Hi, my name is Manuel. I have loved everything related with peripherals since I was a kid. Now that I am older and have my own money I can spend it as my mom says on “nonsenses”. I love keyboards and I have owned differente types of them, however I never had the time or money to be buying and trying different switches, stabs, cases… Now that I am looking forward to build my very own custom keyboard (ck) I am realizing of some stuff that really makes me feel uneasy.
While surfing through the reddit, some of the well known keyboard websites I realised that building your ck is very very expensive. Because of that I went straight to aliexpress, bought myself a hotswap keyboard which had a case that I liked. Looked for some switches, I bought Silent Tactile TOMs, and a set of keycaps of PBT, which as far I know is the best between PBT and ABS, the most common plastics keycaps are made of. Also I bought a coiled cable that costed me only 5$, compared to other sites where the price of a simple coiled cable are more than 20$. And a foam.
I build a “custom keyboard” for only 53$, which leads me to lots of questions. Why simple 60% whiteout cases from etsy or kbd, and similar shops sell them for nearly 50 or 60$. Yes, there are better materials, but is it not overpriced? Why sets of keycaps you could buy in aliexpress for 20$ less are sold way pricier in these shops, I am aware of dropshippers but it is way overpriced and sadly and surprisingly very concurred by people looking to buy their custom keyboard.
Is the keyboard market way overpriced? I see pcb plates listing for 60$ and I do not see a very critical difference. The only thing I am okay on spending money are switches and stabs, but why I should spend nearly a 100$ on a wooden case? Or 60$ on “artisan keycap” which is probably dropshipped or made for less than 5$? Why is etsy so used if there are lots of dropshippers? Even shops as kbd and someothers sell way overpriced keycaps sets that I do not think are very different to the ones I could buy on aliexpress?.
Am I too pinchpenny? Are there heavy arguments of why I should spend lots of money on a simple case? Or even on a set of keycaps?. A build as Wooting 60HE could be done with the plate and the same switches, and maybe using some config firmware programs?
If anyone is wondering about the keyboard I built, here it is…
Wow, thx u man for showing me your viewpoint. Did not thought about keyboards as art, however now that I “made my self” a keyboard I really want to make another one just to experiment different switches, cases, mods… So I would say from here to a couple months I may be trapped in the second group. Right not I own a couple of keyboards, an akko, a ducky one2mini I bought nearly 5 years ago, and the one I just made, but my mind is still not satisfied and I am looking to build another one, any recommendations?! I like low pitched switch sound such as nk creams and holy pandas. But i am looking for some not as mainstreamed and used. Thx for helping me and hope you can help me once again :)
For another board, depends on the budget I suppose. Something easy and always in stock is the Keychron Q series, any size you like with stock keycaps larger than cherry, so the sound will be deeper. I have a set of nk creams with swapped out stems + springs if you’d like a better set, normal creams are very scratchy unless a lot of time is put into lubing them. If you have a higher budget, cannonkeys has their brutal series, but they won’t come with keycaps. If you do look into those, check to make sure you’re getting a hotswap PCB unless you specifically want a solder board.
Wowoowow thx u man, I have looked into Keycron website and there are lots of different options to pick, and the price is not very expensive. Thx u for the advice, from now on I will avoid creams. I know that there are some autolube switches (The POMs I bought), are there any specific switch you would recommend me?
For linear, gateron milky yellows for budget or oil kings for closer to .55-.60 a switch. Tactility depends on what kind of bump you want. For a little bump, cherry browns are good, for heavy, wuque heavy tactiles are good. For medium weight, akko has some good options, my pick would be V3 cream blue pros. there are a lot of options, just make sure you’re good with the weight of the spring and the price. NK creams are make of just UHMWPE which is a weird thing that works in bits and pieces but it’s not magic.
Saved this comment for when I save some more money and try buy all of them, I do really like akko switches, and gaterons too. I think i will stick wit gateron milky yellows and buy them for the next build. Thx for the advice :)
Totally ! Happy to help :)