Hi, I don't have a mech yet (Going to custom build my own)

[Gaeel]

Hi Geekhack,

I'm Gaeel, a video game developer and internet rando based out of France, and I've started my quest for the perfect mechanical keyboard.

I use AZERTY layouts, I travel a lot, I don't want to be too loud, but I like to feel the keypresses, and I don't mind getting down and dirty either in software or hardware.

So far my quest has led me to reject pretty much any keyboard I've laid eyes on, so I'm doing the only reasonable thing there is left: building my own.

I've ordered some Cherry MX Clears, those rainbow keycaps from Massdrop, sent off an order for an aluminium cut plate I designed with builder.swillkb.com and keyboard-layout-editor.com

Here's the layout I've decided on:


It has ANSI and ISO features; this should make it easier to find caps, while allowing me to stay within my typing habits on a french AZERTY layout. I call it the ANSISO layout (**** it, I have no idea what I'm doing, okay?)

I'll take plenty of pics of the good and the bad, and I'll let you know how this all pans out.

In the mean time, I'm going to lurk around, enjoy the beautiful pictures of random keyboards, and pray I have what it takes to pull this build off!

[mrbishop]

looks like its going to be a cool build. i did the same thing somewhat. decided to build my own.

best of luck in your adventure!

[Gaeel]

looks like its going to be a cool build. i did the same thing somewhat. decided to build my own.

best of luck in your adventure!

Yeah, I figure if I don't succeed, at least I'll have a good time and learn a bit during the experience.

You have a write-up about your build?

[mrbishop]

Kind of. But not really. It's more pictures than anything else. I need to do a full post on it. Been lazy. I call it the wood60. I'll send you some pictures.

[Gaeel]

Full wood is an interesting choice, looks quite nice. Would be cool if you shared your experiences, I was wondering about making a wooden plate because I was having trouble finding a good place that would cut aluminium and ship to France

[mrbishop]

I have a CNC so prototyping in wood is quick and easy for me.

So far it's working well for me.

[rowdy]

Welcome to Geekhack!

Setting the bar too high ... and then building a ladder to climb over it - smooth

Azerty does prove problematic with sculpted keysets, as the A and Z keys are usually different heights to the ERTY keys, unfortunately.  But you have a world of (uniform) SA and DSA keycaps to choose from!

[Gaeel]

It's not so much the actual keys, since I'll probably be using blanks anyway, it's that AZERTY mapped to ANSI loses the chevrons key (next to left shift on ISO and my layout), which is a super NOPE for programming (or I find a way to never use generics or comparison operators again)

(Also, setting bars high and building ladders is a theme with me, I fall off ladders a lot, but I try to learn from each fall)

[rowdy]

It's not so much the actual keys, since I'll probably be using blanks anyway, it's that AZERTY mapped to ANSI loses the chevrons key (next to left shift on ISO and my layout), which is a super NOPE for programming (or I find a way to never use generics or comparison operators again)

(Also, setting bars high and building ladders is a theme with me, I fall off ladders a lot, but I try to learn from each fall)

I think I have some older DEC terminal keyboards that have a dedicated < > key.  Must have been a thing back in the day.  Thinking back I can't remember using < or > much programming on those terminals, apart from comparisons.  I wonder who had the idea to put them both on the same key originally.