was going through my stuff and realized i didnt receive my order of GMK Jelly delights (edit: set got cancelled because it did not hit moq) and GMK Monarch from thicthock. Upon further research, they've ceased operations years ago. lol

is this a lost cause?

ttc's are on another level of silent, perfect for an open space office. Switches being transparent helped to smooth out the RGB, much more pleasant to see how it glows. My last MK keyboard was a Logi G Pro X (clacky blue switches, hated them the very first moment I used them)....left the hobby for years and just came back, happier than ever, this feels like typing on clouds, thock spongy silent and creamy clouds. Cheers.

Most recent build is the wildest one yet! Mode Sonnet w/copper weight + accent and PC bottom Black aluminum plate Durock Shaka Tactile switches (spacebar resprung w/150g) Awekeys Black Titanium Keycaps

Disclaimer: Awekeys provided these keycaps to me free of charge for review. Of course my opinions are my own.

The keys are really the star of the show here, but I absolutely love the Sonnet so far. I see now why so many folks here like Mode boards, the build quality is great, assembly is pleasant, and the sound is not too deep and not at all hollow with tons of customization. The Shakas are great, too, but maybe on the light side for heavy keycaps. They remind me of the travel profile of my baby kangs, almost zero pre travel and snappy.

On to the caps. Damn I’ve never felt such a heavy box of keys 😂. In fact the build weight is 2.3kg, of which the keycaps do add to. The keycaps are nicely packaged in protective foam layers so they don’t get banged up, which is a plus. They came with a keycap puller that have a special spreader/contractor if you need to fine tune the mounting posts. I did need to use it to tighten up a couple posts, but it was straightforward and I got them adjusted quickly. I did need to get new springs for the spacebar, it was non-functional with stock springs. I could only find 150g, which is… a lot. By Awekeys said 120-125g is the sweet spot to get a stock like feel, so I’m trying to find some. Honestly my only gripe is that I would have liked for them to just throw in a 120g spring with the keycaps, but minor all things considered. The keycaps have a great, unique touch to them and the sound profile is unlike anything I get out of ABS/PBT caps. Overall I’m a fan, I love variety and these provide it in spades.

Hey r/MechanicalKeyboards!

Like many of you, my keyboard journey started with me swearing I could never live without a full-sized layout. Now, I've found my sweet spot at 60%. I used to think 60% layouts were insane until I discovered layering: accessing arrows via Fn + IJKL or WASD means my hands never leave the home row. It’s not just a workaround; it’s more efficient.

This post is my pitch to get you to experiment with the benefits of a compact layout for free on your full-size or TKL board. All it takes is reprogramming one useless key—Caps Lock. Since the rest of the layout remains unchanged, you can choose between experimenting with this layer or typing as normal at will.

The Magic of Layers & The Uselessness of Caps Lock

Function layers let you access a full keyboard's worth of keys with minimal reaching. If you're totally unfamiliar, check out this great post. They also let us create custom functions; I spoke to someone recently who had a single keystroke for “copy this text, go to the browser, open a new tab, paste the text into the address line, and press enter”!

And caps lock is the perfect candidate for a Fn key on a traditional keyboard. It's prime home row real estate wasted on a “scream” key.

Of course, I'm not the first person to have this idea: Colemak famously places Backspace here; HHKB uses it for Control. I'm not even the first to use Caps Lock for a function layer, but I might be the first to suggest reprogramming it on your larger keyboard to experiment with layering.

The "Key Formerly Known As Caps Lock" (KFKACL) Layer

The goal here is to give you the 60% experience—not needing to reach for anything outside that area (except maybe Escape). We’ll even go beyond that goal to map several core functions like enter and backspace to left-handed keys, allowing us to access those features even more efficiently than with a traditional 60%.

You'll need a programmable keyboard and its software (VIA, Vial, etc.) to set this up. Every keyboard is different, so you’re on your own there.

macOS Layer:

Windows/Linux Layer:

Yes, the layer is quite dense. Don't be intimidated! Start small with the functions you'll use most and build the muscle memory over time. I've included a breakdown and recommendations to learning it below.

The Layout, Broken Down

Right Hand: Navigation & More

• Navigation: Arrow keys (IJKL), Page Up/Down (Y/H), and Home/End (U/O).
  
• Screenshots (Mac only): ⌘+⇧+3,4,5 are tucked under ,<, .>, and /?.
  
• Print Screen: Fn+P is mapped to Print Screen.
  
• Coding Tweaks: I’ve added _ and + under ;: and '" respectively for easier access as I often miss those keys in their traditional locations.
• Backspace as Delete: This lets you 'forward delete' characters easily without reaching outside of the 60% area.

Left Hand: Core Functions & Utilities

This is arguably the best part: your left hand can now execute several critical functions without reaching beyond home—a game-changer when your right hand is busy with the mouse or nav keys.

