PLUM ortholinear keyboard modification

lhur001

05 May 2018, 23:49

So it turns out that the PLUM ortholinear keyboard's keycaps, while designed for Cherry ML, are compatible with kailh low-profile switches. This is because the keycap stems are centered, unlike the Cherry G84 keycaps - http://www.40percent.club/2017/06/cherry-ml.html

Initially, I just planned on stealing the keycaps from the few boards I snagged, but I decided to re-use the cases. Haata did a teardown of this keyboard a while back - photos-f62/plum-keyboard-usb-t14640.html, and while there was some musing about redoing the PCB with ml switches, this keyboard is absolutely fantastic with the kailh-low profile switches!

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I was able to reuse the LED and stock cable.

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The cherry ML stabilizers work as well, meaning that the sweet 3u keycaps could be used.

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top of the PCB showing Teensy 2.0 and LED trace

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Novelkeys x Kailh Jade low-profile switches- these are almost too tactile, so just right. I ended up pulling 4 of the switches for the ML stabilizers. The pcb supports a few different stabilizer positions as I mess around with the layout
and figure out what grid layout I want. It was programmed in QMK, and the LED works as both a CAPS and NUM lock light.

green-squid

06 May 2018, 14:47

Good job!

__red__

06 May 2018, 22:21

I typed on these for the first time a few weeks ago at the ATL Mech meetup and I was genuinely surprised as to how much I liked it.

ysdlux99

17 Jan 2021, 03:11

How did you manage to get the new PCB made? I just picked up one of these and am eager to change the layout. I bought a Teensy because I figured I could always trace the current PCB and rewire as needed

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