GK64 Custom Mini Mechanical Keyboard Discussions | Drop

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Showing 1 of 41 conversations about:

GK64 Custom Mini Mechanical Keyboard

Mech Keys

FULL DISCUSSION

mike-y

Feb 12, 2018

A few notes on this - I bought one of these a few months ago, and it does have a 2u left shift, instead of the standard 2.25u, so keep that in mind. The whole bottom row is shifted over .25 of a keyspace to make room for a 1u right shift , up arrow, and del keys. Personally, I didn't notice any affect on my typing because of this though. I use a DSA keyset on it because it's much easier to source a 2u key for the left shift, since DSA row profiles are all the same. Though if you use a sculped keyset, the 2u "0" key is the right row profile for the shift, but it will probably be the wrong color compared to the rest of your mods.
Other notes, the backlighting is fantastic (I like the waterfall effect :-P), but the software might not the easiest to figure out. I was able to change the backlighting styles, and bind them to the 3 function keys available for it, but haven't done anything else.
Also, hot swapping is great, and lets you try out different switches and frankenstein mods on your switches very easily. That alone was worth the price to me, as I am always thinking up new combinations of springs and stems in different housings to try.
The hot swap sockets do take some space up on the back of the PCB though, so this board doesn't fit right in some 60% cases (if you were thinking about swapping). Once you know what to look for, you shouldn't have any issues though. I made a quick video about mine here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifmmQtl-STA
Edit: formatting

Feb 12, 2018

VinS

145

Feb 12, 2018

mike-yThank you very much for your very detailed review. 1u shift and arrow keys and a del key reminds me of Filco Minila. Shifted by 0.25 needs a little time to get used to it. In my case it took a month until I could get my best wpm because I use a RShift key a lot. People who want to buy this kind of layout have to be aware of its keycap compatibility especially you want to use normal DCS keycaps.

Feb 12, 2018

Jdjung

147

Feb 12, 2018

mike-yThe wood frame pictured in this drop has a carbon fiber plate. Is it only the wood version that comes with the carbon fiber plate? I'm noticing the carbon fiber plates themselves could cost $50 more so the additional $20 for the keyboard may be worth it for me.

Feb 12, 2018

Vote

OldCat

2500

Feb 19, 2018

mike-yHey, what are the key caps used in this keyboard? looks amazing.

Feb 19, 2018

mike-y

Feb 20, 2018

OldCatThose are signature plastics (pimpmykeyboard.com) DSA keycaps. I got the alphas (random white and light gray) from a grab bag I bought a while back. The purple caps are blanks from a TKL modifier set, and the yellow caps are from the bounty-hunter set sold on prime keyboards (they were left over from the other board I built).

Feb 20, 2018