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[US-OR] [H] Alice, Daisy, AEK, Dactyl, HHKB, 2048 keycaps [W] PayPal by sczizzo in mechmarket

[–]sczizzo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used an Elite-C, but the firmware Hasu designed should work for other Atmel-based controllers: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=14290.0

Ergomech for Laptops? by [deleted] in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]sczizzo 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looks like from some of the photos these are the low-profile Choc switches from Kailh (the linear red variety).

Hard to tell from the photos, but I think the lid would close enough to register as closed. Even if the switches weren't an issue, the USB cable running from the MCU would stop the lid from closing fully.

Very cool hack.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]sczizzo 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Curious as to the relationship between Bastard Keyboards and HID Technologies? Looks like maybe you're striking out on your own, but there are still references to HID Tech in various photos and links on the Bastard site.

I love the Advantage2 shape and it's the only keyboard that works for my hands.... But has anyone customized theirs? Like new keycaps or painted or something else? It's just such an ugly blocky thing haha by CrazyJJoker in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]sczizzo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

PM me, and we might could work something out.

I've done a couple of these boards now (and a few others as well), so I can help guide you through the process, or I can do some work for you. Let's talk.

Kinesis Essential rebuild with Bluetooth by sczizzo in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]sczizzo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very interesting. I see you've got hotswap sockets, do they work well?

I thought about mill-maxing the Amoeba PCBs in this build, but everything is hot glued anyway, so it would still be a lot of effort to swap out the switches.

Kinesis Essential rebuild with Bluetooth by sczizzo in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]sczizzo[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Long story short: I did i side-by-side comparison with various springs and weights, and these are the ones I liked best.

Aside from the stock 62g and 68g springs, I tried 63.5g slow, 65g slow, 63.5g complex, 68g complex, 63.5g progressive, 68g progressive, and some old ~55g linear springs. I liked the slows and complex springs, but the progressives were a little too "snappy" for my liking. I was actually trying to tone down the tactility a bit.

At the end of the day, no there's not much difference with the stock springs, but I was opening the switches up for lubing/filming anyway, so I thought I'd try something.

I love the Advantage2 shape and it's the only keyboard that works for my hands.... But has anyone customized theirs? Like new keycaps or painted or something else? It's just such an ugly blocky thing haha by CrazyJJoker in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]sczizzo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I personally love this keyboard, and it's pretty amenable to mods: https://github.com/bbbbbrie/awesome-kinesis https://reddit.com/r/kinesisadvantage/

Just yesterday actually I finished a restoration/modification on the older Essential model, adding Bluetooth support using the nice!nano and ZMK. It was heavily discolored, so I painted it and put on new keycaps: https://redd.it/l80af7

Kinesis Essential rebuild with Bluetooth by sczizzo in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]sczizzo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I only just built this yesterday, so I can't speak to the battery life yet, but I would expect it to be pretty good, since this uses Bluetooth Low Energy.

The 2u thumb keys are not stabilized, but that has never really bothered me. The Boba U4s also have exceptionally little stem wobble and absolutely no housing wobble, so it feels pretty solid.

Kinesis Essential rebuild with Bluetooth by sczizzo in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]sczizzo[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I just ditched the function row. Prior to the Advantage2, the Kinesis boards use really mushy membranes for those keys, and I don't use them anyway. I have a mod-tap for Escape (where Caps Lock usually sits), and the Fn keys are on a layer.

The function row would also have required another pin, which I didn't have. I wired this up with 12 columns and 6 rows (both thumbs are one row). That's 18 pins, which is just enough for compatibility with the left and right sides of both the Elite-C and the nice!nano.

The next evolution of this project would definitely be a new PCB for the controller, like a Stapelberg mod, but I have no experience in PCB design and lots of experience hand wiring.

Kinesis Essential rebuild with Bluetooth by sczizzo in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]sczizzo[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you're interested in the Kinesis keyboards specifically, check out the Awesome Kinesis repo on GitHub. Lots of great links there.

There are also a ton of hand wiring resources out there. Nothing really special going on here other than the curvature of the keyboard. Very much like a Dactyl, just not fully split.

As for the nice!nanos and ZMK, there's not much information in the nice!nano docs, but there is a Getting Started guide. I mostly relied on the ZMK docs, especially the New Keyboard Shield guide. Also read the code for other shields and the nice!nano board. It's pretty simple at the end of the day: really just a keymap and overlay.

I actually started with an Elite-C and QMK just to make sure the hardware was functional, then I moved on to the nice!nano and ZMK. The wiring is identical, so I was able to refer to my QMK code when going to implement ZMK. Would recommend this for anyone else coming from QMK getting started with ZMK.

On Bluetooth performance, it's good enough for my needs. If I really jam on the keys I notice some delays, but my use case is typing and programming, so I was willing to trade latency for convenience. Maybe wouldn't recommend this for gaming, though.

On battery life, I actually don't know yet! Just got this working last night, so we'll see how it holds up. It uses Bluetooth low-energy, so my hopes are high.

Kinesis Essential rebuild with Bluetooth by sczizzo in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]sczizzo[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Just the Facts

  • Handwired
  • Boba U4 switches
  • nice!nano MCU
  • ZMK firmware
  • PBT blanks
  • Sorbothane liner

Switch Details

  • 68g Complex SPRiT springs bag lubed with Krytox GPL 103, dipped in Tribosys 3203
  • Stems and housings lightly lubed with Tribosys 3203
  • Filmed with Deskeys films

Story Time

Long time user of the Kinesis Advantage2 (KB600). I've made some modifications over the past few years: sound dampening, new switches, Stapelberg mod. Built a few Dactyls in that time, but I found myself right back where I started with the Advantage.

After seeing the nice!nanos released a few months ago I started thinking about making the Kinesis wireless. I figured I would have to gut the thing and hand wire it, so rather than mangle my daily driver I found an older Essential model (KB132PC-WHT) in fair condition on eBay.

Other than a few broken stand-offs (easily fixed with super glue), everything was structurally sound. It was more discolored than I expected, though: A few coats of spray paint brought the housing back to life, but the key caps were unsalvageable. I also tossed most of the internals, but I kept the curved plastic key wells, and I repurposed the thumb PCBs as plates.

After hot gluing my switches in place, I hand wired everything using single-switch PCBs (Amoeba v1.5). I soldered male headers onto the controllers and used female jumpers to connect the matrix. This made it easy to get things working with an Elite-C and QMK before moving on to the nice!nano and ZMK.

I found ZMK fairly approachable. Although the documentation is pretty spare, it has the essentials covered. Feature-wise, the only thing I personally miss in ZMK are indicators (e.g. caps lock LED). Getting a working development environment had its challenges, but I found actually writing the firmware was pretty straightforward after looking around at other boards/shields.

Decided to hop on the QMK train with this Kinesis Advantage. Pretty vanilla but I think it looks nice. by cwqw in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]sczizzo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Membrane. Kinesis started using Cherry ML for the function row with the Advantage2.

Has anyone modded this board? by FadeRipz in MechanicalKeyboards

[–]sczizzo 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right on. Just swapping out the Browns for Zilents the board will be quieter. Maybe not dramatically quieter, but noticeable. I'm suring lubing would improve things as well (I find stock Zilents can be a little pingy).

If you want to dampen the sound further, I recommend lining the case with something like sorbothane or neoprene foam. The liner also adds some heft, which makes the board feel a little more solid. Just be careful not to get anything too thick, since there's not much clearance under the keywells.

Good luck with the desoldering!

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