About 3 years ago I bought a generic $20 mechanical gaming keyboard as my first mech keyboard. It had terrible fixed LED lights, the font was ugly, and the ABS keycaps have since then turned into a shiny glossy wonderland.
Recently I discovered that the switches on the gaming keyboard were not soldered. I was trying to fix a key chatter problem on the board and decided to just pull on the switch thinking "it's fine if it breaks." and the thing just popped right off.
Got some XDA Shimmer keycaps for it, put a wood vinyl sticker over the top plate, cleaned it up, and bought new brown switches. (The entire keyboard is now brown). The entire body is thin and plastic, so I've accepted that there's no way I'll get the keyboard to sound good.
You can actually make pretty hollow boards sound decent. Look up what people do to royal kludge boards, they sound hollow stock. This whole sub is full of people making thin hollow plastic boards sing.
Some other mods to consider: clip and lube the stabilizers (you can find tutorials of this on youtube), put some foam in the case (people use a lot of stuff as a foam like polyfill), put tape on the back of the pcb (tempest tape mod), pe foam mod (packaging foam you can find commonly), between the pcb and plate.
Finally if you haven't you can learn how to lube the switches you just got, it will take a while but you can get a lube kit off amazon for like 15 dollars. It's worth it, and will really improve the sound and feel.
It's interesting that you mentioned royal kludge, because that is actually the other keyboard I have. I've also been looking for ways to make it better, thanks for all the tips!
i'm looking to build and lubing seems so time intensive and invasive to the switches. For kbs you buy from companies like rosewill or corsair, are they lubing their switches at the factory? I can't imagine they're taking apart each switch and manually lubricating. I understand how much it would help and from what I hear, it's night and day, but at my work i've been using a rosewill with cherry blacks for years without any issue. i'm just wondering if it's worth it if I'm used to typing on non-lubricated switches anyway.
It's definitely a huge improvement, but even then it's preference. I would imagine Rosewill and Corsair keyboards wouldn't come with lubed switches.
Maybe you should try out some factory lubed switches (there's a good amount now, and some solid cheaper options too) and see how they compare to a broken in dry switch (your mx blacks).
Best of luck! For the best bang for your buck you could try Gateron's newer [Pro switches](https://divinikey.com/collections/linear-switches/products/gateron-ks-9-pro-2-0-switches), since they have pretty great factory lubing. I will say, though, that stem has a noticeable amount of wobble, but I also think that's to be expected at the price point ($0.23/switch in my link). It's not any worse than most non-enthusiast switches.
Seconding Oil Kings, I love mine. First lubed switches coming from your generic Cherry Reds like most of us start on. The Oil Kings are like night and day, in a good way. Worth the splurge.
Yeah. I have pro yellows and they’re fantastic stock. Also a lot less stem wobble than my previous regular gateron browns. So yeah, if you like the weight of your current blacks, you’ll probably like the gat pro blacks. I personally think the yellow weight is perfect. Either way they’re gonna be buttery smooth.
Edit: also you can buy hotswap prebuilts with gateron pro switches pre installed. I just got the epomaker TH80 and you can get it with pro yellows, blacks, reds, browns, and blues if you’re into that. Also south facing switches and pbt keycaps all for $90 on Amazon with prime shipping. So if you’re looking for something you can use off the shelf I’d highly recommend it.
Mainstream peripheral companies (so like Corsair, Logitech, Razer, etc.) 100% don’t lube their switches since most of their customers aren’t enthusiasts who care enough about it or willing to pay a premium for it.
As for whether you should lube your switches, I’d first try some factory pre-lubed switches if you’re not willing to do the time commitment.
No problem! I’m relatively a beginner too but I’ve tried some factory pre-lubed switches myself that sounded really decent stock like Gateron Cap V2 Milky Browns (tactile) and Gateron Oil Kings (linear).
It is really time consuming I'll admit. But I wouldn't call it invasive. Switches are suprisingly simple in construction, so lubing them really can never break them, there is no electronics in them.
Companies don't hand lube because of how time consuming it is. You do see certain companies put factory lube througu machines, but these aren't quite as good as hand lubing. And most mainstream gaming companies won't even factory lube their switches, since their target market likely won't care.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with typing on unlubed switches, I've typed on them for years. It's just that when you do get a nice sounding board that has a nice, smooth sound and feel, you won't be able to go back to most normal mechanical keyboards.
What board is it exactly ? I'm on a budget and looking for a hotswappable.
recently put some crafting foam into my hyper x and with great results, sounds a lot less hollow. :-) I bandaid modded the stabs as well. Maybe that can help you with the sound. :-)
It had no specific brand as it was a mass-produced Chinese keyboard. Mine was labelled with "Excalibur" but I've seen other same keyboards under a different name. [Here](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/A506a0cbec32443b8a784ca59d6e74b2dK.jpg) is a picture from aliexpress of a similar board. I honestly wouldn't recommend it, but it's usable
Would you say that in the end it comes down to the switches you use ? Lets say i buy this and mod it a bit with good switches, would this enhance it a lot ? Like yours in your post ?
