Building my first custom keyboard, can't decide (or even understand)

[HungerMechanic]

If you haven’t pinned down your switch, you haven’t really thought hard enough about what you need to do.

I tried to go the fast way, had 2 fullsizes soldered with Zilents and then heavy Ergo Clears, didn’t work out. I hadn’t really tested them in daily use.

The best thing to do is get the cheapest hotswap keyboard you can possibly find, and try using a switch during your daily routine. Then, you’ll find out if it’s good or not. Do that before soldering an expensive custom, and you’ll save yourself some pain.

For gaming + typing, I’ve found medium-weight linears to be preferable. I put 65 gr TX springs in an Aliaz silent tactile [which is almost linear] and it is a great gaming switch. The heavier H1 switches [a Durock recolour with 78 g springs] were something I thought I’d have problems with, but they turned out to be great for platform gaming. Very definite keypresses for a linear. The 62 gr stock Alpacas turned out to be too light for me for any use, so I’m experimenting with 63.5 and 65 gr weights, including Progressive springs. 67 gr Tangerines are probably something you can type and game with right away.

I ordered Silent Alpacas, so we’ll see how that goes. I might build something with them instead of Alpacas.

MX tactiles are something of a disaster, because MX switches are linear at heart, as pointed out here. The Zealios/T1s/Pandas are all highly tactile by the old standard, and have a top-mounted tactile profile. [Unlike the classic Cherry designs with a mid-switch bump, involving pre-travel.] I started a thread where I’m talking about some of the more conventional Cherry-inspired tactiles:

Sharing info on modded tactiles

Everglide Jades Tested with: Stock, 60 gr TX, 62 gr Spirit springs. Lubed versions were tested with 3204. [image] Stock switches: These switches are okay. It’s my understanding that they are basically Zeal V1s. Maybe in a T1 housing. I’m not sure. But I like the idea. Everglide Jades are relatively smooth tactiles that have a crispy, distinct, and punctual tactile bump part-way through the switch. It’s a conventional MX tactility, like Browns or Clears. I’d say it feels like a sharper Ergo…

And I also commented on Holy Pandas and “Brown Pandas” here:

Funky Frankenswitches

Here are some reviews of a couple of YOK Panda derivatives I have been testing: namely Holy Pandas (2 weights), and MX Brown Pandas. All lubed with 205g0. This is an extension of what I am doing in this thread, but since these are frankenswitches, I am describing them here. BROWN PANDAS MX Brown stem, YOK Trash Panda housing, 60 gr YOK Trash Panda spring. 205g0. I assembled these as a joke. They are referred to derisively on other forums. Not sure if I’ve ever heard of a build with them. I …

Maybe if I have a little time in the new few weeks, I’ll be talking about the OUTEMU Sky, OUTEMU Silent Sky, and U4 Boba switches that are arriving soon.

Keycaps, as others have said, don’t start with something wild. Cherry / SS2 and OEM are the safest. Save DSA, SA and MT3 testing for later. Even DSS is probably more mainstream in feel than those three. KAT is less outrageous than SA, but still largely in GB phase. Best thing is go to some meetups after the pandemic is over. Unless you want to buy/sell keycaps on MechMarket for trial purposes. That’s safer in the interim.

There are a billion cheap PBT Cherry-profile keycap sets on AliExpress. There was just a summer sale, but there will be another one in the fall. Otherwise, if you are in the U.S. Novelkeys is offering those cheap but pretty good Cherry-profile PBT sets.