Author Topic: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage  (Read 271824 times)

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Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #150 on: Fri, 06 September 2013, 13:37:40 »
What kind of switches are in your Seimitsu switches?

This kind:


Don't know much about them, looking at a spare on the top it says "4 - J" and on the bottom it says "1B" and also has a logo that says "<TKC>"

So, do the browns work well on your buttons?  That sounds like a great solution if it does!
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline uberben

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #151 on: Fri, 06 September 2013, 16:47:25 »
The button top is kind of wobbly, but I'm sure that could be remedied. If someone has a 3D model of a cherry cap stem, I could print one out and graft it onto the arcade button.

I don't have this button installed in anything, so for all I know it might work well enough as is. I just haven't been able to bring myself to put any holes in my case yet. I tend to fear the lack of undo, but getting a replacement case to me here in Canada should be under $50, so I should just do it. Worst case, I have a top case to experiment with.

Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #152 on: Sat, 07 September 2013, 01:44:21 »
I understand, I had regrets after I drilled my case... REGRETS I DIDN'T DO IT SOONER !
Just make sure the placement is right, stick some quarters on your case or something, to get a feel of where you want the palm keys, before you start drilling.
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline uberben

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #153 on: Sat, 07 September 2013, 11:15:50 »
I have had stacks of quarters taped to my case for about 3 months now. I moved them around a bit the first week, then they stayed put the rest of the time. I'll hunt around for a stepped drill bit and just do it.

Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #154 on: Sat, 07 September 2013, 11:22:25 »
Ok, post pictures when you are done please. And don't worry, it's a super easy and clean mod.

BTW if there's one thing I miss when using my ergodox, compared to the Advantage, it's the palm keys. It's going to be tricky to add them on the ergodox ... say have you tried buttons that could be attached to the surface?  I wonder how something like the Buddy button would work out, although it's rather huge and ridiculously expensive, PI Engineering sells one button for like $60 !
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #155 on: Fri, 20 September 2013, 20:21:09 »
Sordna, Where do you rest your palms when typing? since with the palm buttons use that area. Are you really never resting your arms while typing?

Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #156 on: Fri, 20 September 2013, 23:23:47 »
Sordna, Where do you rest your palms when typing? since with the palm buttons use that area. Are you really never resting your arms while typing?

When I actively type, I have my palms off the keyboard. It's the proper way to go to avoid RSI issues. But in the pauses between typing, I do put my hands down, and there's plenty of space for that. Besides, even if I rest of the palm keys themselves, they are both Shift buttons, so it doesn't cause an issue.
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #157 on: Sun, 22 September 2013, 05:10:31 »
I did tape 3 US quarters at the positions suggested, and I just keep resisting the urge of putting my hands down, even for lazy typing. I know it's bad. Right now I'm on recovery of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. (So I have just a month with the Kinesis)

I actually thought of the palm buttons as an alternative of my current workflow, and surprise, you had done it, and shared even the switches that can fit inside... Thanks! (I already ordered and received mine)

My current workflow: Im very used to the inverted T of  regular keyboards, and is hard for me to really get used to the keys originally on the Kinesis. Also, using Command, Alt, control and Shift all the time for selecting and copying text, is not really friendly on the default Kinesis layout. So Right now Im using my trusty ControllerMate to do some extra layers, and pressing the key of DELETE to convert jkli in the arrow keys, and asdf as Shift Ctrl Alt Command, that way I can edit the text and move it around with all the modifiers without leaving the home position.

What I want to do is to make the palm buttons turn on this special layer (Maybe using the keypad layer all reprogramed).
But Im afraid of screwing my keyboard with the mod.  I found that resting my palms on top of the buttons does not hurt me, but resting them on the sides, with natural position (non pronation) it does hurt... weird.

