Author Topic: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)  (Read 6712 times)

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Offline cest73

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[Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« on: Sun, 29 August 2021, 05:21:32 »
The instant I laid eyes the OLKB's Planck it intrigued me, but only once I started making actual DIY keyboards i started to consider the actual construction goals and aspects.

As things go in this rabbit hole of a hobby, the only way was down...  :p

Once i started considering a build, it became very early clear to me that a "off the shelf" (bought ready to use) was out of question budget. Further, once at it, why not use this opportunity to explore further construction goals/opportunities?

Here the design goals:

1. Use Choc switches, allowing to use both Kailh variants for the same footprint: V1 and V2
2. Use more narrow switch footprint (initial run was 18 mm x 17 mm, but I am now considering 18 x 18 mm as the final design) - this scraps a LOT of keycap options, I know
3. Use a PCB only device, with 1.6 mm thick FR4 the stiffness of it might just be enough to do the trick
4. Use Type C receptacle (mid mount) to allow for most easy cable procurement while being tough as nails for longevity
5. Use ATMega 32U4 for ample firmware space yet modest price (well, that didn't an out so well in the end i know  :confused:)
6. No light or feedback on the device whatsoever, beside the switches - this is a darn input device, not a circus attraction  :cool:
7. Be attractive to the eye (picked blue solder screen, maybe i pick EING for the final run too?)

So far i got over the initial run, and boy was it a bumpy ride!
275317-0
JLC did the job surprisingly well and at a bargain of the price (one unit clears at $18 sans custom and FedEx ransom and that is for a 5 units batch, SMD included!)
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LOL only now i noticed the crooked diode (is fixed now BTW(

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I picked the white clear MBK switch set for dye subbing it later...

Waited soooo looong for the choc switches to come from Kailh (great thanks for the more affordable shipping method :thumb:)
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It was a repair-a-ton that day (okay, threee days with two sleep overs :rolleyes:)...

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But it was worth it!

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that is without a cable  ;D


Offline cest73

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Re: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 31 August 2021, 16:09:48 »
« Last Edit: Thu, 02 September 2021, 02:04:22 by cest73 »

Offline DwarZ

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  • Location: Russia, Moscow
Re: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« Reply #2 on: Wed, 01 September 2021, 05:05:44 »
Advances where made...
(Attachment Link)

Very nice sublimation!
There are not a lot of choc-oriented boards aroud, and I will hope that it will change soon :)

I'm also experimenting with choc keyboards, but I chose to go wireless
275582-0

Offline cest73

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Re: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« Reply #3 on: Wed, 01 September 2021, 09:01:04 »
It makes much sense to go wireless with choc in this age of portable keyboardless computers

Further progress report:
275603-0

Next one might be outsorced, stay tuned  ;)

Offline cest73

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Re: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 02 September 2021, 05:57:14 »
As i used really extreme 6px font size for the sub legends i would like to share the intricate detail and how it turned out eventually:
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The photo was taken with a DSLR in a pro studio

I think the 6 px is absolutely the smallest size for anyone to go with labels.

Also the 3.5 minutes seem quite sharper than 5 minutes on the other PBT set i made.

Offline cest73

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Re: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 14 April 2022, 16:03:04 »
Some of you might wonder what happened to my firstling keyboard...

Offline cest73

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Re: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 25 May 2022, 16:26:29 »
I forgot to report about the recent development:

My PCB sin't really compatible with Choc_V2  :confused:

Anyway, since i switched the cursor block around i find the keyboard much better suited for daily use...

As I struggled with the Vim cursor keys layout, I am quite at home since i switched to the "inverted T" layout the standard nav block uses:

286624-0

The picture emphasizes what's changed and needs the legends to be redone.

Offline Korban

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Re: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« Reply #7 on: Fri, 03 June 2022, 15:33:13 »
This looks really nice! After looking at the Planck's price point, I'm also more inclined to make my own custom build (even though I'm pretty much a beginner), also with Choc switches, which I find really appealing. Are you perhaps thinking about sharing the documentation? How much more affordable did the end product end up at, compared to the Planck?
« Last Edit: Fri, 03 June 2022, 15:34:58 by Korban »

Offline cest73

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Re: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 08 June 2022, 18:50:28 »
Kindest thanks!

I'd say at a fraction of the cost?

If you can make your build with a so called "daughter board" and use a Teensy 2.0 (hurry they aren't produced any more) and a BlackPill (for say, WeAct) or Raspberry Pi Pico, you will only have to muster the switch positions, diodes and the footprint of the mini board you choose.

I opted for a tight height profile since this was my 2nd project and i gained enough confidence already.

Should you opt to avoid design challenges there are quite few open source designs already out there - just start from the QMK source github and you find something i'm sure.

The price was as follows:
1. some $60 ish for 5 PCBs partially assembled
2. next $50 ish for a single key set (quite few options there now (MBK fits only on mine)
3. some more $60 for the switches (i happen to like a lot)
4. hours to make it (=fun)
5. hours to bring it to life (was Dead On Arrival)
6. making custom firmware in QMK (more fun and games) and layouts in text editor (i used geany)

Should you care we could arrange shipping one PCB (have spares still) for how much it cost me (about 1/5th of what i paid to manufacture it) with no switches and no keycaps - we can flash out the details in DMs

I am planing to make all details public but am on a busy (lazy?) schedule right now...

Offline Korban

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Re: [Project] orthDIY (the Ortholinear Chocolate Delight)
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 12 June 2022, 09:21:48 »
I appreciate you being open to even ship a PCB, but my project has somewhat changed a bit, and I'll be adding a few more keys to the Planck setup [pretty much turn it into a 60% (40% keyboard + some other navigation and numpad keys)]. I'm also kind of eager to design my own keyboard from scratch, so I'm pretty much not skipping any obstacles and jumping in head first. ;D

I'd still be very much eager to see your process, though!