I love seeing build logs and seeing others create beautiful machines, so I decided to document my progress here as well.
My plan is to build a 120 key custom keyboard, so far I have the teensy++ 2.0 and 150 Cherry MX Red switches. Next I will have my case/plate laser cut from acrylic, as well as order other miscellaneous parts (diodes, screws, etc). I also plan to have a micro usb jack and headphone pass through so that I can plug into my keyboard on one side and then into my laptop while at my desk on the other and avoid getting tangled up.
I will post a copy of my plate layout, please feel free to share your thoughts. Also, if I plan to make use of macros and dedicated functions on some keys, which firmware would you suggest? I have looked into hasu's and soarer's but am not sure which to work with.
Please post any suggestions or thoughts and I will update this as I progress.
Thank you!
-neverused
Plate below - the planned color scheme will be white top and bottom (and one additional 1.5mm layer), plus 3 middle layers in 3mm brown acrylic, possibly blue 104 keyset with extra yellow and red keycaps. Thoughts? Also, the inner border in the image below is just for my reference and will not be cut out.
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/o6wjjMJ.png)
If you're not egotistical about it, you can just save all that time and effort and go with samwisekoi's 122-134 key monster keyboard which is really very much like what you're planning to do now.
This project isn't dead yet, work and life have slowed it down.
The more I think about it and try to limit my usage to determine my true needs, it seems that this layout may be a good compromise for me:
http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/e43b12b26b33aa4a7b0be6685673c363
I find myself disliking the foot print of my current keyboard, as well as having to keep moving my hand far over to my mouse. I also find myself only using the space bar below the 'n' key and enjoy having dedicated arrow keys.
Thoughts?
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/FFoHVO0.png)
While I would have liked to see your original design come to fruition, I totally understand your decision to go small. I've used full-sized boards all my life, until 4 months ago, when I bought a TKL. Having the mouse closer to you is very nice. So, I decided to buy a TKL for work but then decided that wouldn't be small enough. Then I started designing a 75% board, then a 60% board. Using the TouchCursor program to put the nav cluster buttons around the right-hand alpha home keys showed me I could effectively use a 60% without dedicated arrow and Home/End keys. The power of these smaller boards lies in the ability to use hotkeys and having optimal placement of the modifier key that gives you access to the functions of the keys that have been removed from the layout is crucial to maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of the board. Since the thumbs are underutilized and almost always rest in the same place, I think having a modifier key in the middle of the space bar is one of the best design choices for a 60% board. I only use right control for the arrow keys, so I don't see the removal of right control being an issue. If you have the CAD expertise to design your own case, having a non-rectangular key arrangement isn't a bad choice. I wouldn't build a board with a layout like that for myself until I had the knowledge and funds to build a case that covered the exposed parts of the switch plate or I could afford to have the switched anodized or powder-coated. Of course, if your switch plate is acrylic, that isn't an issue. I will repeat Findecanor's advice to another user and suggest you print your layout and see how comfortable the key placement on the space bar row feels and see where your thumbs naturally rest.