The AT101W Split 56

[FletchINKy]

Full album with high level build notes https://imgur.com/a/M6PMB

Github with Easy AVR config files: https://github.com/FletchINKy/AT101_Split56

Keyboard config layout http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/gists/4ee859fd40c0fa56aad4

I started out wanting to use Easy AVR on a split, and found there weren't any full splits that were supported by Easy AVR and the firmware for the splits lacked the advanced features Easy AVR provided (and ease!). Apparently using layers for more than colemak and caps lock to control is rare. So why not make my own split keyboard using the switches from this old AT101W I found in a bin?

Desoldering: It sucked.

After removing all the switches from the plate I started to see possibility in the plate, and started plotting out splits that might work. Once I had one, I cut the plate into the pieces I wanted. 56 keys, 4x14 matrix. I wanted it to be compact.

Hand wiring the matrix was easier than I thought, and I salvaged some ribbon cables from the same place I found the keyboard, so I used those.

Once on the teensy I was getting very weird issues on two columns for some reason. Every key from those columns would dump semi-random characters. A partial row in the case, a random set of keys repeating 45 times, or just register random keys it seemed. To eliminate a hardware/soldering problem, I disconnected the lead from the teensy and shorted the column and row for one of the problem keys and it happened again. So it was a software issue. To determine if the issue was related to the logical assignment of those keys or the pin on the teensy, I switched GPIOs and it fixed. The same fixed the other problematic column. Not sure what's up with my teensy, but I got it free from someone else. Doesn't matter. Works now.

The "stand offs" I used were clothes pins, which provided the perfect clearance and bound very well with the hot glue (classy  ).

Everything is still removable so I can tweak the ergonomics, height, tilt, thumb cluster position as I test it out and finalize things later, but it works, and I'm not tweaking my wrists typing, and I didn't have to give up any features, and to top it off, I made it for free with supplies I traded, "rescued," or already had. Neat.

In the future I might consider a MCP23018 to MCP23017 to make the cable removable and nicer, while keeping the GPIO transparent to the teensy and Easy AVR. I could just work on adding MCP23018 support to the newly open sourced Easy AVR, but this got my hands dirty.

[livingspeedbump]

Nice. That thing looks jankey as hell, but I totally dig it. Great way to put that old board to use.

[jacobolus]

Appropriately geeky and hacky for this place. 

[zefyr]

Impressive!!!

I also did some work like you.

http://www.hiskarma.net/blog/reckless-bravery

I wrote it in Korean, but just with photos you can get where I went

I used U-CON made by winkeyless. It's compact and very much simple, you just wire, period.

[Hzza]

Hacks like this are why I visit GH, great work dude .

[fohat.digs]

Bad to the Bone

[CPTBadAss]

Hacks like this are why I visit GH, great work dude .

Same. I love projects like this. Thanks for sharing!

[FletchINKy]

Impressive!!!

I also did some work like you.

http://www.hiskarma.net/blog/reckless-bravery

I wrote it in Korean, but just with photos you can get where I went

I used U-CON made by winkeyless. It's compact and very much simple, you just wire, period.

That looks great! How thin are those wires? Did you have any problems with them breaking? Is the keyboard as your avatar the latest version? I'm interested in that coiled cable.

[FletchINKy]

Nice. That thing looks jankey as hell, but I totally dig it. Great way to put that old board to use.

Embrace the Jank!  ) I think of it as a counter to all the shiny, pretty keyboards people spend so much on. I'm still getting the ergonomics down, but when I'm done it should have a proper case around it, but I'm trying to figure out how to maintain the jank while reducing the footprint and profile. Thinking epoxy impregnated cardboard. Of course, I'll hotglue it to finalize the form and shape before the epoxy gets over it. I'll just have to keep it out of the rain until then.

What's kind of weird is that I'm not a huge fan of the Alps and don't want to buy new Alps keycaps if they're only going to be for this build, and the plate is obviously only for Alps. Makes it less likely for me to build on/upgrade this one when it's all Alps. Just gonna have to make another 

[zefyr]

Impressive!!!

I also did some work like you.

http://www.hiskarma.net/blog/reckless-bravery

I wrote it in Korean, but just with photos you can get where I went

I used U-CON made by winkeyless. It's compact and very much simple, you just wire, period.

That looks great! How thin are those wires? Did you have any problems with them breaking? Is the keyboard as your avatar the latest version? I'm interested in that coiled cable.

