Keyboard Builders' Digest / Tips & Tricks
Ergogen PCB testing
u/Alescito shared his workflow of testing Ergogen layouts by 3D printing them.
Published July 10, 2022
Supported by readers like @keebio, Micah Alpern, and BeaverKeys. Join them now to keep kbd.news free.
Alescito 3D printed his Ergogen PCB design to test it. Here is the workflow:
Not sure about your ergogen design? In Kicad export it as .step, open it with fusion and convert to STL. Print and test it.
And I'm not sure if this is the most environmentally friendly way of doing this. As Anodynosaur points out in the comments, if you want to test just the keyboard layout, you can save some time and material by using the cases functionality of Ergogen.
It can generate the STL for you directly without having to go through kicad and can also greatly simplify the model – Anodynosour.
However, Alescito's goal was to test how all the electronic components would fit:
I am actually doing it this way so I can see how two batteries, a trackpoint and a big oled screen fit and look almost like it were the real PCB.
Published on Sun 10th Jul 2022. Featured in KBD #86 (source).
Related
Avocado
Avocado is a wireless 5x3 split keyboard designed by Auryn.
Mantis v0.2
Felix Kuehling's Mantis v0.2, sporting HEX keycaps, has now PCBs on two levels to imitate tenting.
CB34S
CB34S is a 34-key columnar staggered Choc V1 monoblock split keyboard by Bubbleology – with Nice!Nano and Nice!View.
Wysteria
Wysteria is jwe's split keyboard with lots of features.