Issue 196 / Week 32 / 2025
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+30 entries in this issue:
Editorial
Behind the scenes #196
July switch toplist, exploding keyboards, Syntech Chronos 68 and MX tilting kit reviews, DIY projects, tips, art, Cornix and Evo75 in the mailbox, meetups, vendors, discounts.
Switch trends
Best-selling keyboard switches of July 2025
In this overview of community-favorite mechanical switches, here are July's top picks, based on real sales data provided by vendors and manufacturers.
Review
Syntech Chronos 68 review
The Syntech Chronos 68 is a cute little 65% HE board in an aluminum case. Packed with Hall-effect features mainly for gamers.
3dkeycap tilting kits
My thoughts about the MX tilting kits by 3dkeycap – a Kickstarter campaign running at the moment.
Projects
Wingman
An ultra low-profile monoblock split keyboard using PG1316S switches: Wingman by vuoz.
Prince54
A low-profile split keyboard by TheEternalComrade: Prince54 with phone cable.
Chonkofly19
The Chonkofly19 is a unibody split keyboard by Orange Dog, inspired by the Chocofly.
HexBoard
An open-source split by HephaestusHex: the wireless HexBoard.
Smallcat Uni
The unibody version of Matt Petiteau's original design: Smallcat Uni.
Fingerguns
MrBacon released a nice low-pro wireless ortho keyboard: the Fingerguns.
Dactyl Orca
The Dactyl Orca, designed by MexPayne, is a Dactyl derivative featuring a levered thumb button.
Tips & Tricks
Built-in keyboard batteries and how to avoid fire
A friendly reminder from Snimtas about the risks of using wireless keyboards with built-in lithium batteries plugged in constantly.
Quick news
Tip
These design guides by Keyreative are interesting reads: Dye-Sublimation Primer (Part 1) and Part 2.
A pretty elaborate piece on rapid trigger by Julien Groulx.
A tutorial series on how to make a keyboard. By Eymeric Chauchat aka chauquest.
Bongo Cat Mini Monitor by Vostok Labs. A tiny animated display pulling data from the OS. No soldering, open source, under $15. Github repo.
Lily58 tented case by justinlime/horriblesmell420.
TestDrive files published. These are 3D-printed cases for handwiring popular split keyboards – experiment with different keyboard layouts before committing to a final purchase. By jrussellsmyth aka LockPickingCoder.
Dual foot controller by MexPayneDive20 (on github).
An experimental layout by Rain2 to fix the Ctrl placement issue.
Peter Lyons (Focusaurus), known from his Squeezebox, made a split keyboard recessed into a desktop. Blog post.
Closed-source, commercial, WIP, etc.
Kai Cosmos – a trackball keyboard by kaihchang/K-H-C created with the Cosmos Generator.
Keyboard V2 by Daamin Ashai, a 14 year old enthusiast from India. There's a github repo, but the top case has to be reworked as it doesn't fit the rest.
Hm. I find the number of keys here intimidating. A Cyboard posted by MixtureElectrical762.
A Corne in a wooden case. Routed by Nedzny.
Ergohaven jumped the Prospector/YADS bandwagon with Qube, another ZMK dongle screen.
Yet another PG1316S split, this time by Real-Database.
A lovely low-pro macropad by creavi, with a huge display.
Peripherals is a cute 40%-ish board by No-Series.
ScottoKatana PCB edition by Joe Scotto. More photos.
A small split by godRosko with 23mm Cirque trackpad.
Zenith – A Totemist with an extra outer column by ergomech.store.
Frogarang is a WIP monoblock split by tinytinypenguin.
I love the curves and bumps of Baseform, a split in three familiar key counts (36, 42, 54 keys) by posture.works (formerly Next Keyboard Club).
Unnamed case for RGBKB boards.
History/Discovery
Split keyboard patent from 1963. Shared by jarek_rozanski. Also listed by SharktasticA.
Ortho final boss. Nice find by epearl_tv.
Keyboard art
Cerakey came out with some new keycaps sets: The Year of the Snake one, but most importantly these gorgeous handmade lacquered ceramic keycaps.
A gallery of anonyzero2's resin printed and polished keyboard cases.
Slightly related: a synthdeck made by zig-ziggler.
Biblically accurate keyboard by WelderMammoth.
splitkb.com, Upgrade Keyboards, Aiksplace, @keebio, Cyboard, Jacob Mikesell, KEEBD, Timo, littlemer-the-second, @kaleid1990, TALPKEYBOARD, Brendan P., ghsear.ch, u/motfalcon, Bob Cotton, FFKeebs, @therick0996, Christian Mladenov, Schnoor Typography, Daniel Nikolov, u/eighty58five, Caleb Rand, James McCleese, HLPlanet, Ben M, BeaverKeys, zzeneg, Anatolii Smolianinov, Spencer Dabell, Penk Chen, Stefan S., Clacky, Alex Miller, Matthias Goffette, Trey Causey, Hana Lee, Dylan Ingham, Cloyce, Gordon Diggs, Mario S., Duncan B., HubertTheMad, Hating TheFruit, Shnobble, Jesse L., Andres Sakk, Davidjohn Gerena, nutylabs, Ikasaya, drudru, Technofrikus, s_p_l_o_d_e, Delek Turner, KeebRight, Dickiedyce, 0xcircuitbreaker, Filip S., TurkeyBoards
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