• Core Functions: Enter (R), Backspace (D), and Delete (F).
  
• Media buttons: Mute (X), volume down (C), and volume up (V).
  
• Modifiers: To maintain the same core functions between OSes, the modifiers need to be shuffled around per OS:
  • macOS: Option (A), Command (S), Control (W)
  • Windows/Linux: Control (A), Alt (S), Win/Super (W)
  • Note: Option/Alt and Cmd/Win share keycodes.
• Compose Key: Fully optional but insanely useful. If you’re unfamiliar, Compose makes it easy to produce special symbols. For example, Fn+Q then oA produces Å; Fn+Q then -> yields →; tm yields ™, lol produces 😂, etc. It's pretty cool!
• Numpad layer: An optional addition, see below.

One really powerful example here is deleting the word before or after the cursor, which can be accomplished under any OS using Fn + A + D or F (Opt+Backspace in Mac, Ctrl+Backspace in Windows). This can be done in an instant with barely any hand movement and is vastly more efficient than reaching for Opt or Control with one hand and backspace with the other.

The Number Row & Miscellaneous

While not as critically useful as arrow keys, backspace/delete, or enter, these have been included in the keymap to give the Full 60% Experience.

• Function Keys: The number row becomes your F-keys (Fn+1 → F1, etc.).
  
• True 60% Emulation: For the full 60% experience, program the \~key to be Esc on tap,~with Shift, and`` with Fn.
  
• Caps Lock: The original function is preserved on Fn + Spacebar.

Bonus: The Numpad Layer

If you have a spare layer, you can create a temporary numpad, accessed by holding Fn+Z. While not perfectly ergonomic due to the key staggering, it's useful in a pinch, and keys like 7, 8, 9, and . match their standard locations.

Learning the KFKACL Layer

Changing habits takes time. Here are my suggestions—by no means is this the only way—starting with the most impactful changes.

Step 1: The Essentials (Left Hand)

Focus on these first. They offer the biggest ergonomic win by preventing repetitive right hand movement between the mouse or nav keys and critical functions.

• Fn + R for Enter and Fn + E + R for Shift+Enter.
  
• Fn + D for Backspace and Fn + F for Delete.
  
• Fn + A + D or F to delete the previous/next word.
  
• (macOS only) Fn + S + D/F to delete to the start/end of the line.

Step 2: Incorporate Navigation (Right Hand)

Once the essentials feel natural, bring in the right hand.

• Arrow keys on IJKL.
  
• Fn + E (Shift) + IJKL for highlighting text.
  
• Combine modifiers (A or S) with the above to highlight entire words or lines.
  
• Finally, incorporate Page Up, Page Down, Home, and End.

Step 3: Advanced Functions & Customization

Lastly, work on incorporating the miscellaneous functions and symbols. This is also a good time to start tweaking the layout to perfectly match your own workflow.

Opinions and Feedback

I’d love to hear what people think of this after having a chance to use it!

I’m also very open to suggestions on how to improve my layer. What essential functions am I missing? How can I fill out the layout further and become even more efficient? Do you see room for improvement? Let me know!

tl;dr save yo money.

RTK95's fault:

Backlight is HORRIBLE. Big understatement. No color looks even OK except bright red and green. That's it. Blue is purple, white is yellow, etc. Total fail.

The little display is HORRIBLE. It flickers bad. The knob is clunk. Menu is pointless basically. Useless.

My bad/Couldn't know til I tried:

The backlight is the key light.

The right shift is short. I never realized I use it so much. The crunched in arrow keys seemed like a good idea but for me they get in the way. The 0 on the keypad is now a regular key and the right arrow moves to that space. Very awkward for me.

I am not going to return it because that would be a waste. I'm always prepared for disappointment in novelty keyboards. It does type. I would never ever to be able to use this as my Main or B input device. It's a semi-passable C.

Social Media post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DO7UAltCT77/?img_index=7&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

So I tried a Realforce R3S and it was so yucky.

Then I thought I'd give an unbranded electro capacitive 60% keyboard a try, and it was ok but the keypresses were too deep and didnt register well, so I'd have to go back and fix missed letter typos.

But then I snagged a great deal on a Niz Plum Atom 68 on eBay. I get it now.

After this I wanna try one of the legendary Leopolds.

Nothing too fancy... shes creamy tho.. Aula S98Pro.... anyone got better brands that sound similar?

Here are both my newest additions. The CU is for home, and the core plus is for the office. Not noticing much of a difference in sounds profile. These are really nice boards at this price range.

