[help] putting my first keyboard together, help a newbie with some tips!

[Brad 808]

hey dudes,
so about a month ago i purchased my first mech, a ducky shine 3, and instantly fell in love with how the typing feels (mx blacks, i like a heavy press). As i learned more and more about the keyboards i got the "hey i can do that" mentality. i have been making small scale guitar effects for a few years now, so i have a background in soldering components and things, and making a keyboard seems like the perfect challenge to me!

for my project i decided i wanted to do a recreation of radical edwards keyboard from Cowboy Bebop. for those of you that haven't seen it, which is most likely everyone, here is a picture:


the main thing im looking for help with is a cad layout for this keyboard. i have no experience drawing things up in any form of cad software so i was hoping one of the guru's on this site could help me out in making a design. it looks like it would be a 60% design, but with two rows of Fn keys at the top, with each Fn being the size of an enter key, and the escape key as a little island to the left side of the keyboard.

i already have a teensy 2 on order, and can't wait to start playing with that, and i was thinking MX reds for the switches too. any help or tips are appreciated, thanks guys!

[jacobolus]

I’d recommend you just use a 2-d vector graphics program like Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator.

There might be some useful stuff in http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47744.0

[Charger]

I really hope this project goes some where as that seems like it would be a really cool keyboard to have.

I tend to agree that you could probably get away with just using a vector program like illustrator for the plate if not all the parts since it is a relevantly simple and flat design. I seem to recall that there is a list of measurements for different key cap sizes to space apart the holes and the size for the cut out for cherry switches but I don't know where to find it to link you to it.

Also I have seen a few people around here that would draw up plates for people but I cant recall who they were so just look around and maybe message someone that has been helping people in other threads.

[Brad 808]

yea i'm hoping it goes somewhere too! haha. i got the magnificent JdCarpe from the geekhack forums here to draw up a CAD layout (which is perfect btw, JD does stellar work) and i just got my hands on a Teensy 2.0 as well as ~80 cherry MX reds.

my biggest issue right now is getting stabilizers, i need a bunch because of the shift-key sized keys that have two rows at the top of the keyboard, and WASD seems to be out of stock.

I'll put pictures on this thread as progress begins to be made, first keyboard build and all, so it should be pretty slow going.

[dorkvader]

but with two rows of Fn keys at the top, with each Fn being the size of an enter key

You should consider making each function key be 2x. I think it still fits with the theme and there are LOTS of 2x keycaps for POS board you can use.

Looking forward to seeing how this goes! Do you plan to use the modular connector (4p4c) for data? I'd make a 4p4c to USB cable and use that.

[Melvang]

Nice looking project.  Looks like a rack mount board for a server chassis.