Overview
This is the build log for my custom electrocapacitive (EC) Geonworks F1-8X 722 mechanical keyboard.
I purchased this board back in 2023 with the intention of building it as a standard Cherry MX board, but it ended up sitting unbuilt for a couple of years.
Since then, I picked up a secondhand Topre Realforce 87u to get a taste of EC boards and fell in love with it; it’s currently one of my daily drivers at work. I’ve wanted to properly dignify it with an aluminum case, but aftermarket Topre cases are insanely expensive, especially on the second-hand market. I considered retrofitting the hardware into one of my other boards, but it would have required a custom plate, custom PCB (which were generally not available at the time), and potentially aftermarket replacement sliders and stabilizer housings if I wanted to use MX keycaps; really the only parts I’d get to use from the original board were the springs, domes, and switch housings. It felt like a huge waste to gut the board for only a few parts so I shelved that idea for a while.
Luckily, over the summer, Cipulot (a prominent designer of EC PCBs in the hobby) released the EC TKL X PCB, an EC PCB in the a.87 form factor which is widely used in tenkeyless boards such as the TGR Jane and most Geonworks TKLs. Around the same time, AEBoards released a game-changing product in the Naevies EC switch. These are full EC assemblies (slider, housing, rubber dome, and spring) contained in an MX footprint meaning that they can fit in a standard plate with MX cutouts1, are compatible with MX keycaps, and can be used with plate-mount MX stabilizers.
After learning about these two products I quickly had the idea to build my F1 that had been collecting dust into an EC board. With these new options I wouldn’t need to cannibalize my Realforce to make it happen and I’d have a pretty unique keyboard at the end; only a few EC F1 builds exist to my knowledge.
Aesthetic Considerations
This was an unfinished board, meaning I had full control over aesthetics. I’ve wanted a nice, deep burgundy board ever since I got into the hobby in 2020 but for whatever reason I always went with other options when given the chance. This was the perfect opportunity to make that burgundy board exactly as I wanted it.
I spent a couple days going back and forth with different powder colors but eventually settled on Prismatic Powders’ PSB-5896 “Oxblood Red. This option was far too glossy for my tastes, though, so I also chose to add a top coat of PPS-4005 “Casper Clear”, a matte clear coat intended for exactly this purpose of flattening glossy coats. I was admittedly very nervous about the outcome since I had never had anything powder coated before and had no idea what the end product would actually look like, but I’m really quite happy with how it came out.
Once I knew I was set on a burgundy board the keycap selection was easy- I’ve always been a huge sucker for Dolch keycaps on a red board. So I hopped on r/mechmarket and found a fellow hobbyist selling GMK Dolch R5 for a reasonable price and scooped it up right away.
The last aesthetic piece for this board is the stainless steel weight on the back. I wasn’t sure if leaving it stock would look good with the burgundy and greys but I think I’ll keep it, at least for now.
The Plate Problem
When I started this project, I naively thought I’d be able to simply insert the Naevies into one of the MX plates I purchased with the board. There are two reasons why this isn’t possible:
MX PCBs are typically free-floating, i.e. the plate isn’t directly attached to the PCB. Instead they usually rely on the switches to hold the assembly together with the lip of the bottom housing and the solder bond (or friction in the case of hotswap) between the switch legs and PCB through-holes.
EC switches, on the other hand, simply sit on top of the PCB, meaning there’s no clamping force to hold everything together. This necessitates the use of standoffs between the plate and PCB, which in turn require screw holes be cut in both pieces to attach the standoffs. I could drill all the holes myself, but that would be far too error-prone to be worthwhile, and it still wouldn’t account for the other, maybe larger, issue.
MX plates almost universally use PCB-mount stabilizers. This is for good reason; they’re generally easier to tune, feel better, and sound better than plate-mount stabs. Unfortunately, EC switches have a larger footprint on the PCB which interferes with PCB-mount stabs, necessitating the use of plate-mount stabs. The cutouts for either type of stabilizer are mutually exclusive, so it’s not possible to use PCB-mount stabs on a plate-mount board or vice-versa.
This meant I needed to have a custom plate cut… but before that I needed to design said plate as there were no EC plates for the F1-8X available online at the time of writing.
CAD Woes
Normally this wouldn’t have been an issue- I took some SOLIDWORKS classes in college and am generally quite comfortable with CAD work, but this project just so happened to coincide with my complete desertion of Windows and Microsoft products in favor of Fedora Linux.
I am not exaggerating when I say that the state of CAD software on Linux is fucking abysmal. Not a single major vendor in the CAD space is interested in developing for Linux (for obvious reasons; these are massive companies targeting enterprise CAD firms which exclusively use Windows), and for FOSS software you’re essentially limited to FreeCAD (very powerful but with a convoluted workflow and subjectively confusing UI), LibreCAD (this one crashed on me constantly…), and OpenSCAD (also incredibly powerful but with an equally steep learning curve). Don’t get me wrong, these are all impressive projects in their own right, but they’re not especially noob-friendly. You can also try your luck with Fusion 360, etc. through Wine, but I could never get it working reliably.
Long story short, after a full weekend of jumping between CAD softwares, scouring the Internet for measurements/dimensions, cross-referencing multiple plate drawings, and dealing with FreeCAD’s lackluster .DXF import/export options, I had myself a plate design that I was reasonably confident would work (I’ll post it once I confirm it actually, you know, works).
…And now we’re caught up to present. I ordered the plate through Hype Keyboards on October 9 and am currently awaiting its arrival.
Stay tuned for future updates!
Specs
- Board: Geonworks F1-8X 722, unfinished aluminum
- Finish: Powder coat done by local shop
- Switches: AEBoards Naevy EC (45g)
- PCB: Cipulot EC TKL X
- Plate: Custom 1.5mm aluminum, black, from Hype Keyboards
- Mount: Silicone gasket
Progress Updates
October 9, 2025
Submitted custom plate order to Hype Keyboards. Fingers crossed that I got the dimensions right…
October 5, 2025
Started project writeup.
See section “The Plate Problem”. ↩︎