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #158 on: Sun, 22 September 2013, 05:13:11 »
And Sordna, will you replace the ugly plastic Function keys??? The only downside I see is that it will raise the height of the keyboard a little more

Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #159 on: Sun, 22 September 2013, 21:31:54 »
And Sordna, will you replace the ugly plastic Function keys??? The only downside I see is that it will raise the height of the keyboard a little more

No, I very rarely use F keys, and besides I mapped my number row as F keys in the keypad layer. So while I would welcome proper F keys in a future Advantage keyboard, it's not worth the effort for me to make a custom mod.
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #160 on: Wed, 25 September 2013, 00:19:56 »
Well, I'll wait for the weekend and finally dremel the Kinesis on your footsteps.  :thumb:

Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #161 on: Wed, 25 September 2013, 01:20:34 »
Well, I'll wait for the weekend and finally dremel the Kinesis on your footsteps.  :thumb:

I have had stacks of quarters taped to my case for about 3 months now. I moved them around a bit the first week, then they stayed put the rest of the time. I'll hunt around for a stepped drill bit and just do it.


Ok, folks, just go ahead and do this. Extra keys are somewhat tricky (some more so than others), but adding palm keys is ridiculously easy. Not even soldering is necessary! Anyway, whatever part of the mods you do, please post photos of the results along with your impressions!
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #162 on: Wed, 25 September 2013, 19:03:52 »
I will. Im just waiting for the weekend to do it (and the step drill bit I got on amazon).

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #163 on: Sat, 28 September 2013, 16:30:56 »
Sordna, I finally got to do it! I followed the instructions and got no problem at all!

37209-0

37211-1

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #164 on: Sat, 28 September 2013, 16:42:02 »
Exactly what I did:

Made a mark on 71mm from the sides, 21mm from the bottom. Then made a guideline for the drill (done with a dremel)

37215-0

Then used the step drilled, and soon came to see a plastic support was in the way! So I just kept drilling and completely removed it.
37217-1

Re-assembled the keyboard and push in the buttons. There was no need to twist the terminals, since it fitted perfectly.
37219-2

Added cables to the buttons, by soldering them.
37221-337223-4

Crammed in the keyboard cables: each button one cable to Ground, the other to FS2.
37225-537227-6


Close the keyboard and Done!
37229-7


Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #165 on: Sat, 28 September 2013, 16:48:01 »
Since I'm using the palm buttons as foot switch, this is the layout I'm using. There are some keys without a function in the keyboard layer, so I map them to the ones not used, so I do not press any other key by mistake. So the blank keys in the images do absolutely nothing when pressed.

37231-037233-1

The multimedia keys are handled with ControllerMate. Those keys are mapped to 3 keys I never use: PrintScr, Scroll Lock and Pause/Break.
Then the default driver assigns no function to them, and finally, a programming layer that assigns the wanted value.

Look that Play/Pause is done via SHIFT+Print Screen

Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #166 on: Tue, 01 October 2013, 08:54:10 »
Nice ! Congratulations and thanks for posting excellent photos!
How does it feel having those palm keys ? Also, do you think you would make one of them be regular shift, or will you keep them both as a layer shifter? One one of my keyboards I have it like that, on the other they are both shifts!
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #167 on: Tue, 01 October 2013, 14:14:32 »
Well, I do not know If I want to set it as shift. I know my pinkies will thank me, but I find the asymmetry of different functions not very Ergonomic... But I will think about it.

The only thing I can say is: I love them!

Next steps: make it USB only, add 1/4" mono phone jacks to accept conventional midi keyboards sustain pedals (have so many of those) and thinking in making it bluetooth...

Offline uberben

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #168 on: Tue, 01 October 2013, 14:37:47 »

Next steps: make it USB only, add 1/4" mono phone jacks to accept conventional midi keyboards sustain pedals (have so many of those) and thinking in making it bluetooth...


