If you’re looking at custom mechanical keyboards for the first time, then you’ve probably
seen or heard of KBDfans as the go to place.
And they’re forever expanding and bringing in new cool and quality products, so today
we check out the KBD67 mechanical keyboard DIY kit.
With the actual KBD67 kit, we get a couple of extra screws and an Allen key.
And 4 rubber feet which I previously put on to protect it.
And then the actual keyboard itself, which comes pre-assembled, so everything is protected.
So first impressions, it’s really nice, you know solid aluminium with a brass weight,
so it’s packing some heft, and of course feels solid, just like you would expect.
This is a build for someone, and we came to the decision of going with this dark green
version, as there are a few nice colours available.
But yeh, let’s take it apart to get a closer look.
The 2 main aluminium pieces are held together by some hex screws, so you can use the included
Allen key to unscrew those.
While the brass weight is held in by countersunk Philips head screws.
And here we can see that the plate is just screwed onto the outer rim of the bottom aluminium
piece.
So for a typical tray mount design, which is often how most budget cases are, the PCB
and plate would be screwed to the bottom of the case.
Here, there’s no support in the middle, and this changes how the keyboard feels which
we’ll talk about later.
And even more unscrewing.
The plate is held by hex screws, and the PCB is connected to the plate with some Philips
head screws.
Alright so here we have a 1.5mm thick brass plate, in a brushed finish.
This is an upgrade from the stock aluminium plate, and it is a costly premium at $30 extra.
Brass is heavier than alu, and aluminium is quite soft.
Brass on the other hand is quite solid and does give a denser feel when typing, which
most probably will prefer.
But I think you’d still be absolutely happy with an alu plate.
The PVD brass weight came in decent condition.
It does have a polished mirror finish, so it does pick up like anything really easily,
including fingerprints.
Like there’s a tiny marks and scratches as you may be able to see, but nothing really
bad.
There was a deeper dent on the other side, but this weight only goes in one way because
of the countersunk screws.
The 2 CNC’d aluminium pieces are pretty simple, and nicely finished on the inside
as well.
When I first got it, there was actually these dark marks on the bottom where the grills
are.
I wasn’t sure what it was and I tried to rub it off, but it wouldn’t go away.
So I ended up spraying it with window cleaner and going a bit harder, and that worked perfectly.
Now to the PCB.
At the time of purchase, this was another option that we had, and I’m sure will return.
So we could pick between a standard PCB where you solder in the switches as per usual, OR,
the hotswap version.
For greater flexibility and because, why not, we went with the hotswap version, which I
think was a $10 upgrade.
These use the Kailh hotswap sockets, so not the cheap Outemu sockets that pretty much
only accept Outemu switches because they’re so tight.
The Kailh hotswap sockets work in a different way.
So basically we have the contacts bending inwards.
And when you put the keyswitch in, the pin just slides right in, and pushes the contacts
apart, while the contacts in the socket push against the pin.
Just like a simple spring action.
So any MX style keyswitch is compatible.
However, the thing with a hotswappable PCB, is that the layout is totally fixed.
Because of course, we can’t have a hotswap socket accommodate for various positions.
And that’s one thing that I unfortunately failed to notice, because if you look at the
top right hand corner, it has a split backspace.
So it isn’t the usual 2unit backspace.
The normal version of the PCB does have the standard backspace, and is what’s used in
all the photos on the product page.
And that’s something that someone could easily miss, including myself.
But yeh, we’ll come back to the layout later.
Let’s just put it back together which is so so easy without having to solder anything,
so no need for a soldering station.
When putting in switches, make sure that the pins are as straight as possible, and that
you put them in straight, otherwise you’ll bend the pins.
And you’re likely gonna do that to a couple of switches, but it’s no big deal, you can
just take them out and straighten them.
And I also put in a thin foam sheet just to give it a bit more fullness, providing a more
solid feeling typing experience.
The keyswitch we have here are 67g Healio’s.
So these are designed by ZealPC and manufactured by Gateron.
So they make the popular Zealio keyswitches, which are tactile switches.
The Healios are silent linears.
So they have no bump or click, and have little dampeners on the stem to dampen the sound.
So just like Cherry MX Silent switches.
