Issue 62 / Week 4 / 2022

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.
Contents
Editorial
Behind the Scenes of Issue 62
Issue #61 follow-up, vendor database updates, MoErgo, Videoton terminal progress, etc.
Hello everyone,
Issue #61 follow-up
The r/mk post gained a humiliating 18 upvotes in 24 hours while at the same time Cloudsource registered all-time record daily visitor numbers. It seems the audience is shifting. :D
Today's newsletter will be sent out to more than 1700 subscribers. Those who run a newsletter – at least at MailChimp – may be aware that there are different metrics to measure the size of audience: e.g. contacts and subscribers are two totally different parameters.
The number of contacts is limited to 2,000 in MailChimp's free plan and it's about 1,900 righ now so I'll have to delete some inactive subscribers to postpone the judgement day – when I'll have to pay for sending you these free weekly emails.
Donations: Thanks to Matt Osius and MoErgo's Stephen Cheng for their donations.
Sniffing vs reader suggested content
Sniffing for relevant content takes an insane amount of time. The last time I counted the number of posts on r/mk there were about 2000 to 3000 of them – a single week. And I dig through that mess to find a handful of valuable posts day by day…
I'm totally lost on Discord, GH isn't the optimal format to spot novelties either, and I'm not able to monitor the numerous local communities.
That's why I'm particularly grateful when readers reach out to me suggesting topics. So thanks a lot to April_mood and Art_Gabriel.
And ofc thanks to the proactive or responsive vendors too who help to keep the keyboard vendor database up to date.
Vendor database
- cerakey.com added and contacted – waiting for more details.
- fruitykeeb is back (formerly marked as closed).
- It was high time to add Work Louder. Their keycaps are used on several boards nowadays.
- dinokeys is closing…
MoErgo & Glove80
I've been following the MoErgo project since Stephen posted about the cylindrical MBK-like keycap profile designed specifically with this – then in development – split ergo in mind.
After 500+ iterations and a lot of work, the Kickstarter campaign starts tomorrow.
In addition, while I don't usually endorse kickstarters and group buys, MoErgo donated to kbd.news a visible amount of money so as a thank you there will be some links and references to moergo.com for a few weeks.
Videoton terminal progress
This was my most disgusting keyboard cleaning endeavor ever. The whole thing ended up in the shower…
I hate to post dirty keyboards but I'm pretty proud of how cleaning the plate came out:
Perfect cleaning would require desoldering all the switches – no thanks.
But at least you can see the Micro USA switches with the stem tops at an angle.
–-
Well, that's it for today.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your support.
Feel free to ask and comment in this issue's r/mk thread, and as always: keep learning and building.
Cheers, Tamás
Projects
Jianovka
A contemporary split built with scavenged Hall-effect switches and caps from a vintage keyboard.
Jianovka is a chorded keyboard that looks similar to the Jian or Corne but originally used chords instead of layers.
As of my understanding, the keyboard was designed by Dmitry Nikolaev (aka Xenocephal) and Alexander Krikun (whose name may sound familiar from recent posts like the Nijuni and Skean) obtained a spare PCB.
[…]I even made a few mods to accommodate a more traditional case. I got my hands on a set of Dmitry's spare PCBs in and went on from there – Alexander Krikun.
Basically, the columnar stagger and thumb cluster are copied from Jian keyboard, and the outer pinky key is removed. So Jianovka looks more like Jian, but has 42 keys like a Corne.
Will have to ask around but the repo (https://nest.pijul.com/sunflower/jianovka) gives me internal server error messages. (Alexander pointed me to a GitHub backup. Thanks!)
Anyway, this keyboard project is not about the typical open-source PCB you'd send to your favorite PCB manufacturer. It was designed to be made with Hall effect switches and keys scavenged from a vintage Zbrojovka 262.3 keyboard (plus Teensy 2.0 microcontroller and QMK firmware).
And here is a huge gallery of photos taken by Jacob Alexander while disassembling a Zbrojovka aka. Bezkont. Klávesnice 262.3.
A minute of monkeytype with Xenocephal's Jianovka - a split keyboard built from a 1988 Zbrojovka 262.3. The switches have been ultrasonically cleaned and lubed with 205G0, the plate is 1.5 mm stainless steel, and so is the bottom. There's also a thin layer of foam between the bottom and the PCB – Alexander Krikun.
