EVERYTHING You Need to Build Your Own Mechanical Keyboard | Micro Center

Summary

In this video from Micro Center, viewers are taken on an exciting journey into the world of DIY mechanical keyboards. Without the need for a soldering iron, this guide uses the Inland Gaming MK 75% Bare Bones—an elegant aluminum case—to build a custom keyboard. The easy-to-assemble hot-swappable base allows for endless customization. From choosing the right switches like cherry Reds, blacks, Browns, and Blues, to adding uniquely styled key caps, this video covers all the essentials. With its straightforward instructions, Micro Center promises future videos on more advanced DIY keyboard techniques.

Highlights

• Learn how to build a custom mechanical keyboard without a soldering iron using a hot-swappable base. 🛠️
• Explore different types of switches, including Cherry MX blacks, reds, browns, and blues. 🎛️
• Discover the satisfaction of fitting keycaps onto your new keyboard build. ⌨️
• Enjoy the flexibility of changing switches and keycaps anytime! 🔄
• Get excited about upcoming videos on advanced keyboard customization techniques. 🎥

Key Takeaways

• Building a custom mechanical keyboard at home is now easier thanks to hot-swappable bases! 🛠️
• You can choose from a variety of switches like Cherry MX blacks, reds, browns, and blues to suit your typing preference. 🎛️
• Keycaps are the crown jewels of your custom keyboard, offering both style and practicality. ⌨️
• No soldering is needed to start your keyboard-building adventure, making it beginner-friendly! 🎉
• Future videos will delve into more complex techniques like soldering and lubing switches. Stay tuned! 🔧

Overview

Micro Center introduces an easy method to build your own mechanical keyboard using the Inland Gaming MK 75% Bare Bones. This beginner-friendly guide sets aside the soldering iron and embraces the ease of hot-swappable keyboards. Whether it's the clicky Blues or the silent, linear reds, this video breaks down choosing the perfect switch tailored to your typing style. Don't forget the star of the show: the keycaps! Choose them in styles and colors that reflect your personality and watch your keyboard transform.

The tutorial showcases how simple it is to switch out and fit new switches and keycaps, ensuring your keyboard can evolve with you. Unlike soldered boards, hot-swappable bases offer endless customization at your fingertips. Plus, enhancing your workspace with personalized aesthetics is a breeze. The video masterfully illustrates the tactile and audible delights of building your own setup, providing viewers with a rewarding hands-on experience.

Future content promises to explore deeper realms of keyboard craftsmanship, such as soldering and switch lubrication, for those ready to take their skills to the next level. This video is the stepping stone into an expansive hobby, showing viewers how effortless it is to begin crafting their dream keyboard. With the constant support and array of products available at Micro Center, anyone can elevate their desk set-up to new heights.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction: Building Your Own Keyboard The chapter introduces the basics of building your own keyboard. It starts by highlighting the abundance of keyboards available at Micro Center and focuses on a DIY project that doesn't require a soldering iron. The chapter features the Inland Gaming MK 75% Bare Bones, emphasizing its aluminum case and substantial weight. This model comes as a base without switches, allowing for customization.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Choosing Your Keyboard Components This chapter, titled 'Choosing Your Keyboard Components,' serves as a beginner's guide to assembling a basic hot-swappable keyboard. The focus is on selecting and assembling the three main components: the base, the switches, and the key caps. The chapter introduces the concept by using a practical example with a chosen set of gray key caps, explaining that more complex tasks like soldering or lubing switches will be covered in future videos. It's an introductory guide aimed at those new to custom keyboard assembly.
• 01:30 - 03:00: Understanding Switch Types The chapter titled 'Understanding Switch Types' delves into the initial steps required for building a keyboard, focusing primarily on the decision of which switches to use. The discussion includes different types of switches such as Cherry Reds, Blacks, Browns, and Blues, highlighting the notable characteristics of each. Particularly, Blues are described as extra clicky, characteristic of mechanical keyboards due to their distinct clicky clacky noise. The chapter aims to guide the reader through the process of selecting the appropriate switch type based on desired keyboard feel and sound.
• 03:00 - 04:30: Hot Swappable Base and MX Black Switches This chapter begins by explaining the different types of keyboard switches, focusing specifically on linear switches like the MX black switches which provide a smooth keystroke without tactile feedback or noise. The author expresses a preference for linear switches. Brown switches, which offer tactile feedback but are quieter than blue switches, are also mentioned. For this build, the author decides to use MX black switches but notes they usually prefer red switches.
• 04:30 - 06:00: Inserting Switches In this chapter titled 'Inserting Switches,' the discussion revolves around different types of keyboard switches. It highlights the benefits of using black switches, which require more force and therefore are less likely to be pressed accidentally. The chapter also emphasizes the flexibility offered by a hot-swappable base which allows users to easily replace switches without soldering. This flexibility means users can try different switches, such as noisy Blue switches or quieter Browns, to suit their preferences.
• 06:00 - 10:00: Placing Key Caps The chapter titled 'Placing Key Caps' discusses the customization and assembly process of key switches. It emphasizes the versatility and numerous options available for customization, appealing to enthusiasts. The process of assembly is described as straightforward, starting with the handling of switches. The transcript mentions the MX black switch, highlighting its two contact points or prongs, which are a key feature for installation.
• 10:00 - 12:00: Conclusion and Upcoming Videos The chapter provides a detailed walkthrough on inserting a switch into a hot-swappable keyboard. It explains the mechanics behind the switch operation including the completion of the circuit that sends a signal to your computer when the switch is pressed. The chapter also describes the prongs and holes orientation for proper insertion. It highlights the ease of using a hot-swappable keyboard with the provided tools for inserting and probably removing switches.