Zeal switches however are renowned for their smoothness, and is part of why they’re quite
expensive.
These are also 5 pin switches, so we have the 2 plastic prongs that go into the PCB.
For hotswappable PCBs I like to use 5 pin switches, as they aren’t actually fixed
or soldered into the PCB, so it just gives a little bit more solidity.
For the keycaps we went with something pretty neutral to match the case, with Maxkeys Black
on White SA profile keycaps.
Alrightly, so here it is.
It feels like I say this with everything, but I really do like how it looks.
I’m loving this dark metallic green.
I haven’t done a board with this colour before, but I’m really digging its strong
and pretty exotic look.
Like it’s green so it does pop out a bit, but it’s green so it’s pretty calming
in my opinion.
The green anodisation is pretty nice and even, with no streaking or anything.
There is just one dark spot on this one on the side.
I tried to get rid of it, but nothing worked, and it’s only really visible at the appropriate
angle.
Again, this is available in a few different colours.
By picking green, we did kind of restrict our colorway options for keycaps.
Of course there’s no real hardset rules, but usually you work with the colour wheel
to make something look nice.
And white and black goes with anything, so that’s exactly what we did.
The case does show off the green quite generously.
We have nice flat sides, which are split by a parting line in the middle.
We do have some curved edges to give it a bit of character, and it also does make it
easier to pick up.
The bezels are quite small though.
The sides especially are as thin as you can really get for a high profile design.
On the bottom, here we have that stunning PVD brass weight.
Instead of just having a flat solid piece, we have this grill design.
It takes a bunch of weight away, but that’s absolutely fine by me, as I do like that aesthetic
of the shiny brass interchanging with the mild green aluminium.
So the typing experience.
First of all, I did lube the Healios before building the board, so this isn’t the stock
Healio experience.
But when I did try them before lubing, they were pretty good.
They’re supposed be quite smooth as Zeal switches are known to be.
And they were, but they feel so much better lubed.
Now they feel smoother, more buttery, and lubing does also give it a bit more dampness
and therefore feel a touch softer.
And they are soft, because of the rubber dampeners that soften the upstroke and bottoming out.
So it can be perceived as a bit mushy.
Especially in comparison to a standard linear keyswitch, which have that sharpness and hard
feel to them.
But that’s something that people really like, including myself.
As you could hear, they are very quiet.
The Healios are quieter than a standard membrane keyboard, or even a laptop keyboard.
But as always you have the stabilised keys.
I did lube the stabs when I took the board apart, so it’s not the rattle I’m talking
about, because there is none.
Rather, it’s just that there’s nothing dampening the stabs themselves.
Well, really it’s just the spacebar that’s quite loud, and it’s actually the SA profile
that contributes to this, because of how hollow it is.
If you want to know more about these switches, they’re explained much better in a video
by Nathan Kim, which I’ll link in the description.
I still do like these keycaps though.
But SA isn’t for everyone because of their height.
The compatibility is pretty solid with Maxkey sets.
We do have a 65% form factor, but the bottom row is completely standard.
It’s only really the 1.75u right shift, and the profiles of the nav cluster keys that
you have to worry about.
But yeh, no normal backspace on the hotswap version, so at the moment, the backspace is
on the pipe key, so just like the HHKB.
This is something that a lot of people actually do, as it is closer to reach, and I personally
get used to it just after a couple of minutes.
The standard PCB does have a tiny bit of customisability, including ISO compatibility.
However, this keyboard is QMK configurable, so you can program it to whatever layout you
want to suit your needs.
There’s a couple of steps that I’ve gone through before, so I’ll link a video in
the description that can help you with that.
So overall, it was such a great board to play with.
It’s nice to see more hotswap PCBs around, as it does give you the ability to easily
change up your switches, and also makes it easier for those who haven’t soldered before.
I think the quality is great, and it’s what you would expect with a solid CNC’d aluminium
case.
There were a couple of small cosmetic marks on both the alu and the brass.
The brass does look stunning though.
I love that shiny grill design.
And the shape of the whole case is really nice as well, just clean and simple, and would
fit in anywhere.
So another great board from KBDfans.
They’ve done a couple of 65% boards now, and I think they’ve hit the mark with this
one, in aesthetics, design, and quality.