Mechanical keyboards have exploded in popularity over the years — and there are plenty of reasons to love them. Highly durable and satisfying to use, mechanical keyboards are well-known for their tactile and responsive feedback to every keystroke. Plus, they’re far more customizable than their membrane counterparts. Besides letting you modify everything from the keycaps to the RGB LEDs and switches, these nifty keyboards even support a host of other mods, including custom stabilizers, lubes, and PCBs!
But if you’re into fine-tuning every aspect of your peripherals, you can even build a mechanical keyboard yourself. Creating a keyboard from scratch may sound daunting, but this article will guide you through all the steps needed to build the mechanical keyboard of your dreams.
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Beginner’s guide to mechanical keyboards: Switches, keycaps, form-factors, and more
Ready to buy or build you new mechanical keyboard and enter the rabbit hole?
What you’ll need
You’ll require plenty of tools and components to assemble your keyboard. The PCB, switches, case, and keycaps are absolutely essential for the keyboard, while the lube and foam dampeners are the optional components. If you want a hassle-free building experience, I’d suggest getting a hot swap PCB that allows you to install the switches. This way, you don’t have to spend eons manually soldering each switch to the PCB. It’s a wise idea to go through this checklist and ensure you’ve got all the items on hand before you go around assembling your keyboard.
- PCB
- Case
- Switches
- Stabilizers
- Keycaps
- Lube (optional)
- Foam dampeners (optional)
As for the tools, a Phillips screwdriver, and a pair of tweezers are your best friends. You should also get keycap and switch pullers to safely remove the keycaps and switches from the PCBs if you want to change their placements during the building process. You’ll also need a soldering kit to install the switches onto the PCB unless your build has a hot swap PCB.
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YMDK GK61X Hot Swap PCB
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NPKC GH60 Anodizing Aluminum CNC Case
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DUROCK V1 Screw-in Stabilizers
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Cherry MX Red Key switches
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Hyper X Pudding Keycaps
$22 $24 Save $2
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Byhoo Keyboard Lube Kit
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Sumgsn Keyboard Silencer Foam Pads
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iFixit Essential Electronics Toolkit
Choosing the keyboard layout and size
The first step to designing your mechanical keyboard involves picking a form factor that suits your needs. The keyboard’s form factor will determine the size of the PCB and the number of keys you can slot in. Most PCBs are available in one of the four form factors:
- Full-size keyboards have all 104 keys, including a Numpad, four arrow keys, and twelve function keys. Although 100% keyboards provide a lot of versatility by allowing you to macro-program keystrokes, they are also the bulkiest and occupy a lot of desk space.
- Tenkeyless (TKL) keyboards reduce the number of keys to 87 by getting rid of the Numpad. These are more compact than their full-size counterparts and can save some desk space for your mouse.
- 75% keyboards further cut down the key count by removing home, end, and three other keys. They also reduce the space between the arrow keys and the rest of the alphanumeric keys to strike the perfect balance between functionality and size.
- 60% keyboards are the most portable option as they occupy the least amount of space. The PCBs for 60% keyboards do not support arrow, function, or navigation keys, meaning new users may have a tough time getting accustomed to them.
You’ll also need to pick a layout for your keyboard, which influences your keycap and stabilizer placement. While there are plenty of layout variations such as AZERTY, QWERTY, and QWERTZ, I’d recommend keeping it simple by choosing the universally accepted QWERTY layout.
Before you begin
There are certain preliminary steps that you should complete before assembling the keyboard.
Testing the PCB
Before you start assembling your keyboard, you should make sure the PCB is in working order.
- Open a keyboard tester on your system.
- Connect the PCB to your system via a USB cable.
- Use a pair of tweezers to touch both switch sockets on your PCB.
- Ensure the keyboard tester registers the key press.
- Repeat the process for all the keys.
Lubing the switches
If you want a smooth typing experience, you should consider adding lube to the switches before placing them on the PCB. It can be a long and tiresome process, but lubing the switches prevents them from making annoying grinding or clicking sounds.
The spray lube is a decent alternative if you’re not willing to spend half an evening manually brushing each switch. Unfortunately, spray lubing is a very messy method, so be sure to clean up the switches (and your desk) afterward.
Installing the stabilizers
A stabilizer consists of two housings and two stems connected via a bar or a wire. You’ll have to assemble the stabilizer before adding it to the PCB.
- Slide the stems into the housings in a way that the stem side with the plus shape faces up.
- Assemble the stabilizer by sliding the bar into the bottom cutouts of the two stem and housing sets and pushing it until it clicks.
- Place the assembled stabilizer on the PCB and use a Phillips screwdriver to tighten a screw on the smaller socket of the PCB.
- Repeat the process for the rest of the stabilizers.
Installing the switches
The complexity of this step depends entirely on the type of PCB you’re using for the build. For hot-swap PCBs, installing the switches is extremely easy as all you need to do is place them on the PCB and press down until they slot in.
On the other hand, you’ll have to solder the switches if your build has a standard PCB. To do so:
- Attach all the switches to the PCB before you start soldering them.
- Ensure the stabilizers are placed in the correct sockets.
- Flip the PCB, so the side with the switches faces down.
- Heat the soldering gun to 350 degrees Celsius.
- Hold the gun near the PCB socket with the switch leg poking out and bring the soldering iron close to the gun.
- Touch the soldering iron with the gun for a second or two until it melts and forms a cone around the socket.
- Repeat the process for the remaining switches.
Adding a case
Once you’re done installing the switches, the next step is mounting the assembled PCB in a case. If you have some noise-dampening foam pieces, be sure to add them to the case before slotting in the PCB. Then, fix the PCB in the case with screws and move on to the last step.
Installing the keycaps
All that’s left is to put the keycaps onto the switches. The plus-shaped sockets at the bottom of the keycaps will fit perfectly with the stems of each switch. Simply place the keycaps on the switches and press down until they fit. I’d advise keeping a key layout chart and a keycap puller nearby during the installation procedure.
Building a mechanical keyboard is a lot of work, but it’s worth the effort
With that, you’ve successfully built a custom mechanical keyboard. You can microprogram the keys if you want to further customize your newly built keyboard. There are also plenty of PCBs that let you slot in some extra macro keys, and you can remap them to perform any action using PowerToys.
If you want a new mechanical keyboard but don’t wish to go through the hassle of building one, be sure to go through our best mechanical keyboards of 2023 list to pick one that suits your needs.
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Best budget mechanical keyboards in 2024
If you are in the market to buy a new keyboard on a budget, then here’s a list with some of the best budget mechanical keyboards you can buy.