EVERYTHING You Need to Build Your Own Mechanical Keyboard | Micro Center Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 there's one thing we have a lot of at Micro Center that's keyboards today I'm going to show you how to build your own keyboard uh but not one as big as this one now the keyboard we're going to be making today you actually do not need a soldering iron for so I'm going to take this I'm going to put this away because today will be using the Inland gaming MK 75% Bare Bones now this guy is in an aluminum case and this has a very good weight to it I like a keyboard with a lot of weight in the base and this comes with nothing else it just comes with this bass but if you get the switches
• 00:30 - 01:00 and the key caps you put them all together you have yourself a keyboard so we're going to show you how to make a very basic hot swappable keyboard in this video in future videos we'll talk about soldering to the boards or lubing switches and getting really into the nitty-gritty but I think for right now we're just going to start with this guide so when you're putting your keyboard together this one's going to have three main components we have our base then our switches although we'll be using the real size not the giant size and then you have your key caps for the the key caps I picked this nice gray
• 01:00 - 01:30 gradient here I think this one actually looks pretty cool so let's get into it first thing you have to do when you want to make your keyboard is make a decision on what switches you want to use now I have a couple of different switches here we have cherry Reds we have blacks we have Browns and we have Blues but what does this all mean well the blues are these extra clicky kind of switches and these are the ones that mechanical keyboards are notorious for because they make a lot of that clicky clacky noise now the red and black switches these are
• 01:30 - 02:00 linear switches so it just has a straight travel there's no feedback when you press the key so you don't feel any like clickiness when you're pressing it down I actually prefer linear switches then you have the brown switches and these are tactile switches so they give you that kind of tactile feedback but they don't make as much noise as the Blue switches do and then there's a variety of other switches as well that are available but we're just going to look at these four right now so for this build I'm actually going to go with the MX black switches usually I use the red switches and I do like a good linear
• 02:00 - 02:30 switch but sometimes these could be a little too delicate when you and you can press them down accidentally the black ones are going to have a little bit more Force required to get a full press so I'm going to give these a shot now this is a hot swappable base that means that when you put the switches in you can swap them out at any time because they're not soldered in you can make any changes you want so if you try some Blue switches and you find that maybe they're too noisy you want to go for the Browns you can just take them out put in some Browns and you're good to go that's what I like about these they're very
• 02:30 - 03:00 versatile it gives you a lot of options and let's face it we're all here because we love customizing things so assembly is actually going to be very straightforward I've got my switches right here you open your box you have this very big bag of switches I'm going to take these other switches out of the way cool so I've got the MX black switch right here and it has these two little contact points on the back these little prongs that come out out these are the
• 03:00 - 03:30 contact points for the switch so when the switch is pressed it completes the circuit and it sends the signal to your computer so you see that these prongs are kind of offset and there's these two little offset holes that are on the base here so it's pretty simple you just take this guy you're going to line it right up you're going to gently place it down and there you go your switch is inserted what I like about these hot swappable keyboards that you got this little tool here and has these teeth on the front so you can take this guy
• 03:30 - 04:00 and there's these latches on the top and bottom of the switch you're just going to press it down it's going to let you detach the switch you got to pull it out there you go so if you ever want to change your switches to something else if you want to go from blacks to Blues to Reds you always have that option available let's start putting in some switches so this is the part where you put on a nice playlist and then maybe you're just going to watch a little time lapse of me putting this guy together
• 04:00 - 04:30 heyo look at that and that's how you put a bunch of switches into a mechanical keyboard now let's move on to the key caps this has a very nice little gray gradient starting at the function keys and working its way down I think it looks pretty cool look at that and to
• 04:30 - 05:00 make our lives nice and easy you can see that the key caps are already laid out in the proper orientation for what we need so you got your escape and then function keys till got your querty everything else so I'm going to start on the top left corner with the Escape key and there's a little cross pattern here and that's actually what's going to latch the key onto the switch you can see right here the button on the switch all you got to do is match
• 05:00 - 05:30 them up press it down there you go so you can hear that that's a nice linear click actually feels pretty good I do like this a little bit more than my Reds let's get this laid out then after F4 you have F5 I wonder what comes next 8 maybe it's F6 there's no way we can top that but oh there it is
