Well I fell down the custom keyboard world.

Soldato
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Got my V3 some new keycaps

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Looks good! Do love these kinda designs, really wanted a Koi fish design but the artisans are super expensive.
 
Soldato
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I got the Deadpool and space bar keycaps for Christmas, which then meant I had to buy the keycap set to be able to use them as they looked wrong with the standard keychron caps. I am surprised how much change it has made to the typing sound. I do however have to do something about the space bar as it sounds very very pingy, I filled the connector arms on it with o-rings to minimise the travel and it has made the sound more acceptable, but it is still wildly different from the other keys. I know it will always sound a bit different but this is a lot
 
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Soldato
Joined
22 May 2010
Posts
11,884
Location
Minibotpc
I got the Deadpool and space bar keycaps for Christmas, which then meant I had to buy the keycap set to be able to use them as they looked wrong with the standard keychron caps. I am surprised how much change it has made to the typing sound. I do however have to do something about the space bar as it sounds very very pingy, I filled the connector arms on it with o-rings to minimise the travel and it has made the sound more acceptable, but it is still wildly different from the other keys. I know it will always sound a bit different but this is a lot

Is it a different material, there's quite a change from ABS to PBT caps. The thickness also makes a huge difference too.

Try filling your spacebar with foam, this helped when i had a pingy spacebar.
 
Associate
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I got an orange Lambda keycap for Christmas, best present ever :D

I'm looking to replace 4 caps above my numpad as they're circle/triangle/square/X as default but they're mapped to play/pause/vol etc, has anyone seen any decent media related caps ?
 
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Soldato
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Soldato
Joined
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Is it a different material, there's quite a change from ABS to PBT caps. The thickness also makes a huge difference too.

Try filling your spacebar with foam, this helped when i had a pingy spacebar.
Yeah, the originals were PBT and the new are ABS. The sound is now much quieter which worked out well considering I use the keyboard a lot for work.

Ill have to see about finding some suitable foam to try on the space bar.
 
Associate
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Now that my first mechanical keyboard (a Drevo Blademaster) is slowly giving up the ghost (so many issues just typing) i am starting to look elsewhere for my keyboard needs. After buying a Ducky One 3 and experiencing a weird high pitch whine through my speakers which forced me to return it (led driver issue?) i am looking elsewhere. So far i have shortlisted to a Keychron K8 Pro, or if i am feeling extra spendy a Q3. I was also thinking of getting a set of Glorious Aura V2s, though i am also thinking about mixing with another set (possibly Prisms) as i would miss having some UK centric keys and i like the idea of a white/ black theme. This sounds like my best option if i want any shine through with south facing leds.. Well that is unless anyone knows of a south facing backlit set...
 
Soldato
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De-solderings switches and the little leds takes so long... Mainly doing it as I've always fancied having a go at soldering and this is a good project for it. The keys never felt right after I spilt an entire cup of coffee on it and had to wash and then lube the switches through the top opening to remove the sticky feeling. So i cleaned all the switch parts now with Isopropyl and de-ionised water and they're back to their gloriously original scratchy feeling that I prefer to smoothness. I'm going to rotate the most used keys with the rarely used and replace the springs with slightly firmer 70g springs and maybe pour some silicone in the base as I got some free.

Btw, does anyone know if I need some specific type of led, or will any 3mm diameter led work? I was going to re-use the originals, but the legs got a bit mangled, plus being 10 years old with daily use, i'm assuming they're probably at the end of their life by now.
 
Associate
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I was looking at wrist rests as Keychron look nice and simple, £30 is a bit much though for effectively a piece of wood, etsy was similar prices so I had the "I can do that" thought.

I got an offcut of beech and cut, rounded the edges, sanded & finally stained it, took maybe an hour total and I now have supported wrist! I might go into business, they're really easy to make (with a couple of common tools)

I can't upload images anywhere to show off my basic carpentry skills but I'm really chuffed with the outcome.
 
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Associate
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I was looking at wrist rests as Keychron look nice and simple, £30 is a bit much though for effectively a piece of wood, etsy was similar prices so I had the "I can do that" thought.

I got an offcut of beech and cut, rounded the edges, sanded & finally stained it, took maybe an hour total and I now have supported wrist! I might go into business, they're really easy to make (with a couple of common tools)

I can't upload images anywhere to show off my basic carpentry skills but I'm really chuffed with the outcome.
That’s really cool :)

I agree, £30 is expensive for a piece of wood with some basic sanding and edging.
 
Associate
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Hi all.

This thread piqued my interest into delving into the custom keyboards. For a while now I have been using a cheap ADX 60% as a stop gap whilst I was sorting the rest of my setup out. The catch I have with the cheapo keyboard is that I have grown to love the layout with the function layout too.
Am I correct in saying that if I get an ISO pcb that is QMK or VIA I can map the keys exactly the same?
I did try an ANSI keyboard but I didn't get on with the layout.

Ps, some beautiful boards in this thread and a great inspiration!
 
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Soldato
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xi04tJF.jpg


wYTij5s.jpg


Sorry if this isn't the right thread for this, but it'll be a 'custom keyboard' once I finish I guess. I started watching a few videos on Youtube about keyboard mods and filling the case with silicone looked interesting, so thought i'd give it a go as I have some laying around. I just filled any holes with blutack, levelled it and then poured some in and put the PCB on top of a sheet of tinfoil. I'll see if its worked tomorrow as it takes 6 hours to cure.

Edit: It didn't fully cure for some reason. I think maybe because the switch prongs poked through the tin foil and the flux residue must have affected the cure.
 
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Associate
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29 Jan 2022
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xi04tJF.jpg


wYTij5s.jpg


Sorry if this isn't the right thread for this, but it'll be a 'custom keyboard' once I finish I guess. I started watching a few videos on Youtube about keyboard mods and filling the case with silicone looked interesting, so thought i'd give it a go as I have some laying around. I just filled any holes with blutack, levelled it and then poured some in and put the PCB on top of a sheet of tinfoil. I'll see if its worked tomorrow as it takes 6 hours to cure.

Edit: It didn't fully cure for some reason. I think maybe because the switch prongs poked through the tin foil and the flux residue must have affected the cure.
Is it cured now?
 
Associate
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Assuming this is allowed...

Does anyone want to try some Gateron G Pro 2.0 Browns? I'm not a massive fan and it might just be that they need lubing but I don't have the time for that. I'll see how many I have but cover postage for a large letter and I'll send them out..

Can link to my Hexus Trust if needed :D
 
Associate
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29 Jan 2022
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Damn, was replacing a switch on my numpad and broke one of the edges on one side of the stabiliser, VERY wobbly but when the cap is back on it's barely noticable. Maybe an excuse to take it apart!
 
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