Building a Keyboard: A Beginner's Guide

I recently had the opportunity to build my own keyboard, and I'm excited to share my experience with you. The process was relatively simple, and I was able to complete it in just a few hours. The keyboard features 47 keys, which is a decent number for a compact keyboard.

To start, I needed to solder the switches onto the PCB (Printed Circuit Board). This was the most time-consuming part of the process, but it's still relatively quick and easy. You need to carefully align each switch in its orientation to fit the PCB, then solder the switches' pins to the board itself. As a beginner, I was pleased to find that this part wasn't too difficult, even for my third attempt at building a keyboard.

Once the switches were soldered, I could move on to assembling the keyboard's base and plate. The base is made of M aluminum, which provides a sturdy foundation for the keyboard. I chose a silver finish for the base, which looks really nice. To assemble the keyboard, you need to align the plate to the base and use screws to secure it in place.

The key caps are also an important part of the keyboard's construction. In my case, I opted for blank key caps, which are definitely taking some getting used to. The MIT layout features a tiny 2U space bar, but there's a grid layout option available as well. Speaking of the space bar, it came with stabilizers in the building process, but I decided not to use them since the space bar is so small.

The keyboard comes pre-assembled and packaged nicely, which is always a plus. However, I did find that the included rubber mini USB cable was not my cup of tea. I prefer custom cables from kyack.com, which offer a range of colors and patterns to choose from. If you're in the market for a new keyboard or want to start building your own, this is a great place to start.

The drop starts at $120, which is an incredibly affordable price point for such a high-quality keyboard. The cherry MX switches provide a smooth typing experience, and the 3.1mm walls of the aluminum bottom plate make it feel extremely solid in my hands. The keyboard's simplistic design is both functional and unique-looking.

One thing to note is that building this keyboard did take some time to get used to, especially with the blank key caps. However, you can still purchase normal keycaps at checkout if you're not comfortable with the layout. Additionally, there are 14 different switches available, including Cherry Gateron switches and various case colors. You can customize your keyboard to make it truly unique.

