Mechanical Keyboards

A brief foray into the mechanical keyboard hobby

October 2024

It all started at React Conf. I put my name down with one of the several authentication service booths. I’m not sure I even realized I was entered to win anything. But later during the day they announced my name, and I had won a Keychron K2 with blue switches.

Now I’ve had a few coworkers with fancy mechanical keyboards, and I’ve met a few friends-of-friends with pretty intense collections of mechanical keyboards. But this would be the first one I’ve ever owned.

Keychron K2 with Blues

I liked the feel of the keyboard immediately and started using it all the time at home. But I started to have problems with it, more specifically, with the blue switches. It was hard to type and hear meetings, music, videos, as the sound of the keyboard was so loud. The switches are a high pitched click, and the plastic bottoming out sound is a loud slap. I went to fix it.

The first thing I did was buy red switches from Keychron. Turns out there is a difference between low-rise and normal switches. I returned them.

Then I went to a keyboard store and got some which switches I tested and liked. When I got home I went to pull out the switches of the keyboard only to find they wouldn’t budge. Turns out this keyboard wasn’t hot-swappable.

So, I had to try other mods. I tried:

• O-rings
• Foam
• Tape
• and flipping the Space Bar upside down

But none of these mods address the root of the problem: the switch makes an awful clicking sound. If anything, I muted the bottoming out noise (the better sound) and made the switch clicking come through more clearly.

I really enjoyed the process of trying to improve the sound, but I never got it to a volume I thought would be acceptable in the office. So I sold the keyboard.

Nuphy Halo

I bought a Nuphy Halo, and I love it basically as is. I like the soft shape of the keys, I like the weight of the keyboard, and of course, I like the sound the keyboard makes. When typing the keys sound like a bag of marbles.

The 96% layout is dense, so I do mis-press sometimes. To fix that, I changed the switches on the keys I mis-press most to the white switches ones I bought for my first keyboard. These switches require a slightly higher actuation force. I also added a few key mappings, like one for changing the language quickly.

I think I slightly prefer the layout of of the 80% (which forgoes a keypad). I don’t use the number pad that often anyway but I mostly like it because I wish the arrow keys were spaced away from the main keyboard. I also think the 6 function keys are positioned well to become hotkeys.

TKMB

I found this at a yard sale for only $5 and didn’t hesitate to buy it. It’s a 60% layout so it’s a bit weird to use (the / is in the “wrong” spot), but it makes for a good keyboard to bring to work and back.

I swapped the keys to these decorative ones I picked up at my favorite keyboard shop in Taipei as a souvenir.

And I designed a keyboard cover for it to bring it back and forth to work. If I ever get a 3D printer, I’ll print it.