Making a cheap keyboard from China better

I picked up this keyboard for about $30, + $10 or so for shipping. This is pretty cheap for a mechanical board. 
After feeling the switches for a bit I can see why. 

They’re inconsistent, some of them just don’t register sometimes, and the only option i had was tactile clicky blue. 

Luckily they’re imitating cherry mx switches, so I can replace them!
This begins the adventure of desoldering 87leds and switches!

After about 45 minutes of desoldering and emptying the solder pump, I had managed to replace 13 switches!

Also worth noting, the controller is discrete from the PCB, and has the rows and columns labeled!

It could easily be removed and replaced for a full custom firmware board!

I plan to do the top row next and work my way down the board from there. 

I’ll update this post or make a new one when I’ve made more progress!

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