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Mechanical Keyboards

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tomos:
^ looks really good  :-*

mouser:
Looks beautiful  :Thmbsup:

wraith808:
So for me, my layout preferences are a constantly evolving thing, iterating on what I like, and removing what I don't.  My current daily driver.

Mechanical Keyboards

It's a new Clueboard v4.  I've been really liking the Clueboard for the 'superplate'. 

Going a bit into the plate and its purpose:  The plate is what holds the switches in place and can be made out of many different materials, and be mounted in many different ways.  You don't actually need a plate- you can use PCB mount switches and mount them directly to the PCB.  The result is a bit too bouncy for my case, and with how heavily I type, I just don't trust it- though there's really no evidence to support my lack of trust, in all honesty.  But the plate can be aluminum, carbon fiber, steel, brass, bronze - or really any semi-rigid metal - with varying degrees of support, resistance, and aesthetic appeal.  Similarly, there are many different ways to mount the plate in the case- the simplest being a sandwich case, where the plate forms the top.  There are also tray mount, bottom mount, and top mount variations.  The super plate is a combination of the top part of the case and the plate.  I really like the support it gives (did I mention that I type hard?) and the feel of the mounted switches. 

You can see the detail in the following image:

Mechanical Keyboards

On to the layout- my current layout is merely an iteration on my prior ones, now having a split right shift, a split space, and a maximized bottom row.  My layers are set up as shown in the images below:

Mechanical KeyboardsMechanical KeyboardsMechanical KeyboardsLayer 0Layer 1Layer 2
I haven't assigned the extra spacebar to anything but a spacebar yet; I've been trying it out, to make sure that I don't hit it in normal practice as I theorized.  If I don't, I'll probably make it backspace or enter, and hit it with my other thumb to reduce travel.

It's a really interesting hobby- and I do believe it has increased my typing speed and accuracy, and my overall productivity.  I can measure the first two, but sadly, the only measure I have of the last is my work, and considering that it's just changed a bit in scope, I don't really have a good measure.

Ask any question that you will, and I'll try to answer :)

wraith808:
Price breakdown:
PCB and Plates/case - ~$50 - Found at keeb.io
LEDs and Resistors - ~$15 - The build guide recommends using 470s, but I used 220s on the resistors and 2x3x4 LEDs - LEDs Resistors *note: There are several choices. I got one that had several different types.*
Pro-micro and Header Pins ~$45 - I bought SparkFun pro-micros due to the high reviews they got. I've had friends spend $6-9 dollars on pro-micros and they ran into issues with ports breaking off after a single plug/unplug. These are about $20 each, (need one for each side) but they are sturdy. I'm sure that's not the case for all the pro-micros, but I want this to last and don't want to have to desolder/resolder a new pro-micro if one decides to break. Pro-micro
Switches - ~$20 - Gateron blues/browns. Browns for my alpha numeric, and blues for my modifier keys (shift, function, space, etc) Switches
Key caps - ~$70 - Split purchase between WASDkeyboards and MAXkeyboard. WASD had the color's I wanted, and MAX had the pricing and printing options I wanted.
Solder/flux
-Mizraim (January 18, 2018, 01:10 PM)
--- End quote ---

I haven't gotten into handwiring yet... it's still a bit daunting to me.  I do have 2 different projects waiting on me, but I've been avoiding them in favor of PCB related project LOL :)  I am thinking about trying a 3-d printed Whitefox though...

Tuxman:
I bought a new toy. :)

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