There are literally thousands of imperfect choices for mechanical keyboards out there and You can customize them a little, add some o-rings here, change some key caps there, Luke actually did a guide. Luke: "Welcome to the ultimate Mechanical keyboard guide" but unless you have the know-how to actually build one yourself You're at the mercy of those that do, or are you? What if I told you it didn't have to be like that? What if I told you that there are more options out there than you might have realized what if I told you that? Today's video is brought to you by ifixit. ifixit's pro tech tool kit gives you the tools you need to tackle any electronics repair challenge. visit ifixit.com/linus at the link below and get yours today Linus Singing: "Do you want to build a keyboard use any switches that you like It could be. ahh. ah." Alright, so let's go over what we set out to accomplish here because when Anthony first came to me with this idea he had like these grand visions of programming microcontrollers and soldering diodes using 3d printed or laser-cut chassis and a bunch of other things that are really cool, but This is our first rodeo so we decided to focus on getting one working first So with that in mind then we narrowed our search to parts that can bolt together relatively easily Meaning though that we can expect to pay a premium looking at what's available there's a lot of ten keyless components out there But then even more options for the smaller and simpler 60% layout so we settled on that starting at mechanicalkeyboards.com for some essential supplies Cherry MX brown RGB key switches three choices of beautiful Anodized aluminum cases to put everything into and then a selection of Springs that we can use to actually customize the feel of our switches So this way we could make the caps lock key or the function key more difficult to press Accidentally, and then we could even reduce the actuation force of keys like w,a,s,d Or even the whole alphanumeric set to improve our speed while maintaining that satisfying tactile bump of the Cherry MX brown Like the beauty here whoop is that the sky's the limit for Customizability, but while it's really fun to play around with a bag full of cherry MXs a chassis and a bag of key switches a keyboard Does not make so we are going to need to wire them up now some folks do this manually but a PCB Preferably one that is well documented is much easier not to mention a lot tinier now There are lots of options out there but for our project we turned to banggood where we found not only this nice wooden case actually this thing's really nice and Wrist rest but also Satan no seriously We found the satan GH 60 a fully programmable keyboard PCB that seems to check all the essential boxes It's got macro support and RGB variant And it is widely used in the DIY community as a budget option so with the power of satan and a plate to go over it we started to write I said no soldering for this video So we just really wanted to make that Satan joke so maybe we'll do a follow up later with the Dark Prince GH60 anyway after some more digging for a plug-and-play option we found this on a store called Kbd fans the geek customized GK 64 from semi tech This PCB is pre-built with hot swap terminals, so not only will we not need to solder anything ourselves, we can much more easily pull our key switches if you want to adjust the springs or Replace them altogether and it gets bonus points for using a detachable USB type-c connection and having multiple RGB modes including Check this out you guys this lit AF sound activated mode courtesy of a little microphone built into the keyboard Before you ask that microphone can't be used for sound input and for good reason I mean imagine your clanmates if you put your headset microphone right next to your cherry MX blues, right Anyway, so while we were talking to way over at KBDfans,we also requested his stylish Tina chassis a full set of key caps and stabilizers and another plate to fit our GK 64 which finally completes then our component checklist oh And we also got these which I caught Anthony working on And he assured me was productive, but I will let you guys be the judge All this left now is to put it together and see how well it works um, okay, so let's assemble this thing So we start with what ?screwing down the PCB? Yes, that was relatively straightforward So spacebar Where's the hole I can't do this so that seems to go on that way mm-hmm What'd they do that on the doodad cool? This is fun? All good in hood But it doesn't even sit like evenly like it's bowed up in the middle So you're sure it wouldn't be faster to clip these into here, and then put the whole thing down hmm Yeah, it's probably better to do that. Okay, wait, but there's to know there's some wiggle room. Yeah exactly oh... Yeah, yeah here, let's grab. Let's grab the stiffer one for the spacebar yeah Like a much stiffer one. Okay? Where's 100-meter grams cool? Oh? Okay, cool. Yeah, let's try it I dont think I'd recommend it Oh Wow, it's like. It's like yeah. It feels like it's pushing you away from the table. Okay progress. Let's do a quick light up test Hey Not bad huh all right so now we can put all the key caps on! oh,these aren't labeled or Are they? Well backspace isn't working. O isn't it working How concerned out of ten should be beyond that about that? Here we go and that is one bent ass pin right there bent right over Yeah, I would recommend buying some extras if you're gonna undertake a project like this so everything is tested all in all I'd say that 60% It's gonna take some getting used to you got a super short shift over here your delete key is way down here You don't have function keys obviously, but overall Pretty pleased with the with the