I Built a $40 Budget Custom Mechanical Keyboard!

Check out CableMod!
Use code “lewis” for 20% off🥳
Customise your own keyboard cables:
store.cablemod...
Pre-made Cables:
store.cablemod...
Join The Boys to get access to perks:
/ @lewistoh
Amazon (US):
Coral Sea Keycaps: amzn.to/3jEuqHL
JWK Black: amzn.to/2ZnV00l
Taobao (SEA):
CIY68: bit.ly/3kyL103
JWK Black: bit.ly/3c8d2XU
Coral Sea Keycaps: bit.ly/3DdTe0Z
Krytox & Accessories: www.thockking....
Follow my Socials:
🐥 / oklewser
📸 / lewiss.toh
📸 / swiskkeebs
👀 / about
🤖Discord:
Lubing With The Boys - / discord
My Gear:
Canon EOS 90D - amzn.to/3bb33k8
Rode Video Micro - amzn.to/3GmcY4I
Manfrotto Tripod - amzn.to/3nsMqGj
Raleno (Small) - amzn.to/311LWPP
Raleno (Big) - amzn.to/3Bga90Y
Hyper X Quadcast - amzn.to/3GmeuDN
Elgato Mic Arm LP - amzn.to/2XIoZzI
Music:
"Just smile" by LiQWYD / liqwyd
Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported - CC BY 3.0
Download / Stream: hypeddit.com/l...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
xd

[@DNJHNN]

Lewis: makes a badass ad about cables. Also Lewis: "yeah so this keyboard turned out to be wireless"

[@LewisToh]

LOL

[@JakeCoad]

@@LewisToh haha

[@adam-mt6vh]

ironic

[@usabit2567]

Can I convert this keyboard to being wired?

[@sheeeeshseeeesh]

@@usabit2567 yes

[@SwitchandClickOfficial]

darn you taobao there it is again :(

[@orangeboiii.]

me when taobao

[@83n3]

taobao is like the shopping final boss

[@rory8439]

Lol

[@alexanderle3936]

who needs taobao when u got wish lmao

[@tomtheepic298]

bro u can find a normal office keyboard under 2 usd lol

[@Kidcrowley]

It’s so funny how a 12$ kit has more attention to detail like the foam, pre clipped stabs, the dampener, and then you have the pewdipie “premium” keyboard that for literal hundreds of $ had none of those lmao

[@LewisToh]

100THIEVES LOL

[@trytofocusbro9990]

@Cocoo I bought one from aliexpress. The case is surprisingly decent.

[@Crazy-_-_-_-__-306]

I bought the hyper x alloy origins 60 which sounds like shit I didn’t know shit bout customs before

[@josephp2083]

@@LewisToh lmao

[@tylerjkim_]

Its sad

[@Maxwellzbc]

Lewis in the future: A custom mechanical keyboard built itself and shipped itself to me

[@LewisToh]

HAHAHAHAHA SHIT

[@Lumfii]

@@LewisToh didn’t have to break his hopes and dream yk ):

[@rumpy3025]

@@Lumfii what

[@adamkelly2256]

And then the keyboard paid him $40!

[@noviall618]

@@adamkelly2256 lmao

[@gmkael7752]

This sounds illegally good - literally better than the 50$ one, and my 150$ one :(

[@LewisToh]

fr though

[@cozy3532]

Lewis king on making keyboards that cost less than a membrane keyboard from the dollar store lol Edit thanks for the likas Guys and Sorry for the grammar

[@LewisToh]

xd

[@LewisToh]

guys sick ass ad was filmed by me, so go check out cablemod, its rly good stuff honestly, code “lewis” for 10% off edit: updated links !

[@giocosovelasco]

Amazing camera work Lewis! Definitely gonna buy one in the future!