• 05:30 - 06:00 F7 F7 doesn't want to get in there come on there we go so this is a 75% keyboard so the layout's going to be a little bit different I actually prefer the 100% keyboards with the numpad so oh we got a delete key that's what that one is so over here we put delete unfortunately this kit comes with a delete both in black but it also has one in Gray so depending on the orientation of the delete key on your keyboard you'll you'll be covered so you have one that
• 06:00 - 06:30 you can put up here you can have one you can put down there there little extra touches that really make it all kind of come together you know because it'd be awkward having a different colored key up here all right let's move on to the next row and we have our backspace so this one's going to be a little bit wider than the other one so you can see in the middle the switch is going to connect here in the middle and then it's going to line up here and these are kind of our stabilizers that built into the
• 06:30 - 07:00 board so that's going to help keep these longer Keys stable and in place so that's what these guys are so this one you're just going to line it up and it's just going to go right in super simple [Music] cwy quiry isn't that quiry Kevin is shaking his head no behind the camera
• 07:00 - 07:30 WD the most important keys on this guy yeah that already feels pretty good I like that a lot I don't know if you can hear that on the camera but feels nice that's not right this is the one we want so now you can see there's two different
• 07:30 - 08:00 Enter key shapes I forget the name of this one again but basically some keyboards have different layouts for the enter key sometimes you get this big fat one or you get the long one this one's got the long one I know this one has an official name I'm going to get flamed in the comments for forgetting it but we'll definitely cover that in a future video this guy's another one the center column here is going to be for the switch the two side ones are going to be for these like little stabilizer guys and it's upside down but you just line it up
• 08:00 - 08:30 [Music] ZX oh no I swapped my keys all right that's where this guy's going to come in handy uh I made a mistake I actually put these in Reverse I thought that looked wrong so this one's actually pretty simple this tool you just kind of push it down you see how it catches onto the cap and you just kind of pull it up there you go and that's why they call it a keycap puller
• 08:30 - 09:00 pulls the key cap right off there we go ZX C and then V all right that's better same deal for this guy switch is going to be right here in the center so here's our Center column these are going to be the stabilizers so you're just going to Center this up
• 09:00 - 09:30 up see if I found it yeah there we go it feels right last but certainly not least control there we go that's the last one now obviously I'm not a great typist I probably do like 20 words per minute but this feels wonderful I'm just gonna type h Hazard Le now what I really like
• 09:30 - 10:00 about this kit is that it already comes with a very nice looking coiled USBC cable so I'll use this guy I'm going to run this to our studio PC get it fired up on the back here there's a little switch so depending on what system you use if you're on Windows or Mac it is compatible and the uh key caps will come with the right caps for your systems I'm going to set this to Windows all in all I think this is a very solid keyboard I really like this a lot and I got to say the weight on this
• 10:00 - 10:30 guy feels amazing I'm going to unplug it right now they hook you up with this really nice coiled USB cable which I like a lot this one looks great so again this is a hot swappable board you can swap out the switches whenever you want you can swap out the key caps whenever you want so if you want to go from this set maybe go to a different blue maybe want to go to let's say a clicker switch you always have that option available to you and honestly it's really easy now we're
• 10:30 - 11:00 going to make more videos about keyboards we're going to do different configurations maybe try out a couple of different switches and demonstrate what they sound like on camera and uh make sure you stay tuned we're going to show you how to solder your own boards and get really complex when it comes to keyboards so that's a beginner's guide to making your own keyboard and again that's using the Inland gaming MK Pro 75% keyboard I really like this gray gradient on this guy I think this looks really smooth this is a good understated look the lights still come through kind of at at an angle but again with the
• 11:00 - 11:30 blacked out switches doesn't shine through completely uh but remember this is just a beginner guide so this is a hot swappable keyboard there's a lot more when it comes to the keyboard world I mean we're talking about soldering and lubricating switches and lubricating stabilizers and everything else but we're going to get there in another video but for now stop by your local Microcenter check out some of this and also check out the rest of our keyboard selection and if you don't have a Microcenter near you make sure you comment hash I want a Center near
• 11:30 - 12:00 [Music] me look at that that is heavy like you you could yeah you could do some damage with this guy so that's a beginner's guide to making your own keyboard and again that's using the Inland gaming MK Pro 75% keyboard