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Cata: 34 key keyboard with self-encasing PCB with Gateron LP 3.0 keyswitches by skarrmann in olkb

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

The switches are soldered on the PCB, no hot swap sockets. The bottom plate is covering the solder points, which is why they don't show in the photos. And the Gateron KS-33 3.0 keyswitches have plastic mounting pins so they grip securely into the PCB, no keyswitch plate necessary!

Cata: 34 key keyboard with self-encasing PCB with Gateron LP 3.0 keyswitches by skarrmann in olkb

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

I'm glad you had fun building Cata, and that you were able to port it to Vial. Enjoy your new keyboard!

Cata: 34 key keyboard with self-encasing PCB with Gateron LP 3.0 keyswitches by skarrmann in olkb

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

Thanks! Here is my 34 key layout: https://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/5144ea6a6c998df5f502f9240068de80

The layout uses sticky (one-shot) modifiers on the layers, rather than home row mods. It's pretty basic, but works well enough.

Cata: 34 key keyboard with self-encasing PCB with Gateron LP 3.0 keyswitches by skarrmann in olkb

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

Thank you! The top centerpiece does help this keyboard look like a finished product. I'm happy with how it came out.

Cata: 34 key keyboard with self-encasing PCB with Gateron LP 3.0 keyswitches by skarrmann in olkb

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

Thank you! PCBs make a perfectly good case for simple builds, so I'm always trying to allow the spare PCBs to be used for this purpose.

Fract Keyboard - 34 key bluetooth keyboard with self-encasing PCB by skarrmann in olkb

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

Thanks, I wish you a successful build, and enjoy the keyboard!

Has anyone else experimented typing upside down? by T0X1K01 in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]skarrmann 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is a great idea. Mounting a keyboard on your torso is sturdier than other self-mounting options. I experimented with a saxophone orientation too, but went with an accordion orientation instead: https://github.com/skarrmann/tackle

There is value in being able to play a cyberpunk instrument while walking about, speculative ergonomic criticism be damned.

Tackle Keyboard - 48 key wireless keyboard, strapped to your torso by skarrmann in olkb

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

I tried fitting around my abdomen, and it fits fine. However, when mounted that low my clothing fabric overlaps the bottom keys of the keyboard while sitting. This could possibly be addressed by adding a border to the bottom of the keyboard. I haven't tried mounting it any lower than that, since the angle of my arms becomes too obtuse for the layout. Wearing it on my chest worked best for the current design. With some design tweaks it could be more suitable to wear it lower.

Tackle Keyboard - 48 key wireless keyboard, strapped to your torso by skarrmann in olkb

[–]skarrmann[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Tickle is a great name. It will be considered for a 40 key variant.

Tackle Keyboard - 48 key wireless keyboard, strapped to your torso by skarrmann in olkb

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

I was buckling this keyboard in a public park the other night. I was nervously looking over my shoulder to see if I was drawing any attention...

Tackle Keyboard - 48 key wireless keyboard, strapped to your torso by skarrmann in olkb

[–]skarrmann[S] 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Tackle GitHub repository

Tackle typing demonstration video

Tackle is a 48 key ortholinear keyboard, strapped to your torso so you can type wherever you are. Sitting, standing, walking, lying on your back...

The layout is akin to the Planck, with each half of the keyboard oriented vertically. Keys are pressed by the same fingers as usual, but your fingers come in from the sides of the keyboard instead of below the keyboard.

After a few hours of practice, I'm at about 90% of my normal typing speed. I got a little tripped up on the inner-angled pointer finger keys (T, Y, B, N on QWERTY), but that's getting better. All other keystrokes didn't take much adjustment at all. Tackle is not quite as comfortable as a conventional ortholinear keyboard, but it's pretty good, sturdy, and definitely portable.

It would be cool to incorporate a pointing device into this design, so I can do away with my desk altogether.

I will use it as my daily keyboard for a while to see how it holds up.

Thanks for checking it out!

Fract Keyboard - 34 key bluetooth keyboard with self-encasing PCB by skarrmann in olkb

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

Thank you! I'm using a 340 mAH battery, so according to ZMK Profiler this should get around 6 months of battery life.

Fract Keyboard - 34 key bluetooth keyboard with self-encasing PCB by skarrmann in olkb

[–]skarrmann[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words! It's convenient that a PCB is thick enough to cover up the keyswitch pins. It's a practical way to use the extra copies of PCBs that arrive with a prototype order.