So while we've seen many converted vintage keyboards, this one is a contemporary split built on a retro keyboard's intestines.
Even if the repo will work again, to build this, you will need Teensy KiCAD symbols and footprints, QMK firmware with Jianovka keyboard files, and a Zbrojovka 262.3 keyboard of course…
Honestly, you better put such a vintage beauty on a display and print some Hall-effect switches with Riskable's OpenSCAD void switch files instead.
Cantaloupe V2.0
The Cantaloupe V2.0 is a reversible open-source ergo split keyboard by BucketInABucket with on-board ARM processor.
An open-source 60% QMK-compatible split ergo keyboard.
My next iteration of my personal split keyboard called the Cantaloupe – BucketInABucket.
The layout is based on the Ergodash layout with the inner-most keys removed and an improved thumb cluster. (The layout was only used as a reference, the board is a completely new design.)
Plenty of design cues have been taken from the YAEMK for version 2.0, especially with regards to the microprocessor section and the way that keyboard implements a fully reversible design.
Features
- 30-key layout, pinky stagger, arrow keys.
- On-board ARM (changed to STM32F4x1CxUx: F401 and F411 both compatible) processor
- Kailh hot-swap
- USB-C input and split connect ports with full ESD protection.
- 0.96" OLED
- Rotary encoder and Pimoroni trackball (replacing one encoder).
- Reversible design which means lower PCB cost.
- JTAG/SWD breakout header for an alternate means of programming the board.
GitHub repo: https://github.com/Ariamelon/Cantaloupe
Noisy Cricket keyboard
The Noisy Cricket by Pop-X- was heavily inspired by Thomas Baart's Kyria and the Ferris.
The Noisy Cricket is a 34-40 key split keyboard that runs QMK (and provisionally KMK). Design goals were: portability, feature-richness and choc spacing.
It's my take on a minimalist keyboard that's taken a feature-dense turn, most of which revolves around the highly customizable thumb clusters – Pop-X-.
Inspired by Thomas Baart's Kyria but with some differences like Choc spacing, 5 columns by default, and a more compact thumb cluster that "doesn’t require the contortions common in other small keyboards". It has less arc than the Kyria’s.
The outer keys in the Kyria’s roomy cluster notably don’t require these contortions, which is what in part inspired me to combine certain attributes of the Ferris and Kyria here. The choc spacing also makes vertical combos (chording) on the Ncricket’s cluster easy! – Pop-X-.
Features
- Powered by STM32F411 "blackpill" development boards
- Kailh hotswap or soldered choc switches.
- 20 WS2812B RGB underglow
- 2 roller encoders
- 2 rotary encoders
- 2 pimoroni trackballs with a choice of two positions (the other being directly below the blackpill)
- 2 128x32 OLEDs
- a Pimoroni haptic module (master side only, for now)
Unfortunately, not open source (atm). Chech the original post for the link to the interest check form.
The board is already revised to remove the need for the bodge you see on the right half and the ST-Link sockets on the left, haha – Pop-X-.
Chunky V2
Tenstaana's Chunky V2 – now with trackpad. Less janky and more janky at the same time.
The Chunky v1 was featured just a few weeks ago (KBD #59) but the next iteration is already here.
My initial goal was to make Chunky v1 less janky by hiding away the MCU and OLED which is commonly exposed in DIY keyboards, to use the amazing Cirque trackpad instead of the pimoroni trackball, and to have dedicated mouse buttons using Kaihl silent mouse switches – tenstaana.
Some other goals: adding ESD protection, proper plug detect circuit for the blackpill, and tenting legs from ZSA. The Chunky also has SPI breakouts and additional i2c headers for expansion.
The GlidePoint Cirque circular trackpad came from Mouser. They come in three different diameters (24, 35 and 40 mm) and a few different overlays.
In this project the 40mm variant and the curved overlay was used (TM040040-2024-303):
To get the trackpoint going, the bottom plate houses an Atmega32u4 breakout.
I grew up with thinkpads so I was looking to replicate the trackpad + trackpoint experience – tenstaana.
GitHub repo: https://github.com/freznel10/ChunkyV2
Keycaps: WRK Daily by Work Louder.
