Kinesis new case construction?

[hayesdaniel]

Hey all,

I recently disassembled my 10 year old advantage to give it a well needed deep cleaning and it occurred to me how much empty space there is in the case. I also dislike the hollow plastic construction, especially when I switch to something like a newer apple keyboard.

It seems like it wouldn't be incredibly difficult to have something 3D printed that used the existing internals but had a slimmer profile and a more solid construction.

My day job is in VFX so I'm no stranger to 3D software, but I'm a CAD noob, so I'm not sure how to approach setting up where the existing hardware would fit in. Scanning would probably be too expensive for my budget so careful work with a ruler is probably what needs to happen, so I thought I'd ask some of the experts what their opinions might be.

(Obviously I wouldn't sell it or anything, this would just be a personal project.)

Thanks very much in advance!

Dan

[Input Nirvana]

Check the link in my sig for the split Kinesis. There is a pic of a caseless advantage with a trackball. Are you thinking of a skeleton case or just an angular, thinner profile? I have some ideas, but be more specific of what you want to see.

-skeleton
-caseless
-thin, angular, Italian looking design
-1 piece or 2 piece
-material

I had some thoughts of making a series of Kinesis mods, not just one.

[hoggy]

The empty space makes it easier to mod...

Kinesis could change the design so it would be easy for the owner to add a trackball, a touchpad or a set of programmable buttons.  Just a thought.

[Architect]

I've looked for ways to utilize that space in the past, the best non modding solutions are trackpads or trackballs. The problem is that they both suffer from ergonomic problems (for me at least), the hand is in an unnatural place (front row center) for critical mousing activities, which can really cause injuries. The best solution would probably be to use a programmable/remappable keypad, maybe one of the XKeys, but I haven't looked into that.

Given that disclaimer, you can get usually get trackpads or slim trackballs to work by attaching tallish rubber feet to the bottom (3 ideally) to balance in the center. Even a large trackpad like the Apple can be made to work. The best trackball is the Marble mouse, which fits perfectly there (or almost) with three rubber feet. Again I didn't find this too ergonomic, even though it seemed perfect.

I'd be really tempted to try a numpad but I've got other things brewing.

[erw]

Caseless looks badass. Pic from input nirvana's article:


Is it your own pic? It looks like something from a movie.
Can a caseless mod be done in a reversible way? (I'm getting there, but still not completely comfy with modding such an expensive piece of hardware) (And where did the F-keys go?)

[hayesdaniel]

Thanks for the replies!

I'm not so interested in adding stuff to it, more just an aesthetic mod, mostly for fun and education.

Something that might not look out of place around apple stuff, with a metal/plastic case and a solid-feeling construction.

"thin, angular, Italian looking design" would be pretty accurate, I think.

I was imagining if I could get the dimensions of the existing top section of the case, I could re-create the important sections and modify the rest to taste. It's of course not particularly trivial to do that,  but maybe someone has a good solution.

[dorkvader]

It'd be expensive, but you could go with a metal case using powder metallurgy. That, and a nice finish would look really sharp next to apple gear. (plus, we'd all be jealous).

[Input Nirvana]

I've looked for ways to utilize that space in the past, the best non modding solutions are trackpads or trackballs. The problem is that they both suffer from ergonomic problems (for me at least), the hand is in an unnatural place (front row center) for critical mousing activities, which can really cause injuries. The best solution would probably be to use a programmable/remappable keypad, maybe one of the XKeys, but I haven't looked into that.

Given that disclaimer, you can get usually get trackpads or slim trackballs to work by attaching tallish rubber feet to the bottom (3 ideally) to balance in the center. Even a large trackpad like the Apple can be made to work. The best trackball is the Marble mouse, which fits perfectly there (or almost) with three rubber feet. Again I didn't find this too ergonomic, even though it seemed perfect.

I'd be really tempted to try a numpad but I've got other things brewing.

Ergo can be an issue, but also can be resolvable. See my Split Kinesis article for pics.

Caseless looks badass. Pic from input nirvana's article:

Show Image

Is it your own pic? It looks like something from a movie.
Can a caseless mod be done in a reversible way? (I'm getting there, but still not completely comfy with modding such an expensive piece of hardware) (And where did the F-keys go?)

Thanks for the replies!

Not my pic, there is another side view I'll post though.

I'm not so interested in adding stuff to it, more just an aesthetic mod, mostly for fun and education.

Something that might not look out of place around apple stuff, with a metal/plastic case and a solid-feeling construction.

"thin, angular, Italian looking design" would be pretty accurate, I think.

I was imagining if I could get the dimensions of the existing top section of the case, I could re-create the important sections and modify the rest to taste. It's of course not particularly trivial to do that,  but maybe someone has a good solution.

60 days my life changes and I join the human race again, so I can do stuff. I'll be looking for a few radical elements (photos) and post in existing mod article. I have keywells to use to help create (template, measurements, etc). You can pm links to me if you wish.

It'd be expensive, but you could go with a metal case using powder metallurgy. That, and a nice finish would look really sharp next to apple gear. (plus, we'd all be jealous).

Fo sho!