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Author Topic: Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?  (Read 13297 times)

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Offline cloaked

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« on: Fri, 10 April 2009, 12:09:24 »
Does anyone have a picture of one of these boards torn down?
http://www.kinesis-ergo.com/images/kb_essential720x446.jpg
I'd like to know if I can chop this keyboard into a left and right half and then run a cord between them, like my current kinesis freestyle.

Also if anyone has a programmable Kinesis Contoured just collecting dust, I'm looking for one. :)
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Offline lowpoly

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 11 April 2009, 16:04:16 »
Quote
Does anyone have a picture of one of these boards torn down?

Someone here did a switch swap. That thread should have some pics of the internals.
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Offline ricercar

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Internals for Kinesis
« Reply #2 on: Tue, 09 June 2009, 14:56:38 »
This is a Kinesis Contour 130EM.



This is a quick pic from my phone. hi-res available on request.

Each cup of keys is attached to a rigid (barely flexible) pcboard with six 'fingers' at various curve. The connection to the central board is via one of those exposed Mylar edges that slides into a sleeve which is then clamped shut.

In theory you could split the keyboard with a ribbon cable extension from one or the other fingered pcboard. This is not something I'd want to try, especially if you paid full retail for a Kinesis keyboard, but there are FAR more difficult hacks out there.

I'm curious what you'd use to house the separate pieces after the split?
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Offline Chef

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #3 on: Fri, 12 June 2009, 22:28:27 »
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Offline watduzhkstand4

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 12 June 2009, 22:49:16 »
wow that thing looks beautiful on the inside. First time seeing a pcb that's not flat on a keyboard.
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Offline rdjack21

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 13 June 2009, 23:19:41 »
Quote from: ripster;95908
First time I've seen a curved PCB period.  How do they get those suckers through the wave solder machines?

PCB material isn't usually pliable enough to bend after the fact.


That really depends on the material and how thick you make it. Take a really close look at those boards especially these three images







Some things to note when looking at the pictures:
  • Bent leads on the switch(s) at the ends of the bent board. No other switch has bent leads. My bet is this switch was the first one installed. Leads bent to hold the board in place while the board was hand soldered.
  • Take a close look at the switches in the middle in particular look at the switches in the first picture on the back board. Notice the gap between the switch and the board. The first switch does not have this gap. And if you look really close you can see that the gap is not the same on both sides of the switch. So this switch was installed and hand soldered after the switches on the ends of the board.
  • All pictures note the un-soldered via holes all over the board. Even with selective wave soldering some of them would be filled. In this case they are all un-soldered.
  • In the last picture above this is one board with multiple fingers.
  • In the first two pictures note how thin the board is. With the right material this would be easy to do.


So what does all the above say. I think it really depends on whether or not the switches in this section are plate mounted or not. Or maybe even mounted into the plastic like a plate mount so you have the switch actually acting as the board hold downs. I really think this board was bent into shape. Back in 2000 when I was a process Eng for both SMT (Surface mount tech) and TH (Through hole) we did some stuff similar to this. The reason you don't see more of this stuff in consumer products is because the PCB are very expensive to produce. But then again considering the cost of this keyboard it would not surprise me that they are using the flex circuit material.

FYI: If you want take a look at this company they offer Flexible circuit boards http://www.allflexinc.com after looking through there site a little flex circuits have come a long way compared to what we could do back when I was in manufacturing. They can now mount SMT components to these flexible circuits as long as you design the layout right that is.
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Offline talis

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 14 June 2009, 01:55:41 »
Quote from: ripster;95908
First time I've seen a curved PCB period.  How do they get those suckers through the wave solder machines?

PCB material isn't usually pliable enough to bend after the fact.


If they are assembled in China, they are likely just hand soldered.

A lot of the factories have lines upon lines of people just sitting there hand soldering parts.
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Offline Chef

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 14 June 2009, 09:39:31 »
This keyboard is assembled in USA :



If you guys need other pictures, just let me know.
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Offline Input Nirvana

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 23 February 2010, 16:06:15 »
« Last Edit: Tue, 23 February 2010, 16:10:10 by input nirvana »
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Kinesis Advantage cut into 2 halves | RollerMouse Free 2 | Apple Magic Trackpad | Colemak
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Offline Input Nirvana

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 23 February 2010, 16:17:29 »
I played with my iPhone in the same spot with an app that made it into a wireless mouse (yaay!) but then had to answer a call (boo!)
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Kinesis Advantage cut into 2 halves | RollerMouse Free 2 | Apple Magic Trackpad | Colemak
Evil Screaming Flying Door Monkeys From Hell                     Proudly GeekWhacking since 2009
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Offline ricercar

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #10 on: Tue, 23 February 2010, 17:20:48 »
That trackpad mod inspired me. The precision of the cutouts is quite deft.
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Offline ricercar

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #11 on: Tue, 23 February 2010, 17:40:22 »
Exactly. The beveled edge was stunning, the precision of the USB ports was ... ineffable. I had to try that.
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Offline In Stereo!

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 26 February 2010, 04:48:04 »
Quote from: ricercar;160269
That trackpad mod inspired me. The precision of the cutouts is quite deft.


First thing I saw, actually. Props to the cutter.
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Offline Input Nirvana

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #13 on: Fri, 26 February 2010, 11:26:46 »
I wish he/she showed that portion.

