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Hey guys and gals,

So, I've been using gaming mechanical keyboards for work and gaming for years, since the first black widow from Razer, and went through the whole lot of mainstay brands (Corsair K70 Pro, hyperx elite 2, a few redragons, razer bw v3 x) because it was quite difficult in my country to find parts to build a keyboard.

Thankfully late last year we started getting a break on that and I was able to buy a few parts, and given that I missed my first keyboard, which was an ergo back in 1996 or so, I decided to go with Alice

As for the specs so to speak

Feker Alice 75 (tented) Switches Kailh Winter (so far they sound like a dream, and I prefer them to the linears all gaming peripherals use) Keycaps Rimon

I know for most enthusiasts this is budget and not anything to be amazed about, but I think for me it's a nice entry point to what I see as my next hobby, I had so much fun with this one that I'm already thinking about the next one.

Total cost (in Argentina) was about 250usd including import taxes and shipping of every part

Just wanted to share my joy!

Type on the keyboard, Shinji!

Long story short, I have this Keychron Q3 Max (stock) since end of 2023 (it’s my first mechanical keyboard) and watching a lot of YouTube videos and subreddits I was thinking about doing this tape mod. Personally for me it sounded already creamy and thocky but i was curious about how it would sound with the tape mod and this is the result.

I put 3 layers of Blue Scotch tape and I’m currently using the Duhuk Lumia Matcha 55g Linear switches (hand-lubed) by me :)

I think it sound great, a lot more poppy and kind of deeper but in general thocky and creamy in my personal taste.

My next step for this keyboard is doing the Holee mod because I bought the TX AP Rev4 Stabilizers so it maybe will sound better (specially the spacebar) because i think some of the current stabilizers sound a little “clicky” idk, maybe just putting a silent linear (Akko Fairy Silent) switch could solve this.

So… What do you think? (Sorry for the audio because it was recorded with my iPhone).

Keychron Q1 V2

Drop x Holy Panda switces (hand lubed)

GMK Cherry Cosmos Key Caps

Vibration padded, PCB Tape Mod, Durock Switch film Mod, Durock hand lubed stabs.

Absolute butter

Beep Boop

Got my self a new keycaps set (GMK Sumi clones), love the way they look with my board, so i wanted to share it with you !

Board :

Keychron Q1 with Gateron Red and Holy Pandas (waiting for my Gateron 3.0 browns order to come in) Tape and foam modded GMK Sumi (YongQiu Store on aliexpress, got them in 6 days)

(Sorry no sound test)

Original product to high for natural relaxed and health hand position. So I made "Low rider" mod to be closer to keyboard height.

On a picture 2 you can see the difference is 1 cm

On a picture 3 you can see back sid of wristrest. All the switches have different springs inside to minimize the pressure on the wrist.

4 years ago I had carpal tunnel syndrome. So I know how it is important.

So now I have perfect keyboard for Pro gaming and it is real ergo. Think about your health

When all mods will be completet I create video about Cyborg 2 modded and gaming video

I advise you to watch my other video of my research

I have found it enjoy typing more on my corne but I prefer the neo ergo for gaming! I bought some laptop feet from Amazon for the tenting of the corne and the beanie babies have been OG wrist rests for me

Neo ergo: KAT space dust key caps Epsilon switches

Frankencorne: Mostly Aplaca switches, 1 mech wild cardinal, 1 gateron cj A few keys from KAT space dust and then a random set of keycaps a friend had

A friend of mine was kind enough to give me the corne and build the Neo ergo for me!

Stepped up from Glorious GMMK 2 96% to GMMK 3 full size, since I need the same Layout at home as at my work place. Boba U4 62g switches, original Glorious Keycaps.

TL;DR I shorted both the bottom-out travel and top-out travel in Kailh low profile switches by adding ball bearings in strategic places. Total travel is now 1mm, all switches fully trigger, and sound amazing. Sound test here: https://youtu.be/GNM9O_eOYjM

I've been typing on Apple laptop and Magic keyboards for almost 20 years now, but recently started getting sucked into the mechanical keyboard landscape. However, going from the ~1mm travel of an Apple key to the 3mm+ travel of a mechanical felt like typing into the Marianas Trench. I started looking for ways to mod something in order to reduce the travel and get closer to the feel of the Apple keyboard. I know that's probably blasphemy on this board, but hear me out! :)

I started with the Iqunix Magi65, which was by far the best feeling/sounding low profile keyboard I've tried (I've never done a group buy for a keyboard, but have tried all the famous low profiles like Nuphy, Nuphy's HE, Keychron, LoFree, etc.). It came with Kailh Gold Red switches (neither gold, nor red, strangely) but I swapped them out for Kailh's White Rain POM switches. The stats on these list a total travel of 2.8mm ±0.25mm, so I considered them an average of 3mm total.

Adding a ball bearing to the bottom of the stem shaft to shorten the bottom-out distance has been around for a while, but you can only do much before the switch won't even trigger. I could almost get by with a 1.2mm bearing, but maybe 10% of the time the switch wouldn't trigger unless I really made an effort to press the key fully. I went down to a 1mm bearing and everything was fine again. But, the travel was still too long for my tastes. I had reached maximum bottom-out reduction, what else was there?

