MagicHead94
KBD6X w/ GMK Laser (2020)
Sandwich Acrylic Case by u/jolimon/Strata KB from reddit
KBD6X from KBDFans
Durock Stabilisers (Lubed) from SwitchKeys
Hotswap Polycarbonate Plate from KBDFans
C3 Equalz x TKC Kiwis – 67g (Stock) from TheKey.Company
GMK Laser by Mito from Massdrop
Wormskull – Colourway] by Ritual Master
Mini Reaper – Laser by DCcaps
Fool's Plunder – Laser by Kacha Keys
________________________________________________
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.”
This is a bit of a cop out, but I couldn't wait to get some of this together. I've had GMK Laser sitting on several boards since I got it back in 2018, and I'm still waiting to get some of the stuff sorted for its endgame home, so it's a partial culmination of a keyset that combines some of my favourites themes, and a Swiss Army Knife board.
At its core, this board is going to see many changes, and it mainly going to be used as a test bed for different switches, and colour/case combinations. The PCB itself supports hotswapping, allowing me to change the switches as I see fit without having to muck around desoldering the suckers, this makes it perfect for letting me have a plate and PCB that can go into any standard 60% case without having to worry about support. The layout also gives me a great deal of flex as I love the 7u spacebar support, as well as the option for all of the nice HHKB-esque features, such as the split “Left Shift” and “Backspace”, and the iconic HHKB arrow cluster. The case on the other hand was one of the first that I obtained way back in my first year of the hobby. I had the intention of getting GMK Skeletor (blues/purples with yellow and green accents), and this case was designed with that in mind. However I never found GMK Skeletor for a decent price on the used market. It wasn't until a good while after GMK Laser turned up, that I realised just how good it worked with the case. The only drawbacks here are the clearance that the PCB stand-offs has makes it a bit tight to fit mini or micro USB in the cut-out, luckily this PCB has USB-C, and has clearance enough; I'd also love to swap out the screws at some point with something a little more classy.
The switches are the main reason that I ended up throwing this all together. The C3 Equalz x TKC Kiwis are part of a series of fruit themed switches (no bonus points for guessing what fruit these are based off of), and were preceded by Tangerines, a linear switch which saw a huge amount of demand in the couple of sales that they have seen. The Kiwis on the other hand are tactile, and are a clone of the T1 switch that saw a massive hubbub when they launched. With a nice round and sharp bump, little to no pre-travel, and a very smooth travel out of the box, these are right up my alley; not to mention the “Kiwi” nature and colour (NZ represent).
The polycarbonate plate offers a great deal of support for various layouts, and its soft nature, helps with the tactile switches currently mounted. The Durock stabs were also something that I figured I'd give a try, and so far no complaints. Pre-clipped, and lubed, they are easy to tune to high standard, and the smokey coloured housing and gold wire are super nice as well.
GMK Laser; I don't really know what to say about this set. It was teased for a good while by its designer Mito (the creator of some very iconic colourways within the community; Pulse and Godspeed being some of the biggest), and I knew that it was one that I had to have. The blues and purples, the pinks accents and even the subtle yellow/green legends on a handful of the keys; it pulled a lot of things together. At the time I was heavily invested in the Outrun/Synthwave, and Laser is a killer mash-up of the two; throw in the novelties featuring references to Neuromancer, Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Ghost in the Shell, Akira and it was a shoe-in for showing my love of Cyberpunk off. The artisans were some of my best finds. The Mini Reaper I missed out on in the raffle, and ended up trading with a member of the community, he other two were scores from successful raffles. The Wormskull is just a cool sculpt, with a nice colourway, and the Fool's Gold just matches the colours of Laser perfectly. The “WASD” cluster is also a bit of a neat one, soon after Laser dropped, Mito came out with a couple of translucent keycap set from GMK; a first within the community. There were the Dusk and Dawn variants available, both playing on the “rising/setting sun” motif that is heavily used in Outrun styles, I opted for the darker “Dusk” set here to help blend a little better, but still adding a nice flare to the overall look.
The cable I used here is the same from my 8008 build, just because it was the handiest USB-C I had that would kinda fit the theme.
When all is said and done, this board is about as modular as I wanted it to be, and for that it is perfect. I'm looking forward to seeing what other neat stuff I can show off with it. I think that it's going to be the epitome of the “art” side of the hobby for me.
And with that "Don't let the little fuckers generation-gap you". Loosely this means 'Don't let the kids make you feel old', and I like to think that I'm both an old soul, and young at heart, even if I don't quite get all the newfangled trends.
