Skip to content

Mechanical Keyboard Modding

I've had abit of spare time over the winter break and spent abit of time modding mechanical keyboards. I tried building a custom keyboard which I didn't enjoy that much, but managed to get a keyboard that I'm quite happy with in the second iteration. In this blog post I detail my experience & reflections with doing it.

First Iteration

keyboard-modding.png

Carousell GMK81 Keyboard from Resonic SG $82.90

  • includes shipping, a tape mod to enhance sound and free stabilizer tuning. Granted I could have cheaper but I went with this seller as they offered stabilizer tuning.

HMX Sandstorm Tactile Switches for $37.26

  • Pretty good value for money given they were having a Christmas sale (10% off)
  • When I tried at the store I liked the tactile feel

Akko Maccaw Keycaps - ASA profile

  • Bought for $90 in 2023(?). Background: I initially modded a RK68 a few years ago but didn't like the sound and the feel. Hence I removed its keycaps

My first impression is that the keyboard was quite noisy. This could be due to the tape mod reflecting sound, or the fact that the HMX Sandstorm Tactile Switches are quite noisy. I tried some mods to reduce the sound.

Mods used

  • Replaced stock IXPE foam poron switch pads
  • Removed original foam, replaced with EPT sound dampening foam
  • Added O-Rings (from previous mods)
  • Added leftover EPT case foam into the spacebar

keyboard-modding-2.png

Comments

  • Keyboard was definitely softer, O-rings played a major part. However, the noise was still significant
  • Quite “hard” to type on compared to the my Lofree Lite Keyboard. Perhaps due to the tactile bump and the travel distance of the switch? It was nice for a while but after a long while of using the keyboard it got tiring.
  • No problem with height due to the wrist wrest
  • The ASA profile is slightly harder to type on due to the smaller surface area to rest on, but its easier to land on the centre

Second Iteration

There a few goal with the second iteration, namely

  • Change the keycap profile to maybe cherry? Since cherry keycaps are shorter and not as sculpted
  • Make it not as noisy by using linear switches. I really like the tactile bump, but I felt that I wanted some noise. On the other hand silent switches would kill alot of noise.

keyboard-modding-3.png

Keyboard

I happened to find this keyboard while browsing Carousell.

keyboard-modding-4.png

When I checked the price, the Rainy75 seems like a really high quality keyboard! I've looked online and didn't find any PCB issues which made me think that I probably could fix it. I managed to buy the keyboard for $30 SGD which to me was quite a good deal.

After opening the keyboard I noticed a few things

  • Some of the screws were quite stripped. So I am quite certain it has been opened before unlike what the seller claimed. Or possibly he tried to open it though he wasn't that good at it...? From measuring the screw, the screw is Countersunk M2x8. I immediately ordered more from AliExpress so I could replace the screws.
  • The stabilizers in all places were heavily lubbed. In fact, the left shift key took slightly longer to bounce back. I had to remove all stabilizers, remove all the excess lube and put them back.
  • The socket on the PCB was slightly lifted - this means the issue is just the hot-swap socket!

keyboard-modding-7.png

keyboard-modding-6.png

I removed the socket, tested it to ensure it was working and resoldered it and voila, the keyboard works again!

Switches

I wanted to go for a deep sound profile, but there are so many switches out there. I bought a switch tester kit but frankly, they all sounded the same. I asked Gemini for some advice and they suggested the Akko Rosewood Switches.

I decided to go with it because it had pretty good reviews on YouTube, where some described it as pretty quiet but still audible, and that the force required is lower than my previous HMX Tactiles. I went on Carousell and managed to get 108 switches for $39

keyboard-modding-8.png

Keycaps

I went with Keycaps from Aliexpress due to the number of purchases. The keycaps I got were Clone GMK Mars Green Cherry Keycaps

Final Result

keyboard-modding-9.png

Honestly, quite nice but I might change the keycaps to be blue instead. The feeling of the Akko Rosewoods are also really nice and quiet.

The cherry keycaps are also definitely easier to type on too!

Total cost of this build is $30 + $39 + $29 = $98. Pretty good though I probably could have haggled more for the rainy75 keyboard, and also got keycaps from Carousell for an even lower price. But I'm quite satisfied with how it turned out.

Final Thoughts

The keyboard modding hobby is quite subjective and feels like there's alot of trial and error. This is especially so for the keycaps and switches because no YouTube video will reflect the sound or feel accurately. This can make the hobby quite expensive. However using Carousell is a good way to experiment and try things for cheap.

Also I was quite proud to fix the Rainy75. I probably could have quickly resold it but I felt the desire to keep and use it since I put effort into getting it to be usable. A soldering iron and some electronics knowledge can really go a long way.

I'm not too sure if I want to continue experimenting with the keyboard. It can be fun to buy things and try them out but the costs and space can add up. I'll see if I can remain satisfied with the keyboard and simply use it without constantly modifying it. Anyway the Rainy75 is a really good keyboard and I haven't really seen a need to directly modify it yet