Building a board for a friend, need some feedback for the specs

Learning and discussion Custom keyboards
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Hey everyone, Pop here! I’m currently gonna build a board for a good friend of mine. My budget (in total" is 200$ USD. He wants a nice and creamy sound signutatre, but decently quiet. Let me know if there are some better options/configurations. The current board specs are:

Board: The QK65 Batch 2 with a Polycarb Plate and hot-swap PCB

Switches: Milky Gatereon Yellows (open to other options)

Stabilizers: Durock V2 Screw Ins

Keycaps: (still deciding)

Thanks for reading!

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Looks like some good budget options so far. I have always wanted to checkout this keycaps for the price - https://www.amazon.com/Mistel-Doubleshot-Mechanical-Keyboard-Switches/dp/B08FWZCZGD

My only issue is the bottom row is some what restrictive for certain layouts, however it looks like it would work with the QK65!

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Can vouch for the Mistels being quite good budget caps. My spacebar was a touch warped, but no more than some of my MT3 ones, so hey.

This sounds like a great setup to me - it’s amazing what you can get for a couple hundred bucks these days. Hard to go wrong with Durock stabs and Gat Yellows, and if tastes develop from there, your friend can always swap them out down the road.

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Some comments from my QK65 build:

  1. Use the PCB stickers for stabs. They’ll soften the bottom-out sound without feeling mushy. I appreciated them more because I put Cherry blacks which can result in loud bottom-out sound.
  2. Do not use little rubber pieces intended to be placed under stab wires. They interfere with stab operation.
  3. I did not like the sound when solid latex case foam is used, sound and feel wise. I didn’t like it removed either. Too hollow, plastic sounding. Poly-fil sound and feel was just right.
  4. Space bar can be too loud on this board. Take appropriate known measures, like a) filling keycap, b) taping keycap ribs that can strike switch top, and c) tissues below spacebar.
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Thanks Don! I have a question, where would I place the put the tape on the keycap rib? Would I put the tissues under the plate or put them on the top of the plate where the keycap makes contact with the plate creating an unpleasant, louder sound?

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If you flip over the spacebar and examine the center slot where spacebar switch stem is supposed to go, check to see if there are vertical ridge above and below. Those ridges can strike the top of the switch, making a loud sound.

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Thanks! Will do when I get home from school.

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Looks like a good list. Doesn’t the Qk65 already come with Owlstabs though?

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Yeah, I looked at some comparisons for the Owlstabs and the Durocks and the OwlStabs appear to rattle more. I watched one youtube video so I’m not sure. Should I use the Owlstabs or get the Durocks?

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I’d say give the Owlstabs a try with tuning and if they don’t satisfy, then look into something else. Durocks need as much tuning work as any other not to rattle.

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I’d agree with giving the OwlStabs a try as I think they are slightly better than Durocks (assuming you don’t have a bad wire). Also was a recent adopter of the new Glorious GSV2 stabilizers and I personally prefer these over everything else except for maybe TX clip-ins (haven’t tried staebies yet).

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I have also tried out GSV2s and those are pretty darn good for the price. Little to no tuning compared to Durock V2s. The only downside is I can only get them from the Glorious website, and the shipping is almost as much as the stabs to here in the midwest. Also, the stems are VERY tight on keycaps. I found caps very hard to remove.

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