Mechanical Keyboards

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.

This is "krill" a 3d printed, handwired 40% keyboard I designed using FreeCAD.

Bottom:

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…

Hey, thought I'd try our collective knowledge :)

I'm using layers as in this post, i.e.:

but when I hold the MO(1) button, the "a" button doesn't do anything.. qwesdzxcv just fine, but not the "a"... while that button works just as intended on layer 0.

What could this be?

I'm using Vial for the keymap config, if that helps. Thanks for your thoughts!

I'm not finding any place where people share their keymap config (if that's the right way to refer to how you've configured which key has which actions bound to it), so here goes mine - and I hope to have feedback and to be inspired by yours, as well!

From some awesome inspiration, I updated the setup :-) thanks!

I moved the layer switcher to the left hand, and moved backspace to my thumb, so I don't strain my pinky so much.

I moved the arrows to right under my right hand... and added a button to make the switch to this gamer layer permanent. So basically, to go from layer 0 to layer 1 permanently, hold left thumb button, tap right thumb button. Tap left thumb button to switch back to layer 0.

And I added a num pad, also right under my right hand, where I'd expect it.

original: I just got my first mech keyboard with fewer keys than a 'regular' keyboard, and set it up this way:

with the TG(1) switching to layer 2 for gaming/some extra symbols:

and the home row is modded to GASC like in https://precondition.github.io/home-row-mods#how-to-use-home-row-mods with 160ms tapping term.

I am mostly struggling to get used to this way of typing and I still spend a lot of time on finding symbols, or correcting extra or missed keystrokes. But, I'll try to update this when I have more experience. Critique away!

Are not all keyboards mechanical?

Fun to see/hear something from before the hobby blew up, but after Model M's were "retro."

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/53920465

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.bestiver.se/post/764478

Comments

I accidentally soldered a switch on crooked. I got the switch off the board but i'm having trouble cleaning out the holes so i can put a new switch in.

Can this switch footprint be saved after being clogged with solder and melted a little, or should i try to get the other switches off and start over on a new board?

And what's the best way to desolder these switches if i have to remove the rest?

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.

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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/37481146

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.

My current understanding is that GPIO are normal pins that can be wired to the rows and columns, but what of VBUS, VSYS, 3V3, and all the others that aren't just GPIO or GND? And how should the ground pins be used here?

The schematic currently doesn't include the trackpoint because i'm planning to hand wire it and the MCU to the PCB, so i can put them under the PCB in the case and i don't have to try to fit them onto the board. Is there a better way to connect these that won't require adding a bunch of space to the board to fit the MCU?

I was counting my boards a few weeks ago and realized I had enough to post one every week for the next year. I'm three weeks into this project, and recently discovered an app called Keebuilder. I've been using it to catalog and share my builds as I take images every week. Over the years I've built so many I've forgotten what I built them with, so am using Keebuilder to index that info as I look up my receipts. Soon enough I'll finally have a database of all of my builds, thanks to Keebuilder.

OC text by @Moltz@lemmy.ml

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.

Even if you have the fanciest switches and a monolithic aluminum case, bad stabilizers can make a keyboard feel and sound like garbage. Luckily, there's a growing ecosystem of weirdly fancy stabilizers that can upgrade your typing experience, packing an impressive amount of innovation into a few tiny bits of plastic and metal.

ending:

Still, a good-quality set of stabilizers, properly installed and lubricated, is probably the best upgrade you can make to a mechanical keyboard in spite of tariffs. The duty paid on a $20–30 item won't break the bank, and it really will make your keyboard better.