychron q1 v2, aqua king everglide switches and the drop x mito marvel infinity war key caps.

 

3rd is a Keychron v4 with holy panda x switches and drop jasmine keycaps

 

4th is the same as 3rd

 

5th is a few others

 

gmmk v1 with holy pandas and hyper x pudding caps

 

ducky x akko 8710 with max blues and the stock caps

 

gk61 with gateron blacks and some Etsy keycap set

 

a Corsair k100 with the max speeds and hyper x pudding caps

 

a skyloong rk61 with whatever switches it came with and another Etsy keycap set.

 

 

 

 

All added, thanks for posting! Nice collection. Honestly I don't think I've heard of the Aqua King switches before, I'm curious about how they feel despite my typical lack of interest in linear switches.