A budget guide to an expensive hobby.
There are five main keyboard sizes that people use, and some other harder-to-find sizes.
However, hot-swappable keyboards do tend to cost more than hard-wired alternatives.
For your first custom mechanical keyboard, we’d suggest buying the Redragon K552.
We’d recommend the 65 percent kit LK67, also known as a TM680.
To do this you’ll need a keycap puller and a switch puller.
Now you’re ready to add your custom switches and keycaps.
The two main types of switch from Akko are Linear and Tactile.
Here are some good-value PBT keycap options to go on your new keyboard.
Even the cheapest PBT keycaps are an upgrade over the standard ABS keycaps.
Luckily you could pop them out really easily and replace them with better ones that have a tighter fit.
Then just put the new ones in their place.
The more tight the fit the less room there is for them to rattle.
This should set you up nicely with your first custom mechanical keyboard.
