Issue 181 / Week 48 / 2024
This is a hand-picked selection of last week's content from a keyboard enthusiast's perspective. Posts that may teach you something, make you think and contribute to the common knowledge of the DIY builder community.
There are 12+18 entries in this issue:
Closing down Pikatea - A Farewell
Jack and Bethany discuss their company history as they close Pikatea, their 5+ year keyboard and macropad store.
Connected: A tale of obsession over cables
David discusses why he started Kool Keys, and what making high end cables entails: the costs, equipment, trials and tribulations of being obsessed with making the perfect cable.
Editorial
Behind the scenes #181
Keyboard projects, reviews, MK Advent Calendar, quick news, in the mailbox, meetups, vendors, discounts.
Switch trends
Best-selling keyboard switches of November, 2024
In this month's overview of community-favorite mechanical switches, here are November's top picks, based on real sales data provided by vendors and manufacturers.
Review
Dareu A980 Pro Max mouse review
With its modern design, 4K/8K polling rate, tri-mode connectivity, and TFT display, the Dareu A980 Pro Max mouse is a highly customizable companion for gaming and office use.
Ergohaven Velvet v3 review
The Velvet v3 by Ergohaven is a beautiful prebuilt split with classy contours, keywell, hotswappable switches, and Vial support.
Projects
Le Oeuf
An ultra-low profile unibody split keyboard by Travis Mick, inspired by Le Chiffre: Le Oeuf.
Selenium S
Arnau Bago shared his Pi Pico based 34-key split: the Selenum S.
VOID
The VOID by Allen Choi is a 3x5 ergo split with some splay and displays.
Anywhy Flake
The Anywhy Flake by Max is a 46-key ergo split with a minimalist, no-frills design.
LowKey36
An ultra-low-profile split with Kailh PG1316 switches: LowKey36 by Matt Gilbert.
CapriCorne
The CapriCorne is a low-pro split with reversible PCB – designed by Skreddvik.
Quick news
TIPS
Mmm. These 2U Brisk Lemon Tai-Hao THT keycaps look tasty.
A new keycap profile by Ok-March. Sculpted, looks cylindrical, with low-pro MDAish vibes – without a name yet.
Closed-source, WIP, etc.
The UHK 80 is some serious stuff. The good old Ultimate Hacking Keyboard in a new 80% TKL form factor.
Flow-flat by drudge007.
A wedge split keyboard for more compact travel setup. By Longjumping_Falcon.
A foldable, portable split by sushiii.
Joe is raising the stakes with the ScottoCyberdeck, his first cyberdeck project.
I love well-documented projects like this Dactyl-derivative by Jonas Hietala.
And sometimes you need just a few pics to get some inspiration: a Macbook Air cut in half to house split. A project by MasGui.
Mister_Magister is workin on a split Thinkpad keyboard with Kailh PG1425 switches.
Keyboard art
The new Luminkey75 V2 has such a nice side profile! End nice everything. ;)
Closing Pikatea, Jack made a macropad to commemorate the moment.
Fellow redditor sentientmassofenergy sewed a 60% carrying case.
I've probably posted a photo about the Encore already, but I loved these shots by Affectionate_Side.
Another nice side profile: Vida. Photo by Sterlingandcophoto.
I liked this macropad by robertferanec too.
Weekly Diderot effect
Keyboard ornaments for Christmas. Committed by mar_mech.
Keycap plushies. Keycap plush keychains by Kaomoji.
splitkb.com, ZSA Technology Labs, MoErgo Glove80, Aiksplace, Upgrade Keyboards, @keebio, Cyboard, Jason Hazel, Jacob Mikesell, Sean Grady, Ergohaven, kiyejoco, KEEBD, @kaleid1990, littlemer-the-second, Timo, ghsear.ch, u/motfalcon, FFKeebs, Bob Cotton, @therick0996, Christian Mladenov, TALPKEYBOARD, Schnoor Typography, Daniel Nikolov, u/eighty58five, Brendan P., Caleb Rand, Skyler Thuss, James McCleese, Benjamin Bell, Ben M, Yuan Liu, zzeneg, Spencer Dabell, Anatolii Smolianinov, Penk Chen, Clacky, Matthias Goffette, Stefan S., Alex Miller, Trey Causey, Hating TheFruit, Mario S., Dylan Ingham, Gordon Diggs, Cloyce, Davidjohn Gerena, Shnobble, Raphael Stanzani, Duncan B., HubertTheMad, Jesse L., Andres Sakk, s_p_l_o_d_e
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