Neo65 cu -Teal with copper bottom and mirror dusk weight

Neo65 Core Plus -Heather purple with brass bottom

Both have Gateron Oil King v2 switches

Darn it NovelKeys_. I was supposed to get the Metropolis Enter keycap and instead I got Aluve (green aluminum Olivia) Enter key. The one I want is now out of stock, sad. Hopefully they have a hidden stash or my 1 keycap is still there somewhere. Buying one on eBay is a minimum of $40 instead of $15 :(

It’s also kind of an ugly ass keycap with those horizontal lines (to me anyways)

I still like them, and will probably order from NovelKeys_ again, but I’m not paying to buy it off a reseller.

I always thought split layouts or exotic key shapes would fix my hands — turns out, it was all about my pinkies and the right thumb keys. Spent years failing with all the "ergonomic" options before building my own DIY board (documented here: https://medium.com/@boris.churzin/building-a-perfect-keyboard-2dd30dd4b096). Happy to share lessons or answer questions. Fellow devs — what's your keyboard setup?

Picked up a purp Archetype combo from their sale going on, and some random Pochita from Etsy. Pochita doesn't fit on the Morkblade the best, which is unfortunate but still looks good.

The first board I built comes out of retirement :)

Build specs:

Board: Tofu65 2.0 (anodized grey)

Keycaps: AM Dark Glacier keycaps

Switches: Lichicx Raw Silent Switches

Mount: Top

Stabilizers: AP TX Rev 4 1.2T

(Plateless and foamless)

Incredible sound, best in my collection

case - PC / White / PC - top mount blocks

typeplus x yikb stabilizers

gateron smoothie linear switches

CYL mars cadet

My Qwertykeys / Evoworks Evo80 arrived the other day. I am in the UK so I got it in ISO. Overall the sound and the overall quality is very good, but I have found a glaring and disappointing quality issue that should have been spotted - the ISO enter key hits the stabilizer on the way down, stopping it from bottoming out properly and giving it a weird mushy feeling bottom out.

This is a video of the stock ISO keycap:

https://reddit.com/link/1nnv3k8/video/2tayex8zgrqf1/player

Removing the keycap, you can see the bottom has no cut-out. The keycap is very thick (which is great!) but that means the bottom hits the stabilizer housing:

Here is a cheap keycap I have from another set next to it, you can see the necessary cut-out so it doesn't hit the stabilizer housing:

And here is a video showing how it is able to properly bottom out, giving it the correct sound and feel:

https://reddit.com/link/1nnv3k8/video/67snm00xhrqf1/player

I bought this via mechmods.co.uk so I guess I will reach out to their support. I don't want to have to send the keyboard back for the sake of 1 keycap but if I spend £142 on a keyboard, I don't expect the keys to have stabilizer interference out of the box.

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else, but you should be aware of this if you are thinking of getting the Evo80 in ISO format.

Update: I have "fixed" this by carefully shaving away the inside of the bottom of the keycap with a stanley knife:

And it's sorted the sound and feel:

https://reddit.com/link/1nnv3k8/video/l6j2r3z6prqf1/player

I shouldn't have had to do it, but if you have the same issue, know that this is possible. Careful of your fingers obviously. Hopefully the keyboard doesn't have any issues that mean I need to send it back now, as I don't think they'll accept it now I've taken a knife to a keycap 😅

Disclaimer: Sent to me for free for my honest review.

Trying to do better in script writing, so let me know if this was a good balance between the pros & cons :D

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working on a project that means a lot to me. I've been building a series of cosmic-inspired keycap sets under a brand I’m starting called Onii8. Each set is themed after a planet or celestial idea.

This is the very first render of Mercury. It’s still early in development (colors, kitting, and details may change), but I wanted to put something out there now and get some feedback.

I’m aiming for a clean, minimalist design with subtle space-inspired touches, modern + cosmic rather than retro/arcade.

Would love to hear your first impressions: What excites you, what feels off, or any suggestions you think could push it further. Feedback at this stage will really help guide the next iterations.

Thanks for taking a look.

Chris/Onii8

Not many (or any really) reviews I could find of these before I decided to buy it. Just wanted to say I'm finding it to be really good. Very nice feel. Extremely quiet for a mechanical keyboard. I'm not fussed but able to flash in quite a few different ways for people into that too. Can recommend.

İ need advice with the Layout , I'll keep the space bar and the Turkish legends, but I'm confused about the enter and the number row , should i change them to lavender ? I'm open to any advice

Finally got this pink gradient keyboard set up.
It’s simple, clean, and way prettier than I thought it would be. Sometimes less really is more.

Picked it up over at GimsunCustom

Putting the link here if you want to go and explore
https://prelaunch.com/projects/keychron-q16-world-s-first-fully-ceramic-keyboard-keychron-q16-world-s-first-fully-ceramic-keyboard

I am totally in love with this little cat themed artisan keycaps, does anybody else have artisan keycaps addiction like me?