MsErgo4k+CherryBn+TenKeyLess+G15+FootSwith+Abs plastic fab+TEkeyStaggering

[Lanx]

That's a staggering amount of work you've put into that D: It looks amazing

*glances in the direction of her two dead MS 4000s, then down at her G80-8963*

If only I wasn't sure that any attempt I made at something similar wouldn't be doomed to horrible failure >.>; That and it really is pretty daunting D:

You do realize, though, that the ultimate version of this mod would be to order some odd colored LEDs and get some doubleshots that worked for backlighting XD Well, maybe not quite ultimate, since that would need laserz and the ability to fly /nod. But it would be quite neat.

Maybe in v3? =P

Do you think it would be possible to re-use the 4000's keycaps (probably would require cutting up some MX keycaps for the stem attachment and epoxying to 4000 caps)?

on the question of keycaps i've been looking over both the ms4k and g15 keycaps. If i had to repurpose any of them i'd try the g15 since they are for backlight and for illumination but that would take a lot of work and it won't look as nice since the g15 stems are wider than cherries so you'd have to essentially cut off the g15 stems and glue on cherry stems but then you'd have a big glue splotch on your illuminated key so that would defeat the purpose of it looking nice (i can't look at the g15 keys for long, it was a used ebay g15 and the keys are nasty!).

But what would you want to repurpose the ms 4k keycaps for?

i plan on just using the dolche doubleshots, i've made the keys wide enough so that i wouldn't have to cut up any keys (the slant where "a" meets caps and z meets shift for instance, barely anyroom).

[taswyn]

But what would you want to repurpose the ms 4k keycaps for?

Mostly to have the curved keys (especially the space) to fit the casing snug... but of course the upside to using the mx keycaps is you're using doubleshots, so that's sort of a wash.

If i had to repurpose any of them i'd try the g15 since they are for backlight and for illumination but that would take a lot of work and it won't look as nice since the g15 stems are wider than cherries so you'd have to essentially cut off the g15 stems and glue on cherry stems but then you'd have a big glue splotch on your illuminated key so that would defeat the purpose of it looking nice

If I were going to do a backlight mod, I think I would try using keycaps (may as well use switches too) from a tg3. Not all of them would be the right size, but you could at least have the letters and numbers using illuminated keys... really it's not like you need the rest lit up. That is, unless standard white on black keycap doubleshots are translucent enough for backlighting to work with them...

I think I need to get something with doubleshots to play with >.> Now that I've started thinking about this I'm not sure I can unthink it =X

[Lanx]

yea a tg3 backlight keycaps were kinda in my mind, i wouldn't need the switches really, could just put in whatever color leds i liked, but at some point even I have to say... stop! heh. back lighting really is going way out of my scope for the v2, as you said, maybe a v3 (i think i'd kill myself) but for now the g15 lcd is surprisingly blinding.
Repurposing the ms4k keys wouldn't really be useful in this case since i'm not staggering the keys and the ms4k keys are made in a way to "fill in" gaps (such as ghbnty, they are all a little bigger) and i always thought the ms4k space bar was rather nasty feeling, tho the gap in space does irk me, can't do much about it, maybe if these ps2 controller mods pan out, i won't have to.

[Lanx]

get good with the volcanoes now , working on the right side


both sides wired up (just have to connect both sides together, this is layer one, i'll show layer 2 with the plastic in the coming days). and beaded glueing, i guess i'll get better at the glue.

[msiegel]

lanx, you're an inspiration.

those slabs of fiberglass are turning into art

[Lanx]

lanx, you're an inspiration.

those slabs of fiberglass are turning into art

thx kind words,

related note, teensy programming is scrapped for this v2 mod, it was a late edition mod to be put in anyway, and learning how to program
(i was a horrible student at programming anyway)
would have taken too long and i wouldn't get any soldering done
maybe for v3
just like i'll pretty much just rely on g15 for backlighting no other backlights or illuminated keys, again maybe for v3.

[Lanx]

time to do some physical modding. putting in epoxy here and gonna spray it, basically filling in the gaps and trying to make it look nice, note i later sanded it down, somehow finger prints show really well otherwise.


While that's drying/ hardening time to make volcanos!


volcano making got easier, even with no solder rings.


mock up basically left side, and right side 3 column, i had to redo the right side section to fit better, then i'll have to solder it up and wires and all.

question i have for myself is... do i want a ps3 keyboard? look at the joystick! it actually fits moves nicely, i'm on the fence here.