I've been thinking of the bluetooth mod for a while now. I've got some parts kicking around, but haven't really had a chance to plow through and do it. I've started with hasu's tmk_keyboard firmware (https://github.com/tmk/tmk_keyboard). It at least had support for a bluetooth module in addition to USB (using a Bluegiga WT-12, I think). I have suspicions that it might need some efficiency improvements to get a usable battery life, but the keyboard is big enough that a large battery can be added in the mean time.

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #169 on: Tue, 01 October 2013, 17:12:18 »
the problem is to be able to remove the battery without having to open the keyboard, or just to have it recharge via usb. I know it's a bit more tricky than it sounds... That's why is not my next thing to do  :p Actually, splitting the Kinesis to be able to give more angle is more a priority than bluetooth.

Offline uberben

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #170 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 11:36:19 »
Ya, I've got a lithium battery and charger breakout board in my parts bin for this. but if the power consumption is too high, I'll need to have it plugged in most of the time to charge anyway. Making it rechargeable shouldn't be the hard part. It will be making the code power efficient.

Anyway, I finally put some buttons in my board.



I was impressed with how clean a hole the step drill bit makes, even my super cheap aliexpress.com ones.




I drilled at about 75mm from the sides, 21mm from the bottom to avoid drilling out the support, but as you can see, the support is super short compared to the buttons. I think the support is just vestigial plastic from the original Kinesis that had the controller board integrated with the thumb switches.




I decided to install one button with the stock switch and one with a Cherry MX. So far the wobble in the modded button isn't very noticeable, but I'll update once I've actually used them for a bit.

Also, note to self (and future modders): make sure your drill  is charged before disassembling your keyboard.

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #171 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 13:05:19 »
Looks nice in white!!!

So you modded the button to a cherry?
I don't know if it's even worth for a palm button, but I'll wait to see what you report.

Offline uberben

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #172 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 13:20:55 »
I suspect it would be better with something stiffer/more clicky than a brown, but I'll give it some time. I have a bunch of spare buttons so figured I might as well try it.

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #173 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 13:22:49 »
Please keep us updated... And the step drill is nice, isn't it? I didn't know about it until sordna posted it in the instructions.

Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #174 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 20:48:32 »
Wow, the palm buttons on the white look like it came from the factory !
So how is the palm key experience uberben as you use the keyboard ?
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #175 on: Wed, 02 October 2013, 21:30:16 »
I just made my PS2 Kinesis a USB only one http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=49256.0. I think I can put 3 Phone Jacks http://www.switchcraft.com/productsummary.aspx?Parent=68 under the usb connector to add a keyboard to the function I wish, without opening the keyboard. And since 1/4" phone jack is the standard of electronic music keyboards, I can use 3 of the many pedals that I have as pedals (and new ones are cheaper and more resistant than the ones from Kinesis).

But, maybe leave that space for a small USB Hub? What do you guys think?

Offline uberben

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #176 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 08:27:07 »
Nicely done. I didn't realize that boards that new even came as PS/2.

But, maybe leave that space for a small USB Hub? What do you guys think?

If you are thinking that you want to do a bluetooth conversion down the road, just keep in mind the USB hub will really only be useful when you have the board plugged in. You can't do USB over bluetooth. Having said that, I can see the hub being useful if you will be semi-regularly plugging in your board, and if you have a massive battery in there you could potentially use it to charge your phone when not acting as a true hub.

Also, I think hasu's tmk firmware is getting support for USB devices as inputs, so you might be able to plug a generic USB mouse in and get that to show up over bluetooth. Again, since USB devices aren't designed to be power efficient, it will probably kill your bluetooth battery time, but I'm just thinking out loud here.

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #177 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 12:42:34 »
I got an idea of something useful for this palm mod:

What about adding a 3 way switch to the back of the Kinesis, (actually, 2 of this switches) so we can choose the function of each palm button (FS1, FS2 or FS3). This way, we can change modes without opening the keyboard!  What do you guys think?

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #178 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 12:54:50 »
Nicely done. I didn't realize that boards that new even came as PS/2.