end product here. It's compact its programmable It's super portable. We don't have the ability to RGB sync it with you know Asus AURA or Razer synapse or anything but We could change out its case anytime we wanted we can make adjustments to the force of the individual keys I mean, it's fantastic So you might be sitting there thinking gee that sounds great linus does that mean I should do it, too? well that Really depends on how much you value your time And how much you value your money? Not only did this involve about an hour's worth of work not accounting all the research of finding all the parts and ordering them our bulk together approach means that our total cost topped 350 US dollars before shipping or taxes I mean many people already bulk at the idea of a hundred dollar keyboard So this is clearly a deep rabbit hole for the amateur the more adventurous among us could Salvage from old keyboards or even build or 3d print their own cases But there will always be caveats no matter who you are You won't get a warranty by going totally custom, so if you care about that So in the end then while this may not be Hands-down the best mechanical keyboard ever certainly not for the price Nor was it quite as down and dirty DIY as it could have been its uniquely ours and for some people That's gonna be worth it So let us know would you build your own keyboard in the comments below and let us know if you'd like to see more DIY keyboard stuff in the future Maybe next time I'll even let Anthony at the soldering iron blue apron is perfect for those of you out there trying to keep to your New Year's resolutions especially if they were eating healthier and Cooking at home blue apron allows you to create delicious chef inspired recipes at home By delivering all the farm-fresh ingredients you need right to your doorstep in exactly the right proportions No waste and no trips to the grocery Store they offer two types of plans the two-person plan and the family plan and there are eight Recipes to choose from each week now instead of six so you can pick any combination you'd like and they're always adding new dishes to the menu blue apron recipes are delivered in a Refrigerated box so the ingredients will stay fresh even if you're not at home, and they ship to most of the USA There's no commitment you can skip or cancel the service at any time and prices starting as low as $8.99 per serving check it out at the link in the video description And the first 100 people to sign up will get 30 bucks off their first blue apron order So thanks for watching guys if this video sucked Do you know what to do? But if it was awesome get subscribed hit that like button or check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in The video description also linked down. There's our merch storage has cool shirts like this one and our community forum, which you should totally join Three hundred and fifty bucks. This is expensive, but like Listen to this thing You could kill a man
Many sins were committed in the video, but I'm still happy to see our hobby featured on big channels.
OK, they do indeed build their own, but they used a hotswap board. No soldering or hand wiring in this video, but given that Linus and his team have built literally everything before at least once when it comes to tech, I won't be surprised if they take the more serious approach soon.
I really like when big channels bring more attention to custom keyboards, but I feel like Linus didn't want to spend a lot of time for this video. Most Linus' keyboard videos seem to get millions of views, so I don't get it why he didn't bother making a more detailed video. I'm kinda disappointed...
I don't think this is a very good introduction.
This will be watched by people who don't know about mechs.
It would be a prime moment to show what you do when building your first mech.
Gateron browns would show that there are other options than cherry that are better and cheaper.
Maybe an acrylic case that supports underglow. And doesn't cost as much as the Tina.
I think the PCB wasn't a bad choice. I think the Linus crowd always likes some RGB, and hotswap makes the whole thing a bit less scary.
But spring swapping? Like, that's not even something that many people do. Most just buy a switch with the weight they like. They could have shown lubing instead, or just leave it out.
Oh, and 350$? Like others have pointed out, that doesn't even add up. And I think it kinda implies that that's a normal price, especially because it's "their first rodeo" and they didn't really go crazy with anything. Building a 150$ board would be more appropriate.
I think this video is a bit misleading and isn't remotely helpful for beginners. They just kinda build a board without any thought behind it.
Underglow alu case with a board that doesn’t support underglow. Uses Cherry Noctua doo-doo Brown switches. Pays $360.
What a swamp monster of a mech.
I was a bit disappointed in how they concluded the cost was high. I mean, it's a good thing to point out that for keyboards the cost of a DIY one is almost certainly going to be higher than a prebuilt, but it doesn't have to be $356 high.
A more cost efficient approach would be:
Doing so, I'd estimate a build somewhere around $170.
Linus was definitely going with something better than a prebuilt so I see why they chose what they did, it was just a bit misleading not to mention this at the price sumary.
He spent too much money on things he don't need.
$70 for 70 MX switches. $1/switch.
Why? how?
Like cmon, if you're going to make a video at least put SOME level of effort into it. It's a good thing yes, but this video quite literally misinforms whoever watches it if they don't know any better.
What would be a good first starter kit to build a keyboard?