What does Keyboarding mean to you? It can be bad for your health

[berserkfan]

I am feeling tense and stressed out lately.

Short rundown: I am supposed to be moving, but discovered (painfully) that new place is not in a habitable state many months after original date. It is making me very stressed out because a lot of money (as well as safety and schedules of the family, etc.) is involved.

Furthermore I have firmly decided that is was partly because I got distracted last year by keyboarding. Instead of paying attention to other things, I was just happily playing with keyboards.

Last year I was using keyboarding aka bolt modding, dremel plate modding, SIP socket modding, to relieve stress. It worked very well. When you do a lot of small precision tasks one after another, you are forced to concentrate hard and it really takes your mind off things. Further more, it gives you an immediate sense of achievement that you can't get from your other things in life that are giving you stress.

When you solder an entire keyboard, it either works perfectly or it does not. Use the keyboard. It works, you get your sense of achievement.

It is not like other things in your work life, where you can spend many hours doing something with zero reward, with no way of telling whether your work is good, etc. (I am not an engineer, so there is no objective way of telling if I have succeeded in my work.) Everything is under your control.

But now I think it was very unhealthy. It distracted me. Modding provided an emotional safety blanket to unpleasant realities that I should have confronted early on. I spent a lot of time fixing up vintage boards just for the sake of fixing them up. Basically drilled and dremelled holes because it felt good to be in charge.

Let me post a poll just for everyone to think about it. What does keyboarding mean to you?

[Redmaus]

The search for the best possibly boards in each switch category.

My Unsaver would be for BS, V80 and ABS M1 for alps. And it is also really fun to fiddle with things.

I haven't reached status symbol yet, but I plan to

[emdude]

I empathize with this deeply.

I have only recently gotten into this hobby and already I am feeling that I perhaps have become invested in it to a fault. Without getting into it too much, I started with keyboards during a stressful time as well, and I think it has messed up a balance I had with my other hobbies/responsibilities (which I honestly felt to be more productive and enjoyable).

That said, I do truly love my keyboards and have had tons of fun with the little modding I've done and I hope to restore that balance by trying not to get too absorbed into it. I'd like to keep a relatively small collection and will probably set my bar for endgame boards pretty low as well.

I hope that your sale can provide a sense of closure.

[berserkfan]

I empathize with this deeply.



I hope that your sale can provide a sense of closure.

Nope, it is not providing that sense of closure. Partly because a lot of my modding was done for the sake of modding rather than to sell.

So I have spent a lot of time on M-122 boards (WAH, lots of holes to drill, YAY!) that nobody actually wants.

[emdude]

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope that you can sell your boards and that starting with a clean slate will allow you to go on to take care of your responsibilities and other important things.

[Redmaus]

So I have spent a lot of time on M-122 boards (WAH, lots of holes to drill, YAY!) that nobody actually wants.

Yeah the M122 bolt mod was the worst modding experience of my life. I probably had a crappy method, but keeping the hammers in while attempting to screw the bolts was so crummy. I had to open it back up three times

After all that I realized that bolt modded M122 are not worth anything because an F122 is worth about 100$

Also, I am very sorry to hear that your future home is not in a habitable state. It isn't good to hear at all. Best of luck for you and your family

[Wet]

A friend of mine introduced me to mechanical keyboards, but I initially saw it as nothing more than a everyday-peripheral.

I generally love to get into the technical aspects of things. So I started to research and look deeper, and I ended up falling down this rabbit hole

I do try to keep it as a healthy obsession though. If I have other more important things to do/buy, those take priority.

[ohaimark]

Please try to find some good in what you did; take responsibility for the challenges you're facing and tackle them with your head held high. Everyone will come to respect your tenacity and will, even if you made mistakes.

Here's my story:

I love discovering new things that are tangible and multifaceted. Unfortunately, most discoveries that were proverbial low hanging fruit (read: not requiring a doctorate in biology or physics) have already been plucked from the vine. Keyboards are still within reach at a hobbyist's level.

Why are they still in reach? Keyboards are something that few people care about. Most don't even know how they work. That leads to a trove of lost and obscure information... Finding that information and profiting from it through sales initially drew me to the hobby. There is a real sense of adventure and excitement when documenting a new switch or 'board variant. I'm also a shameless capitalist, which gives a sense of achievement and control.

The past year has marked a meteoric decrease in ignorance on my part, mostly regarding keyboards... but also regarding my self confidence and potential. While this hobby has caused the occasional scrape with my University courses (it is right now, in fact), it also encouraged me to build relationships with local e-cycling contacts -- excellent professional networking experience. It even landed me a temporary weekend job. Not to mention a unique trip that will be occurring soon -- I won't give away spoilers at the moment.

Essentially, the hobby led me to audacity. To doing things as if I couldn't possibly fail. To the idea that if one plays the odds, trying something time and time again, success is simply a matter of persistence.

One of my earliest posts here was something along the lines of... "Do I belong here? I don't know which forum I'll call home." Since my immersion in DT I've found that my outlook has become interpersonal -- the community has grown on me. This is the most tasteful, grumpy, kind, intellectually diverse, and stubborn place I have found on the internet. We should all work to keep it that way.

I cannot thank the club enough. I'm proud to be a member.

[berserkfan]

So I have spent a lot of time on M-122 boards (WAH, lots of holes to drill, YAY!) that nobody actually wants.