In conclusion, building a keyboard is a great hobby for anyone interested in tech or DIY projects. The Masterboard keyboard is an excellent place to start, offering a range of features at an affordable price point. I highly recommend checking it out and following my channel for future tech reviews and DIY keyboard kits.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwhat's up guys I'm random Frank P today we're going to take a look at and review the plank mechanical keyboard from Mass drop this is a custom DIY kit which means you have to build it yourself but you all have been loving these kind of DIY videos lately so when I saw this was available I knew I had to get my hands on it this is actually one of the best sellers on mass drop and it even has the best of mass drop award and they are selling insanely quick so I recommend hopping on this before the drop fills up what makes this keyboard so unique is it's very Compact and simplistic look to it it only has 47 total keys for this MIT layout I'll get the more on that in a minute but it looks just really eye-catching and it stands out from the rest you're probably thinking to yourself well only 47 Keys how do you even use that then this keyboard is designed so that every single key is within just two units of your fingers on the home row at all times it's going to do a few things going to do things like minimalize your finger and hand travel which will then reduce stress on your wrists and that's always good and before we get into the details since this is in fact a DIY kit you do have to build the keyboard but one thing I always see in the comments of this videos is oh why do you have to pay to build your own keyboard rather just you know buy one that's already made for me and save the money yes you are paying for the pieces in this kit but it's worth it in just itself having the experience of building this keyboard that is your very own it's personalized it's a unique oneofone keyboard since you made it and it just has more a sentimental value now that you created it yourself so speaking of building the kit comes with the PCB whatever switches you decide to pick at checkout the base of the keyboard the plate and then the key caps and really it didn't take much time at all to build it it was very simple since there are only 47 Keys soldering was really quick you have to first put each key into the keyboard's base and uh I went with a nice silver finish for M I think it looks really nice then align all these switches in their orientation to fit the PCB and then the base then using a soldering iron you have to carefully solder the switches pins to the board itself this is only my third time ever building a keyboard or even soldering so I'm still pretty new to this but it was just really easy this time around after that everything should be soldered together you can then align the plate to the keyboard's base and use the included screws to screw it together to unify the two and apply the key caps to each key once that's all done bam you're good to go everything I got was very nicely packaged and I wasn't missing any pieces or anything so that's always nice but for me I'm just not a fan of the included rubber mini USB cable that came with it I like to use these nice custom ones from kyack.com they're kind of like my personal go-to they have a ton of different colors to pick from different like patterns and stuff um all really high quality stuff and if you go there you use code word randomfrankp at checkout you could save yourself 10% off on your very own cables I have one in white red and carbon fiber I think the red especially going along with this keyboard since the the base of it is red it just looks really nice now since the building process is completed overall it feels extremely solid in my hands and it weighs more than actually your typical keyboard was even though this is like half the size of that that's because of how well these pieces are actually constructed and made not only is the brush stainless steel top plate very nice but the M aluminum bottom can be used as a weapon it has extra thick 3.1 mm walls and is a cherry on top or in this case the bottom of this keyboard it really does the keyboard Justice and I am extremely impressed by its build also it does come with the 3M rubber feet to apply to the bottom of the keyboard you can prevent it from scratching whatever surface you're on and it'll also help it to stay in place but this thing's pretty heavy so wouldn't have to worry about that but altogether this keyboard is very awesome I am a huge fan of its simplistic design and it is just really unique looking I mentioned earlier that I have the MIT layout which features that really miniature 2 you space bar but if you opted to go with the grid layout at checkout uh it would be two individual keys there instead of just that one mini one and speaking of the space bar in the building process it did come with stabilizers but I opted not to use them since the space bar is just so tiny I didn't find it really necessary to include that uh when I was building it now I like pretty much everything about this keyboard I I really do but since I went with the blank key caps it is definitely taking a while for me to get used to this new layout and then to remember it yes you can still get normal keys at checkout so you're not constantly you know messing up like I am but it is definitely worth noting that if you like your first time using a keyboard like this it is going to take some time to adjust this layout and just memorizing where the keys are and yes you can buy different key caps at checkout and there is a ton of different options you can pick from when building your keyboard you can pick from actually 14 total switches with cherry Gaton amzed switches being available to you as well as red silver black orange blue and purple bottoms of of the case to be available to pick from so yes you can definitely customize this keyboard to your liking to make it the most unique keyboard you've ever owned I definitely recommend picking this up but if you're in the market for a new keyboard or if you're just looking to get into keyboard building as a hobby this is a great place to start and the drop starts at only $120 right now with shipping I think that's a really great and affordable price for this really nice keyboard and I'll put the link to this keyboard in the description down below so you head over to master off and check it out if you like this video please give it a thumbs up to show your support if you have any questions you can hit me up and follow me on Twitter at randomfrankp lastly if you haven't already hit