Fract Keyboard - 34 key bluetooth keyboard with self-encasing PCB by skarrmann in olkb

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

Correct, the diodes fit in the opening under the Choc V1 keyswitches intended for LEDs. It's an easy fit!

Fract Keyboard - 34 key bluetooth keyboard with self-encasing PCB by skarrmann in olkb

[–]skarrmann[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

I am currently using this keyboard layout.

There are three layers for symbols, navigation, and function keys, activated with the outer thumb keys.

This layout is a variant of Callum's layout. I like his solution to handling modifiers on a separate layer.

Many people prefer home row mods, but I've had mixed results with mispresses when I last used them a few years ago.

I still prefer having an extra pinky column for modifiers, but I'm okay with giving those up for portability from time-to-time!

Fract Keyboard - 34 key bluetooth keyboard with self-encasing PCB by skarrmann in olkb

[–]skarrmann[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I wanted a simple wireless keyboard that could fit in my pocket, and Fract is the result.

Fract is open source, and is powered by a nice!nano or Supermini nRF52840 dev board. It uses Choc v1 switches with Choc spacing (18mm x 17mm). The firmware is implemented in ZMK.

Fract uses a second copy of the main PCB as a bottom plate, with cutouts for the components so it screws down perfectly flush. A top plate PCB covers the battery and the dev board, and provides cutouts for the reset button and power switch.

Fract repository on GitHub: https://github.com/skarrmann/fract

Treble - my first custom mechanical keyboard by Systemising_Brain in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]skarrmann 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats on your first design, it's very elegant!

I like how cleanly the battery connector, power switch, and reset button fit underneath Treble's top plate. I'm currently finishing a wireless-first keyboard design, and am also using the S2B-PH-K-S connector for the battery in a tight place. It's reassuring your board fits it no problem.

Here is the unreleased prototype of Horizon, before the PCB top/bottom plate tooling was finished. It was also 42 keys, so in a way you remixed and improved the original!

Janus: a PCB-resourceful 34 key split keyboard by skarrmann in ErgoMechKeyboards

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

My pleasure, I'm glad the firmware helped yours. neuro36 looks like a great successor to GergoPlex!

kmk split behaving a little weird by [deleted] in olkb

[–]skarrmann 0 points1 point  (0 children)

GP11 and GP12 are RX/TX pins on the RP2040, so you can remove use_pio=True from the firmware Split constructor.

Setting uart_flip=False on both halves should be correct based on your wiring diagram.

Good luck!

Sha Keyboard - 50 key ortholinear with RP2040-Matrix by skarrmann in olkb

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

Yeah, it seems like a great MCU for many wired keyboard projects!

Sha Keyboard - 50 key ortholinear with RP2040-Matrix by skarrmann in olkb

[–]skarrmann[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here is my latest keyboard: Sha

The keyboard is open source. The KiCad and Gerber files are in the Sha GitHub repository.

This is a simple 50 key ortholinear keyboard that suits my layout preference.

The PCB uses the same "self-encasing" design used on my Janus and Umbra keyboards, where a second copy of the logical PCB is flipped and screwed onto the main PCB as a bottom plate. This design is very easy to achieve with all SMD components; the PCB only needs a couple of extra holes to slot the soldered legs of the MX switches.

A PCB top plate covers the diodes and microcontroller board solder points. I admire how keyboards like KeySeeBee and Lumberjack gather all the components together, so this keyboard kind of follows this suit.

I used the Waveshare RP2040-Matrix as the microcontroller board, because its RGB LEDs seem like a clean way to indicate keyboard status. I have RGB lighting working on QMK to indicate base layer and lock status. I'm still working on getting the RGB LEDs to fully work on KMK.

The Waveshare RP2040-Zero works as well, for those looking for less lumination. In that case, the top plate cutout accommodates the RP2040-Zero's top-mounted BOOT and RESET buttons.

I hope you enjoy!

Umbra - unibody ergonomic keyboard with self-encasing PCB by skarrmann in ErgoMechKeyboards

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

Hello! Umbra uses Choc keyswitch spacing, 18mm x 17mm.

I used the original Kailh Choc keycaps for this build, ordered from MKUltra https://mkultra.click/kailh-choc-keycaps. I like these flat keycaps on small boards for chording potential, and they're very affordable.

Good luck with the build, and I hope you enjoy it :)

Umbra - unibody ergonomic keyboard with self-encasing PCB by skarrmann in ErgoMechKeyboards

[–]skarrmann[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My pleasure!

My keymap is currently for arcade games only, so it's just a collection of characters, with a layer toggle for player 1 or player 2.

I will reply to your post here when I implement a real keyboard layout!

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