geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => DIY Discussions ARCHIVE => Topic started by: dougy on Sun, 30 November 2008, 22:28:08
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A few weeks ago I discovered geekhack when looking for a new keyboard to replace yet another broken one. After reading a bunch it seemed like the best choice would be a Modular Mac with blue cherries.
All set to order and then came across this http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=76&highlight=apple+adjustable+keyboard from xsphat. Like waving a red flag in front of a bull.....
Heres the Scorpius with the AAK
http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=287&stc=1&d=1228104359
the pcb after the cuts
http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=288&stc=1&d=1228104532
a little bit of wiring to get it back together
http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=289&stc=1&d=1228104614
kinda together, but not really adjustable anymore
http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=290&stc=1&d=1228104658
and finally with the Scorpius keys back on
http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=291&stc=1&d=1228104762
Now I'm left with a couple of problems. First the keys feel flimsy. Not surprising as the plastic is paper thin. The Apple keys are more robust, but they use a different mounting. They could be modified, I'm not sure I'm that ambitious. Any reasonably cheap way to get better keycaps?
Second the Apple had oversized keys along the left and bottom perimeter. Any ideas on filling in the gap?
Third, the keys sit higher than the original. The bother here is the factory issue wrist rests are now to low. Does anyone have a recommended replacement for a split board?
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holy crap, nice job.
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way to go. How many labor hours did it take to do this?
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Well then you're welcome for the inspiration.
Impressive mod, to say the least.
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Very nice job, looks very polished. How long did this take?
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Very nice mod! :eek:
Why isn't it adjustable anymore?
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Considering all that work you should add black tape on the left hand to hide the pcb to finish it off, either way looks very cool. How do you get F-keys though?
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Thanks all for the compliments. The physical mod took about a day, the only difficulty was installing the 6 miniature button switches for the weird plastic buttons. The electrical part took about 3 days, should have taken less but I didn't do the pcb tracing until after cutting. A VERY BAD mistake. Its no longer adjustable for 2 reasons. First my wiring is not a good substitute for a ribbon cable. I'm sure there are wire strains now and movement would aggravate that. Second is the evener arms in the lower case needed to be removed to allow room for the controller board. Safest bet for me was just to glue the 3 pieces together at the angle I use.
I've never used Fkeys, so there not being there is makes no difference. Because there were 5 buttons along the right side of the board I did use the power key for an F12. Thats the Mac superdrive eject. There was no other key I could even think of needing. btw, the other 4 buttons on the right are the arrow keys.
What's really great though is the beauty of typing on this thing. I've never had a board that feels this nice. It's glorious to just pull the keyboard out, lean back with my head against the rest, close my eyes and type. The auditory feedback from the clickiness just adds to the comfort. Only thing missing is a little bell to go off every 80 characters. Maybe I should.....
I really want to thank xsphat especially. Without that modification find I'd be typing on a Modular Mac now. And my wrists would be hating it.