I've been using the Happy Hacking Keyboard in various configurations for the last 12 years; it's a great design for a 60% scale keyboard with all the keys that a Unix person needs and nothing they don't; in particular, I credit its lack of arrow keys with finally getting me to use vim motions correctly. Oh, I've dallied with other keyboards; for a while at work I had an Apple Wireless Keyboard, and in 2019 I bought a tenkeyless keyboard from the now-defunct WASD Keyboards¹, but I always come back to the HHKB. That being said, the HHKB isn't perfect; in particular, the Topre switches feel a bit mushy² (and get worse the longer you use them), the bluetooth version is garbage that can't maintain a connection reliably, and the cheaply-printed text on keycaps tends to rub off pretty quickly.

Well, I'm on parental leave now, so I figured I'd do a Project and put together a new keyboard.

Ingredients

• Keychron Q60 Max Barebones: This is a barebones keyboard with the exact same layout as an HHKB
• Kalih White Owl Box Switches: I played with a few switches in key testers and I loved the tactility of these. Reviews are good for the Box line as being more stable than other clicky switches.
• Yuzu Custom Keycaps

This was the first time I'd actually assembled a keyboard (I know, it seems like something that I would be doing regularly); it was pretty easy³. A couple of the switches had bent pins that I couldn't quite straighten out, but I bought plenty of spares. I'm typing on the keyboard right now! I think it's pretty great so far, although obviously I have only been typing with it for a little while. One interesting note is that it's remarkably heavy — around 1500g fully-assembled (about 3x the HHKB). Not that I carry it around much, but I think I'll keep taking the HHKB with me when I go to company offsites.

Now all I need is for Apple to get around to releasing a stand-alone TouchID button...