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Keyboard Nut Thread

Still feel the cheaper 60% are highly underrated.

Installed o-rings on my DK61 Pro and wow I was surprised by the feeling I got from it. Key presses feel more evenly and consistently. It is just a joy and it made the keyboard slightly more quiet which my household praised me for.

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There are some sleeper kb's out there that just need a little oomph to feel amazing. My Shadowfox had such a great feel to everything except the stabs.
 
Still feel the cheaper 60% are highly underrated.

Installed o-rings on my DK61 Pro and wow I was surprised by the feeling I got from it. Key presses feel more evenly and consistently. It is just a joy and it made the keyboard slightly more quiet which my household praised me for.

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I just can't get into the o-rings. I've tried a few and it shortened the throw too much and ruined the bottom out feel for me.

What switches are you currently using?

And I 100% agree. The cheaper boards are WAY underrated. Excited to get my redragon later this week and start the modding process.
 
@TicTac Where did you get the case made?

Also is that a pom case!!!!!111!

I'm still in my case/pcb designing phase but I'd love to build up a list of suppliers!
This is just a quick render I whipped up in Fusion 360 this morning. I'll probably 3D print it in 4 sections and try a handwired build as I have yet to do that.

Later on if I like the design I'll make some changes and get it CNC'd. First prototype I'll print in PLA and then ABS and do vapor smoothing as I've seen people get pretty insane results doing that.
 
I just can't get into the o-rings. I've tried a few and it shortened the throw too much and ruined the bottom out feel for me.

What switches are you currently using?

And I 100% agree. The cheaper boards are WAY underrated. Excited to get my redragon later this week and start the modding process.

Well, I really like to smash my keys when typing.

I am using Gateron Optical Blacks.

Nice, the build quality is great. I had the Redragon K552 which I gave to my friend which is still going strong!
 
There are some sleeper kb's out there that just need a little oomph to feel amazing. My Shadowfox had such a great feel to everything except the stabs.
That's so odd, I actually quite like the stabs in mine
 
Well, I really like to smash my keys when typing.

I am using Gateron Optical Blacks.

Nice, the build quality is great. I had the Redragon K552 which I gave to my friend which is still going strong!

Ah! I have yet to try the black opticals.

Is that the Redragon Draconic that TechFox is selling? Would like to know if that board uses hotswap switches or not. Would defos pick one up myself if it is.

Yessir, they are Otemu hotswap sockets. Officially they support only Otemu switches. But apparently you can grind and file the pins on Kailh/Gateron/Cherry to fit the otemu sockets. I will confirm the effort involved when I receive the board.
 
Yessir, they are Otemu hotswap sockets. Officially they support only Otemu switches. But apparently you can grind and file the pins on Kailh/Gateron/Cherry to fit the otemu sockets. I will confirm the effort involved when I receive the board.
Oh wow. Never noticed that, but yeah. The few Outemu blues I have, have slightly thinner pins compared to the Gateron Blues I have. Keen to hear what your findings are. Would like a small hotswap board for testing
 
Oh wow. Never noticed that, but yeah. The few Outemu blues I have, have slightly thinner pins compared to the Gateron Blues I have. Keen to hear what your findings are. Would like a small hotswap board for testing
One of the major reasons I got one.

If you can, please capture the two next to each other in a photo? I don't have any Outemu switches so I can't really start my planning.
 
If you can, please capture the two next to each other in a photo?
I got you bud

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Using my totes accurate plastic calipers, the measurement differences are somewhere between 0.1mm and 0.25mm with the outemu being smaller. And then it doesn't help that I didnt do a great job of desoldering those poor Outemus.
 
I got you bud

View attachment 60033

Using my totes accurate plastic calipers, the measurement differences are somewhere between 0.1mm and 0.25mm with the outemu being smaller. And then it doesn't help that I didnt do a great job of desoldering those poor Outemus.
What a legend! Thanks bud.

Really looks like I will only need to take down a hair. I'm going to modify Gateron Yellows first. If I mess up a key or two it's not the end of the world.

Also, plastic calipers ftw!
 
Just ordered the gk61 with optical black switches and some nice keycaps for it.
Should be a nice upgrade to my old mionix zibal 60.

 
Just ordered the gk61 with optical black switches and some nice keycaps for it.
Should be a nice upgrade to my old mionix zibal 60.

Ooooh congrats! Those keycaps look really good.
 
Using a CM Sk621. Love the KB, but I ordered myself a Geek GK61 with Gateron Optical Browns, will post a mini review, will probably sell it after a month then get a Anne Pro2 and try that

For the CM SK series oaks out there I have a post about this but here you go

 
Just ordered the gk61 with optical black switches and some nice keycaps for it.
Should be a nice upgrade to my old mionix zibal 60.

Howsit bud, Would you mind sharing your total expense to get it here? Maybe PM me otherwise, would really like to compare to what I am possibly paying
 
Howsit bud, Would you mind sharing your total expense to get it here? Maybe PM me otherwise, would really like to compare to what I am possibly paying
I was buying some other things I needed so I decided to add them aswell but I think they keyboard and the keycaps will be between R1800 and R2200 with priority shipping (r200 more than normal shipping) and customs .
 
