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REGULAR

Direct From Shenzen

s humble magazine journalists,

we spend much of our day in front

of a computer banging away at

little switches. The keyboard is the

tool with we physically interact most

frequently with by a large margin,

and so it’s important to us to get it feeling great

under our hands. This is important for far more than

the simple pleasure of a good clack – repetitive

strain injury (RSI) is a significant risk for anyone who

regularly uses a computer, and having a properly

set up keyboard goes a long way to alleviating

the problem.

At a basic level, keyboards aren’t complex things.

They’re just a lot of switches arranged nicely, with a

Right

The finished

keyboard with a few

caps removed to

show the stainless

steel backing plate

and the PCB

DIRECT FROM

SHENZHEN

A

Hacking your way to superior computer input

Mechanical

keyboard kit

By Ben Everard ben_everard

microcontroller to convert these switch presses into

USB commands.

Most keyboard PCBs are designed to have surface-

mounted components for the microcontroller and

associated bits, and through-hole keys. We opted for

a kit that already had the surface-mount components

soldered on and just the switches to add. This makes it

easier to assemble, but still gives you control over the

choice of keys.

Picking the switches is where things get interesting.

It’s easiest opt for a keyboard that takes Cherry MX

style switches (usually the three-pin variety). There

are a few manufacturers that make switches that fit

these, but the most common are Cherry and Gateron.

Both manufacturers produce keys with a range of