Custom keyboards
Like many, I always had a thing for the old IBM keyboards with their robust structure and tall key-caps and I guess that’s what drove me to the concept that resulted in this keyboard’s existence. It had to have a bulky yet futuristic design, be solid, have tall retro-looking key-caps without being excessively loud. …
ersonal preference has always gone the way of the tactile switch however it is clear that in certain scenarios linear switches can definitely have the edge over tactile switches in regards to response times and their overall quietness. …
Box switches with a snappier feel were installed on all the modifier and function keys whereas a slightly more subtle tactile switch was installed for all other keys. The mixed tactile switches teamed up with the low-profile XVX Profile key-caps along with modified and re-lubed stabilizers made for an extremely pleasant typing experience. …
After a couple of builds that came out sounding and looking rather similar, I felt it was time to offer something a little different. I’d always wanted to build a custom keyboard that would mimic the keyboards of old with white and grey key-caps, but felt the interest in these was rather limited. The solution was offering a retro-looking keyboard with some color in a package that would not only sound great but also offer wireless capabilities. …
Building on the success of the previous build with the “silenced” clicky switches, I worked towards an elegant monotone color-scheme once I got the black and white key-caps on, it felt like it needed a daring splash of color just to balance it out. The result is what you see… and for what you can’t see, let me just say it sounds amazingly quiet and solid. …
One of my first customizations saw me pick up a 75% Bluetooth keyboard with soldered clicky-switches with a desire to make it sound better and become office-friendly. In addition to modifying the switches to get rid of the nostalgic click sound, something also had to be done about the stabilizers. These were easily the “weakest link” in the keyboard used as a starting point for this build but with some desperately needed modifications and lubing, they became as quiet as could be. …
