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keyboard modding for newbies?

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kodos96:
Hi all, longtime lurker, first time poster...

So I've been contemplating doing some keyboard modding, but I have no idea what I'm doing, and would rather not destroy a bunch of perfectly good keyboards in the process of trial and error.... does anyone know of any resources that would be useful for the newbie modder? I realize there probably aren't going to be any step-by-step howto guides, but maybe just examples of people documenting the mods they've done (like the posts in this forum section, just more of them)... just to get more of an idea of what's possible?

To ask a specific question of what I have in mind: I feel pretty much the same way iMav does about numpads - they must be destroyed, and their remains cast into the fiery pit from whence they sprang. Is amputation of a numpad from a board at all feasible? I don't care about aesthetics, so just sawing it off and sealing the chassis with duct tape would be fine by me... but that would require cutting through the PCB. Assuming that none of the control electronics are located on the portion of the board I want to remove, would cutting through the PCB and severing the leads to the numpad switches render the board inoperable? If so, would any solderingiron-fu be able to fix it?

bhtooefr:
Well, depends on what sort of circuits run through there. Some boards may have circuits that need to be fully connected. Basically, if you're going to do that, you need to look at the board and see where the circuits in the PCB/membrane/whatever are, and what you can safely cut off.

wellington1869:
sawing off the numpad, example 1

sawing off the numpad, example 2

sawing off something or the other, example 3

Is this the kind of thing you mean?

(on a related note, how hard would it be to saw off the numpad on a model M? Would love to get step by step instructions for that)

itlnstln:
I like the 'board in the 3rd link.

bhtooefr:
I believe it is doable on a Model M, but you'd have to make sure the remains of the numpad weren't shorted out...

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