There are two main options: full-size keyboards, which include pretty much every key youвЂ™d expect, and tenkeyless keyboards, which strip out the numpad. The first choice youвЂ™ll have to make about your keyboard is its size. But these are the most common choices out there, along with some general rules about what might work for you. When planning out your build, you have an almost bewildering array of options, and it would be impossible to try to list them all here. To put the board together IвЂ™ll need little more than a screwdriver, soldering iron (plus accessories like a soldering iron holder and a solder sucker in case you make any mistakes), and solder. DonвЂ™t worry, IвЂ™ll get into all these options in a little bit. You can get different sizes of keyboards (which means different case and circuit board sizes), different kinds of stabilizers, and differing ways that keyboards mount their switches. It sounds simple, but where things get complicated are with the sheer amount of options available. The keyboard components will vary based on what kind of keyboard youвЂ™re building, but in simple terms, hereвЂ™s what youвЂ™ll need: So I found it really helpful to look on popular keyboard forums including the Mechanical Keyboards subreddit, GeekHack, and Deskthority to find their recommendations.Д¬lockwise from top PCB, switches, case, USB cable, mounting plate, soldering iron and accessories, solder, stabilizers, a screwdriver, and keycaps. The Chinese retailer AliExpress has a huge selection of parts, but it can be a bit of a Wild West if you donвЂ™t know what youвЂ™re looking for. Even Amazon is a little bit of a stretch. What you needДЄ keyboard isnвЂ™t made up of too many parts, but theyвЂ™re not something you can just pick up in a store. My soldering is by no means great, but I ended up with a functioning keyboard after just a couple of hours of work, and I think most people would be able to achieve the same. Some of the steps are a little fiddly, and if youвЂ™re not careful then you could end up breaking something thatвЂ™s not easy to replace. It wasnвЂ™t too tricky, but if youвЂ™re going to try it yourself then youвЂ™re going to want to take your time. So I have a pretty good idea of how the assembly of a keyboard works, even if I hadnвЂ™t gone through the entire build process before. IвЂ™ve swapped out numerous keycaps, de-soldered and replaced the switches on a Das Keyboard 4, modified an Apple Extended Keyboard II to work over USB, and IвЂ™ve even installed a customizable microcontroller in a Filco Majestouch 2. IвЂ™ve modified plenty of keyboards in the past. This was my first time building a keyboard from scratch, but IвЂ™m not a complete beginner. I built a board with a 75 percent layout, so it omits the numpad, and squeezes the arrow keys and function row into a compact layout. But at the end of the process youвЂ™ll end up with something thatвЂ™s completely individual to you and your needs, whether itвЂ™s typing, gaming, or some horrific Frankenstein mix of the two (hereвЂ™s to you Typing of the Dead: Overkill). The components can be expensive, youвЂ™ll need to do a lot of soldering, and thereвЂ™s every chance you might break something if youвЂ™re not careful. For the ultimate bespoke keyboard, you have to build one from scratch. Modifying an existing keyboard will only get you so far, though. You can buy different keycaps, change their mechanical switches, and in some cases even swap out their USB cables or microcontrollers to get a keyboard thatвЂ™s tailored to your preferences. For a lot of people, however, much of their appeal comes from customizability. Some people like how long they last, others like the way they feel, and plenty of people claim that their tactile feedback makes them easier to use. Depending on who you ask, mechanical keyboards have any number of benefits.

Tactile gaming keyboard