Prebuilt Split Keyboards Aren't Overpriced

Featuring the Kaly42, a DIY split mechanical keyboard! Building your own keyboard can be less expensive than buying a prebuilt board, but you miss out on nice features, and (depending on skill level) get a lower quality keyboard. Basically, you get what you pay for.

Keyboards mentioned in video:

Chapters:
0:00 - My new keyboard
0:50 - Why the Kaly42?
1:57 - Cost of the Kaly42
2:57 - Cost of keyboard kit (feat. Corne42LP)
4:43 - Getting sidetracked on a fun soldering project
5:25 - Cost of prebuilt Corne42 vs other prebuilt keyboards
8:33 - Kaly42 custom case
9:05 - Outro and Kaly42 typing test

[Dwctor]

Thank you very much for building the Kaly42. I am really glad that the idea of making it as straight forward as possible to buy, build and use was reflected in your experience too! Many decisions were taken to reduce effort in building the Kaly42, such as reducing the cost or only using through hole soldering and no diodes (the Corne, for example, has 42 surface mount diodes! Those are harder to solder!) and I am really happy too see it reflected in someone's experience.

I am pretty overjoyed that the Kaly42 even showed up in a video that isn't my own! That was indeed a big surprise and it made my day! I just had to tell my friends and family :D

I plan on making a hot-swap version in the future, making more videos on how to extract the full potential of the Kaly42 (I use 8 layers, with typing, navigation, mouse and gaming included!) and also finally pushing the Vial branch of the firmware into the vial repository.

Making the Kaly42 was a Journey, from the tendinitis that started it, to the connections that I made, to the excellent community of keyboard makers, to learning circuits to make my own and finally building it and sharing it with others, and I'd like to thank you for being part of this journey too!

[bcfuerst]

I just built a skeletyl. The switches were 13€, the controllers 15€, keycaps 29€, TRRS cable and jacks 10€. The rest was 3D printed by myself and I handwired it so I would guess about € extra in diodes, wires and filament. So about 75€ but the keycaps and cable are reusable and I have some switches/jacks left. Took me about a week worth of evenings as an absolute beginner. Ofc course you need a 3D printer and a soldering iron. I initially went with 3D printed caps but the smoothnes and the sound of the pom keycaps was worth it.

[SaltyMaud]

Sure they're overpriced, but these niche products are by default overpriced since they don't benefit from economies of scale. Until someone (Keychron, likely) brings these to mainstream with mass production, I'm sticking to alice layout. Not too excited to pay 400€+ for a flimsy 3d printed DIY project.

[apiratchai]

I built my corne classic v.2 for around 40$

11$ for 5 pcbs plus shipping (I live in SEA) that will be 2.5 pairs of corne.
3$ for 3mm Acrylic for top and bottom plates
9$ for 2 nrf52840 supermini mcu
2$ for 2 of 180mAh battery
6$ for 42 gateron milky yellow switches
10$ for xda keycaps
1$ for 1N4148 diodes
sockets, pins, 3D printed case, laser cutting are considered free for me.

I also sold a leftover pair of PCB for 10$ and still have a half left in case anything broke.

[simpson]

wait, it's 9 bucks for 5 PCBs? i always thought they show the price for one PCB and i then multiplied it by 5. that makes things way cheaper!

[bogorad]

I paid ~$200 for a pre-soldered Piantor from BeeKeeb!

[bagfleet]

I'm really glad that you like the kaly! I use mine everyday for programming and I love it to bits!

I cut out base plates for each half from 2mm thick sheet steel, and stuck them under each pcb with double sided tape. It gives some welcome rigidity and stability, especially when using it tented.

For tenting I use laptop legs from ali express. They work wonders!

Please release the files for the case! It looks absolutely fantastic! <3

[rethardotv]

While totally agreeing with the point that prebuilt split keyboards are reasonably priced for their build quality and niche market position I don’t agree with the argumentation on the cost of building one oneself:
100 bucks for soldering gear is a great overstatement. A iron that gets the job done and leaded leaded solder should be less than 30 bucks, especially when buying used.
This way you don’t need to buy flux, solder pumps are awful to use, better buy copper wick, but even that is not needed even if you make a mistake.

In many cities there are also maker meetups, hacker groups or repair cafés where awesome people provide soldering gear and guide beginners, making that totally free and a great experience.

[VoylinsGamedevJourney]

I would really not say that custom split keyboards are expensive, really depends on your wants. Build my keyboard for less than 100 dollars.

[lucasvvop]

Hey! I just found your channel because I was looking for Glove80 reviews, but I ended up really liking your content and stayed for it. Keep it up!!! :)

[aoeu]

By splitting the keyboards can't you put a mouse functionality under both keyboards so you can have two mice?

[UBO]

I am also planning to build a split keyboard myself. What I don't understand is that there are controllers with 2MB and some with 20MB. When and where does the controller with 2MB reach its limits? What can I not realize with it that is possible with the 20MB controller? I mean, it's just a keyboard.

[tamatotodile]

I got my first splitkb from watching your review on the Glove80, I got it for myself and after a month of learning it, I'm lovin' it. It's crazy how these are not the norm but the exceptions. They're so comfortable!

[elenna_alexia]

I was looking into getting a nicer mechanical keyboard and now am falling down this rabbit hole of split ergo keyboards. and while the prices aren't cheap per se, considering the added complexity these aren't particularly expensive either when contrasted with a lot of other stuff in the keyboard world. the only way to get cheap is to have mass manufactured stuff that cuts corners. anything that is done in small runs is gonna be expensive and especially so if someone needs to solder and assemble it by hand.

[SmittyWerb]

Did you sandwich a layer of foam or something under the kaly42 inside the case? The cavity for the pcb is really deep

[lomakovich]

Yeah, 114 usd isn't cheap. But keyboard manufacturers are not buying these components from retail

[VincentThePhotog]

Too many keys for me. 34 keys is my sweet spot.

Still though, that is a lovely keeb.

Also, KeebMaker 100% 👍

[thtAlbinoGuy]

Dactyl Manuform from Wylderbuilds! Please!!!

[AvidRambo]

I would spend anything on a keyboard that improves my work life. Magic Keyboard (5 years) > HHKB (4 years) > ZSA Voyager (current, due to wrist pain, already resolved since it arrived months ago).

Money can always be made. On the other hand, health and time...

[fustilarian]

I built the corne recently with a pretty cheap soldering iron from taobao, the tip that came with it seemed good enough. I just used a slab of cheap MDF instead of buying a dedicated mat. you can also just use a sponge or even wet kitchen towels instead of brass wool. The fume extractor is a bit OTT too, it's about a day of soldering per open source keyboard if you're a newb like me, it's not really worth it unless you're doing soldering every day, just remember to breathe out. I remember having to do soldering in high school and it was a public school, didn't have much fancy equipment either. Another thing is, you can make the microcontroller and OLED screen hotswappable, which means that you can reuse those as well as the keyswitches/caps for other PCB designs.
It's a bit disingenuous to compare the corne kit with LEDs, tenting, wireless (which adds more components and a more expensive microcontroller), when those features aren't features included in the Kaly42.