Custom by Yoe - The MX1..no, scratch that.. The MX2

[Yoe]

And lookie lookie - it's got Cherry switches! A first for me, therefore I name this the MX1.. yeh, lots of imagination and creativity went into naming it..



I'd say the project is completed now, though I'm going to put MX Lock switches for caps and fn lock. When those little, almost mythical, things arrive.

Soooo.. for the board I've used a plate that I bought from LeandreN, a bunch of Cherry MX Reds that I stole from Yeitso, some oak wood that I (again) stole from my brother, a Teensy 2.0 as usual and the somewhat mainstream around here but yet awesome Granite keycaps (that's where all the money went). Oh and some wires, connectors, screws, adhesive fabric tape and the bottom case from a trashed MacBook Pro (for the alu bottom).

Pictures of progress and finished keyboard:







Edit: I ripped it apart and shoved the parts onto a new plate so I could have my beloved nav keys. It's now the MX2.



Much better

[3K]

I really like it! Looks cute af!
If you'd add a wooden dust cover that looks like the case it'd look like a little treasue chest. 

[Yoe]

I really like it! Looks cute af!
If you'd add a wooden dust cover that looks like the case it'd look like a little treasue chest. 

Thanks

Yeh, actually that thought has crossed my mind. It would look really nice. I could even put leather on top and make it double as a wrist rest. Gotta find some matching oak pieces first tho.

[henz]

The granite set dont get enough love. Fregging marvelous

[CPTBadAss]

This is my least favorite build of yours so far. I think you spoiled me with your lovely instagram build pics of all Alps everything

[njbair]

Nice! I was thinking about making a wooden case recently and I really like your approach with the screws in the sides like that. Very clean and simple.

How is it to type on? I imagine that aluminum bottom plate really helps give the whole board more rigidity, but is this little wooden thing solid enough? I'm also surprised to see you ditch the harware arrow keys. You'll have to let us know what you think of layer navigation. Personally I got used to it rather quickly but I know some people hate it.

[Yoe]

This is my least favorite build of yours so far. I think you spoiled me with your lovely instagram build pics of all Alps everything

Haha! I don't hold that opinion against you at all

[Yoe]

Nice! I was thinking about making a wooden case recently and I really like your approach with the screws in the sides like that. Very clean and simple.

How is it to type on? I imagine that aluminum bottom plate really helps give the whole board more rigidity, but is this little wooden thing solid enough? I'm also surprised to see you ditch the harware arrow keys. You'll have to let us know what you think of layer navigation. Personally I got used to it rather quickly but I know some people hate it.

Actually, those oak frames are really sturdy. The only difference I noticed when I put the alu bottom on it was the sound of it changing. Still sounds pretty nice, though As for typing on it, I've not been using it enough yet to tell, but I'm clearly not accustomed to that key profile.

The hardware navigation keys is actually what I miss the most so far, but we'll see if I can find this acceptable with time. I did create a layout much like my Alps boards, but I'm missing the correct length right shift key cap to do it. I'm going to try to aquire it if it's at all available, then have a plate cut, make a new board (MX2) and probably put it in the same case... or in a cast plastic case if I ever get going with that.

[Yoe]

This is what it would look like with my beloved navigation keys. What I'm missing is the 1.75 width shift key. It's in the Granite text pro modifiers kit if anyone is selling..



http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/7e6f895d6b9ce999b2a5a45fbd1bf054

[njbair]

I'm sure you won't have a hard time finding a granite 1.75U right shift, but you may have to buy the whole mod kit to get it. Have you posted a WTB in the classifieds?

[Yoe]

I'm sure you won't have a hard time finding a granite 1.75U right shift, but you may have to buy the whole mod kit to get it. Have you posted a WTB in the classifieds?

I have now Awaiting approval.

[Findecanor]

Nice! But how did you make the groove in the wood?

I have had some oak siding laying on the shelf for a few years because I couldn't figure out how to cut the groove.. I'm not a woodworker with access to a woodworking-shop or even garage, and the table saw I could borrow made a cut that was too wide. I instead built my keyboards from plastic and metal that I am more familiar with.
BTW, I have also toyed with the idea of stealing the wood (oops, did I just say that? ...) from a somewhat locally famous felled tree in Stockholm ("TV-eken") - but when I had found it, it had already been there for about a year and was cracked. It has decayed much more now.

