Keyboard Builders' Digest / Editorial

Behind the scenes #212

Behind the scenes with the May switch top list, Iqunix EV63 GitS and Epomaker Glyph reviews, open-source and commercial projects, keyboard art, meetups, new shops and discounts, etc.

dovenyi
Published June 9, 2026

Hey, what's up everyone!

Welcome back for another recap and behind-the-scenes write-up – with cool projects from the DIY keyboard scene, but also some promising closed-source and commercial projects.

(Yeah, the cut-off date for this issue was sometime a week ago, so there are much more posts in the pipeline.)

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

• Here are May’s top mechanical switches, the community’s favorites based on vendor sales data. I've just updated it with LumeKeebs' list, and also welcome TTC as a new contributor.

• Review: Two brand-new EV63 variants have been released recently: the Ghost in the Shell-themed Shell Core and Cyber Blue. For this review, I took a closer look at the latter.

• Bonus review: The retro, mid-century modern Epomaker Glyph is a typewriter-style tri-mode wireless keyboard with huge displays.

• Nikola Secerovski's etzee B11 is an open-source ortho split (or monoblock) keyboard.

• Binit's Pling! is a wireless split keyboard featuring soldered KS27 switches.

• A 42-key diodeless wireless split: Direct03xD by lander03xD.

• Ergohaven's wireless split Omega Point 36 is now open source.

• Timo's Tiwaz is an ortho split gaming keyboard with joysticks and gaskets.

• Another Ergohaven design: Space Mission 30 is now fully open-source as well.

Closed-source, WIP, commercial, etc.

• biGH by vaudiber. A low-pro symmetric unibody with Choc spacing. The katanaish layout is achieved by the bigger G and H caps of the middle row.

• Triforce/Abstergo by Rain2.

• ACE is a tiny 26-key ortho split by RaffOwO.

Commercial

• Hm. Pre-built ortholinear keyboards are quite rare. Epomaker's wireless Hack70 is a member of this species – with gaskets, QMK/VIA support, 15x5 grid, and a bit strange split spacebar sizing. I get it, but it may trigger the OCD of some of you.

• Anvil. A pre-built aluminum Sofle-derivative by ergomech.store.

• Nova Kine – a fancy macropad with some serious casette-futurism vibe. Some fixed 1U keys, but the majority is variable from 1U to 4U keys.

• j1nx3d. 13U width, 40% aesthetics, offset number row.

• TAIKO-01. I've mentioned David Ma's split a few times already. The project went into the Kickstarter phase (June 2 - July 2). Check it out.

Handwired

• Diplomat48 by Vostok Labs – a 12x4 handwired ortho board with 3D files.

3D

• Q-Saver case by kriscovery – for QAZ, QEZ, and qorthoz PCBs in a Kishsaver syle.

• Compression 4C keyboard case by Catlove.

Tips, Typing, Keymap

• Sungame Studio's Mechanical Keyboard Building Simulator is a game about designing, building, customizing keyboards, and growing your own keyboard business. Beta available soon for Kickstarter backers.

• Tap-timout calibrator by rpnfan. Test which time is optimal for your tap-held keys.

• Layer Word by Kawamashi. Similar to Caps Word, but you stay on a layer until a word-breaking charecter is tapped. E.g. on your number layer while typing numeric symbols.

• Musings by ikakus. Daily-driver testing vs. "comfort testing", thumbs, etc.

• Peahen Calling – a display companion for ZMK keyboards (WIP), shared by Ziembski. Some sceenshots.

• Firefox 151 adds Web Serial API support, so you should be able to use ZMK Studio without having to switch to Chrome. (VIA is a different thing, relying on WebHID, and Mozilla deems it too insecure to include in Firefox.) – via julian_vdm.

History/Discovery

• Tektronix 4052. Posted by Quentinnuk, exhibited at Retrofest 26, UK.

• PC-9801V keyboard converted to USB-C by KOn_Ritsu.

• A Soviet-era keyboard found in a Yerevan flea market. Posted by mememachine309. Part of a TC-7063

Keyboard art

• Magikarp 5-sided dye-sub keycap set. A one-off experiment by Coveringland.

• Stacked acrylic cat board by Particular_Hawk_2356.

• A closed-source macropad by AzuREgalia.

In the mailbox

• MoeeTech Glitter65 L01 kit – for some reason I thought this would be a low-profile model, but the PCB is MX. A nice wired aluminum kit with even more color options than usual. Mine is the "silver flame" variant, coming in a crazy silver cardboard box with a drawer. More photos and review soon.

By the way, the photos don't really reflect this, but there's some nice tapering on the sides as well. The overall shape reminds me of some spaceships of the game Elite on Commodore64. God, I'm old…

Donations

• New donations, yay! Thank you Felix K. and Johannes H.!
• Hm. A long-time donor has gone.
• 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

The 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.

Upcoming meetups

• KeyCon 2026, June 13, Chicago, IL, US

Recently added

• Colorado MechMeets June 2026 Meetup, June 28, Lakewood, CO, US
• MKIT 2026 Bologna, October 10, Bologna, Italy

Vendor news & Discounts

First and foremost, feel free to use the KBDNEWS discount code at 172 keyboard shops worldwide!

New discounts and updates to the database of keyboard vendors:

• Khor (Italy) is expanding and relocating. In the meantime, Marco was kind enough to raise your discount to 10% (from 5%) – use the KBDNEWS coupon code!
• The X-Bows discount is back, save 10%! (Coupon: KBDNEWS)
• Luminkey: new $5 coupon, yay! I'm glad they're back because both the Luminkey80 and Magger68 HE I reviewed earlier are high-quality products.
• Keebz N Cables (Australia) is now registered for VAT under the IOSS scheme, so there will be no more hidden surprises from EU customs for orders under €150.
• FalbaTech (Poland) turned 12. Wow, congrats! (Post on r/mk.)

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Well, that's all for today. Thanks for checking by. As always: Keep learning and building!

Until next time,
Tamás

Published on Tue 9th Jun 2026. Featured in KBD #212.

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