Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
Corneish split by danns87
A Corne-like choc-spaced unnamed split with custom case – designed by u/danns87.
Published August 1, 2022
This unnamed wireless split was made by danns87 aka daniel2887. Designed from the ground up, it shares some similarities with the Corne but has a more aggressive staggering and is Choc-spaced.
I made a Corne-like choc-spaced keeb tailored for my hands, from designing the PCB using Ergogen to modeling and 3D printing a custom carry case. […] No fancy name yet since I wasn't planning on "formally" releasing it (even though all the PCB stuff is already on github, and I'm happy to share the case files too) – danns87.
The workflow was similar to what we are used to with MrZealot's Ergogen, probably since soundmonster's Samoklava:
- Daniel visualized his fingers' reach using Ergopad
- Used Ergogen to design the layout ("It ended up being a mix of guesstimating stagger from Ergopad and good old Corne (but with Choc spacing)")
- Imported Ergogen results into KiCad, routing mostly using FreeRouting.
- Ordered the PCB from JLCPCB.
The keycaps are Lev Popov's version of Pseudoku's Chicago stenos, 3D printed in matte white PLA, on top of 25g gChoc switches.
I had MBK Legend keycaps before, and I never liked the flat and smooth surface. Changing to these has been a _huge_ improvement, feels like a totally different keyboard (for the better!). I love the rough-ish texture, and bottoming out feels softer than on the injection-molded MBKs, which I also like.
The entire keyboard is ~16mm thick and runs ZMK by the way.
Case
Daniel designed a custom carry case in Fusion 360 and printed it in wood PLA. The deboss on the outside is based on exports from KiCad.
This was the most custom, personalized keyboard I've made so far. It was a really fun journey! Huge shoutout to Ben Vallack's videos, which inspired me to even attempt this.
Resources
Published on Mon 1st Aug 2022. Featured in KBD #89 (source).
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