Yeah the M122 bolt mod was the worst modding experience of my life. I probably had a crappy method, but keeping the hammers in while attempting to screw the bolts was so crummy. I had to open it back up three times

After all that I realized that bolt modded M122 are not worth anything because an F122 is worth about 100$

Also, I am very sorry to hear that your future home is not in a habitable state. It isn't good to hear at all. Best of luck for you and your family

Yes, I'm under a lot of stress at the moment.

BTW when I said yay lots of holes to drill, you seemed to think it was torture. Actually I didn't mean it sarcastically at all. I liked the work. Which is why I did it many times, even on keyboards that didn't need it. (Bolt modded TWO NIB M-122s and changed the layout to ANSI just for fun.)

All my bolt modded boards are on my ads - if you feel like it, count yourself. (I didn't count my own bolt mods!)

The PROBLEM that this reveals, is that I was being escapist. Stuff like drilling holes and sucking solder puts everything in your control. It helps you escape real life problems. And worse, unlike computer gaming, you think you are doing something meaningful when it isn't. I haven't had anyone even bother to throw me lowballs for my bolt modded boards, but more than 20 people pounced within ONE hour on DA and GH combined when I labelled a Model F they didn't like as Unsaver and they thought they were getting a great deal.

[chuckdee]

It's a large part pragmatism- I realized after using a smaller keyboard that I didn't need those huge ones that I'd been using, and indeed, all of that extra functionality was going to waste. I formerly used the brief layout for programming, so needed the numeric keypad. But now, I don't, and value the smaller footprint that my hands have to traverse.

But I also have personality quirks to put it nicely. And once I dive into something, tend to go overboard. So where I could have stopped with a Poker for home and work... haven't. And here we are, $400+ down a path that will probably lead even deeper.

[chuckdee]

The PROBLEM that this reveals, is that I was being escapist. Stuff like drilling holes and sucking solder puts everything in your control. It helps you escape real life problems. And worse, unlike computer gaming, you think you are doing something meaningful when it isn't. I haven't had anyone even bother to throw me lowballs for my bolt modded boards, but more than 20 people pounced within ONE hour on DA and GH combined when I labelled a Model F they didn't like as Unsaver and they thought they were getting a great deal.

Was it meaningful to you? That's the question you need to answer. As long as it's kept in perspective, I find the meaningful question to be, in a lot of cases, in relation to others when brought up, rather than you. If it was fulfilling to you on some level, and gave your life meaning on that level, it should be enough. At least, in my experience. Anything can be bad for your health if taken to an extreme- whether that be food vs diet, exercise vs sedentary lifestyle, or relationship vs non. So it's not the actual activity that's the problem- it's the relationship with the activity.

I've had to figure that out because of my own problems, and dealing with them. Of course, that's just what I've discovered, and YMMV. But don't blame the activity- try to get to the root of the problem for a more lasting and satisfying solution.

[berserkfan]

If it was fulfilling to you on some level, and gave your life meaning on that level, it should be enough. At least, in my experience. Anything can be bad for your health if taken to an extreme- whether that be food vs diet, exercise vs sedentary lifestyle, or relationship vs non. So it's not the actual activity that's the problem- it's the relationship with the activity.

But don't blame the activity- try to get to the root of the problem for a more lasting and satisfying solution.

I bolded your words.

True, true. I'm feeling very poorly now (because of other real life events). But now for once, I can't shut myself in my room and drill holes and suck solder.

I have run out of unique keyboards to do that to. I have puttered with about 1 of each board type and layout in the market. ISO, JIS, ANSI, KBT Pure, 108 key Ducky, 128 key POS boards, etc. Just about everything has been tried. Now I must sell to clear space. But what comes after that? Do I shut myself in my bathroom and caulk and waterproof?

(BTW this is not rhetorical - my bathroom has problems. My freaking home is full of problems. it is supposed to be a new place, but it is falling apart like some decaying vampire mansion, costs like a mansion but size like a coffin, price sucks my blood, etc.)

[Redmaus]

Yes, I'm under a lot of stress at the moment.

BTW when I said yay lots of holes to drill, you seemed to think it was torture. Actually I didn't mean it sarcastically at all. I liked the work. Which is why I did it many times, even on keyboards that didn't need it. (Bolt modded TWO NIB M-122s and changed the layout to ANSI just for fun.)

All my bolt modded boards are on my ads - if you feel like it, count yourself. (I didn't count my own bolt mods!)

The PROBLEM that this reveals, is that I was being escapist. Stuff like drilling holes and sucking solder puts everything in your control. It helps you escape real life problems. And worse, unlike computer gaming, you think you are doing something meaningful when it isn't. I haven't had anyone even bother to throw me lowballs for my bolt modded boards, but more than 20 people pounced within ONE hour on DA and GH combined when I labelled a Model F they didn't like as Unsaver and they thought they were getting a great deal.

The torture for me was trying to get the board to stay together while screwing the bolts in. I hated having to open it back up because one hammer unseated. I heard of the screw mod, and I wish I knew about it sooner.

I also need to do more meaningful things with my time, I have too much time on my hands but at the same time have so much to do when it comes to school. It all seems so overwhelming since I have all AP/Pre-AP classes and always have homework or work I could be doing at any point in time. Keyboards are a way to ignore all that and do something I enjoy. Better than videogames because I don't get addicted.

Unsavers are rare and sell for a hefty sum. I figure the way most people see it, you can mod anything whenever you want. Modding isn't rare or for a limited time only in my eyes. There is a large amount of demand and very little supply for Unsavers however. People are quite desperate, just check out Snoopy's thread.