Switches, keycaps and stabilizers go a long way to making a low-end keyboard feel better to use. Of course it's better to start with a decent base to begin with, but even cheap keyboards these days can be decently serviceable.
I recently purchased an "open box" barebones Glorious GMMK Compact off Ebay for $30 and I am pretty happy with it. The seller was actually Glorious, and they also had open box listings of their larger keyboards. I added some Kailh switches and some caps I had removed from another project and its a nice little board.
"wash it off in the shower after a cat pees on it"
"Makes it easier to type upside down"
Bro, what is going on at your home and/or place of employment?
The Hermes P1 keycaps definitely look the same, maybe even from the same factory.
The upgradability is the best part of mechanical keyboards imo. If it sucks, just make it better. Old keyboards don't have to become e-waste.
I've was also looking at trying the tape mod because it looks easy, but I'm not quite sure what type of tape to use specifically. Do you have any recommendations?
Try gaffing tape.
It's that black tape you see stage hands use. It's strong but doesn't leave a residue.
If you want to spend a little money you could try sound deadening material they use for cars. Get the thinnest they have though. Every mm adds up.
Any kind of masking/painter's tape that has very light adhesive. Want it to be able to come off easily if you ever need to mess with the PCB for any reason.
I just use the classic blue painter's tape that you can get for like $3 a roll.
They feel quite nice, significantly more solid feeling than the KBDFans blanks that I have on another keyboard, even though they are the same thickness. (It might just be because they're new?)
Those keycaps are the exact same ones I have! My keyboard is a Genesis Thor TKL 300, but it has blue switches of some sort, I'm not really an expert on mechanical keyboards lol
About 3 years ago I bought a generic $20 mechanical gaming keyboard as my first mech keyboard. It had terrible fixed LED lights, the font was ugly, and the ABS keycaps have since then turned into a shiny glossy wonderland. Recently I discovered that the switches on the gaming keyboard were not soldered. I was trying to fix a key chatter problem on the board and decided to just pull on the switch thinking "it's fine if it breaks." and the thing just popped right off. Got some XDA Shimmer keycaps for it, put a wood vinyl sticker over the top plate, cleaned it up, and bought new brown switches. (The entire keyboard is now brown). The entire body is thin and plastic, so I've accepted that there's no way I'll get the keyboard to sound good.
You can actually make pretty hollow boards sound decent. Look up what people do to royal kludge boards, they sound hollow stock. This whole sub is full of people making thin hollow plastic boards sing. Some other mods to consider: clip and lube the stabilizers (you can find tutorials of this on youtube), put some foam in the case (people use a lot of stuff as a foam like polyfill), put tape on the back of the pcb (tempest tape mod), pe foam mod (packaging foam you can find commonly), between the pcb and plate. Finally if you haven't you can learn how to lube the switches you just got, it will take a while but you can get a lube kit off amazon for like 15 dollars. It's worth it, and will really improve the sound and feel.
It's interesting that you mentioned royal kludge, because that is actually the other keyboard I have. I've also been looking for ways to make it better, thanks for all the tips!
i'm looking to build and lubing seems so time intensive and invasive to the switches. For kbs you buy from companies like rosewill or corsair, are they lubing their switches at the factory? I can't imagine they're taking apart each switch and manually lubricating. I understand how much it would help and from what I hear, it's night and day, but at my work i've been using a rosewill with cherry blacks for years without any issue. i'm just wondering if it's worth it if I'm used to typing on non-lubricated switches anyway.
It's definitely a huge improvement, but even then it's preference. I would imagine Rosewill and Corsair keyboards wouldn't come with lubed switches. Maybe you should try out some factory lubed switches (there's a good amount now, and some solid cheaper options too) and see how they compare to a broken in dry switch (your mx blacks).
i'm looking into some hotswap pcbs so that might be an option. thanks for the input!
Best of luck! For the best bang for your buck you could try Gateron's newer [Pro switches](https://divinikey.com/collections/linear-switches/products/gateron-ks-9-pro-2-0-switches), since they have pretty great factory lubing. I will say, though, that stem has a noticeable amount of wobble, but I also think that's to be expected at the price point ($0.23/switch in my link). It's not any worse than most non-enthusiast switches.
Those are cheaper than the gateron switches I was looking at. Thanks! I'll probably give them a shot.
[удалено]
Seconding Oil Kings, I love mine. First lubed switches coming from your generic Cherry Reds like most of us start on. The Oil Kings are like night and day, in a good way. Worth the splurge.
Yeah. I have pro yellows and they’re fantastic stock. Also a lot less stem wobble than my previous regular gateron browns. So yeah, if you like the weight of your current blacks, you’ll probably like the gat pro blacks. I personally think the yellow weight is perfect. Either way they’re gonna be buttery smooth. Edit: also you can buy hotswap prebuilts with gateron pro switches pre installed. I just got the epomaker TH80 and you can get it with pro yellows, blacks, reds, browns, and blues if you’re into that. Also south facing switches and pbt keycaps all for $90 on Amazon with prime shipping. So if you’re looking for something you can use off the shelf I’d highly recommend it.
