Nano board

[jpatters]

Here is my attempt at a design for a keyboard that is as small as possible, while maintaining the home row intact:

NANOBOARD.png (214.98 KiB) Viewed 6011 times

48 keys total, and aside from the legends all existing in SA except for the 2U spacebar.

Would it screw things up too much to have the A and O be 1.25U?

[scottc]

I'm not sure where you'd get the caps for them...

Maybe you could pull the 0.5U needed to accommodate those?

[jpatters]

All the caps exist in their row profiles for SA according to the Signature Plastics SA pdf, except for there is no convex 2U spacebar.

Actual constraints used in coming up with the design:

1) Home row intact
2) All alphabetic letters on their own key
3) Standard staggering
4) Rectangular
5) Spacebar on bottom middle (where the thumbs hit)
6) No key less than 1U
7) Existing keycaps

I started with Colemak, but moved the Z from the bottom left to the bottom right to satisfy rules 3, 4, and 6.

[Muirium]

Very interesting little layout. It'd be easier to pull off as a straight matrix, instead of standard staggering. Being so different to type on anyway, I doubt the usual cautions about monkeying around with stagger actually apply.

I'd go for 4u space bar (the perfect one in SA) and sacrifice the double set of mods.

[scottc]

All the caps exist in their row profiles for SA according to the Signature Plastics SA pdf, except for there is no convex 2U spacebar.

Oh cool, I would've thought that the A and O in 1.25U wouldn't. Nice one!

[jpatters]

Following Muirium's suggestion:

NANOBOARD 4U SPACE.png (276.49 KiB) Viewed 5995 times

[Muirium]

A sweet little board like that might even make me learn Colemak! I tried Dvorak once, but the temptation of doing so on a QWERTY keyboard put me off before I really adapted.

[jpatters]

Here is a version with some stepped keys:

NANOBOARD STEPPED KEYS.png (275.74 KiB) Viewed 5980 times

I think that would be a new mold, the SA pdf says there is a 1 x 1.25 with a .5 step L or R, which implies that the touch surface would only be .75U. Seems like that would be hard to fit properly on the switch, not to mention type on. I am assuming that the pdf is correct, although if it is a typo, it is probably really 1 x 2.25 with a .5 step L or R. Being row 3 though, it would only be one new mold for both A and O keys.

[jpatters]

I just can't stop with two stepped keys, here we go again, now with off center hat keys! In row 4! Five new molds! Think enough people would want this to justify $20,000 to $25,000 (I'm guessing) in tooling costs?

NANOBOARD HAT KEYS.png (333.31 KiB) Viewed 5966 times

Oh, and here is a QWERTY version, just to show how mangled that would have to be:

NANOBOARD QWERTY.png (314.65 KiB) Viewed 5960 times

[jpatters]

Now with greek legends!

NANOBOARD GREEK.png (309.82 KiB) Viewed 5949 times

[Muirium]

I like that ⌘ and ⌥ appear, now we're talking Greek! For the complete symbolic look, you'll want ⌃ for Control and ⌫ for Backspace. These have all appeared on Apple's keyboards over the years, in ISO land at least. They were also using ⎋ for Escape in software back in the Tiger era, but have since abandoned it. Probably because it looks so damn similar to the much more recognised power symbol, which oddly enough isn't so recognisable in Unicode.

http://blog.elliottcable.name/posts/use ... code.xhtml

If you ever commission a set of Greek legend caps, tell me. I'd take them shared with Latin alphas or even whole Greek. All the better to learn the alphabet!

[jpatters]

I tried putting the symbols on control, shift, esc, tab, back space, and return; but didn't like the look of the result. That could certainly become an option, though, if this ever became a group buy or anything. I am also realizing that I don't really have enouggh modifiers. I think I will make it shift, ctrl, option, and cmnd on the left; and hyper, super, funct, and greek on the right. Non-greek configuration could just substitute right shift.

Maybe I'll post an interest check poll on greek legends, so we can see if it would be more than just the two of us who would want that. It would certainly be much more affordable if we could meet a resonable MOQ.

[Muirium]

I suggest being as unspecific as possible. No hats! DSA could be the best profile for Greeks, because all rows are interchangeable. No need to worry about Colemak, Workman, Bépo vs. Qwerty. The same could be done by going all row 3 on SA, as some of us tried to talk 7bit into doing for the red alphas on Round 5. (Way back when there were only whites.)

The best thing about Greek alphas is that we have to design our own legends. Freedom from the SP font! But it's also bad news, because we would be entirely bespoke and so likely looking at all sorts of MoQ and cost problems.

[matt3o]

I think that would be a new mold, the SA pdf says there is a 1 x 1.25 with a .5 step L or R, which implies that the touch surface would only be .75U.

that's most likely a typo. It had to be 2.25.

nice keyboard btw!

[jpatters]

that's most likely a type. It had to be 2.25.

That makes sense.

nice keyboard btw!

