Hopefully I can make this clear with an example. On my current keyboard, Alt is directly under X and Win is directly under Z. On most of the models of mechanical keyboards I have looked at, those keys are shifted well to the left of where I am used to. The bottom row layout is often (3 keys, spacebar, 4 keys). If I could switch it to (4 keys, spacebar, 3 keys), that would match what I am used to.
A Mastodon user called Pepe https://masto.es/@peps has done this mechanical keyboard and has published the project in Codeberg with an open license just in case anyone wants to do it too.
DIY 3D printed case for the Yushakobo Primer61 PCB I got in Japan over the holidays. I didn’t buy one of their BLE Pro Micro boards, but had a Nice!Nano clone, so I learned just enough ZMK to port it over and use it wirelessly. More HERE. Not my cleanest print, but I’m happy, and pretty stoked I didn’t set it on fire trying to use an unsupported MCU with a wireless firmware.
Keyboard is one I first made a year or so ago, but recently upgraded a little. DIY with laser-cut Masonite plate, 3D printed sides, Outemu “mid height” Black switches, and JWA PBT low-profile keycaps with DIY legends. KMK firmware on an RP2040 dev board.
I’ve printed up 7 of these, plus I have a lid and one less-satisfying prototype from my diode laser. They fit in the footprint of a sheet of US Letter paper, hold a little over a TKL’s worth of keycaps, and use about 1/6 of a 1kg roll of filament, so maybe USD $3 per try with the cheap PLA I always buy.
The new CHERRY XTRFY MX 8.3 TKL keyboard is pricy but offers top-notch construction quality, a multitude of inner layers for eliminating vibrations and minimizing the noise, a high polling rate on both wireless and wired connectivity modes, while the included color screen allows access to multiple features without touching…
I had spare PCBs left over from an earlier project. I got the Signature Plastics DSS Honeywell keycaps on sale from a vendor who was closing down. I made the plate design using online tools, then cut it and the bottom plate on my home laser. I designed the 3D-printed case to look like the original terminal keyboards that inspired the keycaps. I used black switches because a heavy linear feels right for something like this. Firmware is QMK/VIAL. More info here. There’s much that could be better, but I’m pleased with how it came out.
I’m making a custom keyboard with a Raspberry Pi Pico as the MCU, and i don’t understand what all the different pins are for and how they should be wired up to my key matrix and trackpoint.
While most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the keys they tap all day, mechanical keyboard enthusiasts certainly do. As interest in DIY keyboards expands, there are plenty of things to obsess over, such as keycap sets, layout, knobs, and switches. But you have to get deep into the hobby before you realize there’s something more important than all that: the stabilizers.
Keyboard from 2010 built by TG3 for a Siemens chemistry analyzer. I cleaned it up, added some weight to the bottom, and converted to USB. Cherry MX Black and PBT Dye-subbed DCS caps. Take a peek at what should be F9 and F10 (and are after conversion), as well as some of the keys above the numpad, which, tangentially, now has 5 keys that do absolutely nothing related to what’s written on them.
Like many of you, I’ve wrestled with the tap-hold dilemma: set a short TAPPING_TERM for quick holds at the cost of accidental activations, or lengthen it for more reliable tapping, which can make holds feel sluggish. While there are many clever settings to tweak, I often felt I had to significantly adapt my typing style to the algorithm, rather than the algorithm to me.
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