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QAZer Beam

The QAZer Beam is a QAZ in a beamspring-like case designed by u/Pocketfullofbugs.

KBD.news
Published March 27, 2022
Creators! Feel free to tip me off about your keyboard related projects to bring them to 140K readers.

My masterpiece and something nearing endgame for real. […] As stated, I believe this to be the best thing I've designed and saw through. […] this 32 key creation is loud, sexy, and my favorite – Pocketfullofbugs.

u/Pocketfullofbugs was inspired by the look of the IBM 5251 Beamspring keyboard and decided to create a similar case with all the classic features using the switchplate and PCB of a QAZ.

If you are not familiar with the form factor, QAZ is a 35% or sub-40% staggered keyboard designed by tominabox1 and whydobearsxplod.

According to the description at cbkbd.com, "to attain the traditional rectangular shape while minimizing the footprint, A,Z and P are placed on larger key sizes". QAZ is allegedly the first modern production board with a layout using this space-saving trick.

Well, sacrificing the outer keys of the bottom row renders the QAZer a 32%, but you get the point…

This specific project pictured above involves:

  • keycaps from a Teletype Dataspeed 40 with resin printed adapters for MX stems,
  • Kailh Navy switches "to let people know you mean business",
  • a solenoid "to underline that business",.
  • and a piezo buzzer.

The case provides a 15 degree forward slope and a generous bezel.

GitHub repo: Here.

And here is a short sound sample with the solenoid for you to enjoy:

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Published on Sun 27th Mar 2022. Featured in KBD #71 (source).


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