Thank you John. I'm a recent Ortholinear fan (Planck v6) and I found this video very enjoyable. I personally loved the "backstory" for your Datadesk SmartBoard journey, insightful and delightful. Video quality and audio quality was great. Thank you again, John.
Thanks for the feedback, and I am glad you enjoyed the video! I debated about talking about my keyboard journey, since I was afraid that might dilute the review. However, I felt it provided important context about what drew me to the FoldKB and why I did not use a standard 60% layout.
Fantastic review brother. It was a little lengthy, but I really liked the breakdown of your previous keyboards and what you (dis)liked about them and why you moved on. That could be it’s own video! Instant subscribe. No fluff, good personality, hope you keep it up
Glad you enjoyed it! I debated about talking about my keyboard journey. However, I felt it provided important context about what drew me to the FoldKB and why I did not use a standard layout.
You're very welcome! I originally planned to just review the FoldKB, but I felt I needed to provide context about my keyboard journey and what drew me to the FoldKB.
Im so glad to have stumbled onto this vid bc i've been in the market for a split keyboard and you really went in depth with the problems you faced in your journey, and on top of that you showed a keyboard that addressed all the things that I too would want in a keyboard. The main one being I wanted a split-ortholinear keyboard that kept the same key sizes for the far right column
@@johnhall7476 I ended up investing in the FoldKB. I honestly really like the ortholinear design with the standard keyset. If I end up wanting a keyboard with all 1u keys in the future, I'd probably go with the Levinson as it has the larger thumb keys and I would like to build it as another reason I geared towards the FoldKB is because it was available presoldered and I am not very confident in my soldering skills. Also I can't wait to see your update vid.
Thanks for such detailed and in-depth review. Even though half of the video isn't related to the keyboard itself, it was useful to understand your thought process and preferences when deciding to go for the FoldKB.
I debated about talking about my keyboard journey. However, I felt it provided important context about what drew me to the FoldKB and why I did not use a standard 60% layout.
Great review man, I really appreciated that you provided context for your keyboard journey to highlight what you liked about the foldkb and I enjoyed the mini history lesson! Just like you I tried the ergodox ez but found it to be less than ideal. For me it was the thumb clusters, they ended up being uncomfortable to me. I got excited about the foldkb, hopefully I'll like it as much as you do!
Just found this video, and it's incredibly well done. Thank you John. I've been using a Microsoft Sculpt (quick shout out in the video), and it's been getting flaky the last few months. I recently picked up a relatively inexpensive mechnical keyboard and while I love the new hobby and the feel of mech keys, I'm getting pain and strain in my hands and wrists. This put me on the path of "do I want to investigate ergo mech boards, or just buy another sculpt." If I try this, I'll likely have they build it like yours, and then 3d print my own case.
I'm glad you liked the video! I recognize that not everyone is willing to switch to a split ortholinear or column staggered keyboard. If you want a split mechanical keyboard but want to stick with a traditional row staggered layout like the Sculpt, I suggest buying a Dygma Raise, building (or buying a prebuilt) Keebio Quefrency, or buying a Mistel MD770. The Mistel MD770 is a great budget split ergo mechanical keyboard.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey with the rest of us. I have been on a keyboard journey myself and looking for the end game keyboard. Based on your review on all of the keyboards you tried this seems likes the best bet. I will be ordering this keyboard myself 😎. Thanks again for sharing 👍🏻✊🙏🏻
Great video! My first ergo board was also the Datadesk, but I hacked mine so that the left-hand space bar was a backspace key. I used that keyboard until some of the keys failed. I'm currently using a Kinesis Freestyle Pro, which is extremely customizable (really like having those function and macro keys too).
I'm glad you liked the video! I didn't mention it in the video, but I actually have two Datadesk SmartBoard keyboards. I bought one for work and one for home. However, when we bought a Mac at home, we stored the SmartBoard in the closet as a spare.
Thank you for this review and the journey! I just found this keyboard and it's the closest one I've ever found to the end game. I already own a Moonlander but there are definitely somethings I miss too much like larger modifier keys. The only drawback is no dedicated arrow keys since I'm not a big fan of using layers.
Mod-tap keys give me arrow keys without using layers! I assigned the Any key (located under Special in VIA) to the right Shift key and assigned MT(MOD_RSFT,KC_UP) to it. As I show at 13:01, if I hold the right Shift key and press 5, I get a percent sign. If I tap the right Shift key, it sends an up arrow. This happens without using layers. There is one caveat: to repeatedly send up arrow, you have to tap right Shift once, then hold it. If you hold down the right Shift key and don't release it immediately, it will register as pressing and releasing Shift.
