Don’t you want your new keyboard to be nice and shiny and have a great “thock, thock” sound? Want to be that cool engineer that is noticeably hard at work in the office? Why buy an already built keyboard from amazon or one of those top gaming companies when you can have a totally custom and unique mini project? This is your primer to the world of custom keyboards.

What are my qualifications?

I did a quick deep dive for a few nights, read a bunch of articles, and watched a bunch of youtube of sounds. This is my first custom keyboard. 💀

There are 3 primary choices that need to be made and we’ll go through them in a simplified fashion. I’ll highlight my own personal choice in green and put the full build list near the bottom.

Case

Here is where you set the foundation for your keyboard. In this guide, we’ll talk through one of the more popular keyboard kits, there are definitely ranging options with different brands and costs, but for simplicity sake, we’ll be going over the QwertyKeys keyboard kits, which is considered above average.

Choosing the size

There are many sizes to choose from, from 60% to full size. the % usually refers to the approximate size of the keyboard compared to a full-sized layout

Size	Description	Number of Switches
60%	only includes alphanumerics keys, most common used punctuation, and a few essentials	61
65%	essential keys omits number pad and function row	67-68
70%	alphanumerics, some function keys, omits number pad	75-80
75%	adds more functionality, a function row and more navigation keys	83-87
80%	excludes number pad	87-88
Full	includes alphanumeric, function keys, navigation keys, and numeric keypad	104-108

🛂 https://www.qwertykeys.com/products/neo75cu [QwertyKeys neo75cu]

Case material

This choice is mainly for looks and weight

Top case options

Anodized Silver	Anodized Black	Anodized Grey	Anodized Navy
Anodized Purple	Anodized Burgundy	Anodized Green	Anodized Grey-gold
Anodized Cornflower	Spray-coated Retro White	Spray-coated White	Spray-coated Cream

🛂 Click through the site and choose a color combination that looks good [Anodized Silver]

Bottom case options

Option	Description
Brass	–
Copper	slightly denser than brass, will have more weight

🛂 Can’t go wrong with some density [Copper]

Accent badge look

Silver Orbit Badge	Golden Orbit Badge	Black Orbit Badge
Silver Nova Badge	Golden Nova Badge	Black Nova Badge
Silver Vortex Badge	Golden Vortex Badge	Black Vortex Badge

🛂 Choose something that will match your aesthetic [Silver Orbit Badge]

Printed circuit board (PCB)

Option	Description
Solder PCB	includes 2 foam fillers for the battery compartment. less likely to break
Wired Hotswap PCB	includes 2 stainless steel fillers for the battery compartment to add weight
Tri-mode Hotswap PCB	includes 2x 2200mAh batteries, allows for cable, wireless, and bluetooth

🛂 The most durable option will be the solder PCB, but wont allow for wireless connectivity [Tri-mode Hotswap PCB]

Plate

This is a plate that helps to sandwich your switches to the circuit board. It is located between the switch and the PCB, supporting and fixing the switch, reducing the shaking of the switch during use, and protects both the switch and the circuit board. The dense materials provide a stiffer typing experience with basically no flex, have a harsher bottom out, resonate a lot and provide a higher pitch sound profile

Material	Description	Flexibility	Sound
Steel	high hardness, heavy feeling, solid sound. common in cheap mechanical keyboards	Hard+++	High+++
Copper	hardness equivalent to steel, louder sound	Hard++	High++
CF (Carbon Fiber)	high hardness and light weight, crisp sound	Hard+	High+
Brass	firm typing feel, balanced responsiveness. deep and resonant sound	Hard	High
Aluminum	high hardness, light weight, dull sound	Medium	Medium
FR4 (Flame Retardant-4)	medium hardness, full toughness, thocky sound. same material as PCB	Soft	Low
POM (Polyoxymethylene)	low hardness, easy to deform, thocky sound. widely used due to popularity	Soft+	Low+
PC (Polycarbonate)	low hardness, easy to deform, thocky sound. extremely soft feel	Soft++	Low++
PP (Polypropylene)	soft and bouncy feel. soft and muted sound	Soft+++	Low+++

🛂 Balance the “thock” with some crisp sounds [Carbon Fiber]

Switches

There are a ton of switches out there. Each brand has their own style, build material, lots of technical details that we’ll just skip. Decide what sound profile you prefer, listen to a few sound tests and just give it a try. I think milktooth has a great channel that just powers through a lot of switches, if they don’t have the switch you heard about, just give it a quick google; someone, somewhere has done some review on it.