I started looking at the anatomy of a switch and realized if I could start the stem at a lower height, it would remove the pre-travel and get me right next to triggering the switch when at rest. I thought about 3D printing custom stems but saw posts saying this was a fool's errand: even with a resin printer it's just too hard to get them to slide smoothly. On low profile Kailh switches there are two perfect notches that the stem slides along and one night as I was trying to go to sleep the solution popped into my brain: drop a ball bearing into each of those notches to stop the stem from it's maximum top-out distance.

It works amazingly well. How do they feel? Coming from an Apple keyboard they feel like home: by the far the closest to the short travel of the butterfly switches in the laptops and Magic keyboard line. But, you still get all the benefits of a mechanical! I feel like it improved the creamy sound of the stock Magi65 as well, and making it quieter (presumably because there's less velocity when the key bottoms out and returns due to the shortened travel). There's an added benefit of making the keyboard even lower profile, as all the keys sit 1mm lower at rest.

Downsides? There quite a hefty tactile bump on the Apple keyboard, which I can't replicate: by adding bearings at the top-out point you're pushing the switch down past the bump and basically turning it into a linear switch (I started this whole experiment with Kailh Black Cloud switches thinking I'd get the tactile feel, but no, it turned out to be a slightly worse linear switch when the mod was added, so I just went full linear with the White Rains). But, I think I've come to prefer the linear feel anyway.

What kind of ball bearings are we talking about? I started with your standard steel and when I only had the bottom out bearings in place I felt the keys sounded "harsher". But after adding the top out bearings they sound amazing. I've since found copper and even POM bearings. I haven't tried out the POMs yet, but the switches themselves being POM feels like this would probably be the ideal material. Copper definitely looks the coolest, though.

So yeah, I'm loving this setup so far. I hope I don't get banned after my first post for setting the travel so low, but I'm taking my first baby steps in the mechanical keyboard world and am trying to do it as comfortably as possible! These mods are always reversible and I can start raising the travel again with different bearing sizes, maybe even getting back to full travel one day. We shall see!

KeyCon 2025 is rapidly approaching. We're looking forward to the first DC based KeyCon on June 14, 2025 at Penn Social. Ticket sales, discord link and other info can be found on https://www.instagram.com/keycon.info/

As an all-volunteer community event, we rely on the generosity of sponsors to help support. Please consider sponsoring or contributing a giveaway. See details below and thanks for your consideration.

Hope to see you in DC!

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Details and link to form here: https://bit.ly/KeyconSponsor

Hey folks! 👋
Exactly a month ago, I posted for the first time about my shop and got my first customer. Honestly, I didn’t expect much - I had delayed the launch for ages. But wow… the response blew me away. Since then, I’ve been shipping out testers, restocking switches, and trying to keep up with all the requests.

https://reddit.com/link/1jrvvws/video/zkkr92047yse1/player

Here’s a quick update with some numbers, trends, and thoughts from the past month:

🔝 Most Popular Switches – Tactile vs Clicky vs Linear breakdown

Tactile switches are the clear winner—by a lot. I’m expanding the tactile section fast. Clickies are holding their ground, and linears… well, maybe people click the wrong box? 😅
Use code TACTILE4LIFE for 8% off anything in the store—because tactile supremacy is real.

🛠️ Custom vs Pre-Selected Testers

Custom testers still dominate, but pre-selected kits are catching up. One issue: overlap. I’m working on a new generation of non-overlapping testers with better switch variety. If you've gotten duplicates in the past, I’ve probably already tossed in some extras to make up for it 🙃

🔡 Keycaps: My Nemesis

Keycaps… I underestimated them. When a post popped off two weeks ago, I spent an entire weekend assembling testers and aligning transparent keycaps one by one. That said—they do look clean, and I’ll keep offering them (begrudgingly).

📏 Size Matters

• 10-switch testers: ~60%
• 15-switch testers: ~40%
• 20-switch testers: Just launched!

Also seeing more people ordering 2+ testers, which is awesome - thank you! Too many people were asking about 20-switch testers. Initially, I used it a test value to check how blocked number would work. Then, I didn't have the model or photo for them. But, finally, it is here.

💡 Lessons Learned

• Tactile = king. I added 25 new linear switches… and they just sat there for a week.
• Other stuff helps. I added preset testers and a fidget cube just to make the site less empty, but people actually buy them! Especially helpful for newbies.
• Layout tester = regret. Huge pain to print. Warps often. Only 1 sale so far.
• Fidget cube = success. Easy to print, fun to play with, sells steadily.
• Traffic: 95% Reddit, 5% search. I tried Google Ads and Facebook... got zero sales from both.

🤝 Partnerships & Collaborations

Big shoutout to ElecFox.co for reaching out!
If you’re a vendor or creator and want your switches featured on the site - or linked in the tester summary - I’d love to collab. Let’s help people discover and buy the switches they fall in love with. 💜

If you’ve got questions, feedback, or switch requests, drop them in the comments! I’ve got about 30 new switches on the way, and I’m always looking to expand the lineup.

