[Build log] Custom 69-key

[Findecanor]

Way back, I got an extra plate in the original Phantom group order with the intention of cutting it down and hand-wiring a compact keyboard with a arrow/nav cluster.
The layout I am going for is like a HHKB, but Swedish so there is a small left Shift. Then there are cursor keys and a nav cluster consisting of Home, End, PgUp and PgDown in the same manner as on a tenkeyless. I omitted the Insert key completely (because I hate it), and the Delete key is above the Backspace. In other words, it is a 60% + two columns.

While I was looking for parts for the case, a couple of opportunities for getting a PCB for this layout showed themselves, I thought... but turned out to be mirages. First there was the GH60 that would have had a 60% part + a header for additional keys.. but that started several years ago and has never delivered. Then was the IC for the Red Scarf II GH/DT Edition that beside the 60% part would also had numpad on the right that I figured that I could cut down ... but the GB never started.
*sigh*
Anyway, after all this waiting I tired and resumed my original idea to do direct wiring, so I got goinig.

I had cut off parts of the plate a long time ago. A few days ago, after a discussion on GH about improving the TKL, I also cut it apart and shuffled stuff around on the right side to add spacing around the arrow and nav clusters. I reinforced the plate on the back with some sheet aluminium, hand-cut and epoxied on:

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The idea for the case is simple: Each side wall is supposed to be a bar of aluminium with a slotted groove for the plate - all put together with epoxy. Then the bottom is supposed to be a simple metal rectangle, bolted to the plate through stand-offs in-between. When a key is pressed, the force should be on the standoffs, not the case walls.
This is then supposed to be painted, so I don't worry about there being visible seams: I would simply fill them with putty before painting.

However, I could not find any aluminium profile with a groove, or any way to make a 1.5 mm wide groove myself. I did find a type of narrow L-shaped aluminium profile though, which I could complete with a metal bar. I could only find the right dimension of bar in brass. I also decided late to use slotted parts of L-shaped profile in the corners to add rigidity and more glue-area.

I have cut the side walls and started to glue them together... This will have to sit undisturbed to cure until tomorrow night:

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Then tomorrow, I will get on with gluing the rest and adding the partitions between key groups.

[copter]

Interesting. I have been lately trying to find a bit similar layout, so I'm interested to see how this turns out, as compact ISO, specially SE/FI layout is a bit hard to come by these days..

[Findecanor]

I finished building the walls and partitions between key groups this weekend. I used superglue for the partitions because it is faster to work with than epoxy.. even though it was not less messy.
The aluminium profile that I used for the outer walls is a mm or so higher than I wanted, so I had to file them down to match the brass bars - and that took a bit of work.

Hmm... The edges are pretty sharp. Should I bevel them or file them round? I also need to do a lot of sanding before the first layer of Aluminium Primer.

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I am shipping the HHKB Lite 2 soon, so I wanted to get a comparison shot while I could.

Here are also the keycaps that I am going to use, and you can see the HHKB/TKL-hybrid layout a little better. The caps are laser-engraved from WASD Keyboards, back when they offered engraving. I had also got green modifiers after I had seen how good CCnG caps looked. The case will be painted white to match.

At the bottom of the picture is my daily driver: a Phantom, where most of the case has been built from a BTC 5140.

[Findecanor]

I am changing the layout. My original idea was not to have any partitions between the key groups and with a right Control key on the bottom row, but with partitions it would look weird with a 0.25 step and I don't think that I really use the right Control key...

Away the key goes.. This is now a 68-key keyboard.
The bottom row looks more symmetric, but at the same time a little bit too much to the left. The cursor keys on the right look as if they are further away. The layout is not symmetric anyway: the two Alt keys have different meaning.

layout.png (22.78 KiB) Viewed 5881 times

While I am at it.. should I split the space bar?
If I did, I would cut the key exactly in the middle and glue new stems on the inside. It would also require some cutting in the plate for new stabiliser and switch positions.

[Daniel]

Is there any reason you put the navigation cluster not in the bottom row?

[Findecanor]

I think it would be more ergonomic to have the arrow cluster closer to the home row.

The idea was also that it would provide lots of continuous space for a controller in front of the cluster. A Teensy (or even a Teensy++) fits in there without having to strip the USB cable. The space is quite narrow though, so it would have to be mounted diagonally.

[Findecanor]

This is how you spray-paint outdoors in the middle of winter: you do it in a large cardboard box with some lit tea candles inside.
Let the spray can sit in a bucket of hot water, and let the box warm up for a while before you spray. Don't spray at the flames or you will get a fireball, although that sometimes can't be helped.

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I kept a thermometer inside. Even though it was below 0°C outside, the temperature in the box was kept around 15-20°C.
Thanks to Cooler Master for sponsoring my paint job (in a way) by having given me the box for free!

That was only the first layer of aluminium-primer, to make the flaws stand out better and provide a surface for filler.
Then I sanded, filled gaps with Milliput (an epoxy-based clay/putty), sanded some more. and made the internal corners rounder with more Milliput. This stage took a lot longer than actually building the frame.
Then after the second layer of primer, it looks like this:

2ndlayerprimer.jpg (151.32 KiB) Viewed 5776 times

The grooves were on the alu profile from the start, and kind of gives it the look of being layered don't they ...
The new layer of primer has exposed more small stuff to sand/fill, and the next time I paint with primer it should only be in a few tiny spots.