[@chickenpasta7359]

I just got this board a few days ago and the potential of making this keyboard amazing is very much easy. the out of box sound and feel is very good with the inclusion of silicon dampening but with some silicon gel to fill the plastic and good aftermarket stabs you can definitely make this keyboard hang with other entry to midrange builds. Imo, this should be good enough to replace the Tofu65 as the default entry custom board at a fraction of the price. imo, switches make for most of the feel of a keyboard and with this you can also invest in higher end switches while remaining on a budget like the Gateron Oil Kings. I really wanna see CIY also make an aluminum case for this board one day as well. It would be such a nice upgrade from the ABS, even though I will admit the ABS case is very nice and sounds great and you avoid that dreaded metallic ping sound that you would get from something like GMMK

[@m3n9_]

that keyboard kit is insanely good for the price holy

[@LewisToh]

cant agree more

[@SamBoga]

Glad to see Tester 68 getting more mainstream attention. It is too good for the price it comes in. Specially I was surprised to see seeing the thickness of silicon dampener to begin with . This is a great time to be in this hobby. I did my build with Akko CS rose reds though and some used keycaps set from mechmarket , which in total cost me around 40 dollars as well. Stabs lubing and tape mod+ PE foam mod does brings out the best in it. But to be fair , as much is this can be daily driven,I think it was released To be a switch Tester. Nuphy Studio also did an Collab with Tester to bring Tes68, same thing but with Translucent ABS case and Alu plate for 20 dollars. That is gonna be an interesting board to look into.

[@wowatech2856]

All I got to say is that Lewis budget king 👑

[@trithip6902]

Yes! I love these budget keyboard builds

[@LewisToh]

me 2

[@weebandkeeb1834]

what a beginner friendly and budget board!

[@LewisToh]

agreed

[@isaiasmunoz8993]

i got the ciy x77 its usbc or bluetooth. bought it off amazon for 52(45 if you get silver or white) no case foam or silicone but i bought my own for 15 put akko silver switches, and akko red samurai keycaps and oh god is this keyboard thocky! the stabilizers had no wiggle and were extremely well lubed! best stabilizers that i didnt even want to try and mod it them. and the magnetic coover on the x77 holds on very good you can pick it up from it and it not come off. 9/10 would recommend. and you can change the rgb or turn it off which i love cause im not too big on rgb

[@JoesStuff]

My ciy 68 came today and it now also comes with a plastic switch and keycap puller too

[@craigmeister1241]

I wanna know how lewis puts out consistent bangers each time to keep making keyboards at low af prices

[@LewisToh]

idk either

[@Ruthsless]

It's all magic

[@leonardohenrique7004]

just one magical thing called taobao, but unfortunately they ship only for a few countries. I tried buy some parts and all the sellers had to cancel the orders because they cant ship to my country (brazil), so i had to buy everything on aliexpress, wasnt that cheap but i thing was a really affordable price, i bought a kit with 1 TES68, 72 gateron yellow swtiches and a generic white keycap set, the total price was U$40 that i thing is a pretty decent price.

[@dbyy]

ZAMN dude taobao is like the shop that appears when you kill the final boss.

[@pizzapr9287]

We have come a long way in budget keyboards. I remember that this was one of the best budget keyboard kits you can get. Fast forward 2 years later and now we can get full alu, gasket mount and south facing pcb for cheap.

[@2e3crescens]

Awesome cinematography! Loved the song used with it

[@antwerp-six]

yo that one is fire, its the best choice for them who want join a custom keyboard community, but have to start from something not complicated and expensive like some other keyboards

[@kuyt20]

I wish I had the option to buy a CIV Tester 68 for $13 as a base for my own build. It would've saved me a lot of $$$ for better switches or keycaps. I hate the fact that all my locally available options have RGB and cost $40 each at least without any PCB foam or backplate foam pre-installed.

I think the reason why this kit is so cheap is that it's supposed to be a switch tester. That's why there is no cable connection and only 2.4ghz connection @125hz polling rate. So if you game the latency is definitely not that great I would say

[@dandura_]

Yeah and some people said that some of the keys were not working and it had a huge delay. I mean for the price you cant get any better than this.

[@emailing]

Not really. I play overwatch and osu with this board and I haven't noticed any delay.

