Introduction

The “Building a Keyboard” series on TechPowerUp has been an exercise to showcase various DIY components in the world of custom keyboards, and how you can make your own from parts that come together easier than assembling a PC. The experience is not that different than with LEGOs considering the proliferation of hot-swap switch sockets, the last ten entries have been all about various enthusiast-class products that appeal from a high build quality and excellent typing feel/sound signature aspect too. Yet, the reason for going this route, as opposed to purchasing a pre-built keyboard is to also express your personality. Where else do you get the real estate to nerd out artistically on a peripheral that still ultimately has to just work? Thanks to Epomaker, we will now go through a fun keyboard build.

I am not a cat person in the slightest, free to judge me all you want. They might as well be the heralds of Lucifer, yet cats are probably the largest source of memes. Take Bongo Cat, for example, which has a fun website all to itself. Epomaker noticed a few DIY mods and keyboard cases using single-piece wood and/or acrylic, then decided there was a market for a stacked acrylic case using the same theme. The successful group buy showed end users were equally interested, and the kit is up for pre-order now, as I type this. There’s also a matching keycap set released alongside using the kitty theme too! I am pairing these two entities with the recently released TTC Heart switches, that Epomaker mentioned could rival the Kailh BOX Hush/Deep Sea silent switches, these have a fun aesthetic too as you will find out over the course of the next few pages!