Type	Description
Linear	simplest. feel the same the moment you start pressing till bottoming out. no tactile feedback or noise when hitting the actuation point
Tactile	provide tactile feedback when hitting actuation point. as you press down you will notice a small bump
Clicky	provides an additional click sound when hitting actuation point. main advantage is that you dont have to push the key all the way down
Hall Effect	use magnetic switches so you can press keys really fast wihtout waiting for them to fully come back up

Switch Types

After a lot of videos, there seemed to be a constant few that would keep popping up, it was overwhelming, so I just chose a popular manufacturer and went deep on them:

Name	Technical Details	Type
Everglide aqua king	Actuation force: 46g
Bottom out force: 62g
Total travel: 4mm	Linear	https://milktooth.com/products/aqua-king
Gateron oil king	Actuation force: 55g
Bottom out force: 65g
Total travel: 4mm	Linear	https://milktooth.com/products/oil-king
Gateron weightlessness	Actuation force: 50g
Total travel: 3.4mm	Tactile	https://milktooth.com/products/weightlessness
Gateron baby kangaroo	Actuation force: 59g
Bottom out force: 67g
Total travel: 3.4mm	Tactile	https://milktooth.com/products/baby-kangaroo
Gateron quinn	Actuation force: 59g
Bottom out force: 67g
Total travel: 3.4mm	Tactile	https://milktooth.com/products/quinn
Gateron long jing	Actuation force: 48g
Bottom out force: 55g
Total travel: 4mm	Tactile	https://milktooth.com/products/longjing
Haimu mulberry	Actuation force: 47g
Bottom out force: 55g
Total travel: 3.6mm	Tactile	https://milktooth.com/products/mulberry
TTC venus	Actuation force: 45g
Bottom out force: 52g
Total travel: 3.8mm	Linear	https://milktooth.com/products/venus
Wuque Studio WS morandi	Actuation force: 50g
Bottom out force: 60g
Total travel: 3.5mm	Linear	https://milktooth.com/products/ws-morandi

https://milktooth.com/products/switches

🛂 When in doubt choose the most popular and trending ones [TTC venus, Everglide aqua king]

⚠️ One other thing to note is key switch stems. most will probably be the cherry mx stem, or mx-compatible, but if you encounter anything else, you should make sure that your switches and key caps are compatible. https://glacierpcgaming.com/blogs/news/understanding-key-switch-stems-why-they-matter-in-keycap-compatibility

You can do your own research, we’ll provide a few interesting youtube links here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwSQgOugNAs – I built the thockiest keyboard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wAbhS73sWk – Best and worst Gateron switches
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huhEfYF-lGE – Beast and worst TTC switches

Key Caps

Again there are an overwhelming amount of choice out there; from type of printing, material used, to type of key profile. We’ll go over the main points.

Material

ABS are the cheapest, most common plastic, mass-produced from easily moldable plastic. PBT are less common but usually have higher quality, resistant to wear, providing a longer lifespan.

	Pros	Cons
ABS	smooth surface, affordable, readily available, allow for vibrant printing, found on stock keyboards	prone to wear and shine, less durable
PBT	durable, resistant to wear and shine, provides premium feel, textured surface for better grip, longer lifespan	limited color vibrancy, can be more expensive than ABS
POM	smooth and durable, resists wear and oil build up, unique feel, premium typing experience	limited availability, may not feature intricate designs
Resin	highly customizable with intricate designs, handcrafted, can be translucent	can be expensive, limited availability, may not be as durable
Rubber	excellent grip and tactile feedback, ideal for gaming and typing, durable and resistant, reduces typing noise	limited aesthetic options, not as common, may not be compatible

https://hirosarts.com/blog/different-types-of-keycaps-guide/

Type of Printing

	Pros	Cons
Pad printing	most common method, cost-efficient, variety of colors	worst durability, less crisp and sharp legends, not compatible with backlit
Double-shot	exceptional durability, high contrast and sharp, allows RGB backlighting	limited color options, more expensive
Triple-shot	latest evolution of double-shot, more unique color combos	limited
Pudding	vibrant RGB illumination, affordable, compatible with most	often made of ABS, limited tactile or sound improvement
Laser etching	precise, detailed, letters impossible to wear off, customizable	not as vibrant
Dye sublimation	highly resistant to wear and fading, vibrant colors, long lasting, sharp and vibrant legends	only works on PBT, non-backlit, limited colors and customization
UV printing	various keycap materials, customizable	may wear off with extended use

Keycap Profiles

Profiles determine the overall shape and height of your keycaps, directly influencing how they feel under your fingers and how they look on your keyboard.

	Description	Height
Cherry	angled tops, sculpted rows, balance of comfort and performance	9.4mm
OEM	common on pre-built keybaords, angled tops, great for typing, gaming, everyday use	11.9mm
SA	angled, concave tops and sculpted rows, not designed for speed	16.5mm
KAT	slanted, indented tops and rows, streamlined version of SA	13.5mm
MT3	distinct design with unique angles and sharper corners on the concave tops	16.5mm
GMK CYL	original “cherry profile”, ergonomic, cylindrical keys	9.4mm
GMK MTNU	medium height spherical top keycap, new standard for spherical tops	10.0mm
DSA	low-profile, speedy. concave tops and consistent row shape similar to XDA but shorter	7.6mm
KAM	uniform design, all rows same shape and height	19.05mm
XDA	flat tops, same height, ideal for fast typing	9.1mm

https://hirosarts.com/blog/guide-to-different-keycap-profiles/