There are lots of different form factors for mechanical keyboards. Which one you choose will depend on how you use your keyboard. I’ve listed them in descending order from largest to smallest, and you’ll notice how things get subtracted as the board gets smaller. 

• Full-size: All the keys you’re used to, with numpad, arrows, function keys,etc. Not a great space-saving option, and more expensive to build because it uses more of everything. 
• TLK or 10-key-less (80%): This doesn’t have a number pad, but has all the other keys you’d expect. 
• 75%: This is pretty much a more smushed version of a TKL board, it still has a function key row, but everything’s closer together and some of the keys might be smaller than you’re used to. 
• 65%: No function keys, a smaller selection of named keys (page up, page down, insert, delete, home, end, print screen, etc.). Still has arrow keys. 
• 60%: No arrow keys. Very compact. 
• 40%: This one doesn’t even have a number row. Just letters and the bare minimum of shift, enter, etc.   

For the smaller form factors, you can use software like Via to map key combos to make up for the keys you don’t have on the board. For work, and even for this blog, I use number keys a lot. I also wanted arrow keys and some other navigation keys to reduce the use of my mouse, so I opted for the 65% board.

Whichever form factor you go with, you need to make sure all the components you buy match it. You’ll also need varying amounts of switches and stabilizers depending on the size and layout of the printed circuit board (the PCB, the brain of the keyboard).    

Here’s the list of things I got:

• a 65% case (a Tofu 65 aluminium case in blue),
• a 65% hot-swappable printed circuit board (PCB) so I don’t have to solder things,
• a 65% aluminium plate,
• some EVGA foam for inside the case,
• a pre-cut 65% foam sheet to go between the plate and the PCB,
• some stabilizer foam strips, 
• Durock V2 screw-in stabilizers,
• 70 Gateron Ink silent black switches,
• a pack of fabric bandaids,
• Krytox 205g0 for the stabilizers and switches,
• Krytox 105 oil for the springs,
• a little paintbrush,
• a keycap puller,
• a keycap set (*cough* I may have bought two of these, because I couldn’t decide),
• a switch opener,
• foam strips for the switches, 
• a precision screwdriver kit,
• some painters tape,
• tweezers,
• a stem grabber-holder (I do not know the proper name, it looks like a cross between a pen and a syringe, with a little claw that you use to grip onto the stem of a switch).

Some of that list may seem baffling, but I had absorbed a lot from all those videos and I wanted to do the best job possible—hence the foam, the tape, and the bandaids. 

The other thing you need is a lot of patience.

Optional accessories I mightn’t recommend: 2 rambunctious cats who need to look at, sniff, and swipe any small thing that enters their domain. Especially if I am paying attention to it and not them. 

A note on my switch choice

Switches are a huge part of the sound and feel of a keyboard. I already knew I didn’t want clicky or high-pitched sounding keys. I also didn’t want a loud thocky sound or an entirely silent switch. If you think I sound like Goldilocks here, you would be entirely correct. Sound is an extremely personal preference, and I wanted switches that would sound just right to me. I’m the one that has to listen to them, after all.

I also knew I didn’t want tactile keys because I write a lot and my fingers can do without even the teeny extra stress of an additional bump with each keypress. Some people love that kind of feedback when typing, I’m just not one of them.

I decided on linear switches, which narrowed things down less than you might expect. Next, I dove down another youtube rabbit hole and listened to a bunch of sound tests. I made a shortlist of my faves and then ordered the ones I could get most easily.

A few days later, my friend Mike Slacked me a link to this Youtuber, and I found a video of them typing on the switches I’d ordered which made me feel good about my choice.

Next up: The case and switches