geekhack
geekhack Community => New Members => Topic started by: atrere on Sun, 24 July 2016, 01:56:10
-
I've always liked high quality keyboards. But I suppose it really started when I got a Das Keyboard II. That lasted for years, until it died as the victim of an unfortunate marinara sauce spill in college. I bounced around, being a snob about scissor-switches over simple rubber domes, but I didn't get back into proper mechanical keyboards until a few years back, when I finally went back to mechanical with a Logitech G710+ with MX Browns. And while you might laugh at damped MX Browns, for a while, that was enough.
Then I started reading topics on here, Deskthority, and /r/mechanicalkeyboards. I started thinking more about keyswitch design, and lusting after spherical keycaps and IBM Beam Springs and strange and mysterious Alps (and even picked up a Siig Minitouch, with its shabby knockoff whites, in a thrift store). And in the space of two months, I acquired an IBM 6112884 Pingmaster with SKCC Greens, learned how to solder to replace its controller with a Teensy, and configured it with Soarer's Converter, got a terminal Model M (sadly not a 122), converted that with Soarer's, and put the G710 in a box.
But I'm always going to want to try more things, and be fascinated with the technology of all of this. Between writing and gaming, I care a lot about my input devices (and someday that will lead to an L-Trac or a Microsoft Trackball Explorer), and between enjoying cyberpunk and computing history (The most recent documentary I've seen was about the history of BBSes), I've got a lot of non-usage interest in this stuff.
The current next step I'm pursuing is custom-making a switch through 3D printing and magnets, because, well, the power of a Teensy and a soldering iron really has gone to my head. And I desperately want to try something with this layout, with SA keycaps: http://imgur.com/a/GwZEV
So yeah, that's my story ;D Happy clicks and clacks.
-
Welcome to Geekhack!
Nice layout you've designed. The Compose key looks like 1.5x, right? That shouldn't be a huge problem finding a keycap set that includes a bottom row 1.5x keycap, but they might not all have the "Compose" legend.
The idea of making your own switch from scratch - not many people would, or even could, follow through with that. It will be very interesting to see how you go!
Please feel free to create a thread in the making stuff together (https://geekhack.org/index.php?board=117.0) area to track your progress - many people will probably be interested in this!
-
Yeah, it's 1.5U - The layout is a slightly modified version of Spock345's design from this thread (http://"https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/2vebuw/help_where_would_i_obtain_a_plate_for_a_custom/").
I figure one of the other difficulties with that layout would be getting the bottom row keys (to the left of the arrows) as convex keys, but I've gotten hooked on that with my 6112884.
I've sent off some preliminary designs to Shapeways and to a local 3d printer, but I also have to wait for some other components to arrive from China. When they do, and if the interactions between the various parts aren't a scratchy, horrible mess, I'll make a post about it ^_^
-
Yeah, it's 1.5U - The layout is a slightly modified version of Spock345's design from this thread (http://"https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/2vebuw/help_where_would_i_obtain_a_plate_for_a_custom/").
I figure one of the other difficulties with that layout would be getting the bottom row keys (to the left of the arrows) as convex keys, but I've gotten hooked on that with my 6112884.
I've sent off some preliminary designs to Shapeways and to a local 3d printer, but I also have to wait for some other components to arrive from China. When they do, and if the interactions between the various parts aren't a scratchy, horrible mess, I'll make a post about it ^_^
I think I prefer your layout - that 1.25 left arrow would trigger me every time!
1.25 keycaps are not a problem - but finding convex ones might. I think most, if not all, of mine are indeed concave.