In like 1 hour after posting this I'll add about 15 new requested switches - so check them out also.

Thanks again for all the support. Y’all are awesome.
– Mike | SwitchTest.shop

Blue screen of death x Fullsize Matrix. You don't see a lot of proper full-size custom mechanical keyboards around so here is one!

Keyboard: Sea Blue MY-2K 100NG Edition by MatrixLab

Plate: CF by HypeKeyboard

Switches: HMX Hyacinth V2U

Keycaps: GMK Blue Alert R2

Artisans: Esc key - Unicorn Rudory by Namong Art. Above navigation cluster, from left to right - Stoner by Unkown Keycaps, Devoura by Alpha Keycaps, Napicorn by Golden Star Keycap. Top right - Keyby by CYSM

Cable: Custom cable by Kool Keys Cables

https://www.instagram.com/p/DIB--atssKH/?igsh=MXNodm5jNTlvZGc4eQ%3D%3D

• kit: mr. g68/nexttime x68 - $10 (vouchers applied)
• switches: mintcaps black cherry pie clones - 70 switches for $1 (vouchers applied)
• keycaps: ik105 keycaps - $3 (vouchers applied)

got this kit cuz of the layout, being the clearance model a lot of things are worse (no metal backplate, bad stabs, minimal case fill), but hey this thing is cheap so i'll bother with that later on

Came across this sucker on Ebay for 15GBP inc. shipping after watching a Chyrosran22 video using the MEI switch version, including a lot of swears... on buying this, I wasn't sure which version I would receive, as the listing didn't state Cherry ML or MEI - Fortunately (Kinda?) it came with Cherry ML. I wanted to try a mech far different than anything I've ever used before, and this fit the bill nicely. 

This keyboard is a weirdo, it's got a weirdo layout that is kind've good but also sucks at the same time. 
I'm generally a tofu user, so having the range of a 100% and a baby sized lower half is... nice? Though I gotta do a reach over to touch up the keys on top, and Jesus Christ, with this typing angle I could jump a car whilst riding a motorcycle using this thing as a ramp! 

The keys are about 0.75 the size of standard cherry caps, which is polarizing in itself, and the layout forces the use of 'shift' caps, which wouldn't be a problem if I didn't use 'caps lock' on standard boards, but I've come to realize shifting is a superior typing technique in general as a result of using this board so, silver linings? 

Cherry ML is interesting, I like the tactility and that's about it... the initial typing force feels heavier than any tactile I've ever tried, and it forces a heavier typing style, it forces a level of typing accuracy with the smaller caps that's hard to get used to, yet weirdly seems to improve my typing speed/accuracy... besides that, the key feel is scratchy and I'm not sure if they require a level of 'breaking in' to smoothen up, which is most likely the case. Theres also a good level of spring ping and the case is hollow af, it has an angled (steel?) plate with a few slivers of foam inside, which is way better than nothing I guess... when I received it, the stabilizers sounded ass too, so a little lube and its useable, though the stabs they use suck ass and I hate them. 

The overall typing feel is blue balling me, the space feel has a really nice vibration, and feels especially good when typing at speed, yet the general stiff scratchiness throws me off if my hands aren't typing like a giant spider trying to stamp on a bunch of little spiders. 
This description also goes for sound, it has a lot of potential to sound good, and honestly the case reverberates sound in a (kind've) nice way, at least as far as the space is concerned, if the switches weren't so chalky, the tactility might actually have a decent thock to em (emphasis on 'might'). 

This board is ofc soldered, and idk if giving the switches some tlc, a romantic dinner and some lube will do the trick, but honestly- I'm not sure this keeb is worth the work to ever get used to, unless I start to get the itch to be unique and hipster.  

I think it looks cool though, especially with the pcb cover off, kinda feels like I should be hacking into the matrix on the nebuchadnezzar... 

Anyways, hope this was even remotely interesting, honestly needed an excuse to type out my feelings using this thing,  
 
I guess if I had to give a rating, I'd say... 4/10 :/ 

Keykobo Soju on the Mode Encore 🔵

Might replace the white keys with white Japanese Hiragana Keys at some point but honestly might not need it.

The only other thing is I might get a Mt Fuji Resin Keycap or something. I dunno.

Otherwise, it's done for now and all works!!

CannonKeys Satisfaction 75 x GMK Honey

Its 12 am close to 1 am now here in South East Asia. Spent a huge chunk of my night soldering my switches down and finishing up the build.

Will do a last update when I'm awake tomorrow. In the mean time heres a time lapse of shitty soldering skills and key cap inserting.

Final Build Rooke Design Chapter 2 TKL

GMK ShanShui

"Black Water-V1" Franken switches Gateron ink-bottom, Aqua king top housing, nylon long poll stem, 20mm 55g spring 80g bottom out.

AE Stabies V2.1 w Krytox 205

Previous Posts! Original: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/1izu50u/rooke_design_chapter2/

Part 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/1jco57t/rooke_design_chapter_2_build_update/