TOFU65
The Process
The Tofu65 was initially pre-built for me by KBDfans, but after 5 years, I wanted to change the board's look and feel. It was scary taking it apart for the first time, especially as a beginner. I watched a couple of videos on Taeha's YouTube channel that guided me through the process. It took me a long time to figure things out, but eventually I became more confident in the building process. Overall for this build, I upgraded the stabilizers, changed the switches, and modified the keycaps.
For this board, when I first ordered it, I asked for a tape modification on the PCB. This apparently dampens the sound of the switch bottoming out on the board when you click it. When I disassembled the board, I kept the tape modification because I wanted to keep the thocky sound profile. The Tofu is also case-mounted, so any noise would come from the PCB, not from the switches. From my experience, if you want the thockiest-sounding board, a case-mounted system is by far the best.
I have not played around with stabilizers that much. I have been partial to the Durock V3 stabilizers because my favorite keyboard YouTuber, Taeha Types, used them in his streams. They are extremely finicky and hard to balance, so I will be trying other stabilizers.
I originally had the Tealio V2, lubed and filmed for me in my build with 67g springs. From trial and error, I found that I prefer a slightly lighter spring, so I bought the KTT Peach Linear switches. A thocky sound profile with a light 45g spring. For these switches, I learned to lube and film them myself. I originally used Krytox 205g0 lube in the bottom and top housing, and on the springs. However, after testing one switch with this method, I found the springs to be too mushy. It seemed I had excess lube on the components, so instead of Krytox on the spring, I bought Krytox 105 oil, which worked much better on the spring and left less lube on the housing, helping with the mushy feeling when typing. Also, filming is optional. I test whether I need to film the switch by opening it, putting it on the PCB, and wiggling it in the case, whichever plate you are using. If there is a wiggle, then film the switch; if not, it's not worth the time.
This keycap set was not the original set I purchased with this keyboard. The Key Kobo Signet keycap set was the first custom keycap set that I purchased. I thought they were interesting, funky, and a great color. I was definitely not material-focused in this purchase. Many custom keyboard keycaps with interesting graphics are made from ABS plastic. If you want a long-lasting, durable keycap that you are never going to change, use PBT
