THE GROUP BUY
Because building a custom keyboard is a very
niche activity, the hobbyist scene around it is yet
to tip over into the kind of volume that justifies
long-term mass production. Stuff gets made
in low volumes instead and is therefore usually
bought with what’s known as a group buy (GB).
This is where a designer will pitch an idea
for a keyboard or keycaps in a process called
an interest check (IC). If enough people signal
they’d be willing to pay for it, a GB is formed, so
people can pitch in their cash and the designer
can place an order, without taking on all of
the cost. The designer then works with the
manufacturer to take their idea to production.
It’s often a long and expensive process, but
there are shops that sell more generic custom
keyboard parts, with some keycap sets being
easy to obtain without a long lead time or
breaking the bank. Likewise, buying standard
Cherry MX switches is easy and you can readily
get hold of bare bones keyboards with a base
and switches but no keycaps. It’s just that the
end result won’t be as custom, nor as premium.
Given the economics of buying components
individually and participating in group buys,
it can get expensive. The keyboard used to
write these very words is worth around £750
fully built, and that’s increasingly the kind of
price you can expect from limited-run boards
made by designers such as Smith and Rune,
ProtoTypist and LZ. There are designers who
offer a discount in larger numbers, but it’s rare –
the price is usually driven by rarity and quality.
As for where to find more information and
get in on those GBs, Geekhack is your friend.
It’s a site where designers post their interest
checks for feedback during the design process,
and then their group buy details if everything
is successful. Also, check out the custom
keyboardcommunityonRedditandDiscord
(reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboardsUKand
discord.gg/qKqwpag), whereyou’llfindeach
majorstorefrontordesignerhasa serverthat
coverswhat’shappeningwiththeirproducts.CASES,WEIGHTSANDPLATES
Therearesixmaincomponentstoa custom
keyboard:keycaps,keyswitches,stabilisers,
PCB,switchplateandcase.We’llgettothefirst
fourinduecourse,butthelasttwoprovidethe
foundationofyourcustomkeyboard’sdesign.
Theswitchplateis,asitsnamesuggest,
thecentralplateontowhichthekeyboard’s
switchesaremounted.Theplatewilleither
offera singlefixedkeylayoutorsomedegree
ofvariation,soyoucanchoosethelayoutthat
suitsyoubest.Forexample,onthekeyboard
I’musingnow,theplatesupportsa handful
ofdifferentpossiblelayouts,includingthe
commonUSANSIandUKISOlayouts.
Oftentheplateis a separatephysicalpiece
fromthecasemountingtoit, butsometimes
theplateis integratedwiththekeyboard’stop
caseasa singlepiece.It canbeeasiertowork
withanintegratedplate,buta separateone
is usuallymoreflexible.Regardlessofwhich
styletheboarduses,mostcustomkeyboardsAll manner of
keycaps, cases,
switches and
switchplates can
be combined with a
custom keyboardare sold as a kit case, switch plate and PCB kit.
As far as the overall shape of the keyboard,
there are some common sizes, such as 60, 65,
75 and 80 per cent (often called TKL) and full-
sized (sometimes called 1800), all of which
roughly refer to the size of the board relative to
a full-sized, 105-key unit.
There are no absolute standards though, so
always double check exactly what you need.
Likewise, for the key layout, there are some
standards, such as US ANSI or UK ISO, but
designers can and do play fast and loose with
them, and there are many esoteric variations,
such as ortholinear layouts where all the
switches are in line with each other.
Your choice of layout depends on how you
intend to use your keyboard, and how you’re
optimising your workspace. I tend to choose
smaller 60 and 65 per cent boards since they
provide more room alongside for a trackpad
or mouse, and because I very rarely need a
numpad or the F-row. However, having tried
a bunch of 60 per cent boards, where you just
get the core alphanumeric keys and modifiers,
my preference has shifted towards 65 per cent
boards. Having an arrow cluster is very handy,
and the handful of extra keys (Del, PgUp, PgDn,
Home, End) are useful both in themselves and
for mapping other functions.
Along with the layout, the material from
which the case and plate are made are
important factors. Plates that use hard metals,
such as brass, will feel very rigid as you’re
typing, and will sound different to aluminium.
Non-metallic materials are increasingly
common for plates too, especially carbon
fibre and certain thermoplastics. Entire
keyboard cases can even be made out of
semi-transparent or dyed polycarbonates.The switch plate sits at the heart of any custom
keyboard, and while metal is the most common
material, others such as carbon fibre are used too