The ModeSixtyFive is a keyboard that I was really excited for. I liked the clean look. I liked the customization. There were so many different options for colors, case materials, plates, mounting styles, etc. I really wanted to try this thing out. So I ordered one. Waited the three or so months for the first group buy to ship. I received while in the hospital and decided the build it the day I got home. ...
Recently I built a Mercutio keyboard. It’s a little through hole 40% keyboard. It’s pretty cute and I really like the way it looks. This isn’t my first 40% that I’ve built. The first one was a Planck but I could never get used to the “ortholinear” layout so it has mostly collected dust on my shelf. I’ve wanted to try a staggered 40% for a while now but I couldn’t justify the price for a lot of the kits. Then one day I got a Discord notification that the Mercutio was in stock. I think the group buy had extras or something, I don’t remember. I thought to myself, “eh, lets check it out.” and found out that the kit started at only $55. “Well, that’s reasonable!” I though so I purchased one. I also decided to order some 7305 MillMax Sockets to make it hot-swappable. Once it arrived, I got to building. ...
Porting the Frosty Flake to VIA So I want to preface this by saying that I am not a programmer. Not by any means. I am also not an electrical engeneer. I’m just a dude that really likes keyboards. Like, a lot. Okay, with that being said, let’s continue. For those that don’t know, the Frosty Flake is a custom PCB to control the CoolerMaster Quick Fire Rapid. I got mine from 1upkeyboards but as far as I know, they are no longer being produced. The Frosty Flake was designed to use the TMK Keyboard Firmware but was later ported to QMK. I’m not going to get into QMK in this post but it’s definitely worth looking into in your own time. ...
First off, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Anyway, I’m a keyboard nerd. Everyone who knows me already knows this. I mean, I have an r/MechanicalKeyboards sticker on my car! I’ve built around 8 or 9 keyboards on my own. It’s a hobby I never really saw myself getting into, but when I did, I got into it hard. I currently have 12 keyboards and countless key cap sets. One of the things that really drew me to building custom keyboards was the ability to program custom layouts using the QMK Frimware. I liked the thought of having full control over what each and every key did when I pressed it or held it or double tapped it or whatever. Over the past few years I’ve messed around with a few different layouts until I finally settled on one that I liked1 So I’ll share that one with you now! ...
So I’ve tried many mechanical keyboards in my few short years in the hobby. I’ve tried fullsized, tenkeyless, 65%, 60%, and even 40% and I must say, 65% – for me at least – is the sweet spot. It saves a ton of space on my desk, while also having many of the keys I use the most right on the main layer. Size: 65% Case: High Profile Aluminum, KBDfans Switches: 65g Zealios, ZealPC Keycaps: Massdrop x MiTo GMK Laser, GMK