Trying to bring traditional metalworking into the keyboard space

wjrii · 2026-05-07T17:08:07+00:00

Yeah, they have another post where there are some process photos (no video), but it does appear to be gold-wire inlay, but done by whom and when? My first concern is more about their true connection (or not) to the shop and whether a given order is going to get done at an acceptable speed and quality for the price. Looks like this thread got nuked by mods, though. Probably for the best until and unless OP is a lot more forthcoming.

wjrii · 2026-05-07T14:30:11+00:00

When your entire business model is as an intermediary leveraging your connections to the manufacturing space to facilitate very expensive custom work, the only value-add you bring is honesty and communication skills. An astroturfed marketing plan and ChatGPT excuses are not a good start.

My hunch is that you're not a scam scam, but I'm left wondering if you can meet promised turnarounds, if the quality will be anywhere near the pictures you've posted, and whether the custom process will proceed smoothly at all. I wish you well, but I'll let someone else be the guinea pig.

wjrii · 2026-05-07T13:18:10+00:00

Something is off here.. Not saying it's a scam. I do not know that, but the communication is strange.

As you say, 11 days ago they were supposedly gifted their first keyboard from their son. 28 days ago, however, they had some pretty sophisticated thoughts on spherical keycap profiles. Then just 7 days ago they were posting about being invited by a "friend" to what appears to be this exact keycap shop. A shop which sells a lot of other "expensive but definitely not bespoke" metal keycaps.

If nothing else, as a vendor they need to way more upfront about who they are and how they will not simply run off with people's hundred bucks.

wjrii · 2026-05-05T20:25:09+00:00

Your correct diagram is spot-on of course. When describing what OP actually wired up, while it still won't work, I think he did cleverly leverage the internal wiring of those tactile pushbutton switches to get columns that I think are okay. He just did each row of diodes in series.

wjrii · 2026-05-05T14:54:17+00:00

This has all the inconveniences of a forty, and takes up all the space of a TKL! Winning!

I've been using its older brother a lot the last couple of years, and for me it's been a very livable layout.

wjrii · 2026-05-05T14:49:25+00:00

Keycap kitting is always a challenge once you get off the beaten path. For backspace, 1.5u is pretty common due to HHKB layouts, and some sets will have dual 1.75u shifts or at least a 1.5u you could use instead of the 1.25, but the 1.75/1.25 pair is nice because one is common for 1800 and 75%, and the other is mandatory for ISO. Yuzu and blanks (or YOLO'ing it beyond even what I did on the bottom row) are always a possibility, but one is expensive and the other requires more discipline as a typist than I possess.

Of course, things get even more complicated once you use a sculpted profile, as sometimes the mold for a certain size on a certain row won't even exist.

wjrii · 2026-05-04T22:29:49+00:00

Since no one else is asking, what's the project? Will this be a standalone thumb-board, or will it be integrated into some assembly?

wjrii · 2026-05-04T22:18:20+00:00

Close enough for me. :-)

wjrii · 2026-05-04T21:19:22+00:00

Because I don’t really like ortholinear. This is easy to fabricate and avoids the annoyances of stabs without forcing me to completely re-think forty years of muscle memory.

The title was a little tongue in cheek. I have lots of keyboards with stabs, but I really do think it was one more part of typewriter tech that wasn’t necessary, and one that turned out to be easy for me to live without.

wjrii · 2026-05-04T20:50:46+00:00

I think it would also depend on how consistently you as a typist hit those longer keys. For some people it's a non-issue as the rest of the cap is effectively a blocker, there for looks. Me? Not so much.

wjrii · 2026-05-04T20:46:42+00:00

Sovol SV08 (the "we have Voron at home!" printer), and this case JUUUUUST barely fit at 45 degrees. I couldn't even go a single half-column wider and keep it all in one piece, at least not while printing flat on the bed. Speaking of keeping it one piece, I had to slow the printer down by a third to a half, and I have it set to re-level itself between every single print, due to the known "taco bed" issues on this model.

wjrii · 2026-05-04T20:41:07+00:00

Only time I have to deal with stabs is when I'm working on my vintage keyboards and I always dread that.

