geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: OnTheBrink on Tue, 19 February 2013, 13:45:06
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I'd like to customize my Filco to look like this:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1236288/kmac-keyboard-mania-attic-craft
I hear making custom lighting is pretty easy and was wondering if a good place to start would be buying the aluminum case for my Filco TKL.
Thoughts?
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You're not going to get the 1.5 mods/blockers on a Filco
However with a HID liberation device, you should be able to program it like a KMAC
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Actually, you can do it.
It will take a lot of work though as you will need to disassemble or remove three switches, get some 1.5 keys and offset the stems and make block offs to cover the disassembled/removed switches and of course paint them to match the case.
An aluminum case could make it easier or harder depending on your skills. Plastic is easier to cut, glue, and sand, aluminum would need welding if you wanted to anodize it. Welding could warp the case and every time you want a different set of keycaps you have to buy the 1.5 mods and alter them before you can use them.
Worse than that, by the time you did this with aluminum, and have it anodized, you could have purchased an LZ GH keyboard kit exactly as you want, or possibly even buy a Kmac. It won't be cheap or easy in aluminum.
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I know that the Filco has more switch locations built into the PCB, as shown here (http://i52.tinypic.com/33oh9v7.jpg), which I'm fairly certain are for their Japanese keyboards. Has anyone ever moved switches around to those locations? If you replace the plate with a custom one, perhaps that can help push you a little further along to your goal.