geekhack
geekhack Community => New Members => Topic started by: Wal on Sun, 13 August 2023, 08:15:29
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Hello all,
Total noob here. I'm thinking about dipping my toe in and building a little control keyboard for my CNC machine - something that can live next to the bed of the table.
A number pad/cursor mini keyboard would do most of what I want, but not quite. Then there's the Keychron Q series which looks promising, but not sure on compatibility with Linux (with mixed advice from Keychron themselves...) I've also ordered one of those blank programmable keyboards in from China - again, looks good, but not sure on how well it'll work. I'm quite happy to have a go myself and self build - seems like a neat little project tbh.
I have the ability to make my own box along with any PCBs required etc. just after a few pointers towards making a USB keyboard which essentially behaves like a basic off-the-shelf keyboard, except I choose the keys I want to include and lay them out according to what best suits my workflow.
As far as the components go - can I dismantle an old keyboard and use bits from that, or am I better off starting from scratch and buying in the bits and pieces I'll be needing?
Thanks for any advice!
Wal.
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So my Chinese programmable keyboard arrived the other day.
What can I say - it's excellent! Programmable via a web page (sayodevice.com) - a very straightforward process.
Keycaps are blank, but once I'm happy with the layout I'll take it to a local printer who can UV print the relevant characters onto it.
Supports up to 5 layers (FN1/2/3/4) with individual control over led colours etc. Macros too. Pretty cool.
I wonder what PCB it uses?
I'll still make my own as ideally I'd like a basic 28 key keyboard without the need to use layers - but this is certainly a very cool little kb!
Wal.