Any recs on a good starter mechanical keyboard?
Pretty big rabbit hole to fall into, this is only my first full custom one, only having a few different ones off the shelf.
Look at something with hot swapable switches
Royal Kludge,
Glorious, so you don't need to buy a whole new board and over time see what you like and don't. After you can try different key layouts and so on.
I've only used Cherry MX black, red, clear, brown and blue, Gateron black and Razer red optical switches. For me, I like heavier switches with a stronger actuation force. Lots of characteristics to each switch, you get a feel for as you try more. Good thing they're the cheap part of the build.