[@re4796]

@@emailing >my sense of feeling is a valid test methodology

[@masoa4529]

@@emailing bruh

[@s3nibre]

My laptop can’t even run Microsoft paint so if this is good

[@leoqikeng5398]

budget legend I have gone on tao bao too and I lived in singpore and it is really cheap and good. though the delivery took about 3 weeks to a month

[@LewisToh]

yeaaaa

[@thavionhawkmkii4509]

I found this platform in Black on Amazon for $38, put on hand lubed and spring swapped Akko lavenders $30(90 Switches) + $6.50(108 62gram Springs) and topped it off with some YMDK keycaps $23.75. The only downside I've found with it is the lack of a built in battery and wired mode, but as it has 3 Bluetooth profiles and the USB adapter I have no problem using it with all of my systems. As for the battery I just use a pair of Panasonic Eneloop Pros and I've never really had a problem with them running down. Yes it's built for more than twice what you built it for, but I'm buying everything from Amazon in the US. TLDR, good platform if you have rechargeable AAA batteries, computers with Bluetooth and don't want RGB.

[@tmybrkns8180]

I have a rk61 with the same keycaps. Almost the exact same! Looking great

[@staceixan]

fr i got myself a 40% keyboard a few months ago for less than $30. combined it with pcb mount stabs and some gateron yellows, put some tape and foam into it (WITHOUT SCREWS for ultra flexibility). total came down to about < $50

[@chrisdotdash5154]

I actually bought a Cable Mod cable about a week ago, it just came in the mail today. The quality is really, really good. I definitely recommend.

[@teranceling4043]

ayy just got me a ciy68 a few days ago and I heavy-modded it till it sounds similar to jelly epoch hehe + I used the new jwk switches named ultimate black ( incredibly smooth tbh). got them from ymdk too

[@LewisToh]

nice nice

[@vectivuz1858]

Hello how is it a month after? I'm thinking of getting this for my brother but I'm kind of worried about the board not having a wired connection. How is the battery life?

[@teranceling4043]

@@vectivuz1858 battery just works fine since it uses AAA batteries, the only thing i would complain is the wireless connection. The board was having some sudden disconnection only when gaming (maybe it triggered some shortcut keys). If he wanna buy it for daily uses, it is definitely worth a try.

[@vectivuz1858]

@@teranceling4043 thank you for the reply and honestly. He will mostly use it for gaming so I guess I should look at other boards. Thanks again!

[@teranceling4043]

@@vectivuz1858 i wanna take back my words, the problem was actually the batteries. the keyboard is fine. it would be better if we can actually check the battery life

[@dbsrag3161]

lewis is the budget king

[@dylanangkw]

Just wondering will you do a video on the feker68. Wanted ciy68 but it's only bluetooth

[@LewisToh]

hmm i’ll consider that

[@kitsunesuzuka1029]

Damn, it really sounds so good. But the availability of the switches is quite less. Is there any options for it or I can use any JWK Black siwtches? This might be my first mechanical keyboarrd (ever)

[@wil-]

Damn ur photography of the cable is amazing lol

[@Agent_Alpha]

yeah this board is very popular in my place right now, cost around $20 though

[@LewisToh]

yes

[@ballls19]

Love the matsuzuka deskmat

[@ntelchaaa5659]

cmon lewis lets continue dropping the price🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@LewisToh]

UMMMMM

[@spenny9609]

I absolutely love the sound of this board!! I think these are the switches I will get!!!

[@aceyazzie4884]

how is the connectivity and is it slow and laggy??

[@linkystinky]

How do you think Gateron Yellows will work with the keyboard?

[@JohnLikesSoccer]

That b roll was probably the best thing ever

[@LewisToh]

nice

[@waduheklollol5421]

Lewis thanks for the good content and good uploads 👍

[@LewisToh]

waduhek?

[@waduheklollol5421]

@@LewisToh yes

[@kokonut4202]

you misspelt great

[@bruv]

Lewis in 2023: i built a 0.069 cent keyboard

[@LewisToh]

xd

[@joneh_7864]

I’m waiting for a “i build a budget 6 dollar keyboard” from none other then lewis himself

[@LewisToh]

who is lewis ?

