The new year is coming and I am looking forward to what mechanical keyboards I will be building next! Although it isn’t quite the one year mark yet, I am 9 months into this hobby and I couldn’t be happier. I never thought I’d get the opportunity to build so many fun boards in such a short time. As with most hobbies…I fall passionately in love with them. 🙂 Today, I’m going to share which are my favorite builds from my collection so far. You can check all 13 of my personal builds on the Mechanical Keyboard Collection page.
#5 NK87 Entry Edition
When I decided to revamp the look and feel of my home office (known as the Babe Cave, on the blog) I knew I wanted a keyboard that would match. As I learned more about the different keycap sets in the hobby I fell in love with the NovelKeys GMK Taro set. Sadly I missed out on the originals, but were able to find these great quality replicas on AliExpress. Now my setup was complete! I love a good matchy matchy setup.
#4 CTBESE GK68
The mechanical keyboard hobby is all about a customized experience and when I purchased the GK68 this was my next step in customization; spray painting and custom board colors! This board was my second attempt at a spray painted build and I was so happy with the results and the overall color match in the end. I learned a lot from my first attempt with the Lavender one; this one came out perfect. On these boards, I was able to fully take them apart and make modifications for the sound profile and stabilizers. A real DIY project!
#3 ID42 Abacus
The Idobao ID42 Abacus was my first plunge into small form factors with this one being only 40% in size (the smallest size available next to macro keys). This means, most of the keys that you’re familiar seeing (like the number row and arrows) are hidden under “layers”; activated with certain key press combinations. Although the assembly and modification for this board was easy, it definitely came with a learning curve in memorizing the layers. I love it and glad I decided to try something new. It’s such a cute mini board and saves a lot of desk space!
#2 Portico75
I am a real sucker for translucent colored keyboards in the style of the old school Gameboy. After seeing this keyboard debut in a build video on Mochii Crafts YouTube channel it was forever on my Wishlist! The only drawback was that it was sold out and out of stock with no news of a return by the time I’d discovered it. Not only that, but my preferred keycap set was nearly $100; something I’d not expanded my budget for at all. I let the idea of ever owning one go..until Black Friday and my Birthday month rolled around. It’s pure magic that I own this build and I’m so grateful to have it! Typing on it is buttery smooth and quite; just how I like them.
#1 FancyAlice66
By far, this is one of the most unique keyboards in my collection; making it my #1 Top pick for this list! The Alice style layout is known for it’s ergonomic split keyboard layout. To add extra magic to this build, it’s in an iridescent transparent acrylic design. This DIY kit was such a joy to build and most likely one of my most labor intensive; as it came in pieces for assembly. I went out on a limb to give this form factor a try because it looked so cool and I wanted to see what the typing experience was like. I enjoy it a lot and hope to add more Alice builds to my collection in the future.
