Keyboard Builders' Digest / Projects
Gull
Sneftel's Gull v1 is an ergo unibody split with keywell and unique thumb cluster.
Published April 11, 2024
The Gull is another stunning monoblock split by Sneftel, following his Heron, this time with easier-to-manufacture acrylic parts.
When seeing the Gull, the Killer Whale may come to mind because of all the laser-cut acrylic parts of the skeleton and also the joint method with the square nuts, but other than that, there isn't much in common between the two projects.
Introducing Gull, a dished ergonomic keyboard with no handwiring and no 3D printing. Gull is not particularly concerned with aesthetics. It focuses on ergonomics and on rapid constructibility – Sneftel.
Gull started out as a development tool for the author to use when iterating on the Heron, his previous (and ongoing) keyboard design.
I wanted a way to quickly iterate through sets of angles and positions without the lengthy process of fabricating and assembling a Heron each time – Sneftel.
The frame is constructed of 6 mm laser-cut acrylic (other thickness and materials will also work), and the keys are mounted on thin 0.8mm FR4 PCBs which are bent to the frame.
All positions, angles, radii, thicknesses, etc. are parametrized in the OpenSCAD files. Most parameters affect only one of the laser-cut shapes, and the PCBs can be reused when changing almost any parameter.
Cutting the entire frame takes about 25 minutes with the laser cutter used by the designer. Pieces are joined with (ideally) square nuts in T-slots; no drilling or other finishing is needed.
The thumb cluster comprises four keys, including one upside-down.
I found that this angle was more effective than the one I originally used in Heron. Currently it’s formed as part of one of the “ribs” but I intend to mount it separately in the next iteration, to make its positioning more flexible – Sneftel.
Diodes are mounted on the center board, and FFC jumpers run to the fingerboards. The jumpers are routed through slots in the frame to keep them from snagging on things (but this is still probably not the best keyboard to toss in a rucksack).
Resources
- https://github.com/Sneftel/gull (more documentation on the way)
- Gradient hand-dyed Choc caps
Published on Thu 11th Apr 2024. Featured in KBD #161 (source).
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