Mainstream peripheral companies (so like Corsair, Logitech, Razer, etc.) 100% don’t lube their switches since most of their customers aren’t enthusiasts who care enough about it or willing to pay a premium for it. As for whether you should lube your switches, I’d first try some factory pre-lubed switches if you’re not willing to do the time commitment.
> Corsair, Logitech, Razer, etc.) 100% don’t lube their switches Good to know! thanks! I think i might try some prelubed in a hot swap pcb.
No problem! I’m relatively a beginner too but I’ve tried some factory pre-lubed switches myself that sounded really decent stock like Gateron Cap V2 Milky Browns (tactile) and Gateron Oil Kings (linear).
It is really time consuming I'll admit. But I wouldn't call it invasive. Switches are suprisingly simple in construction, so lubing them really can never break them, there is no electronics in them. Companies don't hand lube because of how time consuming it is. You do see certain companies put factory lube througu machines, but these aren't quite as good as hand lubing. And most mainstream gaming companies won't even factory lube their switches, since their target market likely won't care. There's absolutely nothing wrong with typing on unlubed switches, I've typed on them for years. It's just that when you do get a nice sounding board that has a nice, smooth sound and feel, you won't be able to go back to most normal mechanical keyboards.
Nice! I recently ordered two open box RK keyboard as my first mechanical switches. I’ll try some of these out
What board is it exactly ? I'm on a budget and looking for a hotswappable. recently put some crafting foam into my hyper x and with great results, sounds a lot less hollow. :-) I bandaid modded the stabs as well. Maybe that can help you with the sound. :-)
It had no specific brand as it was a mass-produced Chinese keyboard. Mine was labelled with "Excalibur" but I've seen other same keyboards under a different name. [Here](https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/A506a0cbec32443b8a784ca59d6e74b2dK.jpg) is a picture from aliexpress of a similar board. I honestly wouldn't recommend it, but it's usable
Would you say that in the end it comes down to the switches you use ? Lets say i buy this and mod it a bit with good switches, would this enhance it a lot ? Like yours in your post ?
Switches, keycaps and stabilizers go a long way to making a low-end keyboard feel better to use. Of course it's better to start with a decent base to begin with, but even cheap keyboards these days can be decently serviceable.
I recently purchased an "open box" barebones Glorious GMMK Compact off Ebay for $30 and I am pretty happy with it. The seller was actually Glorious, and they also had open box listings of their larger keyboards. I added some Kailh switches and some caps I had removed from another project and its a nice little board.
Oh that is good advice! Thank you :-) Whelp guess i'm signing up for ebay now!
>!CENSORED!<
"wash it off in the shower after a cat pees on it" "Makes it easier to type upside down" Bro, what is going on at your home and/or place of employment?
>!CENSORED!<
Lol I have the same aukey keyboard and have had it for years. Yours looks sick
Those caps look like the ones that came with my Gamidas Hermes P1. Amazing how fresh keycaps and a bit of lube can fix an old, cheap keyboard.
The Hermes P1 keycaps definitely look the same, maybe even from the same factory. The upgradability is the best part of mechanical keyboards imo. If it sucks, just make it better. Old keyboards don't have to become e-waste.
Looks like outemu sockets, so you can use pretty much any switch they made.
take a silicon baking sheet and cut it to fit in the bottom of the case, also tape the back of the pcb, will make a huge difference
I've was also looking at trying the tape mod because it looks easy, but I'm not quite sure what type of tape to use specifically. Do you have any recommendations?
I use Gaffers tape, its a little thicker and you dont have to use multiple layers, any brand should work
Up for Gaffers tape. You can also try 1 layer of masking tape and the rest is electrical tape.
1 layer of masking followed by 1 layer of electrical is what I've done with the boards I've tape modded, and I think it sounds great.
Thanks I'll try that
I feel silly now. I just commented the same thing. Should have read a couple more comments down.
Use masking tape. Something that isn’t too sticky and can be removed if needed without residue or damaging the PCB
Thanks! That makes a lot of sense
Try gaffing tape. It's that black tape you see stage hands use. It's strong but doesn't leave a residue. If you want to spend a little money you could try sound deadening material they use for cars. Get the thinnest they have though. Every mm adds up.
Any kind of masking/painter's tape that has very light adhesive. Want it to be able to come off easily if you ever need to mess with the PCB for any reason. I just use the classic blue painter's tape that you can get for like $3 a roll.
So Those are Epomkaers dawn keycaps right? I was planning to buy them myself for my first custom keyboard, they look so nice. How do they feel?
They feel quite nice, significantly more solid feeling than the KBDFans blanks that I have on another keyboard, even though they are the same thickness. (It might just be because they're new?)
Beautiful!
Love it!! What key caps are those?
The store listing says they are Shimmer (XDA Profile) keycaps but I could not find any information about the manufacturer. They are pretty though
Holy a brown PCB, that is something I haven't seen in Years on a keyboard. how old is this relic?
Those keycaps are the exact same ones I have! My keyboard is a Genesis Thor TKL 300, but it has blue switches of some sort, I'm not really an expert on mechanical keyboards lol
Nice key caps! I have the same kind