DIY membrane split keyboard

[leatfingies]

I've seen a lot of ergonomic split keyboards with mechanical switches on the market but I'm not really a fan of mech. I want a low profile split keyboard and the closest thing I could find is the R-Go Split. Unfortunately, the reviews of that keyboard are not that great.
I stumbled upon this video a few days ago

Basically the guy in the video cut 2 keyboards in half. I'm wondering if I can do the same thing on a different keyboard (a smaller and more compact one). Can I do this with any other keyboards?

Another idea I have is to buy a foldable keyboard and slice it in half


Has anyone tried this? Any help is greatly apprecitated!

[yui]

to be honest i have not tried this, but i have dissembled and fixed a few keyboards and from the video (watched with no sound so maybe wrong) it looks like he is using 2 membranes assemblies and fold them, so either you buy 2 identical keyboards and follow the same procedure than he does or you will need to solder wires onto the membranes, and that is close to impossible reliably, you can use copper tape but the chances of it staying in place in the long run are not great, so fordable or not you will need 2 to make it work (you can see on the photo the membrane going across the gap on the foldable), although i would have thought that membrane split keyboards would have existed.

[leatfingies]

Thanks for the reply!

it looks like he is using 2 membranes assemblies and fold them, so either you buy 2 identical keyboards and follow the same procedure than he does

Yeah that's what he did. I'm okay with ruining 2 keyboards, I'm just not sure if I can do that with any other keyboards.

you can see on the photo the membrane going across the gap on the foldable

Hmm, I don't have any experience here but I imagine the 2 halves of the keyboards are connected by some sort of cable or wire so I thought I could just split the 2 halves and extend the cable between them somehow. I don't think they would let the membrane be exposed between the gap like that, but I might be wrong here.

[yui]

Thanks for the reply!

it looks like he is using 2 membranes assemblies and fold them, so either you buy 2 identical keyboards and follow the same procedure than he does

Yeah that's what he did. I'm okay with ruining 2 keyboards, I'm just not sure if I can do that with any other keyboards.

you can see on the photo the membrane going across the gap on the foldable

Hmm, I don't have any experience here but I imagine the 2 halves of the keyboards are connected by some sort of cable or wire so I thought I could just split the 2 halves and extend the cable between them somehow. I don't think they would let the membrane be exposed between the gap like that, but I might be wrong here.

the fold method can be done with any membrane keyboards, it is done on model M to create ssk, you may need to cut the dome sheet if you do not get one with individual dome like his though, nothing that a box cutter or a pair of scissors can't handle.
and i do expect the membrane to be the link because it would be the cheapest way of doing the interconnect, but you could also be right, nothing exclude that it would be a flat ribbon attached to a connector, but it would be more expensive and so less likely, only one way to know for sure though.

[Findecanor]

I see what I think are two membrane cables: one for the top membrane and one for the bottom membrane. Those are probably not "cables" as such, just extensions of the keyboard membranes - which would be a really cheap and workable solution. I suppose that both "cables" are covered with a kind of sticky tape to protect the traces.

I have not seen anyone successfully solder or glue wires to membrane traces though, so I wouldn't.
I would stick with getting two keyboards and folding the membranes under, like the guy in the video did.
However, while two keyboards connected via USB to a computer would work as one keyboard, I'm not sure that two wireless keyboards would: you would have to test.

[leatfingies]

This is really helpful, thanks guys  ! I'll go with the method in the video then.

[hanya]

The membrane in the keyboard is made with PET, so if you want to connect to wire, use conductive glue.