[scottc]

That looks great! A lot more "finished" than the previous picture. The layout is really interesting to me too. Hmm...

[HzFaq]

Don't spray at the flames or you will get a fireball, although that sometimes can't be helped.

I'm suprised the box survived!


What you've done so far looks really good, I can't wait to see how the finished product is going end up. I see you've gone for the ANSI/ISO hybrid (ANSO?) layout as well, I've had that on my list to try out for a while now.

[Findecanor]

I screwed up today. I sprayed into an open flame and the newspaper lining the box caught fire...

I have sprayed in boxes in winter-time many times before.. and should have known better. Anyway, the keyboard frame wasn't damaged. Maybe I should pause and resume painting when the weather is warmer. I will have to wait for the Gateron switch group buy also.

[Findecanor]

I have not done much more work for a long time... I decided to split the space bar, and it is again a 69-key keyboard ... or a 70-key.

If there are two keys, I would have to modify space bar caps. If there are three keys, the left and right keys would be 2.25 keys (Shifts) and the middle a 1.75 key. Or I would put a trackball, trackpoint and/or scrollwheel in the middle. I have not decided yet. I'll make it a 69-key with no extras for now and leave the options open.

I have got some scrap from since I got a plate for an ErgoDox laser-cut. That would fit perfectly in the switch hole inside the two space bars. I would just paint it and attach it with tape on the underside.

Other things:
- I painted Cherry stabiliser housings white to fit the overall colour scheme.
- I got Gateron switches, for smoothness and white housings. Will lube and insert MX Clear sliders once the housings have been installed in the painted frame.
- The connector will be a reversible USB Type C. I got an adapter card on eBay and have cut a hole for it between Del and Home. I will of course connect only D+ (A6), D- (A7), VBus and GND. Maybe screw Shield to the frame.

[Findecanor]

I had made the frame from aluminium profile that had lengthwise decorative grooves from the start.
I engraved some detail around the USB socket and filled somewhat because otherwise the hole would be right at the edge of a groove and that didn't look good. The keyboard also got its first coat of white paint. I have noticed some more imperfections that hadn't been visible with grey primer. I will sand with fine sandpaper before the second coat.


With cable plugged in. Engraved line and outline of connector match perfectly.


I put it the socket at the space between key groups because that is the only place that there is enough space between two switches for it to fit.

The adapter card touches the switches. The two small rectangles of metal to the left and right are there to prevent wobble. There is a notch in the reinforcement that the socket rests against to prevent it from being pushed in too far. As long as the case bottom presses against the adapter card, I think this will be very sturdy.
Thankfully, the solder lugs for the lines used by USB 2.0 are in the middle of the adapter card.

[Matt_]

I love the layout, and the case looks impresive already.

Surprised to see an USB type C being used. I thought that micro USB was the most convenient choice but I am intrigued.

[Findecanor]

Whoa. Almost two weeks, and I have not come any further. Still tweaking the paint job. Sanding through too much. More primer. More paint.. Frustrating.

I want to make the bottom plate while the paint dries. But I hadn't decided on a material. Which would be the most silent?
Should I use steel, aluminium, birch plywood, HiPS. fibreglass or acrylic? Steel is hardest to cut.

... Or should I fill up the bottom with silicone not using any rigid bottom at all?

[Findecanor]

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All stabilisers installed. All Gateron switches installed with lubed Cherry MX Clear sliders and springs.
In almost all switches, I also installed a small piece of plastic inside the snap so that it could not be pulled out.
Unfortunately, a couple of fillings I had made in the plate's extra-large switch holes broke out when I had pressed switches into it.

I tested typing... and found that my right thumb lands on the very edge of the Space key. This means that
that key has to be enlarged to the left.

I am thinking of replacing either the Space key or both it and the "Erase Eaze" key with a Space Bar that
has got additional stems and been cut into two pieces.
But how should I cut it?
- Right in the middle, giving two space bars of identical size, or
- Somewhere to the left, leaving the additional Backspace key alone?

How much could a keycap jut out from the stabiliser's stem before the key becomes too wobbly?
If I do the latter, then maybe I could use an empty switch in the centre switch hole to help stabilise the space bar.

[ne0phyte]

Your layout "issues" aside those colors look really nice together

[Muirium]

Yeah, the layout would drive me nuts — arrow keys up there? ISO style short left Shift but ANSI style Return? and of course quite what's happening in the middle of the spacebar — but the colours are solid, and you've applied them well, geometrically.

Now I want orange (or perhaps some other strong colour) mods for Granite. They'd work great!

[hammelgammler]

Wow, I like that layout very much, besides the left shift. That right arrow cluster is perfect, and the four buttons above are plenty enough!
I would love a keyboard which has the arrow keys like that.

[ne0phyte]

If you like/need/use arrow keys like that I can imagine that it is A LOT better to have them one row higher so there's less wrist and finger movement when moving to the arrow cluster.
Personally I love my HHKB and became a full time vim user with vim shortcuts wherever possible though so dedicated arrow keys became annoying to use