sam parsons

keychron q2 ISO keyboard

· misc

the keyboard

this is a keyboard that I built to be relatively simple to put together, and good for office use at 65% with silent switches. I started with a barebones keychron Q2 ISO in black, that came with the case, PCB, and plate. after listening around on youtube, i ended up settling on gateron zero degree silent switches as they are apparently quite quiet without sacrificing any rigitity and feel. The keycaps that I went with were the GMK WOB(white on black) set.

after recieving the case, I really did not like the black anodized coating on it. i would have preferred a raw aluminum finish. However, the 'silver' color option is anodized as well, and looked a little odd. for a raw aluminum finish, i would have to strip the coating off of the case. apparently, this is doable with oven cleaner.

normal finish
how the case looks in anodized black

i ended up running to the store 15 minutes after unboxing to get some oven cleaner to strip it off. i got the extra strength stuff as well. after taking it to the parking lot i just drenched it in the stuff. interestingly, it just seemed to be black due to a very thick layer of dark blue.

covered in oven cleaner
covered in oven cleaner
slightly less covered in oven cleaner
slightly less covered in oven cleaner

after stripping the coating, it began to oxidize. I cleaned the oxidation off with barkeeper's friend, and coated it with a thin coating of minwax. it came out pretty nice!

finished
cleaned up
finished
finished
finished
the keyboard
finished!