geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: sparrows89 on Sun, 13 May 2018, 19:40:23
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It all starts with an idea and a bit of inspiration, or maybe just a little bit of foolishness and a will to reinvent the wheel. A month or so ago, I built a Preonic keyboard after getting it through Massdrop, and really liked the keyboard. However, I always wondered if it could go just a bit bigger to a 60% while keeping that nice ortholinear layout.
(https://i.imgur.com/kpffKOC.jpg)
This is what I came up with, it's bigger than a Preonic, but smaller than the XD75RE. Save for a bit of reaching too, most common keys are about one key width away. I may try to change the enter key to a 2u width, but I'll only know if I should after using it for a bit.
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With the layout decided, I could move on to making both the PCB and the plate. I have little experience here, but thankfully there's really good guides and tools to help out anybody who's willing to sit down and go through all the information and documentation.
(https://i.imgur.com/cTw1IC1.jpg)
The plate came first from lasergist, and they did a fantastic job on it too. Everything is to spec and the stainless is a nice quality with a good finish. I'll have to brush up on my own CAD skills or dive deeper in to how the plate maker works so I can make my plates have multiple layouts and options.
(https://i.imgur.com/8tRLNqG.jpg)
Next, the PCB it's self. This one was nicely easy to lay out because of the spacing between the keyswitches. I also had a bit of help from people in the community helping me learn best practices and what makes a good board and a bad board. I used Eagle CAD for this, mostly because I've done a few projects with it before, and I'm used to the ecosystem as well. If this build interests anybody, I can share the gerbers once I know I have a working board.
(https://i.imgur.com/qwZrRqj.jpg)
Oh... Uh, shoot. I guess this is why they say triple check, and then check again before submitting anything to fabrication. It turns out I had one of the data lines incorrectly routed on this board. I guess I'll have to fix things and then wait for my new set of boards.
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In the mean time, I can actually do what I consider my strength and design the case.
(https://i.imgur.com/thaombl.jpg)
I was originally going to go for a high profile and slim case made out of paduk wood that I could CNC. It didn't look bad at all, but it was something that was a dime a dozen. I did a 3d printed test to see how things fit together, and I was actually surprised how nice it looked. With a bit of sanding and hand polishing, I bet it could even look injection molded.
(https://i.imgur.com/gmwEnzt.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/jt04lUE.jpg)
After thinking I could use my 3d printer, it opened up how I could design just a little bit more, and I tried to go for something a little more unique and a little more ergonomic too! That led me to this, and the colour scheme I have now, that looks just a little like a panda, as a friend said. That pretty well settled it on the name that I had been struggling with until now. I'm calling this board the Panda 60, and the macropad I want to make for this will be called the Bamboo Shoot.
(https://i.imgur.com/yQNL6RV.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/thdthx8.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VNMXmqp.jpg)
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This is super dope dude, I love the Bamboo Shoot name lol. How long do you think it took to get from the beginning to these pics?