mk870 i guess. it might be the one with south facing switch orientation. however, the overall quality is unknown.

er you have to test and tune it accordingly i guess; at least make sure stabilizers have the least rattles.

to me it's better to tune whatever you can to make it comfortable to use.

from my tests to minimize vibration in order to achieve cleaner key sound and feel, imo it's more significant if soft switch films are used, compared to switch foams/pads. (the build is already with poron-foamed plate)

since the effects of these mods are stacked, it's better if you applied both to achieve better outcomes.

note that the typing feel and sound will change with switch films/switch foams/pads that are made of soft materials. however, the sound and feel are 'clean'. this means most of the vibrations created due to typing will be absorbed nicely

just do it at your own pace, with love and care

i have tried rushing few builds before. the outcomes were pretty bad to me. (minimal switch tuning; only lubed spring and sliders; no switch film; tuned stabilizers) yes they worked, but the typing feels were not nice.

i ended up desoldering everything and started over. that, was time consuming. i will never do that again.

this is really nice

fl.cmmk mk870 comes with stock plate foam, and 'tuned' stabs. i guess you can just focus on tuning switches first. their have different case colors also.

if you're interested in the key sound tests, you can go to bilibili.com and look up 'mk870' for them. it's really not bad in those videos.

not sure. even if they do, there will be very limited choices. there was one in pj previously. it was closed few years ago. (mainly oem profile key caps, from vortex and leopold); limited to standard layouts)

right

i'm still in the process of finding out better ways to make plated builds that have:
1. decent typing feel, including smooth key travel, with minimal or no vibration when typing, without mushiness;
2. clean, but not loud, singular key sound.

so far, the current formula to make such outcomes is the combination of the following:
1. switches. if possible, use base switches with minimal switch top/slider wobbles (e.g. those from cherry mx; sp-star; jwk/jwick); they should be lubed accordingly; soft switch films are used (e.g., eva/mdi/poron); switch foams/pads are also applied to pcb (0.5mm is ok; too thick it becomes not nice);
2. plates. fr4/pc/cf plates are the best options; you can use metal plates also (aluminum is the better option in this case); all should have eva/poron plate foams applied;
3. stabilizers. they must be tuned to have smooth travels, and with minimal or no noises;
4. cases. i prefer metal cases, but most generic cases have pings; few have hollow sound. case foams should be applied accordingly;

keyboard constructions also affect this. for now, i just learn to do this on tray-mount/top-mount, which are stiff in nature. for testing, use key caps with tall profiles to test (e.g., mda, osa, sa); you will feel the differences more clearly.

well, i might be doing something dumb. however, it' fun hehe

yes, just get whatever you want

with frankenswitches, you will make better switches that are suitable to own preferences (sound and feel wise)

for tactile switches, you should wait for feedback from others.

ok. that's one way to do it.

i usually do this with compatible spare parts and left-overs from previous projects. as long as they have characteristics that i want, they will work fine.

tbh, it's better to get familiar with all parts in switches from common brands, in terms of their characteristics. (e.g. switch top, bottom housing, spring, slider, contact leaf). if you're familiar with them, you might be able to create frankenswitches using alternative parts, with similar outcomes. however, if you're a purist, then you can stick to the original formula.

oh. in that case, you might not have other options, as those are base parts for your switches that you want.

right, just stick to own preferences. all it matters is that the outcomes are good for you.

other than switches, you should also consider impacts of other parts/mods in mkb on the outcomes. it's the combination of these parts/mods that makes a build what it is.

