I’ve been into custom keyboard layouts for a couple years now, and from there it makes sense to try different shaped keyboards instead of just different key arrangements. I decided i want a Chouchou keyboard with Taipo and i have questions before i go buy a bunch of parts i don’t know how to use.

dlip (who made Chouchou) recommends low profile choc switches and keycaps. I know what a switch and keycap are, and that low profile is just a shorter key than what’s standard, but what does choc mean here? This is hard to even research without knowing what non-choc switches are called.

The thumb keys look like normal switches with slightly longer caps, and i’m guessing 1.5U means it’s 1.5 units along two of its sides. Is that right?

Is there anything else i need to know about PCBs or QMK? Or about mechanical keyboards in general?

  • cairn@lemmy.world
    2·
    4 days ago

    The Chouchou board looks like it is only compatible with choc switches, so that’s what you’ll need to get. In this case, “choc” is shorthand for “Kailh Choc (or Chocolate) V1” which is arguably the most popular low-profile switch in the mechanical keyboard community. There is a choc V2 switch as well, but few hobbyist boards are designed for it, and it’s not strictly compatible with the choc V2 PCB footprint. Do not buy choc V2 for the Chouchou.

    Choc v1 switches require their own type of keycaps and are not compatible with the vast majority of keycaps which are designed for MX switches (which is the de facto “normal” switch you find on most mechanical keyboards that are not low-profile). You are correct that “1.5u” means that the keycap is 1.5 units long; you can use 1.5u keycaps for the thumb keys on Chouchou, but 1u keycaps will work too as you can see in the photo in their GitHub repo.

    If building this board will be your first soldering project, then you’ve picked a good one to start with since you won’t have to worry about soldering tiny diodes or anything like that. This board has the option of using “hot swap” sockets for the choc switches if you think you’ll want to try different variations of the switches, but the PCB also allows you to solder the switches directly to the board if you want something more permanent (and fewer parts).

    There is plenty more to know about mechanical keyboards, but the community is friendly, so ask your questions when they come up. Hope that helps!