[Yoe]

Nice! But how did you make the groove in the wood?

I have had some oak siding laying on the shelf for a few years because I couldn't figure out how to cut the groove.. I'm not a woodworker with access to a woodworking-shop or even garage, and the table saw I could borrow made a cut that was too wide. I instead built my keyboards from plastic and metal that I am more familiar with.
BTW, I have also toyed with the idea of stealing the wood (oops, did I just say that? ...) from a somewhat locally famous felled tree in Stockholm ("TV-eken") - but when I had found it, it had already been there for about a year and was cracked. It has decayed much more now.

I don't have access to many tools or machines, so I am too a bit limited. I have a garage, a Dremel, a fine toothed hand saw, some abrasive paper, a metal ruler… small stuff like that. Working with 8 mm strips and sheets of wood is fine with this equipment though. Cutting a groove can be a bit hard without some kind of router. I have router bits for my Dremel, but not the other parts needed to make a straight groove along a piece of wood, whatever they are called… so I just made a line with pen and ruler and cut the groove very carefully with a wood cutting disc on the Dremel, and then finished it off with the hand saw. It's not perfect, but ok.

Haha So you found out where they had dumped the tree? Well, even if there were ok bits left of it, it would not be easy to get workable pieces out of it, I guess. And it was cut becuase it was not really ok to begin with, right? I remember people got upset though, saying the tree was not at all in such a bad shape it had to be cut down.

[Yoe]

I'm sure you won't have a hard time finding a granite 1.75U right shift, but you may have to buy the whole mod kit to get it. Have you posted a WTB in the classifieds?

I have now Awaiting approval.

Aaand now I've found one on DT Plate .DXF file exported from Swillkb for my next cutting order… MX2 is happening

[njbair]

MX1 we barely knew ye...

[Yoe]

…and from the ashes of the MX1 a phoenix is rising… the MX2!

Ok, so NOW it's completed.. I guess

Updated OP with a pic of the MX2, but I'll put it here too:

[njbair]

I am so stealing that case design. But maybe I'll do it in aluminum...

[yobinad]

Very well done

What kind of screws did you use? Can you show more details of the case sides, how did you use the screws?
My english sucks but i hope you get the point

[Yoe]

I am so stealing that case design. But maybe I'll do it in aluminum...

You are very welcome to do that This is "making stuff together!" so let's share and enjoy

Very well done

What kind of screws did you use? Can you show more details of the case sides, how did you use the screws?
My english sucks but i hope you get the point

I use screws made for mouldings (yeh, I had to google that one). Mine are 3.0 x 42 mm with a TX10 head, and they look like this:



What I do is that I hold the sides around the plate with rubber bands and then drill suitable holes for the screws (they go pretty deep), countersink them with a drill the same size as the screw head, and then put the screws in. Very carefully at the end. You don't wanna crack the wood.

To make the plate sit securely, I use adhesive rubber strips on all the sides before screwing it together, or strips of balsa wood glued to the wood sides as shelves under the plate edges. I'll try to make drawing of this later… got a bit hard to explain

[yobinad]

Thanks for the explanation. A drawing would be nice too

The drilling process must be done carefully. It's not easy to drill a straight hole by hand with little to none margin of error.

Great job 

[Yoe]

Thanks for the explanation. A drawing would be nice too

The drilling process must be done carefully. It's not easy to drill a straight hole by hand with little to none margin of error.

Great job 

Thanks! Yes drilling those holes is by far the most critical procedure in all this. I try to aim very slightly inwards so I don't risk having a screw breaking through on the outside of the frame. If you can find shorter screws of this kind, you should probably go with them. This kind of larger screws do add a bit of stability though. I wouldn't go for regular wood screws. Both for aestetic and stability reasons.

Anyway, here's my little drawing Hope it makes sense..

[yobinad]

Got it
Thanks for the explanation 

[vivalarevolución]

Nice way to integrate arrow keys in a 60%.  Well done.