@@johnhall7476 good point about that kind of conditional press! But unfortunately it's not *quite* what i want because when I use arrow keys, it's never just for one tap. It's almost always for several taps to navigate. I would love to have the arrow keys nested right underneath and to the right of the bottom right most key. But if I were to get this I might get a macropad to put in the middle of the 2 split keyboards for somewhat easy access.
I was not clear in my reply. Each time you tap the mod-tap key, it sends the tap key. Repeatedly tap right shift, and it sends up arrow for each tap. It's the "hold for repeat" ability that requires that you tap then hold the key. Having the mod-tap arrow keys on the right modifiers was not an issue for me. I normally use my left hand for modifiers, so I probably could have made those keys dedicated arrow keys. If you want separate dedicated navigation keys, I suppose you could build a Navi10 or BDN9 macro pad.
This looks like exactly the sort of board I'd like to make. I really wish there was a more mainstream version of it as I have very little experience with this level of keyboard assembly. But I have a feeling this layout is the endgame for me and it will probably be worth me taking the plunge.
The FoldKB is endgame for me. I am still using it as my daily driver both at work and at home. Keebio does sell prebuilt FoldKB keyboards, but the switches are soldered in.
@@johnhall7476 Yeah, I'm still in the territory of learning a lot of basic mods and using hotswap switches. I'd pretty much always prefer a hotswap board if I could get one, but this is such a specific design than I think it is probably worth learning do solder and desolder if I need to replace or repair a switch.
I recently built two new FoldKB keyboards using Mill-Max 3305 hot swap sockets, so now my boards are hot swappable! I would recommend using FLAHNS silicone bumpers to stabilize the PCB. A single 12-pack (which costs $1, by the way) was sufficient for me. I put one under the rotary encoder and stabilizers, then spread the rest around the board.
Hey John, great info, thanks for posting this video. I especially like how you showed how loud the keyboards are - in contrast to snapping fingers or clicking the mouse, that makes it pretty obvious how loud the keys are. I'm currently on Kinesis Freestyle 2 for Mac and love it. However, I was wondering if I could love Ergodox a bit more maybe.:-) I never actually heard about Keebio so I'm going to look into that. Frankly speaking looks like a lot of research in addition to spending around $300(saw Ergodox price).
You can do it! Buy the case from Tree Dog Studio. Keebio already has the diodes and micro controller on the board. All you have to do is solder the switches. You can practice soldering by building cheap electronics kits. Search eBay for "electronics suite" for clocks and LED flashers for a few bucks each. If you burn or lift a pad on a cheap kit, it's no big deal. You don't need a fancy expensive soldering iron. I have been using a simple Weller soldering iron for ~15 years. Watch my video on building a May Pad, the kit building videos from bigclivedotcom, and the basic soldering lessons from paceworldwide for soldering tips.
I am glad you enjoyed the video! I have been using my FoldKB every day for the past 19 months (since early September 2021). It is not explicitly stated in the video, but I built a duplicate FoldKB so I could have one at home and one at work. I am still happy with it. In fact, I built two more, this time with a rotary encoder and Mill-Max sockets so I can swap switches. So now I have four of them!
There were a couple of spots where I had to wiggle the plate the plate a bit and apply a little extra pressure to get the plate to fit over the Durock stabilizers.
Incredible review, this was super informative. I really appreciated the journey and totally echo having 1.5u or larger modifier keys; thats what made me very recalcitrant on the Lily and Iris. A few questions though - what are the dimensions of the FoldKB? I ask because I have a keyboard tray. In addition, I presume it wouldn't be too hard to mod a semi permanent tent and wrist rest?
The plates for each half are 188mm (about 7.5 inches) by 111mm (4-3/8 inches). The 3D printed case adds a little bulk. In an assembled 3D printed case, each half is about 8 inches by 5 inches. The overall height is about 1-1/4 inches at the number row. I use the FoldKB flat and use Grifiti fat wrist pads, which are the perfect thickness. Since the outer edges of the FoldKB are round, that might cause an issue for tenting.