I was buying some other things I needed so I decided to add them aswell but I think they keyboard and the keycaps will be between R1800 and R2200 with priority shipping (r200 more than normal shipping) and customs .
Sounds about right. :)
 
Using a CM Sk621. Love the KB, but I ordered myself a Geek GK61 with Gateron Optical Browns, will post a mini review, will probably sell it after a month then get a Anne Pro2 and try that

For the CM SK series oaks out there I have a post about this but here you go

I love how thin these boards are below the spacebar. Tecware's Phantom is the same. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
 
I finally received my K530 Redragon 60% today.

My first impressions are that it is a fantastic board for the price. I did a bit of ghost typing and the Outemu Browns are adequate. They are more tactile than Cherry Browns, and with them in the keyboard it doesn't sound half bad. It's hard not to compare the K530 to better boards, but that won't be fair.

The keycaps are cheap. Fortunately though, the top parts of the keycaps are textured, and the sides are shiny smooth plastic. On first touch, it almost feels like it could be PBT. But it's not, and the idea quickly wears off. I would rate them as decent for what they are.

I have not tested any functionality at all. Planning to play around tonight and see if I can fit some Gateron Yellows.

At ~R900.00, it's great and there's nothing to complain about. Get yours locally from @Techfox here Redragon Draconic 60% Compact RGB Wireless Mechanical Gaming Keyboard | Techfox

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I have not tested functionality at all. Will play around tonight and see if I can fit some Gateron Yellows.
Very keen to know if unmodded switches will fit.

If you would also be so kind as to check the screw pattern for the plate. I'm wondering if it would be possible to swop out the case at a later point for some of those cheapish chinese aluminum cases.
 
@PandaAttack1 - thanks for the write-up, and the support!

Been getting surprisingly good feedback on these. I'm always a bit wary of the more um, 'noticeably' Chinese products. I'm actually tempted to get one for myself for something a little more portable.

I'm glad that Redragon is upping their game though. Besides them offering a pretty good range now, I haven't had a single faulty unit (yet). Keen to hear how the key swapping goes
 
@PandaAttack1 - thanks for the write-up, and the support!

Been getting surprisingly good feedback on these. I'm always a bit wary of the more um, 'noticeably' Chinese products. I'm actually tempted to get one for myself for something a little more portable.

I'm glad that Redragon is upping their game though. Besides them offering a pretty good range now, I haven't had a single faulty unit (yet). Keen to hear how the key swapping goes
Yeah dude! It's actually crazy, if this exact board was neatly packaged as a Corsair 60% with their logo I don't think I would have noticed it's not Corsair. Really well done to Redragon.



Very keen to know if unmodded switches will fit.

If you would also be so kind as to check the screw pattern for the plate. I'm wondering if it would be possible to swop out the case at a later point for some of those cheapish chinese aluminum cases.
Will do boss! I would also be keen on a cheapy alu case.
 
Can you fit Kailh/Cherry/Gateron switches in Outemu sockets? Not really... But yes, you can.

Firstly, your switch will have to accommodate smd leds. You will have to melt a hole in your Gateron switches to make space for the smd led. I don't recommend drilling or other subtractive methods, as some of the shaving will inevitably end up inside the switch. I tried making the holes bigger on a Gateron yellow with a pin vice and small drill bit and stopped. Not a viable method.

Secondly, you will have to file/grind/snip down the connection pins a hair. Something around 0.1mm to 0.2mm would do the trick.

This is really a job for a small rotary tool like a Dremel. Grinding is the way to go. I don't own a Dremel, so I had to cautiously file down the pin. Inspecting it after each stroke because I would hate to destroy a switch for nothing.

Here you can see my 20minutes effort to fit a single Kailh Burnt Orange into an Outemu socket:

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@CptGopher, so to answer your question; definite no. You will have to make irreversible modifications to your switches to have them fit.
 
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Dang. Thanks for testing bud, appreciate the effort. I guess the search for a cheap hotswap continues.
Yeah. For prebuilt GK61 seems to be the best option?

For custom at the moment, this is the best bang for back we can do:

3D printed case and plate: Free/Cheap?
Stabalizers: R160.00
Hotswop PCB with controller: R650.00
Gateron switches: R230.00
Keycaps: R490.00

Alternatively:
Buy and strip a cheap board. Evetsek sells Marvo TKL boards for R400. That gives you stabilizers, switches and keycaps.

You only need the hotswop PCB. So for R1050 you have a kailh hotswop board with Marvo switches.

Don't think we will see a cheaper custom hotswap, programmable keyboard soon.
 
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Hi everyone! I've gone over the last few threads, really cool to see how passionate everyone is about mech keyboards. I'm pretty new, so I anticipate I'll be learning (and spending) a lot from you all.

I've been eyeing a higher end board, but have limited experience with different switches. Is there a local (or international quick) delivery for a testing kit?

I am looking at ordering this from Drop, but only because I'm ordering a Sennheiser PC38x so thought I'd throw it in (also able to pick up anything if someone here need something, just have no idea how much AGS will cost).

EDIT: Also, what makes this Anne Pro sound so good? Keycaps or lube? Or just the red switches? I want this sound. Apologies for the very beginner question.
 
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Hey Guys, wanted to ask, anyone found a source for DAREU Switches.
picked up a hermes p2 and have managed to track down switch brand but no luck finding any online.
keys are hot swappable but the opticals have no pins, so i assume im stuck with dareu

also, these keycaps,arrrrght. mx stems but the stabs are proprietary on larger keys also, if u have a habit of flicking bottom row keys they flick the keycap back at you
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