[@luketea2025]

Yeah I only know bald man

[@KneeCutter]

@@luketea2025 💀💀

[@floatfn359]

@@luketea2025 💀💀

[@luketea2025]

💀💀

[@edogastxoxo6654]

SILICONE SOUND DAMPENER INCLUDED along with CASE FOAM?? that's crazy value🤩🤩

[@edogastxoxo6654]

the problem is, I don't know how to read Chinese or use Taobao...

[@bingbong481]

I have the space space bar,esc and enter Key caps the space bar made my rk61 thock without even lubing it and my original spacebar was so rattly

[@LewisToh]

nice

[@immalogg1642]

I think I just found my brother a Christmas present. Maybe some gat yellows and a black case with some random cheap keycaps, thanks for this video!!!

[@tuuguu1438]

too late for you :/ it will arrive in Julianuary

[@immalogg1642]

@@tuuguu1438 It was sold out 😭 Modding a redragon k552 instead

[@tuuguu1438]

@@immalogg1642 oof

[@AaPerm]

AAY I got the CIY Tester 68 too during the 11.11 sale. Hopefully I get it soon

[@LewisToh]

nice nice

[@vectivuz1858]

Hello! How is the battery life?

[@AaPerm]

@@vectivuz1858 I just received the shipment and haven’t tried it out yet 😬

[@lucas_vlanc]

guessing that its the ciy68/tester68/kbm68 wireless only keyboard kit

[@lauhernsean6179]

The lack of usb c is the only reason I don't like the CIY Tester 68 since I almost never use wireless function.

[@LewisToh]

agreed

[@noahs985]

POV: Lewis in a few months. I built a 0$ custom mechanical keyboard.

[@go2guy]

The trick is forgetting you owned it and picking it up later.

[@LewisToh]

yes

[@miguelbahena6015]

@@go2guy or stealing it from a child

[@FearForgeStudio]

Hamaji neo halready did that xd

[@noahs985]

@@FearForgeStudio it’s Lewis’s turn next

[@Limeporium]

1. Is it hot swappable 2. Does it fit xda keycaps

[@vicenarycave]

It is hot swappable compatible with 5 pin and yes it fits xda keycaps

[@mohdshahrulhaiqal3542]

BRO THAT'S SOUNDS AMAZING FOR A BUDGET KEYBOARD

[@RyanJacob2007]

aint no way i have this exact rkg68 with the same keycaps waay before this video came out bro, aint no way

[@LewisToh]

not a rk !

[@tmarshman1200]

Ur video is really well-made! Um, may I ask where did you buy your mouse pad? I mean the 3:03 one.

[@ivovass195]

Very good for the price. Also nice to see cable mod joining the keyboard cable game

[@SweeperFilms]

do you reccomend this for daily use? im extremely broke so i might to buy this

[@LewisToh]

yes

[@andrew_ng]

Can we have a best price/performance wireless keyboard video? Thanks

[@LewisToh]

oooo

[@luc1.1]

That sounds better than most $100 dollar boards out there wow good job

[@LewisToh]

thanks man

[@aabri]

i’m 13 and building the same keyboard except i have gateron milky yellows, is there anything i should look out for when building a keyboard

[@LewisToh]

ure all good, u should be fine!

[@i_forgor_whar]

whoever made this 65% board, good job

[@cameronmeetze8153]

im brand new to this whole hobby. Theoretically if i bought all of these pieces. Is there a tutorial on how to put it all together?

[@icedburger]

BROOOO THAT SPONSER SCENE MAN. CHEF KISS

[@LewisToh]

I FILMED THAT , IM ACTUALLY SO PROUD OF THE SHOTS

[@Bongled]

Man gotta use them dangkeebs tkk key switches or something they budget af

[@LewisToh]

oo

[@rj-cp2uz]

wow very budget good job lewis

[@LewisToh]

thank

[@finnley7977]

Great video also where did you get your mouse mat

[@leonardo-jb7wq]

Great video! Is this keeb better than the gamakay tk68?

[@LewisToh]

i am not sure, havent tried tthat keeb

[@willtogs]

Hey Lewis! I was wondering if it would be possible to buy a seperate daughter board and make a port for it, and just reuse the cable from the wireless usb ?

