I made a keyboard.
If you've followed my musings on my weblog at all, you'll know I've been on a journey in search of the perfect keyboard experience. Of course, I've been unable to find the perfect experience that I am searching for, which is something I will have to make my peace with. Even so, I've managed to find something better than what I've had before in the form of Kailh Box Jade, which is a modification manufactured by NovelKeys from the base Kailh Box switch. These have a relatively stiff activation and a very large and sharp tactility, which is really what I've discovered makes them great for me. At this point, they have a very deep and throaty click which I am not so much of a fan of, however I am growing to enjoy it. Also, I don't have a key cap set for them, so I am recycling my old Razer BlackWidow key caps on the board. This would be more or less fine except that the spacebar is mangled and won't work, so I had to import a DSA spacebar into the set which gives it a bit of a wonky appearance. Aside from that, though, the board is pretty wonderful.
Next, to clarify what I mean by "made a keyboard" I should elaborate just a little. I didn't design the PCB, plate, housing, switch or caps. I didn't solder anything. What I mean is that I selected the switches I wanted to use and then I applied them to a pre-built "hot swappable" keyboard. The base I used is the GMMK, which is available with no switches or caps for $60. I paired it with the aforementioned Kailh Box Jade switches (100 for $34.00 from NovelKeys) and the key caps recovered from my old (and broken) Razer BlackWidow. I was going to wait until Christmas to get this, but my impatience won out.
I would describe the process of inserting the switches as alternately tedious and therapeutic. I did find that some of the Box Jade switches would reject the Razer key caps. I don't know how else to describe it than "reject." The key cap would simply pop off the switch each time I tried to fit it. The only way I could get around the issue was to replace the switch with a different one. I am going to blame it on the key caps.
I also must note that 100 switches is not enough for a full size board. I filled out the four other switch positions with Kailh Box Navy, which are another modification by NovelKeys with an even stiffer actuation. I placed these on keys I don't use often or wouldn't want to accidentally press (hello Windows key).
The results are exceptional. It truly isn't exactly what I've been longing for. However, the stiff and sudden tactility of the switch is delicious and I've been enjoying the board thoroughly since I finished piecing it together. This is easily the best keyboard I've ever used. Easily.
If you've followed my musings on my weblog at all, you'll know I've been on a journey in search of the perfect keyboard experience. Of course, I've been unable to find the perfect experience that I am searching for, which is something I will have to make my peace with. Even so, I've managed to find something better than what I've had before in the form of Kailh Box Jade, which is a modification manufactured by NovelKeys from the base Kailh Box switch. These have a relatively stiff activation and a very large and sharp tactility, which is really what I've discovered makes them great for me. At this point, they have a very deep and throaty click which I am not so much of a fan of, however I am growing to enjoy it. Also, I don't have a key cap set for them, so I am recycling my old Razer BlackWidow key caps on the board. This would be more or less fine except that the spacebar is mangled and won't work, so I had to import a DSA spacebar into the set which gives it a bit of a wonky appearance. Aside from that, though, the board is pretty wonderful.
Next, to clarify what I mean by "made a keyboard" I should elaborate just a little. I didn't design the PCB, plate, housing, switch or caps. I didn't solder anything. What I mean is that I selected the switches I wanted to use and then I applied them to a pre-built "hot swappable" keyboard. The base I used is the GMMK, which is available with no switches or caps for $60. I paired it with the aforementioned Kailh Box Jade switches (100 for $34.00 from NovelKeys) and the key caps recovered from my old (and broken) Razer BlackWidow. I was going to wait until Christmas to get this, but my impatience won out.
I would describe the process of inserting the switches as alternately tedious and therapeutic. I did find that some of the Box Jade switches would reject the Razer key caps. I don't know how else to describe it than "reject." The key cap would simply pop off the switch each time I tried to fit it. The only way I could get around the issue was to replace the switch with a different one. I am going to blame it on the key caps.
I also must note that 100 switches is not enough for a full size board. I filled out the four other switch positions with Kailh Box Navy, which are another modification by NovelKeys with an even stiffer actuation. I placed these on keys I don't use often or wouldn't want to accidentally press (hello Windows key).
The results are exceptional. It truly isn't exactly what I've been longing for. However, the stiff and sudden tactility of the switch is delicious and I've been enjoying the board thoroughly since I finished piecing it together. This is easily the best keyboard I've ever used. Easily.
That is a neat keyboard! What color is the actuation most like; brown, blue..?
ReplyDeleteI'd say the actuation is most like a blue switch, though it is really quite far from it. One really nice thing about the Kailh Box switches and the NovelKey mods of them is that they are much smoother than scratchy Cherry switches. I am not super familiar with the Cherry line, though I have some Outemu brown switches in a Velocifire cheapy 40% keyboard (those are linear). I'd guess if Cherry has a much "heavier" switch that requires more force to push down, these would be close to that switch in that respect.
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