It’d be pretty easy for someone to take the design and make a more typical “naked” base plate etc.

I am having trouble getting the chassis to a point that I’m happy with the appearance. I also made some mistakes in the PCB edge cuts that make it harder again. All part of the learning process I guess.

Either way, once done I’d like for this to be at least as robust as any commercial product so that I can put it in a backpack easily/safely

OLED?

I have an updated set of caps that I’ll order soon, I’m currently tinkering with the backlight glyphs. Still not quite satisfied.

Do you know if their system allows to share designs as a starting point? I know you can save for later.

I like your caps idea, I toyed with dye sublimation but then decided against that (clear stickers would have been way easier).

Thanks! I was happy-ish with the result. I created the font from a handwritten script I use when I send greeting cards. I didn’t find a way to keep the ink from rubbing off though, so they never lasted very long. I tried lacquering them, but likely didn’t do a very good job - I can be aggravatingly impatient.

My encoders are mostly mapped to arrow keys.

I think that’s almost what I’d do too - I’d like an easier way to select text when composing email/whatever, so I dream of a single key whole-word select function. I’d map it to a (variable) shift arrow, depending on whether I’m on the MacBook or the windows box.

Side note - I noticed your map has both windows and Mac specific commands - I didn’t know that was possible. Are these separate layers, or is the keyboard somehow aware of the OS it is attached to?

Not everything needs to be about practicality. Even tho I don't really understand the world of "ergo mech keyboards" I deeply admire the passion and creativity flourishing from this community. Cheers to you!