Can’t remember if you addressed this, but any reason you seem to prefer the ortholinear alpha keys layout to a common (staggered?) layout I’m considering the Keebio sinc (70\75%) or quefrency (60\65%), but I can’t decide on waiting for the sinc hotswap version or just downsizing to the quefrency because I’m so dependent on or just used to the function row for media/brightness/backlighting functions
At the beginning of the video, I mentioned that I used a Datadesk SmartBoard since at least before 2003. It is (mostly) ortholinear, so I was used to the layout. I rarely use the F row, so I put them on a layer. Fn+2 for F2, Fn+5 for F5, etc. As a Java developer, most of my F key usage is Eclipse shortcuts (for example, F6 for debug step over). I built a BDN9 and configured it with all my common Eclipse shortcuts like F5, F6, Ctrl+Shift+T, and so on. It's much more convenient than having to remember all the shortcut keys.
The Moonlander came out after I bought the ErgoDox EZ. By that time, I had already decided that the ErgoDox wasn't for me. While an interesting idea, I had no interest in the Moonlander. I love the FoldKB, and it has fulfilled my goal of finding a modern replacement for my Datadesk SmartBoard.
I am glad my video was helpful to you! I used Mod-Tap keys to act like a modifier when held and a regular keycode when tapped. For example, for right Shift/up arrow, I used this: MT(MOD_RSFT,KC_UP). I assigned it using the "Any" key in VIA, which is located in the SPECIAL side tab. However, note that Mod-Tap registers the tapped key when you release the key. This can be a bit odd if you are used to the key registering when you press the key, since the arrow key will not register until you lift your finger after a short tap. I almost always use my left hand for modifiers, so I eventually moved the Mod-Tap keys to another layer and just assigned those keys to be regular arrow keys.
great review and video in general about your journey! Im currently on a Lily58 and looking at this so I am able to use full GMK keysets and get a different fuller board feel from the lily. Few questions, how is it stock with the acrylic plate? Is it still a step up from the lily looks wise or is it similar sandwich design? Also how do you feel the sizing is compared to the lily? Does this feel huge next to it? Thanks in advance for the help Edit: Just put in my order! Couldn’t resist with how good this looks and exactly what I was looking for!
I am glad you found my review helpful! I have FR4 plates, and my middle layer is 3D printed, not acrylic. With the FoldKB, the switches snap into the top plate, then you solder the switches to the PCB, and the standoffs separate the top plate from the bottom plate. It is a sandwich design: top plate, PCB, and bottom plate. The FoldKB is bigger than the Lily58, but it does not feel huge compared to the Lily58.
Am I understood correctly, that you ditched Mainlander in favour of Keebio FoldKB? I thought if a person ever get experience using thumb cluster keys they cannot get back from that.
Cost can vary widely depending on whether you solder it yourself, your choice of components, and if you live outside the USA (shipping costs). For starters, Keebio sells a prebuilt FoldKB for about US$186 with Gateron yellow switches. A prebuilt with Durock Shrimp switches is about US$214. Then add the cost of keycaps. If you assume US$70 for a set from CannonKeys, then your total price before shipping is US$256 and US$284 before shipping, respectively. If you can solder, then your total cost including keycaps would be about US$197 before shipping. The above prices are if you solder the switches to the PCB. I recently built a new FoldKB using Mill-Max 3305 sockets, Boba U4 switches, TX stabilizers, NicePBT Classic Beige keycaps from CannonKeys, and a nice rotary encoder knob from Digi-Key (part #226-4212-ND). I think I dropped around US$265 before shipping on it. Of course, add US$50 to all the above prices for a 3D printed case from Tree Dog Studio. I plan to make a video "soon" about my experience with the FoldKB after one year. (Spoiler! I still love it.) Keep an eye out for that. My new FoldKB will make an appearance.
Thank you John. I'm a recent Ortholinear fan (Planck v6) and I found this video very enjoyable. I personally loved the "backstory" for your Datadesk SmartBoard journey, insightful and delightful. Video quality and audio quality was great. Thank you again, John.
Thanks for the feedback, and I am glad you enjoyed the video! I debated about talking about my keyboard journey, since I was afraid that might dilute the review. However, I felt it provided important context about what drew me to the FoldKB and why I did not use a standard 60% layout.
@@johnhall7476 I also enjoyed your backstory. I liked that it was more detailed than just briefly mentioning which keyboards you've gone through.
@@AndyGneiss I am glad you liked the video!
Great video! I've been looking for an ergo keyboard for a while and was overwhelmed with the options. This helped tremendously !
I am glad you found my review helpful!