Sorry, I made a mistake. It was 2002, not 2012  :-[ I fixed it already.

Offline uberben

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #179 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 12:56:34 »
That would definitely work, but it might be simpler to just use the programmable functions of the keyboard to remap the keys. The only unique key I'm aware of on the foot switches is the keypad shift, and I think it is remappable to any footswitch, so as long as one of the palm keys is connected to that FS wire, you should be able to remap any foot switch (or other) action to either palm key.

Some nice big toggle switches would look pretty sweet on a Kinesis, though.

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #180 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 13:03:48 »
So each palm button should go to a different switch and they should be set by remap?

Is that how you have it? I currently have them both in the same FS, but your idea seems better!

Offline uberben

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #181 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 13:16:47 »
I currently have them on the same switch too, but will probably set them to different ones and map them to the same if I want them to stay the same. I think Sordna talks about this a bit near the beginning of his original post.

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #182 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 13:25:06 »
I can't seem to be able to remap the FS to other buttons  :-[

Offline uberben

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #183 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 13:55:59 »
Huh. I thought this was doable, but it has been a long time since I used my actual foot switches, and I haven't used my palm keys in different positions yet. Perhaps your toggle switch idea is the better solution.

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #184 on: Thu, 03 October 2013, 14:03:57 »
Huh. I thought this was doable, but it has been a long time since I used my actual foot switches, and I haven't used my palm keys in different positions yet. Perhaps your toggle switch idea is the better solution.

Yes, you can remap them, BUT, I just tried mapping FS1 to FS2. and it does activate the keypad, BUT stays on! That's a major problem. I can remap to any other keys, but the keypad only while pressed is only working on FS2. I think the toggle idea may be worth explore just for that.


Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #185 on: Fri, 04 October 2013, 20:24:07 »
The only key function that cannot be remapped is momentary keypad shift (FS). However the FS "button" itself can be mapped to do other things.
If you hookup your palm key to FS, you can remap it to do anything else, but no other key can be remapped to do the FS momentary keypad shift function. (if you try, it will work as a toggle instead of momentary).

So, always use FS at least for one of the palm keys. I currently have both my palm keys mapped to work as SHIFTS, but one of them is wired to FS so at any time I can remap it to do momentary keypad shift.
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #186 on: Fri, 04 October 2013, 21:24:49 »
Well, mine are both wired to keypad. I think I will leave them like that for now, until I put a toggle switch

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #187 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 00:28:25 »
Hey Sordna,
Have you tried adding palm keys to your ErgoDox?

Offline sordna

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #188 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 16:22:44 »
Hey Sordna,
Have you tried adding palm keys to your ErgoDox?

No, although I have thought about it many times. If you do it let me know!
Kinesis Contoured Advantage & Advantage2 LF with Cherry MX Red switches / Extra keys mod / O-ring dampening mod / Dvorak layout. ErgoDox with buzzer and LED mod.
Also: Kinesis Advantage Classic, Kinesis Advantage2, Data911 TG3, Fingerworks Touchstream LP, IBM SSK (Buckling spring), Goldtouch GTU-0077 keyboard

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #189 on: Tue, 26 November 2013, 01:10:39 »
Hey Sordna,
Have you tried adding palm keys to your ErgoDox?

No, although I have thought about it many times. If you do it let me know!

Well, the issue may be finding a fitting Button!

Offline Legorandir

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #190 on: Thu, 30 January 2014, 15:14:24 »
sad thing is that those HBFS-30 switches are not on sale anywhere :(

Seems to be availlable here:
http://www.gamerfinger.com/

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #191 on: Thu, 30 January 2014, 18:35:43 »
sad thing is that those HBFS-30 switches are not on sale anywhere :(

Seems to be availlable here:
http://www.gamerfinger.com/

Damn! I just order a bunch of SEIMITSU PS-15 for some mods...
But thanks for the notice!

