DIY Custom Keyboard Build Log

SPS

Moderator
Hi guys,

A little something different for OC3D today. I have recently built my first custom keyboard and I don't think we've had a keyboard build log before so I decided to post one here and share my experience.

I've been browsing custom keyboards for a few months now and I've really wanted to get stuck in for myself ever since. If you're not new to custom keyboards this log may not be for you as I've aimed it towards people having little to no experience of custom mechanical keyboards, saying that, I'd take on any feedback. I've also tried to keep the costs sane rather than going for all the best parts.

Ok, so now that's out of the way let's get on with it.

Specs Overview

75% ANSI (84 key)
Lubed Gateron Ink Red linear switches
YDMK Translucent Acrylic case
YMDK PCB
Supplied Cherry-style Stabs (lubed)
YMDK OEM PBT Keycaps
Krytox 205g0 Lube

Parts

So I got my most my parts from YMDK, a chinese seller on Aliexpress. Generally most cases and PCBs come directly from chinese sellers.

I got the YMDK 75% kit which comes with the following:

Case - it's a slightly translucent acryllic case with metal circular feet. I chose this case primarly to keep the costs down. I would have prefered an alumium case which I may upgrade to later down the line.




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Plate - the material wasn't state but it feels like steel. The plate allows for quite a few different configurations including split space bar.

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Stabilisers - 4x2u, 6.25u and 7u so you have the option of the larger HHKB style space bar. These stabilisers are cherry style as opposed to costar.

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PCB - It's a white programmable PCB that has underglow RGB LEDs and as like the plate supports quite a few different 75% layouts.

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Keycaps - these are PBT OEM Profile keycaps also sold by YDMK, I got these as a I knew these were compatible with this PCB layout. It has multiple versions of some caps so you can move the positions of each cap around as the profile is different depending on each row. It also comes with all ISO caps as well as ANSI.

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Switches - I went for Red Gateron Inks. Gateron Inks are the more premium version of the normal Gateron switches, they are known for their smooth feel. Cherry MX switches are rarely chosen by the custom keyboard community due to being very scratchy. The springs are quite light at 45g, I have some 60g springs on the way which I might swap them out for.

I got 90 switches even though I needed 84 in case some break during assembly.

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Ok that's everything required, onto the build.

Build

The first (very tedious) thing we must do is lube each switch, all 84 of them.. unfortunately you cannot get them pre-lubed unless you enlist the services of a community member. Lubing switches is pretty much always recommended, it improves smoothness, reduces "spring ping", and generally improves the overall acoustic by sounding less "rattley" and more grounded.

There are a few lubes used but the most common is Krytox 205g0, you can only really get it from custom keyboard sites.


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Here I'm using a 3D printed switch opener, you push down and the top pops off.

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Once open I lubed either end of the spring and every side of the stem besides the top. Here's a comparison of a lubed switch on the left vs unlubed. As you can see it's only a very thin layer to prevent the switch become sluggish.

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It took me about 3 hours to do 84 switches in several stints.

Now all the switches are lubed it's time to lube the stabilisers, this is more important than lubing the switches as unlubed stabilisers rattle like crazy. Only a few manufacturers such as Varmilo lube stabilisers so if you tap your spacebar you can probably here the rattle I'm talking about.

I lubed the inside of the stem mount and the wire.

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Now the stablisers are lubed it's time to mount them and test the sound as well as key response to make sure they are not sluggish.

For a 75% ANSI board I only needed 3x2u and a 6.25u stab. Here they are mounted directly to the PCB.

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Now I put the plate on top with 4 switches in each corner for stability and a switch per stab so we I test with the keycap on.

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Now I've put the keycaps on to test the sound. On first try the keys were too rattly so I had to take it apart and re-lube, then my spacebar was too sluggish so I had to redo that with a little less lube.

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Ok now I'm happy with my stabs it's time to mount on the switches to the plate. I started at the top row.

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You can see how switches mount to the plate and PCB and create a gap.

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It's important to keep an eye on the back to make sure the pin goes through the hole otherwise you'll crush the very weak pins.

I then filled in the second row and bottom row.

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Next I tested the bottom row fits correctly with the keycaps as there's quite a few configurations and it's easy to place the switch in the wrong slot on this row.

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Now the 2nd row up.

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As I was mounting the rest of the switches I ran into one small issue. The mount for the A key is missing one of the holes required for one of the plastic switch pins.

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This looks to be due to a PCB routing choice as you can see from the picture.

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It's a simple fix though, I just cut off the extra pin and filed it down.

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Ok now I have all my switches mounted.

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Now it's time to solder. I set my iron to 360C.

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I use a 60/40 tin/lead solder.

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I flipped over the PCB ensuring to put pressure to keep the switches against the PCB and soldered all 4 corners of the board first to keep the PCB flat.

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Then I continued to solder all 167 pins.

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Once all the switches are soldered it's important to check the modifier keys with keycaps on as the switches have a small amount of wiggle room in these areas so you may have to straighten them by warming the solder. My return key was slightly off - here it is fixed.

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Now I have all the switches soldered I can place the PCB and plate into the case.

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The case consists of just a bottom piece with the PCB mounted directly to it.

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Now the hard work is done, it's just a case of putting all the keycaps on.

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And that's it. This is the final layout I went with, this board is mostly aimed at programming and games testing hence why I left RCtrl on there otherwise I would have used a cleaner ALT + FN layout. The only thing left to do was to switch some keys around in Bootmapper.

Ok enough talking, here's a few glamour shots.

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Overall it was a really fun project and I only ran into that 1 issue with the A key so I'd say it was fairly painless. In total this cost around £160 (not accounting for shipping/taxes) and took about 5 hours to build over 2 days. I will add to this and say this is probably one of the cheapest DIY kits available besides the switches but still outperforms any pre-built keyboard I've ever used - the smoothness and sound is next level. Hopefully this was interesting read for you guys and provided some good info for custom keyboard newcomers.

Thanks for reading!


EDIT:


Added sound test


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNn1OJGH2ms
 
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Loving this. Good work.

Not sure I could use a keyboard without the tenkey though.


There's always the option of an additional numpad. I've always used tkl, wanted a 60% but I use F keys way too much not to have dedicated. Interested to see if I find the 75% too cramped. Also first time using ANSI over ISO..
 
Oh god ��

I know some people like the sound of keyboards, does nothing for me that whole ASMR thing. The world has all sorts of people I guess.

Maybe someday I'll make my own keyboard. Will need to get better at soldering first though.
 
I know some people like the sound of keyboards, does nothing for me that whole ASMR thing. The world has all sorts of people I guess.

Maybe someday I'll make my own keyboard. Will need to get better at soldering first though.


The sound of my keyboard is important, it needs to be quiet, sound solid, and not rattle. It's probably hard to tell in the video but it's actually very quiet compared to gaming keyboard or most high end typing keyboards. Soldering part is quite easy really, it's spending all the money that's the hard part :lol:
 
Seems like so much work it's crazy! Probably worth it though especially for a programmer like you who spends all day on it


I guess so. Besides the switch lubing which isn't 100% necessary (but is probably worth it) you could build a keyboard in a few hours. Yeah I probably wouldn't recommend this for someone who just plays games at their PC.
 
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