---
title: A Mechanical Keyboard Journey
tags:
  - diy
  - keyboard
  - programming
  - difficulty-easy
  - seedling
draft: true
date: 2024-07-25
lastmod: 2024-07-25
---
## The Problem

I have two areas where I use keyboards. My home desk, and my work. 

At home, I had a "gaming keyboard", which was starting to become unbearable. It had generation 1 "silent" switches, which were both loud and uncomfortable to type on. Not to mention the awful software (Corsair iCue, my beloathed). I did enjoy its ergonomics outside of the way the switches felt, but that wasn't enough to justify attempting to retrofit the nearly 10-year-old soldered keyboard.

And at work, I had a generic membrane keyboard that always felt off no matter how I positioned it. Obviously, a change was needed.

As such, I did what I do best, and I hyperfixated. I have now built two mechanical keyboards in the past month, and I'm very happy with them! Here's what I learned. There are three basic components to a keyboard build:
## Switches

I've previously tested all different kinds of switches.  A switch's sound and feel falls into three different categories:
- Linear: Most people will have experienced this with a cheap HP membrane keyboard at their work or school. For those that haven't, it's a much longer travel compared to the flat, short press of a laptop keyboard or similar "scissor switch" keyboards. The amount of force needed to press it down is the same throughout the keypress.
- Tactile: Unlike a linear switch, somewhere in the keystroke, a tactile switch will feature a 'bump' where the force required increases and decreases. A **D-shape** bump will be in the middle of the stroke, a **P-shape** bump will be at the end of the stroke. 
	- I think a D-shape should be called a thorn bump, but I'm weird.
- Clicky: instead of the tactile bump, where the change is mostly in feel (and the added force of the bump makes *you* cause the noise), clicky switches have a separate metal tang that gets compressed and snapped against another piece of metal during the stroke. This produces a sharp metallic sound and unique feel that some people enjoy.

Personally, I like 

### Tech Detour

The way a mechanical keyboard switch works is pretty mundane. The plastic stem 

### What I chose

## Keycaps

### Material (Girl)

## Boards