“Always be Clacking”
KBD6X w/ GMK Laser (2020)
Sandwich Acrylic Case by u/jolimon/Strata KB from reddit
KBD6X from KBDFans
Durock Stabilisers (Lubed) from SwitchKeys
Hotswap Polycarbonate Plate from KBDFans
C3 Equalz x TKC Kiwis – 67g (Stock) from TheKey.Company
GMK Laser by Mito from Massdrop
Wormskull – Colourway] by Ritual Master
Mini Reaper – Laser by DCcaps
Fool's Plunder – Laser by Kacha Keys
________________________________________________
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.”
This is a bit of a cop out, but I couldn't wait to get some of this together. I've had GMK Laser sitting on several boards since I got it back in 2018, and I'm still waiting to get some of the stuff sorted for its endgame home, so it's a partial culmination of a keyset that combines some of my favourites themes, and a Swiss Army Knife board.
At its core, this board is going to see many changes, and it mainly going to be used as a test bed for different switches, and colour/case combinations. The PCB itself supports hotswapping, allowing me to change the switches as I see fit without having to muck around desoldering the suckers, this makes it perfect for letting me have a plate and PCB that can go into any standard 60% case without having to worry about support. The layout also gives me a great deal of flex as I love the 7u spacebar support, as well as the option for all of the nice HHKB-esque features, such as the split “Left Shift” and “Backspace”, and the iconic HHKB arrow cluster. The case on the other hand was one of the first that I obtained way back in my first year of the hobby. I had the intention of getting GMK Skeletor (blues/purples with yellow and green accents), and this case was designed with that in mind. However I never found GMK Skeletor for a decent price on the used market. It wasn't until a good while after GMK Laser turned up, that I realised just how good it worked with the case. The only drawbacks here are the clearance that the PCB stand-offs has makes it a bit tight to fit mini or micro USB in the cut-out, luckily this PCB has USB-C, and has clearance enough; I'd also love to swap out the screws at some point with something a little more classy.
The switches are the main reason that I ended up throwing this all together. The C3 Equalz x TKC Kiwis are part of a series of fruit themed switches (no bonus points for guessing what fruit these are based off of), and were preceded by Tangerines, a linear switch which saw a huge amount of demand in the couple of sales that they have seen. The Kiwis on the other hand are tactile, and are a clone of the T1 switch that saw a massive hubbub when they launched. With a nice round and sharp bump, little to no pre-travel, and a very smooth travel out of the box, these are right up my alley; not to mention the “Kiwi” nature and colour (NZ represent).
The polycarbonate plate offers a great deal of support for various layouts, and its soft nature, helps with the tactile switches currently mounted. The Durock stabs were also something that I figured I'd give a try, and so far no complaints. Pre-clipped, and lubed, they are easy to tune to high standard, and the smokey coloured housing and gold wire are super nice as well.
GMK Laser; I don't really know what to say about this set. It was teased for a good while by its designer Mito (the creator of some very iconic colourways within the community; Pulse and Godspeed being some of the biggest), and I knew that it was one that I had to have. The blues and purples, the pinks accents and even the subtle yellow/green legends on a handful of the keys; it pulled a lot of things together. At the time I was heavily invested in the Outrun/Synthwave, and Laser is a killer mash-up of the two; throw in the novelties featuring references to Neuromancer, Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Ghost in the Shell, Akira and it was a shoe-in for showing my love of Cyberpunk off. The artisans were some of my best finds. The Mini Reaper I missed out on in the raffle, and ended up trading with a member of the community, he other two were scores from successful raffles. The Wormskull is just a cool sculpt, with a nice colourway, and the Fool's Gold just matches the colours of Laser perfectly. The “WASD” cluster is also a bit of a neat one, soon after Laser dropped, Mito came out with a couple of translucent keycap set from GMK; a first within the community. There were the Dusk and Dawn variants available, both playing on the “rising/setting sun” motif that is heavily used in Outrun styles, I opted for the darker “Dusk” set here to help blend a little better, but still adding a nice flare to the overall look.
The cable I used here is the same from my 8008 build, just because it was the handiest USB-C I had that would kinda fit the theme.
When all is said and done, this board is about as modular as I wanted it to be, and for that it is perfect. I'm looking forward to seeing what other neat stuff I can show off with it. I think that it's going to be the epitome of the “art” side of the hobby for me.
And with that "Don't let the little fuckers generation-gap you". Loosely this means 'Don't let the kids make you feel old', and I like to think that I'm both an old soul, and young at heart, even if I don't quite get all the newfangled trends.
“Always be Clacking”