Gadgetory

there are literally thousands of imperfect choices for mechanical keyboards out there and you can customize them a little add some o-rings here change some key caps there Luke actually did a guy welcome to the ultimate mechanical keyboard guy but unless you have the know-how to actually build one yourself you're at the mercy of those that do or are you what if I told you it didn't have to be like that what if I told you that there are more options out there than you might have realized what if I told you that today's video is brought to you by I fix it I fix it's Pro Tech tool kit gives you the tools you need to tackle any electronics repair challenge visit ifixit.com forward slash line is at the link below and get yours today do you want to keep or use any switches that you like it could be all right so let's go over what we set out to accomplish here because when Anthony first came to me with this idea he had like these grand visions of programming microcontrollers and soldering diodes using 3d printed or laser-cut chassis and a bunch of other things that are really cool but this is our first rodeo so we decided to focus on getting one working first so with that in mind then we narrowed our search to parts that can bolt together relatively easily meaning though that we can expect to pay a premium looking at what's available there's a lot of ten keyless components out there but then even more options for the smaller and simpler 60% layout so we settled on that starting at mechanical keyboards comm for some essential supplies Cherry MX brown RGB key switches three choices of beautiful anodized aluminum cases to put everything into and then a selection of Springs that we can use to actually customize the feel of our switches so this way we could make the caps lock key or the function key more difficult to press accidentally and then we could even reduce the actuation force of keys like lwas or even the whole alphanumeric set to improve our speed while maintaining that satisfying tactile bump of the Cherry MX brown like the beauty here whoop is that the sky's the limit for customizability but while it's really fun to play around with a bag full of cherry MX is a chassis and a bag of key switches a keyboard does not make so we are going to need to wire them up now some folks do this manually but a PCB preferably one that is well documented is much easier not to mention a lot tinier now there are lots of options out there but for our project we turned to banggood where we found not only this nice wooden case actually this thing's really nice and wrist rest but also Satan no seriously we found the satan GH 60 a fully programmable keyboard PCB that seems to check all the essential boxes it's got macro support and RGB variant and it is widely used in the DIY community as a budget option so with the power of satan and a plate to go over it we started to write I said no soldering for this video so we just really wanted to make that Satan joke so maybe we'll do a follow up later with the Dark Prince G h-60 anyway after some more digging for a plug-and-play option we found this on a store called kbd fans the geek customized GK 64 from semi tech this PCB is pre-built with hot swap terminals so not only will we not need to solder anything ourselves we can much more easily pull our key switches if you want to adjust the springs or replace them altogether and it gets bonus points for using a detachable USB type-c connection and having multiple RGB modes including check this out you guys this lit AF sound activated mode courtesy of a little microphone built into the keyboard before you ask that microphone can't be used for sound input and for good reason I mean imagine your clanmates if you put your headset microphone right next to your cheerio next blues right anyway so while we were talking to way over at KBT fans we also requested his stylish Tina chassis a full set of key caps and stabilizers and another plate to fit our GK 64 which finally completes then our component checklist oh and we also got these which I caught Anthony working on and he assured me was productive but I will let you guys be the judge all this left now is to put it together and see how well it works um okay so let's assemble this thing so we start with what screwing down the PCB yes that was relatively straightforward so spacebar where's the hole I can't do this so that seems to go on that way mm-hmm what'd they do that on the doodad cool this is fun all good in hood but it doesn't even sit like evenly like it's bowed up in the middle so you're sure it wouldn't be faster to clip these into here and then put the whole thing down hmm yeah it's probably better to do that okay wait but there's to know there's some wiggle room yeah exactly yeah yeah here let's grab let's grab the stiffer one for the spacebar yeah like a much stiffer one okay where's 100-meter grams cool oh okay cool yeah let's try it oh wow it's like it's like yeah it feels like it's pushing you away from the table okay progress let's do a quick light up test hey not bad huh all right so now we can put all the key caps on all these aren't labeled are they well backspace isn't working oh is it working how concerned out of ten should be beyond that about that here we go and that is one vent a spin right there vent right over yeah I would recommend buying some extras if you're gonna undertake a project like this so everything is tested all in all I'd say that 60% it's gonna take some getting used to you got a super short shift over here your delete key is way down here you don't have function keys obviously but overall pretty pleased with the with the end product here it's compact its programmable it's super portable we don't have the ability to RGB sync it with you know Asus IRA or Razer synapse or anything but we could change out its case anytime we wanted we can make adjustments to the force of the individual keys I mean it's fantastic so you might be sitting there thinking gee that sounds great like this does that mean I should do it too well that really depends on how much you value your time and how much you value your money not only did this involve about an hour's worth of work not counting all the researcher finding all the parts and ordering them our bulk together approach means that our total topped 350 US dollars before shipping ore taxes I mean many people already bulk at the idea of a hundred dollar keyboard so this is clearly a deep rabbit hole for the amateur the more adventurous among us could salvage from old keyboards or even build or 3d print their own cases but there will always be caveats no matter who you are you won't get a warranty by going totally custom so if you care about that so in the end then while this may not be hands-down the best mechanical keyboard ever certainly not for the price nor was it quite as down and dirty DIY as it could have been its uniquely ours and for some people that's gonna be worth it so let us know would you build your own keyboard in the comments below and let us know if you'd like to see more DIY keyboard stuff in the future maybe next time I'll even let Anthony at the soldering iron blue apron is perfect for those of you out there trying to keep to your New Year's resolutions especially if they were eating healthier and cooking at home blue apron allows you to create delicious chef inspired recipes at home by delivering all the farm-fresh ingredients you need right to your doorstep in exactly the right proportions no waste and no trips to the grocery store they offer two types of plans the two-person plan and the family plan and there are eight recipes to choose from each week now instead of six so you can pick any combination you'd like and they're always adding new dishes to the menu blue apron recipes are delivered in a refrigerated box so the ingredients will stay fresh even if you're not at home and they ship to most of the USA there's no commitment you can 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