Okay, it took a good amount of learning, but I’ve figured out how to get most of what I want with a custom keyboard build.
Here’s my goals:
- Ergonomic
- Quiet
- Dvorak
- But a normal person can still use it
- Cheapish because I’m a cheap bastard
With those in mind, here’s what I’ve finally settled on:
Board:
YMDK - Split 75% 84 Acrylic Kit
Keycaps:
YMDK - 9009 Retro 143 - Blank
Switches:
Haimu x Geon HG Red Silent Linear Switches A.K.A Haimu Heartbeat
See photos at the bottom of the post.
My plan is to take the switches to a fab-lab with a laser engraver and engrave the labels on the side of each keycap. Since the DSA profile is the same for every button, and I’ll have extras, I’ll have more than a few chances to get my laser settings correct.
By labeling the keycaps myself I can put the QWERTY label on the front side and the Dvorak label on the left or right side. By using this split design, I can combine the two halves to give people a totally regular looking keyboard that functions just as they expect.
Total cost including machine time: $182
What do you think? Do you think there’s room for improvement?
Yeah, I’m very grateful that I’ll have plenty of spares. I think the biggest challenge is that I’m going to be engraving the sides. If it was the top it would be a lot easier, but God damn do side labeled keys look good.
I’ll have to create a rig of some kind that holds the piece in a secure and consistent location. Then I’ll probably index off of one of the lower corners so I get consistent placement of the etching. I’ll have to think more about how exactly I want to do it.
What I’d do is to take some clay or putty and press a key in the right orientation in there. Then stick the clay onto some holder.
That would work I guess.
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That idea has sone advantages, but since I’ll be etching over 100 keycaps I’m going to see if I can come up with a more reusable rig. Right now I’m thinking to attach a switch to something else at the correct angle, so then I can just swap keycaps on the stem.
There are specialty pcb clamps that could be useful to you for holding the keys in a constant angle/position for the labeling. Pcb clamps
I’ll look into it! That could be extra helpful given that it would be useful for soldering too.