Fantastic review brother. It was a little lengthy, but I really liked the breakdown of your previous keyboards and what you (dis)liked about them and why you moved on. That could be it’s own video!
Instant subscribe. No fluff, good personality, hope you keep it up
Glad you enjoyed it! I debated about talking about my keyboard journey. However, I felt it provided important context about what drew me to the FoldKB and why I did not use a standard layout.
I really appreciated the time you spent on each iteration. Thank you.
You're very welcome! I originally planned to just review the FoldKB, but I felt I needed to provide context about my keyboard journey and what drew me to the FoldKB.
The Datadesk board is such a throwback, love the look of the thing
Im so glad to have stumbled onto this vid bc i've been in the market for a split keyboard and you really went in depth with the problems you faced in your journey, and on top of that you showed a keyboard that addressed all the things that I too would want in a keyboard. The main one being I wanted a split-ortholinear keyboard that kept the same key sizes for the far right column
I am glad you liked the video! If you are looking for a split ortholinear keyboard with all 1u keys, look at the Keebio Nyquist/Levinson or the Helix.
@@johnhall7476 I ended up investing in the FoldKB. I honestly really like the ortholinear design with the standard keyset. If I end up wanting a keyboard with all 1u keys in the future, I'd probably go with the Levinson as it has the larger thumb keys and I would like to build it as another reason I geared towards the FoldKB is because it was available presoldered and I am not very confident in my soldering skills.
Also I can't wait to see your update vid.
Thank you for sharing your keyboard journey!
Thanks for such detailed and in-depth review. Even though half of the video isn't related to the keyboard itself, it was useful to understand your thought process and preferences when deciding to go for the FoldKB.
I debated about talking about my keyboard journey. However, I felt it provided important context about what drew me to the FoldKB and why I did not use a standard 60% layout.
Great review man, I really appreciated that you provided context for your keyboard journey to highlight what you liked about the foldkb and I enjoyed the mini history lesson! Just like you I tried the ergodox ez but found it to be less than ideal. For me it was the thumb clusters, they ended up being uncomfortable to me. I got excited about the foldkb, hopefully I'll like it as much as you do!
Thanks for the comment! I am sure you will love the FoldKB. I still use mine everyday, and I even built a second one to bring to the office.
Just found this video, and it's incredibly well done. Thank you John.
I've been using a Microsoft Sculpt (quick shout out in the video), and it's been getting flaky the last few months. I recently picked up a relatively inexpensive mechnical keyboard and while I love the new hobby and the feel of mech keys, I'm getting pain and strain in my hands and wrists. This put me on the path of "do I want to investigate ergo mech boards, or just buy another sculpt."
If I try this, I'll likely have they build it like yours, and then 3d print my own case.
I'm glad you liked the video! I recognize that not everyone is willing to switch to a split ortholinear or column staggered keyboard. If you want a split mechanical keyboard but want to stick with a traditional row staggered layout like the Sculpt, I suggest buying a Dygma Raise, building (or buying a prebuilt) Keebio Quefrency, or buying a Mistel MD770. The Mistel MD770 is a great budget split ergo mechanical keyboard.
Thank you so much for sharing your journey with the rest of us. I have been on a keyboard journey myself and looking for the end game keyboard. Based on your review on all of the keyboards you tried this seems likes the best bet. I will be ordering this keyboard myself 😎. Thanks again for sharing 👍🏻✊🙏🏻
You are so welcome! I still use my FoldKB daily. My only regret is not taking the time to solder Mill-Max hot swap sockets on the PCB.
what a great video!
Thank you! I put a lot of effort into it.
Great video! My first ergo board was also the Datadesk, but I hacked mine so that the left-hand space bar was a backspace key. I used that keyboard until some of the keys failed. I'm currently using a Kinesis Freestyle Pro, which is extremely customizable (really like having those function and macro keys too).
I'm glad you liked the video! I didn't mention it in the video, but I actually have two Datadesk SmartBoard keyboards. I bought one for work and one for home. However, when we bought a Mac at home, we stored the SmartBoard in the closet as a spare.
Thank you for this review and the journey! I just found this keyboard and it's the closest one I've ever found to the end game. I already own a Moonlander but there are definitely somethings I miss too much like larger modifier keys. The only drawback is no dedicated arrow keys since I'm not a big fan of using layers.
