Okay, so not “in progress”, but here’s my last keyboard. Used lots of tools available to the keyboard community, but I laser cut the plate that holds the switches (and the one for the bottom, but that was no big deal), designed and 3D printed the side case, hand-wired the keys’ matrix, configured the keyboard software for the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller, and used infusible ink and the laser to turn blank keycaps into custom ones.
Box Jades, which I like quite a bit, but they have already proven to me that they’re only about 90% as awesome as Box Navies. Haven’t tried Zeal Clickiez or any of the more exotic MX, and it’s been decades since I used a buckling spring, but man I love a good heavy clicky switch.
Well, yes, I do work from home. Why do you ask?
As for the shape, the goal on this was no stabilizers, meaning no key could be more than 1.75u wide, and even among those I didn’t want to have buy anything beyond a single full size board’s worth of blank XDA. It was a challenge getting a layout with any symmetry, but I got close, and if I were starting over the only change would probably be something around L-Shift and the backspace and the delete key where Numlock usually is.
Okay, I cheated a bit, as I think it had like 3 or 4 more 1u keys than a 104-key board, but who doesn’t have a few spare 1u lying around?
Thanks! I see every flaw, and in particular the color of the keycap legends isn’t what I’d hoped, but it’s been a really good keyboard so far. I’ve been mostly using my own home-builts for work and my home desktop for a few months now.
Okay, so not “in progress”, but here’s my last keyboard. Used lots of tools available to the keyboard community, but I laser cut the plate that holds the switches (and the one for the bottom, but that was no big deal), designed and 3D printed the side case, hand-wired the keys’ matrix, configured the keyboard software for the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller, and used infusible ink and the laser to turn blank keycaps into custom ones.
Which switches did you use? I like the case design too, it’s refreshing to not see your standard boxy keyboard.
Box Jades, which I like quite a bit, but they have already proven to me that they’re only about 90% as awesome as Box Navies. Haven’t tried Zeal Clickiez or any of the more exotic MX, and it’s been decades since I used a buckling spring, but man I love a good heavy clicky switch.
Well, yes, I do work from home. Why do you ask?
As for the shape, the goal on this was no stabilizers, meaning no key could be more than 1.75u wide, and even among those I didn’t want to have buy anything beyond a single full size board’s worth of blank XDA. It was a challenge getting a layout with any symmetry, but I got close, and if I were starting over the only change would probably be something around L-Shift and the backspace and the delete key where Numlock usually is.
Okay, I cheated a bit, as I think it had like 3 or 4 more 1u keys than a 104-key board, but who doesn’t have a few spare 1u lying around?
beautifully done buddy
Thanks! I see every flaw, and in particular the color of the keycap legends isn’t what I’d hoped, but it’s been a really good keyboard so far. I’ve been mostly using my own home-builts for work and my home desktop for a few months now.