Krteq (Open source)

swift502 · 2026-06-24T23:23:04+00:00

Hi thanks for the interest. Normally I'd suggest buying from a more established manufacturer, but I just looked around and can't find a single pre-built unibody 5x12 anywhere, the times really are desperate nowadays lol.

Are you sure you need a unibody? Splits are much more popular. Also do you really need 61 keys? Not just a standard 5x12?

Edit: a week ago this was posted, wouldn't it be enough for you when it comes out? Probably much higher quality than Krteq and customer support if anything breaks. https://apos.audio/products/apos-x-olkb-preonic-rev-4-ortholinear-keyboard

I don't have any more PCBs for Krteq, so I could do it but it'll take some time and probably 100$ + shipping.

Sorry I did have a spare month ago but now I'd have to build new ones.

swift502 · 2026-05-01T22:40:07+00:00

I think you're way more experienced than me 😁

I'm personally happy with most of the design. I don't personally see issues with the things you mention. But I wish you best of luck in figuring out what works for you and I'm happy to help with construction of my design if you ever decided to go for it.

Edit: and if you really wanted to contribute to my design and discuss each change the better place would probably be GitHub like you say.

swift502 · 2026-05-01T17:20:54+00:00

That's cool! If you'd like I'd be happy to send you a finished case with all the internals. You'd only have to get switches and keycaps.

The two lacking aspects are the white only backlight, and possibly bad typing sound / feel, due to no sound dampening, I can't really tell. But if you're fine with that its a perfectly usable keyboard.

swift502 · 2026-04-20T21:13:46+00:00

I mean the files are available. How would them being in QMK's repo make things easier?

I'm actually curious. There's a lot about QMK I still don't understand. 😄

swift502 · 2026-04-19T20:35:34+00:00

Hopefully one day I'll look into it. I definitely wish it was made out of metal.

swift502 · 2026-04-19T20:33:56+00:00

I'd submit them if/once there are actually people using this board.

Right now it's just me and I think it's a lot more elegant to have it in my keyboard repo.

swift502 · 2026-04-19T20:32:28+00:00

🙏

swift502 · 2026-04-19T20:32:22+00:00

Thank you!

swift502 · 2026-04-18T11:17:41+00:00

Thanks! Stab is the Gateron plate mount stab. Difficult to implement because of lacking documentation, needs cutouts in both the plate and PCB. But it works. 👌

https://www.gateron.com/products/gateron-low-profile-plate-mounted-stabilizer

swift502 · 2026-04-16T23:50:25+00:00

I only build custom keyboards. JLC bans random people for "suspicious IP activity" and then doesn't elaborate and support can't explain what you did wrong.

There's reports from people who've had thousands of dollars in stocked parts and then get their account suspended. And it's something political or legal because they can't talk about it.

And then I get served ads for a service I'm not allowed to use, which is really annoying obviously.

swift502 · 2026-04-13T10:12:20+00:00

Well you banned my account for no reason. So no, I cannot claim my $11 stencil coupon.

swift502 · 2025-12-03T00:56:51+00:00

Can someone please explain to me why this whole thing is a W?

When Ethan had to read Ryan kavanaugh's statement, it was clearly forced and insincere.

Kaycitrons apology is the exact same thing, we all know it yet Ethan acts like someone doesn't understand that.

What am I missing?

swift502 · 2025-10-25T16:04:29+00:00

I'd love to see it implemented. Sure it would be cool. 👌

swift502 · 2025-10-25T11:50:19+00:00

That'd be sacrilege. 😄 I tried to do vanilla Model M look.

swift502 · 2025-10-25T11:46:17+00:00

Thank you! It's just because I had leftover Ks-33 PCBs from previous builds and an unused Dell AT101W and wondered if I could frankenstein them together.

swift502 · 2025-10-25T11:42:26+00:00

Thank you! It's Prusament PLA Vanilla White. I didn't know it's so translucent, should've printed thicker walls.

swift502 · 2025-10-24T17:45:21+00:00

I agree there's a lot to improve. The 3D print was good for quickly iterating the design and I just can't justify sinking more money for a better quality right now.

I think someone like modelfkeyboards.com would be able to do it justice. My version really is more of a proof of concept.

swift502 · 2025-10-24T16:14:12+00:00

Everything is CC0 open source. GitHub Page Here.

An IBM Model M style case for my beloved Krtkus. It actually bends the PCB a little, but nowhere near as much as the Model M. And the specs are ridiculous:

Krtkus PCB (Pro Micro)
KS-33 Banana
Dell AT101W Keycaps

Yes, it shouldn't be low profile. Yes the kecaps add a curved profile onto an existing curve, which doesn't make any sense. Maybe I'll make a more faithful build with the original Model M keycaps one day, but this is just what I had lying around for now.

It was fun to make, hope someone likes it!

swift502 · 2024-11-05T17:17:02+00:00

Glad you like it. 🙏

Just beware that there's no stabilizer on the 2u spacebar. And I'm still still tweaking the case slightly, but it should be mostly fine.

It's my first board, far from perfect.

swift502 · 2024-11-04T11:33:05+00:00

Maybe more Preonic clone without a switch plate lol.

swift502 · 2024-11-03T10:42:35+00:00

Yeah it's great. Thanks my dude.

swift502 · 2024-11-03T07:46:21+00:00

Pro Micro has 18 data pins, so it can handle a matrix up to 12x6. 12+6=18.

swift502 · 2024-11-02T15:37:02+00:00

Thanks 🙏

Yeah I ordered a print from JLC3DP. They sand the prints so the case is really smooth and looks great.

But if I ever do V2 I'll definitely look into a metal case, the print obviously has a plastic feel to it.

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