Thanks!

I'm getting way ahead of myself talking about group buys at this stage anyway. First I need to receive my Round 5 order, then when I have those caps in front of me, I can finalize layouts for the builds that I will tackle first, once I have final layouts, I can get quotes on laser cutting plates. Once I get plates made, I can start to actually assemble things, and once I actually have some things working, I can start to revisit other designs. But I'd like to ultimately do something a little more organized then a one-off build.

[matt3o]

I wouldn't worry about a "square" or symmetric layout. I mean, what's the matter with some blank space around the boundary keys?

[ماء]

Nice colors keycaps and DSA....

[Muirium]

One of the many colour schemes I'm looking forward to doing myself with round five. Black alphas and grey mods should look pretty sharp with a touch of red.

[matt3o]

you just need a pinch of brown

[jpatters]

Here is a version with gaps and a giant spacebar:

NANOBOARD WITH GAPS.png (311.42 KiB) Viewed 5815 times

Not that crazy about it really, but maybe I'll poke around with it a bit more, and see what I can come up with.

[matt3o]

well maybe you've gone a bit too far here

[Grond]

Frankly I don't see the point of doing a keyboard as small as possible and then waste space with those gaps.

[Muirium]

Hmm. "Rectangular" layouts are a nice constraint to work inside, I find, and are easier to make look awesome when finished. I might have some visible metal on top of my next custom, but it's because I already did 60% to my satisfaction and want to try something else. But these sub 60s are calling me just as much as a function-row-less custom TKL…

[jpatters]

Hmm. "Rectangular" layouts are a nice constraint to work inside, I find, and are easier to make look awesome when finished.

That's pretty much how I feel about it. I'd like the case to be as minimal as possible, if I was going to do a design with gaps, it would be because I wanted to go super retro with a big case with lots of bezel. What I am really going for here is the juxtoposition between postmodern (minimal case) and retro (SA profile.)

[Muirium]

It works just as well as I hoped when designing my first custom. In fact better, as I'm still waiting on my planned DSA Dolch caps. SA are DSA squared! The bare rectangular case is almost imperceptible for the wall of keys.

A smaller layout would be all the more intense, in fact. Mine is 15x5 units. I see you're going for 11x5. Ne0phyte made an impressive 12x4:

http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/thkb ... t6455.html

[jpatters]

Now with front legends, and an added row which would only be for if there was a version integrated with something like a Raspberry Pi.

NANOBOARD FRONT LEGENDS.png (391.73 KiB) Viewed 5774 times

That symbol on the Greek layer on the ESC key is an alternative lowercase Pi.

[blainchen]

Now with front legends, and an added row which would only be for if there was a version integrated with something like a Raspberry Pi.

NANOBOARD FRONT LEGENDS.png

That symbol on the Greek layer on the ESC key is an alternative lowercase Pi.

I would be in for at least three sets with exactly that colorscheme and these legends!

[jpatters]

Minor tweaks: added GREEK LOCK, Tilde, Prime, Integral, Derivative, Yen, DELETE, ENTER, and replaced some legends with symbols (BACK SPACE, for example, doesn't fit with the added legends on that key.)

NANOBOARD FOO.png (443.57 KiB) Viewed 5722 times

I think the front legends would be pretty expensive in small quantities, with that and the four new key tools that would have to be made, there would probably have to be at least in the high hundreds of buyers to make it worth it. Maybe there would have to be a slightly more accessible version (with all the same key molds and front legends to spread out the cost) to motivate more buyers:

NANOBOARD QWERTYISH.png (444.89 KiB) Viewed 5722 times

There could also be this version:

NANOBOARD BLANK.png (337.93 KiB) Viewed 5722 times

[jpatters]

Here is an outline drawing of the (possible) plate:

412852648.969975.jpg (137.76 KiB) Viewed 5637 times

I have a few questions:

What are the dimensions of the modifications made to the holes on the Phantom plate that make it possible to open the switch housing while it is seated in the plate?

I was trying to parse the specification for the stabilizer from The Cherry website, and I couldn't figure out from that how big the horizontal connecting "arms" that go from the switch hole to each stabilizer hole. There is no length specification for a four unit key, and I don't know how high it should be other than centered and with the top just a little lower than the nub at each end of each stabilizer. Does the height matter? As for the length, how far apart are the stabilizer mounts on a four unit keycap?

I made an assumption with respect to key sizing, and that is that the "unit" is 19 x 19 mm, so 1.25U is 19 x 23.75mm. I placed the bounding boxes for the keys directly abutting each other, then placed a swich hole in the center of each bounding box. Am I likely to have any problems with this approach?

How should I dimension the drawing for the benefit of a laser cutting outfit?

[matt3o]

have a look at the laser cut GB http://deskthority.net/marketplace-f11/ ... aser%20cut

attached you'll find the DWG I sent to the laser cutter. you should find some references there. let me know if you need more info.