top of page
.png)
Create Your First Project
Start adding your projects to your portfolio. Click on "Manage Projects" to get started
Clack Therapy: The Custom Keyboard Obsession
Project type
Custom Keyboards
Date
2021-Present
Location
Dubai
- Like many people during the pandemic, I found myself spending far more time in front of a computer than I ever had before. Working from home, gaming, and chatting with friends became the new normal, so I figured I'd treat myself to a nicer keyboard. I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into!
It all started innocently enough with a fairly inexpensive $80 Epomaker TH98 fitted with budget Budgerigar switches. I thought that would be the end of it. Instead, it became the gateway into an entirely new hobby. Before long I was learning about switch types, stabilizers, plate materials, gasket mounts, sound dampening, and keycap profiles. Apparently, there's an entire community of otherwise perfectly normal adults who spend hours debating the finer points of what makes a keyboard sound "thocky." Eventually, I hopped on the bandwagon and delved deeper in search of perfection.
While the hobby itself has waned post-pandemic - I've been fortunate enough to own some incredible keyboards during the heyday of the hobby when custom keyboards were being released with so much regularity, my wallet couldn't keep up! From my Lord of the Rings-inspired wooden board to beautifully engineered customs like the Bubble75 and the Percent Studio Trio75 - each has its own personality, and building them was perhaps even more enjoyable than using them. I often find myself staring at my boards - and its a shame because some of the most beautiful details of these custom boards reside at the case bottom where they can't be seen in day-to-day use.
Somewhere along the way my wife also caught the bug, graduating from her first custom board to stunning keyboards like the Thera75 and Glacier80. At this point we've accepted that "just one more keyboard" is every bit as inevitable as "just one more Lego set."
People often raise an eyebrow when they discover what custom keyboards can cost, especially when brands like Razer, Logitech and Corsair are sitting on the shelf at every electronics store. But that's a bit like comparing a mass-produced family sedan with a hand-built sports car. Both will get you where you're going, but one is built around the experience and the satisfaction one derives from putting it together with your own bare hands.
Ultimately, this hobby was never really about collecting keyboards per se. It was more about creating something uniquely my own and the gratification of building it myself. Choosing every component, tuning every stabilizer, finding the perfect switches, and ending up with something that not only looks beautiful, but feels exactly the way you want it to. Our only dilemma now is that we have so many and don't have enough time, desk space or opportunities to enjoy them all!
bottom of page