Mod-tap keys give me arrow keys without using layers! I assigned the Any key (located under Special in VIA) to the right Shift key and assigned MT(MOD_RSFT,KC_UP) to it. As I show at 13:01, if I hold the right Shift key and press 5, I get a percent sign. If I tap the right Shift key, it sends an up arrow. This happens without using layers. There is one caveat: to repeatedly send up arrow, you have to tap right Shift once, then hold it. If you hold down the right Shift key and don't release it immediately, it will register as pressing and releasing Shift.
@@johnhall7476 good point about that kind of conditional press! But unfortunately it's not *quite* what i want because when I use arrow keys, it's never just for one tap. It's almost always for several taps to navigate. I would love to have the arrow keys nested right underneath and to the right of the bottom right most key. But if I were to get this I might get a macropad to put in the middle of the 2 split keyboards for somewhat easy access.
I was not clear in my reply. Each time you tap the mod-tap key, it sends the tap key. Repeatedly tap right shift, and it sends up arrow for each tap. It's the "hold for repeat" ability that requires that you tap then hold the key.
Having the mod-tap arrow keys on the right modifiers was not an issue for me. I normally use my left hand for modifiers, so I probably could have made those keys dedicated arrow keys. If you want separate dedicated navigation keys, I suppose you could build a Navi10 or BDN9 macro pad.
This looks like exactly the sort of board I'd like to make. I really wish there was a more mainstream version of it as I have very little experience with this level of keyboard assembly. But I have a feeling this layout is the endgame for me and it will probably be worth me taking the plunge.
The FoldKB is endgame for me. I am still using it as my daily driver both at work and at home. Keebio does sell prebuilt FoldKB keyboards, but the switches are soldered in.
@@johnhall7476 Yeah, I'm still in the territory of learning a lot of basic mods and using hotswap switches. I'd pretty much always prefer a hotswap board if I could get one, but this is such a specific design than I think it is probably worth learning do solder and desolder if I need to replace or repair a switch.
I recently built two new FoldKB keyboards using Mill-Max 3305 hot swap sockets, so now my boards are hot swappable! I would recommend using FLAHNS silicone bumpers to stabilize the PCB. A single 12-pack (which costs $1, by the way) was sufficient for me. I put one under the rotary encoder and stabilizers, then spread the rest around the board.
@@johnhall7476 oh nice. thanks a lot, I'll look into that.
Hey John, great info, thanks for posting this video. I especially like how you showed how loud the keyboards are - in contrast to snapping fingers or clicking the mouse, that makes it pretty obvious how loud the keys are. I'm currently on Kinesis Freestyle 2 for Mac and love it. However, I was wondering if I could love Ergodox a bit more maybe.:-) I never actually heard about Keebio so I'm going to look into that. Frankly speaking looks like a lot of research in addition to spending around $300(saw Ergodox price).
Thanks for the comment!
I'd love to get one of these myself learning soldering, getting cases 3d printed, etc just seems like so much work
You can do it! Buy the case from Tree Dog Studio. Keebio already has the diodes and micro controller on the board. All you have to do is solder the switches. You can practice soldering by building cheap electronics kits. Search eBay for "electronics suite" for clocks and LED flashers for a few bucks each. If you burn or lift a pad on a cheap kit, it's no big deal. You don't need a fancy expensive soldering iron. I have been using a simple Weller soldering iron for ~15 years. Watch my video on building a May Pad, the kit building videos from bigclivedotcom, and the basic soldering lessons from paceworldwide for soldering tips.
John are you still happy with the FoldKB one year later?
Great history and review, thanks a lot for this video!
I am glad you enjoyed the video! I have been using my FoldKB every day for the past 19 months (since early September 2021). It is not explicitly stated in the video, but I built a duplicate FoldKB so I could have one at home and one at work. I am still happy with it. In fact, I built two more, this time with a rotary encoder and Mill-Max sockets so I can swap switches. So now I have four of them!
Back to this fantastic review
What exactly did you mean by Durock V2’s being tight?
There were a couple of spots where I had to wiggle the plate the plate a bit and apply a little extra pressure to get the plate to fit over the Durock stabilizers.
Incredible review, this was super informative. I really appreciated the journey and totally echo having 1.5u or larger modifier keys; thats what made me very recalcitrant on the Lily and Iris.
A few questions though - what are the dimensions of the FoldKB? I ask because I have a keyboard tray. In addition, I presume it wouldn't be too hard to mod a semi permanent tent and wrist rest?
The plates for each half are 188mm (about 7.5 inches) by 111mm (4-3/8 inches).
