My daily driver
In the last few months I arranged to build my first mechanical keyboard. After a lot of research and looking at various components I decided to go with a 60% layout with Gateron Brown switch and XDA keycaps. It’s not a pre-assembled device which you plug in your PC and it’s ready to go. You get all the parts and assemble everything by yourself, including soldering stuff.
I could have got one already assembled with all given requirements but I would have lost most of the fun and I could hardly find a similar product already assembled anyway. Here it is:
Keebio Quefrency 60%
Listen to how it sounds:
I love it. It feels great when typing and looks very cool to me. It’s far from perfect but at the same time I cannot find any meaningful improvement to apply. It seems like the best I can do for now.
Parts
If it’s your first build give a look at all items to see if they fit your budget and read the whole build guide before buying anything. Also start to become familiar with the QMK firmware since you’ll play with it a lot.
Here is the list of keyboard components:
- 1 x Quefrency PCB 60% split kit (shop)
- 1 x Quefrency 60% plate kit (shop)
- 2 x Pro Micro (shop)
- 64 x Gateron Switches MX compatible (brown) (shop)
- 64 x Keycaps XDA (shop, no homing)
- 1 x Mini USB cable (shopped into a physical local store)
- 2 x Reset switch (included with the PCB kit)
- 8 x Bumpers pads (shop)
These are the requirements for the build:
- Solder iron
- Solder tin
- Solder remover
- Antistatic tweezers
- Flat cutter
Also available on AliExpress which is cheaper, especially for the Pro Micro.
Layout is here. Official build guide is here. My QMK keymap is here (italian qwerty).
Please, notice that even if you use a different layout like me (I use Dvorak), you may still want to physically flash the QWERTY layout into the firmware in order to easily switch between layouts on any computer using software facilities.
Resources
- /r/MechanicalKeyboards on Reddit: main place for keyboard-related stuff and most comprehensive wiki on the planet.
- Deskthority: has both a great community and a wonderful wiki.
- Xah Keyboaord Guide: lots of informations about many keyboards and related matter. It has also a DIY section; quefrency is missing though.
- QMK: most used firmware for custom keyboards. It’s open source.
Contacts
Feel free to ask me anything, I’ll be glad to help If possible. If you would like to have this page translated in italian just drop me a few lines, it’s easy and I’ll do it with pleasure if it’s needed by someone.