geekhack Projects > Making Stuff Together!

MS Ergonomic Tenkeylesss

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sameer.wahid:
I wanted a tenkeyless version of my Microsoft Ergonomic keyboard 7000, so I grabbed a hacksaw and made one.
Total time: about 30 minutes.
Needed tools: Hacksaw, scissors, Philips screwdriver, MS Ergo KB 4000 or 7000.


Helpful links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZhCzOOhX2E - how to open the keyboard
http://www.wikihow.com/Cut-the-Number-Pad-off-a-Keyboard - how to remove a tenkey

Step 1: Open up the keyboard (the above Youtube link helps here). After removing all the screws on the back, pry off the wrist rests and the spacebar to remove four more screws (shown in yellow).


Step 2:
Remove the right side of membrane domes and set aside:


Step 3:
Use a hacksaw to cut off the tenkey from the top of the keyboard. I chose to cut very close to the keypad, along the left edge of the 7,4,and 1 keys.


Step 4:
Do the same on the bottom, without cutting the membrane. Lift the membrane out of the way, and cut the bottom, just to the right of the plastic posts that hold the membrane.  Then, peel apart the membrane and add a piece of paper in there, so that you don't have to worry about any phantom button presses from the tenkey.

Posts:


Then, use scissors to cut off the tenkey from the domes. Put the domes back on top of the membrane.

Keyboard:


Step 5:
Put everything back together, screwing in all the screws. Some screws are taller than others, but there are so many on the back of the keyboard that it didn't seem to matter if I got one wrong.

I use a trackball so I'm not planning on rolling the membrane up; I'm just going to put the trackball on top of it. You could, if you wanted, leave the wrist rest intact, making a nice little hole for a trackball. In this case, cut out the bottom part of the wristrest from the tenkey you just removed as shown, and reattach to the bottom.





I later decided to cut the wrist rest as well, so there's no 'overhang'.  I may also decide to tuck the membrane under the keyboard. If you do this, I would suggest doing so AFTER all the screws are tightened; otherwise, the membrane will shift out of place.

The top right corner of the keyboard is off the desk, but nothing a little putty won't fix.

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