The 3D printed case adds a little bulk. In an assembled 3D printed case, each half is about 8 inches by 5 inches. The overall height is about 1-1/4 inches at the number row.
I use the FoldKB flat and use Grifiti fat wrist pads, which are the perfect thickness. Since the outer edges of the FoldKB are round, that might cause an issue for tenting.
@@johnhall7476 This is wonderful, thank you so much John!
Can’t remember if you addressed this, but any reason you seem to prefer the ortholinear alpha keys layout to a common (staggered?) layout
I’m considering the Keebio sinc (70\75%) or quefrency (60\65%), but I can’t decide on waiting for the sinc hotswap version or just downsizing to the quefrency because I’m so dependent on or just used to the function row for media/brightness/backlighting functions
At the beginning of the video, I mentioned that I used a Datadesk SmartBoard since at least before 2003. It is (mostly) ortholinear, so I was used to the layout.
I rarely use the F row, so I put them on a layer. Fn+2 for F2, Fn+5 for F5, etc.
As a Java developer, most of my F key usage is Eclipse shortcuts (for example, F6 for debug step over). I built a BDN9 and configured it with all my common Eclipse shortcuts like F5, F6, Ctrl+Shift+T, and so on. It's much more convenient than having to remember all the shortcut keys.
Did you never consider the Moonlander? I believe it addresses the issues you had with the EZ
The Moonlander came out after I bought the ErgoDox EZ. By that time, I had already decided that the ErgoDox wasn't for me. While an interesting idea, I had no interest in the Moonlander. I love the FoldKB, and it has fulfilled my goal of finding a modern replacement for my Datadesk SmartBoard.
Great video! Helped me decide to pick up a Fold.
How did you get tap dance to work, letting you tap to use the arrow cluster? I can't figure it out.
I am glad my video was helpful to you! I used Mod-Tap keys to act like a modifier when held and a regular keycode when tapped. For example, for right Shift/up arrow, I used this: MT(MOD_RSFT,KC_UP). I assigned it using the "Any" key in VIA, which is located in the SPECIAL side tab.
However, note that Mod-Tap registers the tapped key when you release the key. This can be a bit odd if you are used to the key registering when you press the key, since the arrow key will not register until you lift your finger after a short tap.
I almost always use my left hand for modifiers, so I eventually moved the Mod-Tap keys to another layer and just assigned those keys to be regular arrow keys.
great review and video in general about your journey! Im currently on a Lily58 and looking at this so I am able to use full GMK keysets and get a different fuller board feel from the lily. Few questions, how is it stock with the acrylic plate? Is it still a step up from the lily looks wise or is it similar sandwich design? Also how do you feel the sizing is compared to the lily? Does this feel huge next to it? Thanks in advance for the help
Edit: Just put in my order! Couldn’t resist with how good this looks and exactly what I was looking for!
I am glad you found my review helpful! I have FR4 plates, and my middle layer is 3D printed, not acrylic. With the FoldKB, the switches snap into the top plate, then you solder the switches to the PCB, and the standoffs separate the top plate from the bottom plate. It is a sandwich design: top plate, PCB, and bottom plate. The FoldKB is bigger than the Lily58, but it does not feel huge compared to the Lily58.
Am I understood correctly, that you ditched Mainlander in favour of Keebio FoldKB? I thought if a person ever get experience using thumb cluster keys they cannot get back from that.
idk if i missed it but did you say how much it cost? thx
Cost can vary widely depending on whether you solder it yourself, your choice of components, and if you live outside the USA (shipping costs).
For starters, Keebio sells a prebuilt FoldKB for about US$186 with Gateron yellow switches. A prebuilt with Durock Shrimp switches is about US$214. Then add the cost of keycaps. If you assume US$70 for a set from CannonKeys, then your total price before shipping is US$256 and US$284 before shipping, respectively.
If you can solder, then your total cost including keycaps would be about US$197 before shipping.
The above prices are if you solder the switches to the PCB. I recently built a new FoldKB using Mill-Max 3305 sockets, Boba U4 switches, TX stabilizers, NicePBT Classic Beige keycaps from CannonKeys, and a nice rotary encoder knob from Digi-Key (part #226-4212-ND). I think I dropped around US$265 before shipping on it.
Of course, add US$50 to all the above prices for a 3D printed case from Tree Dog Studio.
I plan to make a video "soon" about my experience with the FoldKB after one year. (Spoiler! I still love it.) Keep an eye out for that. My new FoldKB will make an appearance.
BMO!