Build Your Own Mechanical Keyboard

Mechanical keyboards have made a resurgence—and you can make one to suit your needs.

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Mechanical keyboards have made a rapid resurgence as gamers and typists search for an improved typing experience. Ironically, keyboards were mechanical from the very start. These massive boards were large, unwieldy, and noisy, but yielded an amazingly tactile typing experience. These old relics were absorbed into the pages of history as the computer industry became lost in the pursuit of shrinking computers and their peripherals.

Look at this article as less of an in-depth build tutorial and more of a compilation of my experience building my first mechanical keyboard. Learn from my mistakes and some of the tricks I learned before trying to build your own. Enjoy.

Not all keyboards are created equal. The cheap plastic office keyboard sitting at your desk is likely a membrane keyboard. These boards use a rubber sheet (membrane) with electrical switches to register each keypress. Typing on these feels quite mushy because you’re literally just squishing bits of rubber. We deconstructed a membrane keyboard below to demonstrate what you’re pushing against.

Mechanical keyboards increase the tactility of the typing experience by using spring-loaded switches. Every keystroke makes for a satisfying clunk—and sometimes an audible click—when fully depressed. This not only makes for a much more rewarding typing experience but can also, in certain cases, help you type faster and more precisely.

The world of mechanical keyboards can be overwhelming for someone green to the hobby. Size—sometimes called form factor—is the best starting point. Starting out, you’ll have four layouts: full size, ten-keyless (a.k.a. 80%), 65%, and 60%. The breakdown below shows that a full-size keyboard offers all the amenities you could ever need, including a number pad, F-keys, and even arrow keys. Ten-keyless takes away the number pad, 65% takes away the F-keys, and 60% takes away the arrow keys.

Be mindful of how often you use these keys and how much money you’re willing to spend on building your keyboard. More keys require a bigger PCB, bigger case, and, well… more key switches.

We learned that Kbdfans is a great website for anyone starting out in this hobby. While I know the basics of what makes a mechanical keyboard special, I had zero experience actually assembling one from the ground up. That’s why I built up their Tofu65 kit, which comes with everything you need to get started. In case you were wondering what that all entails, we’ve included a list below of how we optioned out the board you see in this article.

It’s common practice to test that your PCB—the circuit board that interfaces with the computer—is operational before getting started. Thankfully, this is really easy, and there are plenty of “keyboard testing” websites out there. After plugging in the board, I shorted the pins where the key switches will eventually sit. I did this with a strip of solder, but any metal object will do the job—forceps or tweezers will likely be optimal here.

If you see the absolutely horrendous RGB lighting, don’t panic. This is super easy to fix with free, open-source tools like VIA. It’s also great for adding new key bindings and more advanced things but we’ll leave that for another article.

After you know the PCB works, it’s time to assemble and modify the included stabilizers. Unlike the ones you used to learn how to ride a bike with, keyboard stabilizers improve the feel and, well, stabilize the majority of keys bigger than one unit in size. Without them, your spacebar would wobble, rattle, and sometimes even fail to actuate. “Units,” in this case, are very simple where the letter keys are one unit, and all other keys expand from that unit of measure. Our Tofu65 board has affordances for four stabilizers: one for backspace, one for enter, one for the left shift, and one for the spacebar.

Our stock CherryMX stabilizers weren’t bad from the factory but can be made considerably better with very little effort. The “locators” of all the stabilizers come with plastic feet that flex at the bottom of the keystroke to provide some cushion. However, these are largely unnecessary and make for a mushier typing experience. That’s why I clipped these off and sanded the edge flat to crisp up the bottom-out feel of the stabilized keys. I also lubed the inside of the locator and applied dielectric grease to the metal connecting rod to dampen any vibrations.

Once those are assembled and screwed into the board, it’s time to actually assemble the PCB and foam sandwich that eventually sits in the case.

Much of the satisfaction of keyboard building comes from assembling the keyboard yourself. However, the aesthetics and sounds of the board are still points of contention. Foam layers are great at muting some of the loud “clicky” sounds of the board, especially when the keys bottom out. The plate material (which the keycaps snap into) can also alter the sound with rigid materials like aluminum and carbon fiber leading to a higher pitch sound and less flex. Other materials like POM, FR4, and polycarbonate offer a much lower-pitched sound and considerably more flex.

Linear Switches

Have a smooth and consistent feel throughout the keystroke without a tactile bump.

Tactile Switches

Have a tactile bump at the bottom of the keystroke without making a click.

Clicky Switches

Have a tactile bump at the bottom of the keystroke while making a click.

We went with a set of linear Gateron Smoothies for our build, which feel nice and smooth while staying relatively quiet. They’re not whisper quiet, but the board is just quiet enough that I don’t have to worry about my desk mates wanting to throw it out the window—which would genuinely be possible with such a hefty keyboard.

Popping the switches through the plate and into the PCB was super straightforward—just be mindful to ensure the pins are lined up. A useful tip I learned was first to install switches at each corner of the PCB to keep the sandwich of components you have together. Once that’s done, it’s just a matter of popping in the remaining 63 switches—if you’re assembling a 65% board like us—and soldering them in place. Of course, once the board was together, the last step was to install everything in the case.

While we’re always fans of doing the most with DIY projects, the solder-only PCB we opted for won’t be a great solution for everyone. I have no plans to swap key switches, partly because I know what I want but also because doing so would mean de-soldering 68 key switches and resoldering new ones. The hot-swap PCB is a much better option, as you can simply yank out the old switches and drop in new ones.

A misconception about building keyboards is that it’s less expensive than buying one that’s already built. Wrong. This is often conflated with building computers—which is considerably cheaper than buying one that’s been pre-built. The issue with keyboards is that major manufacturers have access to factories that build the components they need in massive numbers, meaning they are, in fact, cheaper. While I paid just under $300 for this custom mech, you could buy a solid pre-built one like this signature series board from Drop for $229.

That being said, you shouldn’t get discouraged. Like many of the DIY projects we take on, they wouldn’t be nearly as fun if you didn’t have to deal with any challenges along the way.

Matt Crisara is a native Austinite who has an unbridled passion for cars and motorsports, both foreign and domestic. He was previously a contributing writer for Motor1 following internships at Circuit Of The Americas F1 Track and Speed City, an Austin radio broadcaster focused on the world of motor racing. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona School of Journalism, where he raced mountain bikes with the University Club Team. When he isn’t working, he enjoys sim-racing, FPV drones, and the great outdoors.

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