I thought of using a cutting wheel along the drilled holes, then hand filing with several different file types.
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Kinesis Advantage cut into 2 halves | RollerMouse Free 2 | Apple Magic Trackpad | Colemak
Evil Screaming Flying Door Monkeys From Hell                     Proudly GeekWhacking since 2009
Things change, things stay the same                                        Thanks much, Smallfry  
I AM THE REAPER . . . BECAUSE I KILL IT
~retired from forum activities 2015~

Offline ricercar

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #14 on: Fri, 26 February 2010, 18:03:11 »
> Anybody know how he made the final cut after drilling the holes?

I assumed it was all hand-filed. The tools are pictured on the complete page IIRC: no dremel. Unfortunately I can't find my archived web page complete at the moment.
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Offline kishy

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #15 on: Fri, 26 February 2010, 18:16:35 »
As comical as that is, I can't help but wonder why you own a Peerless-equipped keyboard...
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Offline Input Nirvana

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #16 on: Fri, 26 February 2010, 18:18:21 »
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Kinesis Advantage cut into 2 halves | RollerMouse Free 2 | Apple Magic Trackpad | Colemak
Evil Screaming Flying Door Monkeys From Hell                     Proudly GeekWhacking since 2009
Things change, things stay the same                                        Thanks much, Smallfry  
I AM THE REAPER . . . BECAUSE I KILL IT
~retired from forum activities 2015~

Offline Input Nirvana

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #17 on: Fri, 26 February 2010, 18:35:25 »
If you look in the pics, you can see what appears to be the dark plastic filings on the table/floor.

I think it's the best hand job I've ever seen!
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Kinesis Advantage cut into 2 halves | RollerMouse Free 2 | Apple Magic Trackpad | Colemak
Evil Screaming Flying Door Monkeys From Hell                     Proudly GeekWhacking since 2009
Things change, things stay the same                                        Thanks much, Smallfry  
I AM THE REAPER . . . BECAUSE I KILL IT
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Offline TexasFlood

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #18 on: Fri, 26 February 2010, 18:38:12 »
Quote from: input nirvana;161048
I think it's the best hand job I've ever seen!

Excluding Internet porn, I'd have to agree.  I wish I could read that page to better understand how that was done, that bevelled edge is amazing.
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Offline In Stereo!

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #19 on: Sat, 27 February 2010, 01:18:23 »
Quote from: input nirvana;160906
I wish he/she showed that portion.

I thought of using a cutting wheel along the drilled holes, then hand filing with several different file types.


The compartments between the holes were obviously cut with some cutting pliers.
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Offline Input Nirvana

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #20 on: Sun, 28 February 2010, 17:01:53 »
It totally boils down to the finish. It would be great if someone could tell if the poster explained what he did. I have some limited access to Korean language students on occasion. I'll inquire and pass info along.
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Kinesis Advantage cut into 2 halves | RollerMouse Free 2 | Apple Magic Trackpad | Colemak
Evil Screaming Flying Door Monkeys From Hell                     Proudly GeekWhacking since 2009
Things change, things stay the same                                        Thanks much, Smallfry  
I AM THE REAPER . . . BECAUSE I KILL IT
~retired from forum activities 2015~

Offline wolf

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #21 on: Wed, 03 March 2010, 17:36:48 »
Quote from: TexasFlood;161049
Excluding Internet porn, I'd have to agree.

Don't say "hand job" in front of TexasFlood!
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Have keyboard, will travel...

Offline TexasFlood

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #22 on: Wed, 03 March 2010, 17:50:51 »
Quote from: wolf;161705
Don't say "hand job" in front of TexasFlood!
Yes, sorry, should have resisted. Tried, could not.

DON'T PRESS THE BIG RED BUTTON! :smile:



Or for anyone who has no idea who Stimpy is,
a trip back in time to an excerpt / remix the "Space Madness" red button.
« Last Edit: Wed, 03 March 2010, 17:57:48 by TexasFlood »
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Offline wolf

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #23 on: Wed, 03 March 2010, 18:15:13 »
Not wanting to go too far off topic:  Traveller Role Playing Game a number of years ago, the girl who played the ship's (male and decidely omnisexual) captain deliberately twisted any phrase that could be remotely viewed sexually (if given the appropriate kinks) and played the captain as being eager to do it.

E.g.
Struggling crewman: "Gimmee a hand up"
Captain (excited): "Oooooh!"
Any random crew member: "Don't say "gimme a hand up" in front of the Captain!"

We wound up with a lot of "Don't say ... in front of the Captain" situations.  And a growing list of things to avoid saying...

Just as you couldn't resist commenting on the "hand job", I couldn't resist paraphrasing our crew's admonition.
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Have keyboard, will travel...

Offline itlnstln

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #24 on: Wed, 03 March 2010, 20:18:22 »
Ren and Stimpy is my favorite cartoon of all time.
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Offline HaaTa

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Re: Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #25 on: Wed, 03 March 2010, 20:58:03 »
Ah yes, Ren & Stimpy. Good times.

POWWDERRRED...TOAASST...MAAAN!!!
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Offline TexasFlood

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #26 on: Wed, 03 March 2010, 21:14:50 »
Quote from: HaaTa;161720
Ah yes, Ren & Stimpy. Good times.

POWWDERRRED...TOAASST...MAAAN!!!

Ahh, memories....
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Offline itlnstln

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Can I cut a Kinesis Contoured in half?
« Reply #27 on: Thu, 04 March 2010, 07:15:55 »
Ren: Stimpy, your wealth of ignorance astounds me.
 
Stimpy: Duh... they don't call me "stupid" for nothin'!
 
 
The rubber nipple salesmen had to be one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen.  That, and Cousin Sven.
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