[WhiteRice]

Heck yea. Get some mouse buttons on there are you have your very own lanx/guru hybrid going on.

[taswyn]

Eeee, it's looking so good ^o^

question i have for myself is... do i want a ps3 keyboard? look at the joystick! it actually fits moves nicely, i'm on the fence here.

And that looks neat too, but would it interfere with actually using it as a keyboard, in terms of typing?

[Lanx]

masking out the sides with scotchtape, i don't have painters tape laying around so i hope this works if not, no big deal i guess.


got a template made for the final physical mod (almost) the spacebar, i put a piece of paper to fit and poked lots of holes, came out with this.


putty'in up the space bar pcb and gonna cut it.


basically it cut to fit, just had to dremel a bit on the sides, but not bad.


spacebar pcb sprayed.


forgot to show that i putty'd up the right side and cut the wrist rest to fit too, looks nicer w/o all the glare and no gaping holes!


this is the underside of it all assembled and screwed in, time solder the connecting sections together, this is gonna be an even bigger undertaking than soldering alone since it's gonna be lots of criss cross, this is what i call the second layer, first layer was directly to pcb, now we're solding directly to wire. which is why i also took so much time dremeling out holes and sections so i could see each solder joint while the pcb was attached to the frame.


i bought a psp joystick controller too, it's the really small one, just to see how it'd fit, i don't know i think i'm keeping the right thumb/ space bar. I seem to only use the right thumb anyway for space so i could fully use the right thumb for a joystick switch for up/down/left/right => for modifiers shift/alt/ctrl (and don't know last one maybe space).

[WhiteRice]

Looking good Lanx, keep it up!

[Lanx]

so like i need help, the wires coming out of my g15 are getting unwieldy and i think i need stuff but i have no idea what they're called.
i need this


connected to this


with these wires ends connected to the keyboard wires


to end up with this.


basically i want the wires coming out of the g15 controller to connect to a breadboard, with the header pin things, then i want the keyboard wires connected to the black thing.

definitions please! i don't know electronics.

[msiegel]

Show Image

i know that's perfboard

Show Image

and those look like some kind of right angle headers

Show Image

EDIT: aha, they seem to be female breadboard jumper cables

[Lanx]

thx, now to find a place to buy it all from.

[Lanx]

i can only find the wires on ebay i guess as long as i look for
breadboard/perfboard female jumper with 0.1 spacing i'm good
but the ebay sellers are from china, they take like 10days need to find US source!

[msiegel]

although i don't know if they'll have everything you want, i've had good results ordering from Jameco

[Lanx]

so here's the second layer that i'm talking about basically pass the raw pcb stage, we're doing it through plastic.
I did not anticipate how difficult this would be, even with my planned ahead drilled holes that exposes all the keys. I have to wriggle around every which way and then i smell something weird and i notice i'm melting abs plastic cuz i have my solder iron at an obtuse angle. I'm telling you I'm getting weird smells from the solder then from the accidental abs melting along with the solder burning up old spray paint.
Trying to learn to solder with my left hand while i have a wire in place is also impossible, it's like learning to write with your opposite hand really, oh how i wish i were ambidexterous now.


one it's all soldered on i'll then hot glue all the wires down, notice my horrible attempts at organizing this mess of wires by passing some through a heatshrink wrap.

[Fishraper]

Have you gone to a radioshack? They carry stuff like that.

If you can't find it there, I used to use http://www.digikey.com for school.

[Lanx]

yea the shack ain't got nuttin for me.

[Lanx]

i wanted to do a cost page, for my own records so i'm just going to list stuff.
used ms4k 30$
used cherry 8200 30$
footswitch 6$
used g15 15$
assorted micro switches 5$
breadboard/wires/headers 10$
spray paint 5$
sandpaper 5$ assorted (i had some modeling sandpaper left around somewhere too, this was like 300 grit built into a nail file, kinda nice)
putty 9$
ps2/ps1 controller 5$
psp controller switch 4$

tools used (either puchased exclusively for this mod or had lying around as a cost of what it "takes" for this)
dremel $60 (had it since 99!)
hakko936 $80 (i soldered my v1 with a radio shack iron, there is no way i was going through that again, need a quality iron for so many switches or you'll just wait forever for it to heat up)
glue gun/sticks $10
drill/bits $10/$5
air blower/vaccum (air blower is almost essential to get all the bits out of the way so is vaccum, not gonna list price tho, too basic but airblower was about 40$)
wire stripper/exacto knife (few bucks, if you are going to be "cutting" plastic get a nice blade like exacto or a modeling knife)
safety glasses/surgical mask/work gloves 20$ (protect yourself and your fingers!)