[@kokonut4202]

hey, if you ever do a budget board, i tried this myself and used a gamakay/womier k66. its a fully acrylic board (it is pre-built but i swapped a bunch of stuff, so that might be illegal) and it has some kinda crap stabs, so you could show off some good mods to fix em up, or just buy some cherry/durock stabs (though i dont think it supports screw-ins) but yeah, i think that'd be a cool build vid :D (also, cause its acrylic, its basically like a polycarbonate plate O_O)

[@nuggystan9128]

fr the stabs are ass but i kove it so much

[@kenjingxiuxing]

Have you seen the DAGK keyboard kit from taobao?

[@akitsuki1149]

damn that's such a good kit, for that price as well, I need to learn how to use Taobao at this instant

[@feelshowdy]

It's him. The Budget King.

[@aimvnwgt247]

hi lewis bro, when u navigate onto taobao what do u search to get keyboard listings like that? and how do u check out what settings do u use to ship to sg? wanting to buy parts from there and finally build my first custom keyboard hope u can help!!

[@jiyu4308]

damn that cable showcase really something else, nice skill

[@xdark2101]

Oh wow getting closer and closer to the $35 custom keeb

[@LewisToh]

closer

[@johnmikobarreyro9823]

Hey man! Hoping you can notice my question. Did you notice any interference since you're using cherry profile keycaps with a north facing PCB? Thanks.

[@3bo6tshy]

lewis budget king

[@LewisToh]

:)

[@yishiontan4706]

mod the x61 for your next vid. its from taobao and costs about 12 dollars for the whole keyboard

[@LewisToh]

what now

[@zuhaoaoao]

lewis will u review the 100T keyboard?

[@1stkaiser]

You could have tried Leobog Greywood V3's

[@branclicks941]

oh this is pretty great quality , alright time to get one in the wishlist

[@jaeiedenne]

I'm late but YAY! another one of these. Been waiting for a long time :D

[@twig0o505]

its def the CIY68

[@maxmouse3]

daaaaamn, that's actually very cool!

[@LewisToh]

thanks

[@kynanlinjunzhe1317]

Bro you b roll is 🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@LewisToh]

thanks man

[@wolf-xf6hf]

With a tape mod and maybe something like Kilmat this board would’ve been killer

[@boringbosco124]

I suggest doing the CIY84

[@s4mukn1ght35]

Youre so underrated, this helped me a lot!

[@powermafia6094]

lewis just flexing TAOBAO , nothing else🙄🙄

[@LewisToh]

OK MAN

[@teddynihon]

You already know I'm here for the budget keyboard builds

[@ספעקטראגראם]

Lmao they must have paid you a lot for that ad that was sick

[@LewisToh]

haha not rly

[@acl3796]

Build a budget ergonomic keyboard next!

[@jalhzi12]

i got my tester 68 on aliexpress whith gateron yellows for 45 euros and if you convert that it is 47,43 American dollars

[@CaaziPianoSheets]

Money saved, ty Lewis

[@LewisToh]

lets go

[@whiteeye5127]

you actually did it

[@LewisToh]

thanks man

[@tanbingzhe1442]

edits are sickkk

[@LewisToh]

thank

[@lucaslzj3695]

Hi Lewis, I just want to to ask does this ciy tester 68 support 3 pin switches?

[@LewisToh]

yes it does

[@loazzu7544]

No way it is this good!

[@LewisToh]

same

[@pcorn4581]

Is there anyway u can mod the keyboard in which u can replace the place in which the battery is and put a USB-C input? Or would it be worth more to buy a different keyboard kit

[@bestreach2952]

Hey the taobao links in the description arent working

[@LewisToh]

i'll fix them rn !

[@bestreach2952]

@@LewisToh thx

[@bestreach2952]

@@LewisToh hey do you know any alternative for Krytox g205?

[@slevvix3224]

POV: Lewis has 100k by the end of the year

[@LewisToh]

pov: impossible

[@chadone2552]

amen

[@jimjamero8336]

Lewis is it good for gaming? Any latency issue?

[@eleanorsequoia7718]

I want to build the exact same keyboard but how long do I have to wait to get them in South Korea?