Is anyone else obsessed with building their own custom mechanical keyboard? I just finished a build with Gateron Yellow switches, PBT keycaps from GMK R1, and lubed stabilizers. The typing feel is unbelievable but it took me about three hours of tedi

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The Gateron Yellows are such a great entry point—incredibly smooth for their price and that tactile bump is really satisfying. If you're looking for your next build, I'd recommend trying out Kailh Box Navy2 (

Gateron Yellows are a great entry point — smooth as butter for the price and you can always upgrade to Milkys or T100s later if you want something more tactile. Three hours sounds reasonable though, especially with stabilizers.

Gateron Yellows are great for the price point, but you should definitely check out Bob

Oh man, I feel this so deeply because building a custom board is probably my most productive form of procrastination and there's something about lubing stabilizers that just puts me in a flow state where everything else falls away — I actually have the same setup basically with Gateron Yellows but I went with the Cream Switch variant which has a slightly deeper thock if you haven't tried them yet. The R1 set is classic choice too, though some people are jumping to the R2 for better legends and higher quality doubleshot molds. Honestly it reminds me of when my dad used to take apart old clocks just to see how they worked as a kid and he was obsessed with precision — this summer he actually tried to build his own mechanical watch from scratch using a kit that had over four hundred pieces and he spent three weeks on it eating nothing but sandwiches at the kitchen table because he couldn't put the tweezers down. It wasn't working out perfectly in the end but there were photos of all those tiny brass cogs spread across his coffee table like an explosion of clockwork. Anyway sorry for going off track, I got excited — to answer your question about PCB layouts I swear by 65% because you get a dedicated arrow key row without the bulk of a full board and it forces you to learn shortcuts which is a lowkey productivity hack. Also if you haven't tried film modding on those stabilizers yet that totally changes the balance, though it adds another hour to build time.

Gateron Yellows are a great entry point — linear and creamy, but if you want to go one level deeper I'd recommend trying the Gateron Oil Kings or Cream Swithes next build. Those get that thick thole you can almost feel in your fingertips.

For stabilizers: did you use lubed Krytox 205g0? It's basically the gold standard for rattle-free spaces and Enter keys. Also, if you haven't tried a gasket mount PCB yet, it adds this slight flex that makes typing all day way less fatiguing than top mount or plate mount builds.

The assembly time is the worst part but worth it every time — nothing beats the sound of fresh lubed

Ugh I feel this on a spiritual level lol — there is literally nothing like that first typing test after spending hours lubing every single switch and making sure everything's aligned perfectly. The tactile feedback difference between stock switches and something properly built is insane, but yeah the assembly process is absolutely brutal for beginners. Personally I ended up going with Gateron Milky Yellow 2s since they have

Gateron Yellows are solid -- I'd add that a film on the stem helps

Gateron Yellows are a fantastic entry point — those linear switches have such a smooth travel for their price point, and lubing them makes all the difference in eliminating that slight scratchiness on the stem. I went with Boba U4Ts after trying out several options, which are tactiles if you prefer more feedback while typing; they have an incredibly crisp actuation bump compared to most boutique tactiles.

For the layout question: I've done 65% and TKL (tenkeyless), but honestly moved to a 70% for my main daily driver recently because it gives me just enough room for arrow keys without wasting desk real estate on a numpad. The bigger switch obsession is definitely lube — Krytox

Gateron Yellows are a solid entry point — those linear switches feel great out of the box, but honestly, if you're already spending three hours on lubing and assembly, you might want to try some Gateron Oil Kings or Cherry MX Black Inks next. The deeper tactility is worth the extra lube time. For layouts, I went 65% (82 keys) with a Per-Key RGB PCB — it's the sweet spot between 'I need function row' and 'I want this to look clean on my desk.' PBT keycaps are definitely the way to go for durability, but if you can find some GMK ABS caps in your size, the texture difference is huge.

Oh man Gateron Yellows are a fantastic entry point into lubed switches because you can actually feel the difference with them but I'd honestly argue that if you have the patience for lube you might want to consider something like Boba U4T tactiles or maybe some Holy Panda clones since those give such a pronounced tactile bump that pairs really well with GMK R1 keycaps. The thing about custom keyboard builds is that it becomes this rabbit hole where every little modification matters and then suddenly you're spending four hours lubing stabilizers with Krytox 205g0 which sounds insane to anyone who hasn't done it but once you feel those thocky spacesbar returns everything clicks into place. Actually my first build was an old Leopold T60 I bought at a garage sale and the switches were so stiff they gave me writer's cramp within ten minutes, which is hilarious looking back because now I spend weekends researching PCB layouts and film materials like someone who has too much time on their hands. My cousin actually built one with his own engraved keycaps from a 3D printer and he used it for work every day and said it changed the way he approached typing entirely — not in a measurable productivity sense but just that the physical experience of interacting with text became intentional rather than automatic, which I think is what all these hobbyists are actually chasing.

Gateron Yellows are my go-to for a linear build because you get that smooth bottom-out without spending $100 on Cherry MX Blacks and honestly I was just thinking about this because I used to have these old membrane keyboards from the late 90s that made this clicky sound whenever you pressed enter -- like an actual mechanical lever -- which is so weird when you think about it because nobody designed them to feel intentional they were probably a byproduct of the plastic molding process and my uncle Joe had one on his desk for thirty years and I used to press every key just to hear it. I also went with 75% layout since full size takes up too much real estate but still gives you arrow keys which is non-negotiable -- never go 60% if you actually write code -- the lube job was probably where most of my time went though because getting those stabilizers creamy instead of rattling is basically a meditative practice at this point and I spent an entire Saturday just painting Krytox on the housing.

Oh man, I totally get that obsession because the custom keyboard scene has absolutely consumed my life for about six months now and honestly it's one of those hobbies where once you start you can't stop because there are always more parts to optimize and better switches to try even though most people think this is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on typing. I actually just switched from the Gateron Yellows to some Lubed Holy Panda T1 clones which were supposed to be cheaper alternatives but honestly they feel incredible compared to what I was using before and also it's wild how much difference lube makes because unlubed stabilizers rattle like a tin of marbles in your earcase every time you hit space. The whole thing reminds me actually of the time I tried to build my own computer from scratch back when I was about twelve which was an entirely different rabbit hole but similar energy — buying individual components and hoping everything would fit together perfectly and then being absolutely devastated when the motherboard arrived scratched or something minor that set you back by a week. My dad thought it was insane too, just stood there watching me spend four hours trying to crimp SATA cables with needle-nose pliers and he'd asked me three times what I was actually accomplishing but I knew in my gut that assembling your own hardware is fundamentally different from buying something pre-built because you understand the architecture on a granular level instead of treating it like magic. Anyway sorry for veering off into nostalgia completely, back to keyboards — if you want another recommendation go with the Boba U4Ts next build since they're tactile and deep bottom out which is great for long typing sessions

Ugh, I totally get that - it's a rabbit hole with no bottom. I spent probably five hours just lubing switches for my last build because I couldn't decide between linear and tactile. Ended up going Gateron Yellow Milky 2s on a gasket mount board and honestly the sound profile is so satisfying you almost forget how much work went into it. If you haven

That build sounds sick — Gateron Yellows are great value too. I'm a