The only thing I do is I change my keyboard between every book. I usually shop around. I’m very passionate about the physical feel of pressing the keys. It’s got to have the right springiness. I tend to find the built-in keys very unsatisfying, the keys are low-profile and don’t really do anything—I want it to feel like I’m typing. ~John Green Interview with GoodReads 2012
In the early 2020s, I started caring about the keyboards I typed on. This was because I switched between a handful of different laptops for work, sometimes connecting a cheap wireless keyboard with the flatness of laptop keyboard keys. Eventually, this led to searching the web to find a better way to switch between my multitude of laptops while only using a single keyboard and mouse. That’s when I stumbled on the Reddit community of mechanical keyboard builders and connoisseurs.
I enjoyed checking out other people’s mechanical keyboards posted to the r/MechanicalKeyboards for the longest time. Subsequent searches led me to YouTubers such as Hipyo Tech, Switch and Click, and many others. I learned about keycaps, switches, and arguably the most important: a preference for thock vs. clack when typing. I enjoy the thock sound for daily typing, but the clack sound is occasionally pleasing. The idea of a keyboard that sounded like an old mechanical typewriter seemed cool and something I might want to strive for. I think.
Perhaps this is because I have my great-grandfather’s typewriter. I am told it was from his time in the armed service, which he carried with him in WWII. However, I don’t have proof of this, and I haven’t taken the time to research it yet. Time has not been kind to the typewriter. It’s missing parts, the keys get stuck, and it’ll probably cost a fair bit of money to repair. It’s an incredible family story for now, maybe one day I’ll follow up on its validity. ( I’ll take a picture of my grandfather’s keyboard someday. For now, it remains in storage. )
In early 2022, I purchased a Cooler Master SK630 mechanical keyboard. It is a semi-low-profile keyboard with completely flat keycaps. The keycaps really pulled me in, as they looked pretty close to many laptop keycaps. They were, in fact, a nice transition for me. The typing experience was highly enjoyable, and I wanted more!
To me, it was a pleasant typing experience compared to the standard keyboards of my past. The key presses felt like they had more intent in transferring my thoughts through my fingers to the screen. If the SK630 had been equipped to change the switches, I doubt that I would have ever made an effort to find another keyboard chassis. It was almost my perfect typing experience that checked a lot of the boxes for what I was looking for; a combination of a laptop keyboard with its flat keycaps and the switch gave it a tactile feel like I thought a mechanical keyboard should have.
I switched the flat keycaps out in the picture above for the alternative concave shape offered. I guess the reviews of the flat keycaps were not that great. I did this because I got used to my next keyboard below. Overall, this keyboard only lasted a few months until I felt the need to expand, and boy, did I expand!
In 2023, I found Drops’ Dwarven keycaps inspired by The Lord of the Rings fantasy language, Cirth. Rune-based languages have always sparked my imagination since I was young, and still do so today. So when I saw these keycaps, I was immediately intrigued and bought them without much thought, eventually purchasing all but the hardcore kit.
At the time, I didn’t know just how tall these keycaps would be! Even looking at height chart profile images, I wasn’t able to wrap my mind around their height. It was such a challenge to go from typing on the SK630 low-profile keycaps to typing on MT3 height keycaps.
I also bought Gateron Oil King switches and an RK Royal Kludge RK84 keyboard to put these into. The RK84 pleasantly surprised me while replacing the switches as the board already had foam layers within it for extra thock. This provided more thump and thock sound to the keyboard.
The chassis, the switches, and the keycaps came together in a solution that I have now found to be one of my daily drivers. The height rarely bothers me anymore, but when it does, I just place the keyboard on my lap, which solves any temporary annoyances.
In late 2024, I bought the Planck Mechanical Keyboard as a Christmas present for myself. It’s an ortholinear keyboard that I’m trying to edge towards more of a typewriter feel in conjunction with Kailh Box Navy switches. My thought is that it’ll be the primary keyboard I use when I just want to write. I was convinced of this from Dave2D. I like his content.
When placed on a surface that can absorb some of the metal clack, the thunk sound is decent, even great. Typing on a wooden desk with no desk pad gives a more clack vs thock sound. So it’s a very middle-of-the-road sounding experience. Thought, I’m not a reviewer!
It does have a steep learning curve for typing, and I like the Kailh Box Navy clicks of the switches, but I need more time to adjust to the typing experience and learn the key levels.
Currently, I have the flat keycaps that the SK630 came with on this. However, I do have a full Dwarven ortholiner keycap set to replace those with. However, if I use those, I’ll have to find a way to make this whole setup in a lower profile.
Lastly, I recently acquired another daily driver, the Akko MU02 paired with Drops’ Lord of the Rings Rohan keycaps. The typing experience on this is wonderful! It feels like this could be my end game, but it’s still too early to tell. I may swap out the Akko Rosewood switches, as they are a little too soft for my taste. I’ll test the Gatron Oil Kings first before I try anything else.
Perhaps I wouldn’t have gotten the Dwarven keycap set if these Rohan keycaps had been available first, because they feel like a better typing height for me. I may also have bought more Dwarven keycaps than I can type on.
Now, my ambition for my mechanical keyboards is to use up the remaining Lord of the Rings keycaps. Here are the layouts that I intend to build to achieve this ambition.
The Akko MU02 with the Rohan keycaps needs a different set of switches. I’m not sure what I’ll go with, but they will probably be close to the Gateron Oil King switches. I’d like the end goal of this board to be as thocky as it can get.
I’m repurposing my current ortholinear keyboard with low-profile switches. Then, I’ll use the Dwarven ortholinear keycap set on this somehow.
I love a good tenkeyless keyboard, so I’ll look for one that is very low profile. However, this keyboard won’t be needed to complete the ambition of mechanical keyboarding with the Lord of the Rings keycaps. It’ll be just for fun!
If you’re wondering about my need for one keyboard to connect to many different laptops, it’s not so much of a need any longer. A simple multi-USB port with a KVM has solved that issue.