There’s a kit with the correct PCB. I’m pretty sure that the kbd67mk2 will not work because of the right blocker. So you would have to work wait for the dz65 to come back into stock.
I’ve built a couple tofus and I think they’re a solid choice for a first custom board! I can’t recommend the Alt because no matter how much you tune it, it’s not going to sound like nice board. I recommend just saving up the money for switches and a set of nice keycaps.
If you’re state side and need help soldering, I can do it for free (just pay for shipping to and from) just feel free to PM me!
Hey there! I would recommend tofu65 with the dz65rgb pcb. It is like driving on automatic gears, easier with some challenge for someone starting out, but still really fun to build. Tofu65 has options for different plate materials too like polycarbonate, brass, and aluminium. Also by topping up 10 bucks for the case foam from kbdfans to silence the hollow sound. Overall, I think the tofu65 sounds really good too!
Drop alt, though the design looks cool initially but it is harder to modify around.
Thanks for the replies. I decided to go with Tofu65 with brass plate + dz65rgb and foam. Also ordered 205g0 lubricant for the switches, switch films, lube station and switch opener. Also planing to get sorbothane just in case.
But haven’t decided for switches and keycaps yet. My thoughts on switches are constantly changing. Last week, I settled on Kailh Box Silent Browns but yesterday I changed my mind to silent linears. Today I was thinking should I go with normal linears… It’s crazy. I’ve been using linears switches for years. First Cherry MX Red on Corsair k70, than Romer G linears on G512 Carbon. Gaming with linears is amazing cause you can easily quick tab on keys just for millimeters. But I’m not happy with the typing experience. Everyone was saying tactiles are better for typing. I don’t know… Can’t decide.
Because of BadSeedTech’s video, Silent Alpacas is on my list. Also Zilents v2, Roselios and of course, recently hyped Glorious Holly Pandas is on my radar.
Keycaps… I really don’t know, open for suggestions. Some high profile keycaps looks good but everyone says it’s hard to type with them. Also rgb shine-through would be preferably and only PBT’s have it I guess.
my thoughts are it doesn’t get better than tealios with high quality abs cherry profile caps (gmk, jtk, etc) but like im just some guy everyone has different prefs
+1 for the non-silent linears. That’s where the mx-style switches shine the most imho. Whatever reputable switch you go for, you’re not going to regret it, especially if you’re lubing with 205g0.
As for the gaming aspect, you don’t want to go super low on the actuation force so that you don’t get any accidental keypresses(go with a heavier spring on the spacebar :)) You’d want something that’s right up in the middle that’s easy to actuate fast, and rebounds back up fast as well so I’d recommend something in the 55-67g range.
For keycaps, just start off with a cherry profile, you can’t go wrong with that either. High profile sculpted keycaps like SA or MT3 are either hit or miss for people, so start off with something safe. If you’re not sure, get something like an enjoyPBT PBT set, because they have a great aftermarket price if you decide to sell them for something else later on. Their ABS sets are super well priced as well, but I’d imagine they wouldn’t hold price as well as their PBT sets.
If you haven’t pinned down your switch, you haven’t really thought hard enough about what you need to do.
I tried to go the fast way, had 2 fullsizes soldered with Zilents and then heavy Ergo Clears, didn’t work out. I hadn’t really tested them in daily use.
The best thing to do is get the cheapest hotswap keyboard you can possibly find, and try using a switch during your daily routine. Then, you’ll find out if it’s good or not. Do that before soldering an expensive custom, and you’ll save yourself some pain.
For gaming + typing, I’ve found medium-weight linears to be preferable. I put 65 gr TX springs in an Aliaz silent tactile [which is almost linear] and it is a great gaming switch. The heavier H1 switches [a Durock recolour with 78 g springs] were something I thought I’d have problems with, but they turned out to be great for platform gaming. Very definite keypresses for a linear. The 62 gr stock Alpacas turned out to be too light for me for any use, so I’m experimenting with 63.5 and 65 gr weights, including Progressive springs. 67 gr Tangerines are probably something you can type and game with right away.
I ordered Silent Alpacas, so we’ll see how that goes. I might build something with them instead of Alpacas.
MX tactiles are something of a disaster, because MX switches are linear at heart, as pointed out here. The Zealios/T1s/Pandas are all highly tactile by the old standard, and have a top-mounted tactile profile. [Unlike the classic Cherry designs with a mid-switch bump, involving pre-travel.] I started a thread where I’m talking about some of the more conventional Cherry-inspired tactiles:
And I also commented on Holy Pandas and “Brown Pandas” here:
Maybe if I have a little time in the new few weeks, I’ll be talking about the OUTEMU Sky, OUTEMU Silent Sky, and U4 Boba switches that are arriving soon.
Keycaps, as others have said, don’t start with something wild. Cherry / SS2 and OEM are the safest. Save DSA, SA and MT3 testing for later. Even DSS is probably more mainstream in feel than those three. KAT is less outrageous than SA, but still largely in GB phase. Best thing is go to some meetups after the pandemic is over. Unless you want to buy/sell keycaps on MechMarket for trial purposes. That’s safer in the interim.