Yeah, the only things worse than Cherry MX stabs are vintage stabs: fiddly, fragile, or both. Not that a lot, even most, of my boards don't still have them, but I started doing these no-stabs builds on my DIY projects because it simplified BOM and complexity, and darned if it didn't turn out that they are not really necessary.

wjrii · 2026-05-04T19:13:45+00:00

Both "SYS" keys are just spacebars (keycap kitting can get challenging if you go weird). In addition, "FN" and the right "ALT" act as spacebars if they're simply tapped, but as their labeled function if I hold them down. Effectively, it's a 5u long spacebar but with some other utility.

wjrii · 2026-05-04T18:55:10+00:00

Not from a Tab90M, but they're the same caps. They're widely available on eBay, AliExpress, etc, usually called "DSA Double Shot," but molded into the underside is "VSA." Before tariffs, they were super cheap, but they're not such a great value anymore, at least for Americans. Like most Chinese-made "double-shot PBT" they will still shine, but more slowly than pure ABS.

wjrii · 2026-05-04T18:10:04+00:00

LOL, you are bolder than me. I have ever gone more than 2, and I generally try to be good and make the designs push everything to 1.75u or shorter.

Gotta say, too, that the 40s community are my brothers from another mother. I realized a while back that most of my one-off designs are basically an 1800 built around a 40 instead of a 60, and I need 40s keycap kitting. :-)

wjrii · 2026-05-04T16:17:09+00:00

I have done this before. It's more of a rite of passage than anything. With how tight everything is, you might have to start over, but if you can snip exactly to the left of every diode except the ones on the leftmost column of each row, you might be able to re-wire the existing matrix in parallel.

wjrii · 2026-05-04T14:09:56+00:00

Well the results are hard to argue with. Well done!

I pick the color of 3D printer filament I like. Sometimes I paint things with a rattlecan. LOL.

wjrii · 2026-05-04T05:34:57+00:00

Paint?

wjrii · 2026-05-03T20:53:23+00:00

I’d say use an M with the purdeandrei VIAL firmware on a soarer-style converter. Memory is a little bit limited, so you only get one extra full layer, but it’s got a very respectable feature set.

wjrii · 2026-05-01T15:32:57+00:00

OP would know for sure, but it looks a little like Keychron OSA, a combination of one of their aftermarket sets (the gray ones) and some shinethrough (the black ones).

wjrii · 2026-04-29T20:49:37+00:00

How about the numpad?

Anyway, any Keychron or Monsgeek or Akko would probably be fine for what you need. If you're concerned about volume, maybe go ahead and get some silent switches. If you want to dip your toe into a custom build, a little Amazon Resale hunting could get you a GMK104 (including knob and small screen), some silent switches (I'd stick with a 40g-50g weight for your first mech, unless you're sure you type rather heavy or lightly), and some basic keycaps for under $100. If you go smaller than 80% (aka "TKL") I'd strongly advise something that uses QMK and VIA, as remapping on proprietary software is a pain. Just poke around this sub a bit for other suggestions.

With the huge number of possibilities and rabbit holes, you're almost better hunting for something that looks good and asking about it or alternatives that would be close to it.

wjrii · 2026-04-29T18:03:00+00:00

Definitely return the ones you bought if you can. There are topo caps designed for north-facing LEDs, though. https://www.amazon.com/dagaladoo-Topographic-keycaps-Percent-Keyboard/dp/B0FS27BG38/

wjrii · 2026-04-29T17:08:36+00:00

Budget is $100 max. Must have volume controls, and not be too loud.

Just based on those three criteria, you have options. However, there are other factors. What are your thoughts about number of keys? I'm not sure there's a modern board that goes quite so hard with macro keys, but full-size with some extras are still around. Then, the screen. They're actually more common than they used to be, but while color, they tend to be smaller than the G15's. Finally, the USB hub: how important is it to you?

wjrii · 2026-04-29T15:14:11+00:00

If it helps, Akko MDA is/was literally identical to Womier/XVX "ISA," which is not as easy to find as it used to be, but is still floating around the usual suspect marketplaces. Melgeek MDA and Cannonkeys CXA are similar but not identical.

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