The TechteamKB – Building a CUSTOM MECHANICAL KEYBOARD!
|This is the TechteamKB. It’s based on a GMMK Full Size, using Glorious Panda switches, with Razer PBT keycaps, and a custom USB C port and cable. Want to see how I made it? For that, we need to go back a few weeks…
This is a Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard, or GMMK for short. This is a barebones PCB and shell with the ability to clip in any cherry style switch, and get up and running, no soldering required. I got the full size version, which I know the vast majority of you r/mechanicalkeyboard folk think I’m some kind of monster, but hear me out. I use my number pad. I like having a number pad. It’s my preference and my build, if you don’t like it, don’t buy this one. Sorted? Awesome!
The way this board works is pretty simple. The PCB has little mounts for the two pins on the bottom of the switch, so you just put it in the right way round, then click it into place and boom it’s in. It comes with a switch puller in the box, so if you want to remove them and swap them out later you can, and even has a keycap puller built into the bottom of it, although I can’t work out how to remove that without a tool…
As for the switches, I was intending on buying some Boba u4t’s, but they were very much out of stock everywhere, so my backup option I went with are the Glorious Pandas which both these and the GMMK boards are stocked by OverclockersUK who provided these for me, there will be a link to them both below! These are tactile switches, although not quite the same feeling as the Cherry MX Browns I’m used to. This feels a little more like a rubber dome switch in it’s pressure and give. I’m yet to type too much on them, obviously, but so far I’m liking the feel.
So, what’s my plan here? Well, as you’ll have seen already, the final product doesn’t look like this. I’ll be painting this top plate with my techteamgb colours, but that’s not all. I want to make this truly custom, and one of the most annoying things for me about this full size board compared to the TKL and smaller version is that those have removable USB C cables. This full size? A hard wired cable. I’m not having that, so I’ve bought a USB C socket and I’ll be designing and 3D printing a housing for it, cutting a hole in the base plate and soldering some new wires in. I won’t be damaging the existing cable at all, so if my modded port fails for some reason I can just reattach the original one. In an ideal world I’d also make this wireless too, but Glorious have left absolutely no space inside this thing, there is barely enough space for a tiny USB C port let alone a controller and battery.
So, that’s the plan, now lets execute. I’m going to start with the USB C port, lets take this thing apart and see where we can fit this port.
So that’s the process, now for the important bit. Here’s what it sounds like..
And I couldn’t build a keyboard and not play some games on it…
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the result. I’ve still got to lube the stabilisers as they can be a little sticky, and yes the paint isn’t perfect, but for my first custom keyboard I’m pretty pleased. I’ll be giving it a go as my full time board, and if it’s not right I may try some other switches or use it as my testing board instead, we’ll see.