There are a billion cheap PBT Cherry-profile keycap sets on AliExpress. There was just a summer sale, but there will be another one in the fall. Otherwise, if you are in the U.S. Novelkeys is offering those cheap but pretty good Cherry-profile PBT sets.
Anyway, don’t get too fooled by my salty-sounding commentary on switch choosing.
It’s actually very fun, as you’ve noticed, but I don’t want you making costly mistakes. Trying out switches is very interesting, but I recommend that you don’t solder anything until you know what you want.
As far as cheap hotswap keyboards, someone asked the other day in another forum, and here is what was recommended:
There are too many cluttered information out there that I really afraid of missing them. I have a constant feeling of forgetting something while gathering the pieces :D. This topic is really helpful, thanks for the advises.
Actually, I think I accidentally I bought wrong stabilizers.
I decided to go with ZealPC Pink Rosélios. While at it, I bought “Zeal Transparent Gold Plated PCB Mount Screw-in Stabilizers V2”. Than I thought I should have bought Plate mount ones… But still I’m not sure.
I decided to go with cherry profile keycaps but haven’t found a good, black, shine-through, double shot pbt keycaps yet. Also DSA or XDA profile looks tempting. Also I almost forgot to check %65 layout keys for r4 :D. TOO MANY THINGS TO CHECK. :D.
Which to get fully depends on the board they’re going in; most PCBs support the PCB-mount ones, but some don’t. Many plates don’t support plate-mount ones, but some do. Not a bad idea to have extras on hand since the stabs you might want down the road might be unavailable when you really want them.
If you wanted to go with Zeal stabs, though, those only come in PCB mount. I believe Zeal has (maybe still) sold plate-mount stabs in the past, but not ones made with the Zeal stabilizer design; just reselling Cherry/GMK plate-mount stabs. Plate-mount is usually a worse choice unless you absolutely have to use them.
I just read the comments on the PCB’s page, someone said screw-in stabilizers works. So fingers crossed. Is it me or kbdfans’ product descriptions is a bit lacking?
KBDFans descriptions can sometimes be a bit lacking, I think mostly due to translation issues. Those stabilizers will definitely work with that PCB! Screw-ins are generally recommended since they’re a bit more stable and don’t have a tendency of popping out of the board when you’re taking off the keycaps.
Update on my build: Everything has arrived except keycaps, lubricant and sorbothane.
First I told myself “ok, lets wait till all the parts to arrive.” But now I want to make it with my old keyboards keycaps and without sound dampening till they arrive because IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL.
Haven’t find a good set of keycaps for my liking yet so I ordered two cherry profile simble keycaps. I didn’t want to go bold and order DSA or XDA style keycaps which I think looks beautiful but have no clue about their typing experience. BUT Rama Kate looks fantastic and if they priced well, I think I’m going to try them first.
I have two silencing options by the way. 1.125" sorbothane sheet and DZ65’s extra foam layer which came with the set. Can I use them both? should I? Should I but any left over sorbothane in between brass plate and pcb?
Can’t wait to see the end result. I actually picked up a dz65 Kit myself the other day. Nice choice on stabs and switches. I’m going to be curious what how it looks all together.
I also agree I went with the dz65 because I wanted to have a nice daily driver while I’m figuring everything out. I’m going to be watching out for some higher end keebs for the long term
Also heads up if you figure out what you like, and you want to try it out. The kbd67v2 fits in your case and it allows you to solder your first board. That’s my plan after I figure out my baseline preferences.
I also see you have a switch tester. Good start IMO.
I think I need (and we need) an up-to-date switch tester which includes tangerines, nk creams, holly pandas etc. All the switch testers has the basic switches.
As soon as I’ve got Tofu65 to my hand I went “oh oh oh ohhh”. The weight alone satisfied me enough already. I knew I’m on the right path. I’ve been a mouse freak for many years now, and I felt like stupid not entering custom keyboard scene all these years.
I’m from Turkey, writing this from Istanbul. I lived in Los Angeles for last two years and I thought it was the perfect time to enter this scene. Cause I’m paying immense amount of shipping and taxes here. All the vendors ships using Fedex and DHL. In terms of speed it is great but the shipping is like from 25$ to 45$ for each piece (depending on the size and weight). Packages travel fast till they reach Turkey and then customs comes in to play. They send a form asking official papers and questions about whats inside the package, They butcher the box in order to see it themselves. (My randomfrankp x nk deskpad has slightly long box cutter mark on it) and you pay taxes for the amount of their liking. I had to pay like additional 100$ for taxes and other stuff is still on the way. Being a part of a third world country is not helping.
As someone who has also recently entered the scene, feeling the weight was also the “eureka!” moment for me. There really is just something about having a nice little slab of metal that you turn into a functional, everyday device.
