60% Keyboards were my gateway drug into custom keyboards. I loved the small form-factor. I loved the simplicity. I loved how easy it was to throw in into a bag and take it with me. The main problem I had when first switching to a 60% keyboard was getting used to using function layers. My first 60% keyboard was the POK3R by Vortex. This was around 2013 or 2014 so that was pretty much the only option at the time. ...
I have so many draft blog posts. Seriously, my ADHD is so bad that I’ll start a post with great intentions and plans for the whole thing. But then my brain will just shut off. I’m starting this post off like this because the last real blog post I wrote was a year ago about last years meetup. Anyway, today was the second Motor City Mech Meetup. This time in a new location, actually in Detroit! It seemed like there were less people in attendance this year and I’m sure that had to do with the max capacity of the venue. ...
Dropbear60 from mntkbd Sometime I just don’t feel like writing anything and just posting photos. Here is an example of that. Lol Size: 60% Case: Dropbear60 Switches: Akko Match Green Keycaps: GMK Serika 2
The “Nixie” Switch So one of the most popular “retro” switches I remember hearing about in the past was the Nixdorf, or “Nixie” switch. These switches were only produced for a short time in the 1980s and they used to sell for waaaaayyy too much on the second hand market. Apparently they were a really nice sounding, smooth feeling switch. I wonder if the smoothness came from years of use before the keyboard community got their hands on them. But they were selling for like, $7 a switch. So I added it to the list of switches I’d never get to try. But recently Cherry decided to remake the switch using the equipment and techniques they have developed over the years, and thus the Cherry MX Black Clear-Top was born. Admittedly it’s not as catchy a name as the original but will it live up to the hype? ...
So over the weekend was the Motor City Mech Meetup, a keyboard meetup graciously hosted by The Key Company. It was a pretty small meetup and (possibly) the first one to be hosted in Michigan but boy was it a blast. It was hosted in the TKC warehouse in Troy, Michigan which is only about 30 minutes from where I live so it was a no brainer to go. We were lucky enough to get a few “celebrities” of the keyboard world to come out for the meetup. Dutch, Captain Sterling, and Mochi Crafts were all in attendance which was a huge treat for me personally because Marie of Mochi Crafts has been a friend of mine for a decade or so from an even more niche community, the now defunct MacThemes. ...