Offline Squeaky Wheel

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #192 on: Sun, 08 June 2014, 13:07:43 »
Adding palm buttons is badass! I'd love to add a couple to an Ergodox (there's room for two more keys on each PCB). The Ergodox already has custom firmware for NKRO (stenography!!!) and adding palm buttons would allow us to incorporate ideas from Velotype.

Offline Input Nirvana

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #193 on: Sun, 08 June 2014, 13:12:57 »

Adding palm buttons is badass! I'd love to add a couple to an Ergodox (there's room for two more keys on each PCB). The Ergodox already has custom firmware for NKRO (stenography!!!) and adding palm buttons would allow us to incorporate ideas from Velotype.

Yes, it's really innovative and a unique method of input. I toyed with incorporating them into a "flatboard" but not much reason for me to do that. Lol
Kinesis Advantage cut into 2 halves | RollerMouse Free 2 | Apple Magic Trackpad | Colemak
Evil Screaming Flying Door Monkeys From Hell                     Proudly GeekWhacking since 2009
Things change, things stay the same                                        Thanks much, Smallfry  
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Offline Squeaky Wheel

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #194 on: Sun, 08 June 2014, 14:17:38 »
Plus I'm using the full hand case for the ergodox, so it really shouldn't be too hard, give or take some diodes and extra wiring...if anyone manages to do this mod, I'd love to know.

Offline Input Nirvana

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #195 on: Sun, 08 June 2014, 14:58:37 »
Plus I'm using the full hand case for the ergodox, so it really shouldn't be too hard, give or take some diodes and extra wiring...if anyone manages to do this mod, I'd love to know.

At Keycon there may be something like that being shown, but I'm not sure as of yet.

Do you still use ControllerMate?

Kinesis Advantage cut into 2 halves | RollerMouse Free 2 | Apple Magic Trackpad | Colemak
Evil Screaming Flying Door Monkeys From Hell                     Proudly GeekWhacking since 2009
Things change, things stay the same                                        Thanks much, Smallfry  
I AM THE REAPER . . . BECAUSE I KILL IT
~retired from forum activities 2015~

Offline Squeaky Wheel

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #196 on: Sun, 08 June 2014, 19:25:58 »
Plus I'm using the full hand case for the ergodox, so it really shouldn't be too hard, give or take some diodes and extra wiring...if anyone manages to do this mod, I'd love to know.

At Keycon there may be something like that being shown, but I'm not sure as of yet.

Do you still use ControllerMate?


ControllerMate? Huh?

Offline kaltar

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Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #197 on: Mon, 09 June 2014, 16:18:22 »
Plus I'm using the full hand case for the ergodox, so it really shouldn't be too hard, give or take some diodes and extra wiring...if anyone manages to do this mod, I'd love to know.

At Keycon there may be something like that being shown, but I'm not sure as of yet.

Do you still use ControllerMate?


ControllerMate? Huh?

I use ControllerMate for the Kinesis to assign combos for special keys (audio keys mostly). I havent seen a reason to use it with the ergodox. I have additional palm keys that I got for my Kinesis mod and thought of putting it in the ergodox. They do not fit, they need to be even less depth.

Offline Squeaky Wheel

  • Posts: 10
Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #198 on: Tue, 10 June 2014, 21:00:38 »
So is casing the only barrier to adding palm keys to the ergodox? The electronics is sound?

Offline kaltar

  • Posts: 138
  • Location: Miami, FL
Re: Adding extra keys to your Kinesis Advantage
« Reply #199 on: Tue, 10 June 2014, 21:07:39 »
So is casing the only barrier to adding palm keys to the ergodox? The electronics is sound?

Yes. Actually, you must have received an extra Diodes with you ergodox kit from Massdrop, so you must have all you need.
You can even assign it to a key that already exist on the keyboard, so you can still use the Massdrop Ergodox Configurator.

it's just thing of finding the right buttons, and modding your case.