[msiegel]

these guys are having a sale... they may have some parts you need

[Lanx]

thx, i think i might take a trip out to a larger radioshack instead i guess, the one in the mall

i'm having an inkling of where i want the new thumb buttons
here i have the psp joystick, if you notice it is like amazingly small, i might actually put that stick there and idk maybe use the ps2 joystick in the middle. but then i need someway to have like trackpoint logic!


here's the mass of spaghetti wiring, i'm trying to at least organize it by color, red is for columns. so that is done.


here i got the rows 80% done, (i couldn't take soldering anymore) it's in blue, i guess it makes sense, but i'm running out of blue wire! (used it on the nostromo mod, apparently a lot of wiring).

[Lanx]

90% done soldering!, well just the hard cherry keys, i still have to solder a few loner keys (like ctrl/alt/shift) i have to find out where i want space and mod that, i have to figure out what i want the middle strip to be (the 2 keys between G-H) most likely backspace on top and enter on the bottom. Then i have to solder 5 cherry macro keys figure out how i want to do this footswitch, solder on back/foward (which will be macros) then solder on microswitches for all the media keys.
but 90% of the 86keys are ready basically.

Then i'll have to figure out my g15 lcd issue (i really don't want to give up the lcd, it's really cool!)
then once that's finished, hardmount the pcb then connect the lcd "somewhere" find a spot for where i want the foot pedal to connect, and find a space for the usb hub as well.
Then if have time find out where i want to slip in some leds from the g15.

this thing will most likely physically work once i get my breadboard/header/wire order in, i still havent tested out any switches/columns, i'm basically hoping i soldered everything correctly and relying solely on planning.

[Lanx]

testing out the soldering and controller and so far so good (don't have enough 30awg gotta get more later to finish). However one thing i notice, is that i do not need a numpad anymore. To some it may sound weird but once you see it, it's amazing how much better i am with the numrow now that it's not staggered. I always had an issue with neighboring keys on the numrow cuz they were really staggered, however, with a non staggered layout, i get the numrow keys 100% of the time. I mean it's as simple as counting my fingers! (with the exception of both indexes)

[Lanx]

f radioshack, went to 2 one in a big mall and one in a tiny strip mall, both had nothing i could use and didn't even have 30gauge hookup wire either. (they had 24gauge max and it was solid not stranded, i like more bendy wire). Gonna have to ebay 30gauge wire after the holidays.

[taswyn]

If you have any old, broken headsets/speakers, you can unwind the coils in them, the magnet wire for the audio coil may be 30awg, especially in smaller drivers like in headsets. Of course, you have to deal with burning off the enamel at the ends, then, but it's much lighter/more flexible than with a plastic sleeve for insulation.

[J888www]

@ OP

Amazing, truly a keyboardholic.

[Lanx]

came back home/ unpacked/ got tons of mail and stuff!
decided to mount the space bar this way, it's mounted and feels AWESOME, idk maybe i'll start a new trend with this inverted bar but this way the keys don't "cut" into my skin and thumb and just feels more natural.


i got these headers and .1in to finally connect my controller to, guess i'll start after i get a few work projects squared away first, can't be homeless and modding!


my next few projects, i know sounds stupid... altoids? check out the headphone thread and i think i'll do a cmoy to learn more about electronics. Trackball? i think i'll try to mod a modern laser mouse into it, i'll see (so far deathaddler doesn't register well).

[msiegel]

inverted space bar!
great idea, noted for future modding

is that gap between the space bar and the main block *just the right size*, or would it be even better a slightly different size?

[Lanx]

more clarification on how it looks from the right side (note my fingers aren't really in typing position cuz i'm holding the keyboard with my jaw and using my left hand to take a pic, yea i know too lazy to whip out the tripod).

is that gap between the space bar and the main block *just the right size*, or would it be even better a slightly different size?

yea that's all basically the perfect "sized to fit" for my thumb to rest on it.