Keyboard Builders' Digest / Editorial
Behind the scenes #179
Keyboard projects, MK Advent Calendar call for submissions, quick news, in the mailbox, meetups, vendors, discounts, deals stuff.
Published November 18, 2024
Hey, what's up everyone!
Welcome back for another weekly recap and behind-the-scenes write-up.
If you are new to kbd.news, you can read how this started out and what this is all about nowadays. If you like what you see, subscribe to the newsletter (free) and donate some bucks to keep this otherwise free and ad-free project alive.
Some posts worth sharing
- I tested KBDcraft's brilliant Israfel kit, a 50% unibody split with an adjustable angle, made of LEGO. It's impressive and offers a huge bang for your buck. $63?! Feel free to check out my review, but honestly, just flock to the store, folks! I absolutely love this board, and I'm confident you will too.
MK Advent Calendar
Breaking news: Damn, I just realized I completely forgot about this year's MK Advent Calendar.
Not much time left, but if you'd like to contribute an article, here are the guidelines for authors, along with last year's edition for reference.
Feel free to contact me so I can reserve a slot for you. I mentioned this to a few people during the year, but honestly, I have no idea who they were anymore. :) If you're one of them, don't hesitate to reach out!
Back to the news…
- Designed by Abeer Vaishnav, the Qimera is a 54-key low-profile split keyboard.
- JCam shared the wireless split 2Pocket, his submission for the pocket keyboard design contest.
- A 58-key split keyboard with Choc V2s and encoders: Boost58 by Vacant0mens.
- Mikey Sklar is back with another chording keyboard: the NeoBoomerang uses off-the-shelf Adafruit hardware.
- Alexandre Plateau shared his low-profile split Floppy keyboard. Yep, in the form factor of a floppy disk.
- The ToadsTempest by tikinson is a cool pocket monoblock with acrylic keycaps – another runner-up in sporewoh's keyboard contest.
- A 34-key Bluetooth keyboard with self-encasing PCB: Fract by skarrmann.
- The 5x12 ortholinear Krtkus 62 is a low-profile keyboard open sourced by Jan Bláha.
- A 16-key meme macropad by ziddy: ZM Keyboard Cube.
KBDcraft Israfel Giveaway
Hey, thanks a lot for the kind words and participating in the giveaway. The Israfel kit, offered by KBDcraft's Boyu, goes to the USA. Congrats Ben!
I apologize for not being able to answer your mails, but I want you to know that I read all of them at the end of the day. I really appreciate all the feedback.
When asking for some nice words to enter the giveaway, I expected "keep up the good work", but there were some very elaborated submissions. At some point I considered to give away the Israfel on a merit basis, but I reverted to the random approach eventually.
Btw, it wasn't the greatest idea to have the applications sent to my email address. :) I hope I haven't missed anything important – I mean project/meetup etc. reports – in the sea of giveaway entries.
TIPS
- ZMK Studio has a stable release. Official announcement.
I'm delighted to announce that after many months of work, the ZMK Studio Minimum Viable Product (MVP) has reached General Availability (GA) status. I'm very excited with the feature set and foundation we've gotten into this first release, and equally excited for the upcoming work to add even more features – Pete Johanson.
- A keycap profile comparator by 3dkeycap.
- "8 buttons per foot" would sound odd if it were not crazymittens' ArcPedals project.
The feet spaceships have iterated! ArcPedals mk3 have arrived… […] The primary incentive for this build is 'holding keys down = pain', so I'm offloading those duties to my feet – crazymittens.
- HACKY is a pretty unique typing game by Napas Torteeka/Outrageous_Affect_69. Demo available on Stream.
Become an elite hacker in cyberpunk typing simulator. Infiltrate networks, steal data by typing simple commands. Navigate through pixel art cyberspace, unlocking new abilities as you go deeper. No coding skills needed. How far can you hack before the system catches you?
- typersguild.com is another app to practice typing while typing out books. Made by Mean_Establishment82.
Closed-source, WIP, etc.
- A handwired split by DannyInTheCockpit. Update with palm rests.
- Beekeeb designed a case for the open-source thorium.
- Compad V2 is a tablet-like cyberdeck build with a chorded keyboard (on the back).
- A handwired FRL NRL(?) ortho by salavatme.
- Crosses by timbetimbe.
- PikaVoid9 by Tenochticlack.
- Wings by lad1337. Another ultra-low split using Kailh PG1316s switches.
Keyboard art
- Keyboard Membrane Converse by Cory Infinite. Probably old but just came across it on Twitter.
- A custom layered acrylic keyboard by Qlavier, made for MeatCanyon.
- A Halloween themed Svalboard in the wild. Posted by CaptLynx.
- Al6ed0 with machined alu horns. Posted by Sterlingandcophoto.
- gwydd65: Thermally modified wooden keyboard, whatever it means. A GB by the way.
Weekly Diderot effect
- Soft and plush handcrafted punch needle Studio Ghibli (and Pokemon) keyboard rugs by ZestiZena. These are wrist rests, not keebmats I guess. (Pro tip: Wait for the Black Friday coupon if you consider purchasing one. Details below.)
- Simple but great keyboard stands with cork padding, by mar_mech. Or some 3D printed ones here.
In the mailbox
Fox65
Chosfox sent me a white Fox65. Damn, it's not only gorgeous but also full of clever ideas. I haven't built it yet, but can't wait to do a thorough test. Review hopefully later this week.
Retro Videotons
It's been a long time since I bought anything retro – until this week. Last time, I planned to show you my acquisitions once all three arrived, but one never materialized, so I ended up forgetting to share the photos.
Anyway, I just picked up yet another Videoton keyboard:
Ugh. We have some real shitty weather here these days, no chance to take proper photos without some studio lighting.
It's a VDN-52500 keyboard I guess, just a different layout compared to my terminal.
Donations
- No new donors this time.
- As always, many thanks to my awesome regular supporters and everyone who helped this project thus far.
For all the donation options check out the donation page!
Meetup database
Recently added
- 9th Swiss MK Meetup, December 8, Zürich, Switzerland
The meetup season is probably over. Updated the Hawaii one's poster, and missed the Vienna meetup (added after the event).
As always, this meetup database serves as both a calendar and an archive, so feel free to send me upcoming events or even ones from the recent past to make this collection as comprehensive as possible.
Deals
I was asked to share some deals with you:
"Black Friday approaching, I’m thrilled to share that the Immersion A3 keyboard [review] will be available for just $99.99—its lowest price ever—as part of our Black Friday Sale, running from November 21 to December 2, 2024. Additionally, we’re offering up to 50% off on other popular mechanical keyboards in our lineup" – Doris.
- ZestiZena: We're actually having a Black Friday Sale from November 22nd (PT) to December 2nd (PT). […] feel free to mention the code "BFCM" for a special Black Friday discount.
Developments
Switch database:
- Filter by tags, search, order by A-Z or popularity. Implemented but not set to public yet.
- Significant script improvements aimed at fully automating the tracking of price changes and stock status, and also the way new offers are added.
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That's all for today. Thanks for checking by. As always: Keep learning and building!
Until next time,
Tamás
Published on Mon 18th Nov 2024. Featured in KBD #179.
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