Maltron DIY kit: thoughts or experiences?

squizzler

09 Feb 2019, 08:15

I notice that Maltron offers their dual handed 3D board in kit form. You get to choose the options you want, and presumably it arrives in a kit of parts. The order form to do so is on the bottom of this page. My new interest in an ergonomic design stems from me getting a few joint pains recently.

From the rough calculations of what all the necessary stuff would cost, a full kit is less than half price of their builds, coming in at £195 including the laser printed keycaps. Am I right in thinking that somebody who knows what they are doing could just buy the (unpunched) case for £50 and use their own switches, keycaps, USB controller and all?

Has anybody on the forum built one of these or thinking of doing so? If so, what are your impressions? Regarding switches, I notice that Maltron use MX Black as default, and in addition to the usual red, blue and brown their custom offering gives the choice of MX White - heavy clicky you don't often see in off-the-peg boards. Does that mean the 3D design inherently favours a heavier switch than the same users might choose with regular boards?

davkol

09 Feb 2019, 09:46


squizzler

09 Feb 2019, 10:30

Thank you for both your links. I am hoping for people's thoughts on the self build kit as supplied by Maltron, as I would be doing that. Does everything you need come in the box, how well supported you feel, etc.

The examples provided are both useful, however, and good illustrations of the firm's acceptance of "a-la-carte approach. Being an understated British firm, they aren't making a song and dance of jumping on "open source hardware" bandwagon.

I am likely to splurge on a rental example before going all in, so will be in contact with the firm at some point anyway. No doubt this forum will help me develop the right questions to ask them. Hopefully they can lend a switch sampler too!

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