Digital & Tech · Craft & Handwork
Custom Keyboards
Change the switches and caps and it becomes a different keyboard
Start with a hot-swap kit, where no soldering is needed and switches or caps change in minutes, which keeps experimenting cheap. What actually changes the feel is the switches, the keycap material and the internal damping, roughly in that order. Sound is what many people are really tuning. Set a budget; this one escalates.
First stepSet a budget, buy a hot-swap keyboard kit, fit two kinds of switches, and type a paragraph on each to compare feel and sound.
Barriers
Cost to start
$50–300
Going deep → $300–2k
Alone or with people
On your own
Effort
Sitting
Without a teacher?
Self-taught
One session takes
1–2 hours
Where
At home
Why people take it up
Related guides
Try a hobby before you buy the gearStarting costs $50–300Skills
BuildsSoldering electronics ↗