If I’m going to do this I’m going to build something that at least has the potential to be a daily driver, either at home or at work. A 60% would probably change the way I work too much, using Fn+HJKL for navigation, no numpad etc, but a 75% with dedicated navigation keys and a laptop style numpad accessible within a function layer might just be workable… Sadly not that many 75% exist in the first place to copy and it’s probably not the best idea really to think for myself, but at least I have you to point out my glaring mistakes…
Some design ideas:
- Change as little as possible of the way I work, but reclaim a bit of desktop space.
- Easy to find replacement keycaps so no odd key sizes. I want to be able to buy a blank 105 key set and use it, or join a DSA group buy without too much hassle. For the first keyset I think I’m going to order one from WASD though. That way I get to design a keyset as well and actually get the function layer properly labeled until I had a chance to learn the layout. Besides $50 + shipping for a completely custom keyset isn’t that bad even if it’s just printed ABS.
- Probably ergo clears plate mounted on an aluminum plate. Hand wired electronics (I’ve never designed a PCB before, but learning new stuff is fun so depending on what prices I can get for a single PCB I might change my mind)
- Costar stabilizers. I like the feel of them best and WASD sells them cheap, but so far I haven’t been able to find a template for the plate cutouts
- Layered acrylic case with a steel bottom to add some weight and heft. (Blatantly stealing Matteo’s ideas here…). Probably looking something like Litsters designs with a proper “side” to hide the gap between keys and plate but I would like to countersink the screws into it. Feels like a big nut just in front of the space bar might get in the way.
I plan to glue spacers to the plate to cover up the gaps around the arrow keys, but replacing that low right hand corner with 1,25 keys will also work (just need to shorten a modifier). Not sure about wide arrow keys though. The gap should be similar to the one between the right ctrl and the arrow keys on a regular keyboard and that feels like a rather natural placement when I try it out on my current keyboard.
A regular teensy 2 should be able to drive this right?