I used 30 AWG wire. It was such a painful job I spent almost two days for that.
And my avatar is my latest version. and that coil is standard SATA cable.

[zefyr]

Nice. That thing looks jankey as hell, but I totally dig it. Great way to put that old board to use.

Embrace the Jank!  ) I think of it as a counter to all the shiny, pretty keyboards people spend so much on. I'm still getting the ergonomics down, but when I'm done it should have a proper case around it, but I'm trying to figure out how to maintain the jank while reducing the footprint and profile. Thinking epoxy impregnated cardboard. Of course, I'll hotglue it to finalize the form and shape before the epoxy gets over it. I'll just have to keep it out of the rain until then.

What's kind of weird is that I'm not a huge fan of the Alps and don't want to buy new Alps keycaps if they're only going to be for this build, and the plate is obviously only for Alps. Makes it less likely for me to build on/upgrade this one when it's all Alps. Just gonna have to make another 

I have been used cardboard and hotglue for my build once, it's no good, it wears really fast. I suggest vaporized acrylic, known as foamex. It's easy to cut, glue and vent. good for custom build.

[FletchINKy]

Interesting. Even with the epoxy I can see how the corrugation might compress over time. Maybe I'll make a veneer of ugly around the outside so you can see the corrugation, but the inside is layered pressboard like the current base.

I'll price out some foamex. If it's really easy to cut that would be great for the uneven edges around the plate, since I could cut, test fit, cut, test fit, over and over until I had a tight fit and a solid base to start layering on.

[FletchINKy]

Latest updates to the build...

Got access to a CO2 laser cutter! Then, figured out how important the plate is to the overall rigidity and how much metal plates cost to get cut! So I'm going to focus on supporting the plate evenly for this build and adjust my next build, called Aguila for some reason, which will be this basic build but without the AT101's switches or plate. Ideally without a metal plate to keep the cost down.

SVGs and pictures on the original github https://github.com/FletchINKy/AT101_Split56

Also, c'est ne pas une planck!

Using the salvaged pressed cardboard and testing if it can be a "plate." The original test used MX/Alps holes which were too loose for the alps, even with the thickness of the material. After a kerf test (file on github), I laser cut this one with the (second) tightest fit I could get on what was left of the Alps from the Split56 build (I had 49 switches left, so now I have one!).

After fighting to get all the switches in, I just couldn't help myself and put some fake Dolch caps I had on it. It's not wired up, and I don't think I'll even keep them on the board, and I know they're going to be a royal pain to take off without breaking anything (since the switches are in place by friction, not clips), but it just looks so good!

[need]

Latest updates to the build...

Got access to a CO2 laser cutter! Then, figured out how important the plate is to the overall rigidity and how much metal plates cost to get cut! So I'm going to focus on supporting the plate evenly for this build and adjust my next build, called Aguila for some reason, which will be this basic build but without the AT101's switches or plate. Ideally without a metal plate to keep the cost down.

SVGs and pictures on the original github https://github.com/FletchINKy/AT101_Split56

Also, c'est ne pas une planck!

Using the salvaged pressed cardboard and testing if it can be a "plate." The original test used MX/Alps holes which were too loose for the alps, even with the thickness of the material. After a kerf test (file on github), I laser cut this one with the (second) tightest fit I could get on what was left of the Alps from the Split56 build (I had 49 switches left, so now I have one!).

After fighting to get all the switches in, I just couldn't help myself and put some fake Dolch caps I had on it. It's not wired up, and I don't think I'll even keep them on the board, and I know they're going to be a royal pain to take off without breaking anything (since the switches are in place by friction, not clips), but it just looks so good!

How does typing on wood plate feel ?
Soft ?

[FletchINKy]

How does typing on wood plate feel ?
Soft ?

The original design had the steel plate sitting on clothespins (as standoffs) and those sitting on the base of pressed cardboard. This had a noticeably softer feel and quieter sound, and I noted obvious flex while tenting.

Now that the left side is a steel plate sitting on the layers of pressed board with a center support, I can definitely tell it's more rigid, louder, and more crisp feeling. Even typing now, since I've only done one side, I'm still surprised at how different the left feels and sounds from the right.

I will be interested to know how the pressed cardboard "case" feels with a pressed cardboard plate (as in that planck) rather than a steel one.