that subscribe button you're not going to want to miss out any future tech reviews or DIY keyboard kits I got coming up really soon well I'm random Frank P hope you enjoyed have a good daywhat's up guys I'm random Frank P today we're going to take a look at and review the plank mechanical keyboard from Mass drop this is a custom DIY kit which means you have to build it yourself but you all have been loving these kind of DIY videos lately so when I saw this was available I knew I had to get my hands on it this is actually one of the best sellers on mass drop and it even has the best of mass drop award and they are selling insanely quick so I recommend hopping on this before the drop fills up what makes this keyboard so unique is it's very Compact and simplistic look to it it only has 47 total keys for this MIT layout I'll get the more on that in a minute but it looks just really eye-catching and it stands out from the rest you're probably thinking to yourself well only 47 Keys how do you even use that then this keyboard is designed so that every single key is within just two units of your fingers on the home row at all times it's going to do a few things going to do things like minimalize your finger and hand travel which will then reduce stress on your wrists and that's always good and before we get into the details since this is in fact a DIY kit you do have to build the keyboard but one thing I always see in the comments of this videos is oh why do you have to pay to build your own keyboard rather just you know buy one that's already made for me and save the money yes you are paying for the pieces in this kit but it's worth it in just itself having the experience of building this keyboard that is your very own it's personalized it's a unique oneofone keyboard since you made it and it just has more a sentimental value now that you created it yourself so speaking of building the kit comes with the PCB whatever switches you decide to pick at checkout the base of the keyboard the plate and then the key caps and really it didn't take much time at all to build it it was very simple since there are only 47 Keys soldering was really quick you have to first put each key into the keyboard's base and uh I went with a nice silver finish for M I think it looks really nice then align all these switches in their orientation to fit the PCB and then the base then using a soldering iron you have to carefully solder the switches pins to the board itself this is only my third time ever building a keyboard or even soldering so I'm still pretty new to this but it was just really easy this time around after that everything should be soldered together you can then align the plate to the keyboard's base and use the included screws to screw it together to unify the two and apply the key caps to each key once that's all done bam you're good to go everything I got was very nicely packaged and I wasn't missing any pieces or anything so that's always nice but for me I'm just not a fan of the included rubber mini USB cable that came with it I like to use these nice custom ones from kyack.com they're kind of like my personal go-to they have a ton of different colors to pick from different like patterns and stuff um all really high quality stuff and if you go there you use code word randomfrankp at checkout you could save yourself 10% off on your very own cables I have one in white red and carbon fiber I think the red especially going along with this keyboard since the the base of it is red it just looks really nice now since the building process is completed overall it feels extremely solid in my hands and it weighs more than actually your typical keyboard was even though this is like half the size of that that's because of how well these pieces are actually constructed and made not only is the brush stainless steel top plate very nice but the M aluminum bottom can be used as a weapon it has extra thick 3.1 mm walls and is a cherry on top or in this case the bottom of this keyboard it really does the keyboard Justice and I am extremely impressed by its build also it does come with the 3M rubber feet to apply to the bottom of the keyboard you can prevent it from scratching whatever surface you're on and it'll also help it to stay in place but this thing's pretty heavy so wouldn't have to worry about that but altogether this keyboard is very awesome I am a huge fan of its simplistic design and it is just really unique looking I mentioned earlier that I have the MIT layout which features that really miniature 2 you space bar but if you opted to go with the grid layout at checkout uh it would be two individual keys there instead of just that one mini one and speaking of the space bar in the building process it did come with stabilizers but I opted not to use them since the space bar is just so tiny I didn't find it really necessary to include that uh when I was building it now I like pretty much everything about this keyboard I I really do but since I went with the blank key caps it is definitely taking a while for me to get used to this new layout and then to remember it yes you can still get normal keys at checkout so you're not constantly you know messing up like I am but it is definitely worth noting that if you like your first time using a keyboard like this it is going to take some time to adjust this layout and just memorizing where the keys are and yes you can buy different key caps at checkout and there is a ton of different options you can pick from when building your keyboard you can pick from actually 14 total switches with cherry Gaton amzed switches being available to you as well as red silver black orange blue and purple bottoms of of the case to be available to pick from so yes you can definitely customize this keyboard to your liking to make it the most unique keyboard you've ever owned I definitely recommend picking this up but if you're in the market for a new keyboard or if you're just looking to get into keyboard building as a hobby this is a great place to start and the drop starts at only $120 right now with shipping I think that's a really great and affordable price for this really nice keyboard and I'll put the link to this keyboard in the description down below so you head over to master off and check it out if you like this video please give it a thumbs up to show your support if you have any questions you can hit me up and follow me on Twitter at randomfrankp lastly if you haven't already hit that subscribe button you're not going to want to miss out any future tech reviews or DIY keyboard kits I got coming up really soon well I'm random Frank P hope you enjoyed have a good day\n"