--

there will be a new switch from gateron, called CJ, https://www.zfrontier.com/app/flow/40JGWXvrnzvd

although it's marketed as a pom-based switch, pom is used for bottom housing and sliders mainly. the switch top is still pc-based. i think. based on graphs in the article, they are linear.

nice; the differences are really obvious

maybe some days i will learn the process of sanding also; maybe spray paint some of my cases that have many 'scars' hehe

you should post the question at mymkb fb page also, https://www.facebook.com/groups/MalaysiaMechanicalKeyboard

maybe you should check out gadgetzone. they should have shops at lazada/shopee also. one of their shops is at digital mall.

it's really up to your plan. to me both are ok for you to start learning modifications.

as of now, imo, kbd67 lite has more advantages, because they are adding custom parts from time to time (e.g., case, plate)

this is for those who are looking for fl-cmmk mk870, a hot-swap tkl that supports south-facing switch orientation. the video also included measurements about wall thickness of epbt double-shot abs wob, and comparison to gmk's.

unboxing by Walker's Keyboard Science, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgMhCmB4HdQ

typing sound, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQTRQbZlY4

--

here is another minimalist tkl option, from cherry officially:

non-backlit, https://shopee.com.my/CHERRY-G80-3000-S-TKL...054.13309572623
rgb, https://shopee.com.my/CHERRY-G80-3000-S-TKL...054.11148588852

these are plateless prebuilts. that means:
1. although switches are soldered, switch tops can be opened up to do switch mods;
2. stock stabilizers are pcb-mount. hence, replacement and maintenance are convenient.

edit: after checking with the real board, no. 2 is not possible, in terms of replacement. it uses special pcb-mount stabilizers that are incompatible with the ones in the market.


This post has been edited by horns: Oct 13 2021, 10:58 PM

i just realized this build has one mixed set of stabilizers. this one (enter key) consists of equalz c3 housing + everglide v2 slider, with hole mod applied. the rest of the stabs are everglide v2.



the outcome is ok; smooth and steady; no obvious differences with other stabs on the same build is observed.

the switch is tuned jwick red, stock spring (60g linear rated). imo the spring weight is actually similar to gateron red, but due to lesser slider wobbles in jwick red, there is no mistyping happening, compared to gat red.

ymdk is a shop that sells key caps made by various vendors. quality can be different from one vendor to the other. (just like kbdfans and kprepublic)

taihao keycaps have relatively thin walls afaik (they might cause light bleed, if your board is backlit/with per-key rgb), and they mainly support limited layouts only.

i just got Cherry G80-3000 S TKL non-backlit version, with cherry mx red (i posted the links to the options before)



it's a compact, minimalist plateless tenkeyless mechanical keyboard. this is the first tkl design after 30 years of this series in the market. however, it will be easily ignored by many, because there is nothing special at first glance.

in general, the typing feels are similar to stock ducky/ikbc boards (typical prebuilts with plastic case), but with slightly softer typing feel, and lesser plastic hollow sound. there is no screw in this board. the top and bottom piece are secured through plastic clips only.

here're some findings:
1. keycaps. they are 1.5mm thick double-shot;
2. switch orientation. for this non-backlit version, the switch orientation is south facing;
3. stock pcb-mount stabilizers are different from the ones that we can get in the market. they are not compatible, so replacement with after-market pcb-mount stabilizers are not possible. however, stock stabilizers have less wire rattles (in my case, it's space bar only. the rest are good. it's easy to fix also);
4. the board has flex; but it's really not a big deal imo.



since it's a plateless build, you can take the switch top off the switch, and modify the internals easily, with a pair of switch top openers.

for those who appreciate it, it's a good choice to keep as reference. (tbh, it's very affordable) imo boards with cherry mx switches are still relevant today, because they represent the beginning of what we have achieved so far, e.g., scratchiness of stock switches tells us why lubing matters. by the way, people tend to tell the story about scratchiness of cherry mx. they almost never mention how to make them better; other good qualities were failed to be mentioned as well, for so many years. sometimes it did sound like a planned marketing that attempted to make competitions look bad by certain parties to me. unfortunately, many others preferred to swallow these stuff blindly.

while there are design flaws, cherry mx key switch design is what survived compared to many others, and it's still a standard that shapes this rich ecosystem that we have now.

to me, cherry mx is still a good reference in many areas, be it good or bad.

right; well it's better to do switch break-in first, then lube it.

cherry g80-3000 really brought back a lot of memories that were related to prebuilts. it also reminded me why i stick to metal cases after that (it's personal preference for typing experience. i prefer metal cases to plastic/wooden cases)

in my case, it's not about the weight. well, it's better to explore at own pace.