Custom PC - UK (2020-08)

High-endkeyboardsalsotendtocomew
internalweightstogivethemsomeheftand
preventthemfrommovingaroundonyour
deskasyoutype,whichaffectshowtheboard
sounds.Andwhileyoumayrarelylookatthe
bottomofa keyboard,designerswilloftenuse
weightstoprovidehiddenexternaldetailing.
Themostcommonarrangementfora
customkeyboard,calledtopmount,hasthe
switchplateaffixedtothetopcase,andthen
thebottompartofthecaseattachestothat
assembly,butthereareumpteendifferent
variations.Themostcomplexmountsinthe
hobbytodayareoftheisolationvariety.
Theyuselayersofisolatingmaterialto
surroundtheplateandeffectivelysuspendit
insidethecase,sothatwhenyou’retyping,the
noiseisn’ttransferredtothecasematerialas
much,andthefeelis cushioned.

PCB

Nextonourshoppinglistis thePCB,whichis
theretotaketheinputfromyourswitchesand
turnit intosomethingthatyourcomputercan
understand.Althoughyoucangetcasesand
switchplatesthatfita varietyofPCBs– andvice
versa– PCBsgenerallycomewiththecaseand
plate,forminga fullkitthatyouonlythenneed
tosourcestabilisers,switchesandkeycapsto
complete.If you’rebuyingseparately,youcan
expecttopayupwardsof£25,withsomeof
themostpremiumPCBscostingdoublethat.

Most PCBs, or at least the majority of

models designed outside Japan and China,

are programmable and use an open source

keyboard firmware called QMK. QMK supports

a wide range of embedded microcontrollers

that read the switches’ signals as you press

them, working out what you’ve pressed for

how long, and turning that information into a

USB Human Interface Device (HID) signal.

Some PCBs feature integrated lighting,

which you can also program via QMK, and

activate and modify via key combinations

on the board. Some PCBs also feature spots

for you to solder in LEDs yourself, including

in-switchLEDsthatlight up underneath the

keycaps. There’s a wide array of optionshere,

from a handful of single-colour LEDstofull

underglow lighting and per-switchRGB.

The last thing to note about PCBsis whether

or not you need to solder the switches.The

majority of PCBs require soldering,butif you’re

not comfortable soldering, there are also hot-

swappable PCBs with sockets into which you

just push the switch.

They’re much easier to assemble but are

generally more expensive and can’t support

much in the way of layout flexibility.

SWITCHES

The custom keyboarding world has almost

completely standardised on Cherry

MX-compatible switches, with most boards

and keycaps sold today supporting them.

Plenty of PC peripheral companies such as

Logitech, Razer and SteelSeries have designed

their own mechanical switches but you won’t

find them used in the custom market.

However, there is also some niche support

for high-end rubber dome switches from a

Japanese company called Topre, which are

used in pre-built keyboards from the likes of

PFU, Leopold and Realforce. There’s also a very

small niche for boards that take l i

but consideringthese switches arenolonger

made and you need to harvest themfromolder

boards, it’s not a sensible place to start.

The choice of Cherry MX-compatible

switches has also exploded, especially in the

past year or so. There’s an increasing number

of companies other than Cherry making

MX switches from all manner of plastics,

and with all manner of springs and stems,

making Cherry’s own lineup look positively

boring. It’s no stretch to say that the custom

keyboard community has moved on from

The switch plate and case combine to form the m
structure and layout of the keyboard

Keyswitches don’t do much of value without a PCB

A large metal weight and isolation

mounting pads make the Iron 165

by Smith+Rune a pricey board

IGH-END KEYBOARDS ALSOTEND

COME WITH INTERNAL WEIGHTS

TO GIVE THEM SOMEHEFT

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FEATURE / CUSTOMISATION