Atoll case
A resin printed case designed by wthrll for his 40% Atoll PCB.
The Atoll is an open-source 40% PCB with a resin printed case.
The result of a foolish PCB-first case-second approach to a hotswap 40% mechanical keyboard. 12.75u width with a split spacebar, HHKB bottom row, and an optional encoder in the top left – wthrll.
The picture above is a render, check the original r/mk post for more pics.
This is the author's first go at printing a case for his Atoll PCB: A 5° typing angle screw-free design that slides together around the plate.
Github repo: https://github.com/wetherall/ATOLL-1.0
Printed on an Anycubic Photon Mono SE using Elegoo ABS-like resin in about 8 hours.
Tools
STeMCell devboard
The STeMCell is a STM32 based development board with Pro Micro pinout – designed by megamind4089.
The STeMCell, a STM32 based controller board is megamind4089's first design for ergo keyboards. It has a Pro Micro compatible footprint and is open source.
Github repo: https://github.com/megamind4089/STeMCell
Works with both QMK and ZMK.
I have added a quick and dirty UART DMA split implementation for ZMK, which works – megamind4089.
https://github.com/megamind4089/zmk/tree/mine
https://github.com/megamind4089/qmk_firmware
Features:
- Pro Micro footprint
- STM32F4x1 series MCU
- Support swapping TX/RX pins
- Jumper to enable/disable USB DFU bootloader
- Inbuilt TX pullup for UART half duplex communication
- User LED
- Extra 5 pinout on bottom
- Supports QMK and ZMK
- Tiny-uf2 bootloader
Oshpark link: https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/LJiMLzWF
The author's main motivation was the flash memory: "with Atmega32 there is not enough memory, to load all RGB animations and enabled via/ encoder/oled. Have to compromise on some features. STMf4 processor has lots of memory to load all features at once and another driving point is ZMK support."
I know RP2040 might be the future for both firmware. But we are looking at months for full support with both firmware. Thought this can be the interim solution – megamind4089.
As SouthPawEngineer points out, the STeMCell is similar to his Kestrel F0 which used the STM32F0 series of microcontrollers, aiming to be more functional but also more affordable.
The issue has been that the pandemic supply related issues have made the supply of pretty much all STM32Fx series of microcontrollers either very hard to come by or have rocketed up the cost of the controllers by 3-4x in some cases – SouthPawEngineer.
Tips & Tricks
Void switch OpenSCAD files
Riskable published his magnetic switches' OpenSCAD and KiCAD footprint files.
Riskable and his magnetic void switch project needs no introduction. The Riskeyboard70 was one of the very first projects (#2!) featured on kbd.news, followed by many crazy side-projects.
For a quick recap on how these switches work see this short video:
Or Chyrosran22's teardown:
After months of testing, the OpenSCAD and STL files, as well as the KiCAD footprints are now available for download.
Knowing the keycap playground, the author's parametric keycap designer/experimenting tool, we could have expected some switches to come in a similar parametric fashion.
Indeed, these "parametric 3D printable magnetic separation contactless key switches" (and stabilizers) are available in this GitHub repo as both OpenSCAD and STL files. For the KiCAD files see the void_switch_kicad repo.
By default, each switch needs three 4x2mm magnets (most cheap N35 magnets are actually 4x1.7mm which is fine). However, the switches are configurable so if you want to make a switch that uses 3x2mm magnets you can do that "with a bit of work changing settings around".
For reference, there's two magnets in the switch itself (one in the sheath and one in the stem) and the levitator needs its own magnet.
For those who find the parametric approach intimidating, there are prerendered (4mm travel) void switch files in .stl and .3mf format available for the most common 4x1.7mm and 4x2mm magnets.
This should make for an all-around decent set of parameters for doing quick tests and demos (to see how the switch feels). For your own keyboard make sure you try out many different MAGNET_VOID values and also try changing the STEM_TOLERANCE value to see how you like tighter-fitting or looser-fitting switches.
The ergonomic design of Glove80
Stephen Cheng from MoErgo describes the ergonomics of his Glove80 keyboard and explains the rationale behind the design.
TLDR. Key Glove80 ergonomic features are:
- Split so that halves can be repositioned to minimize ulnar deviation, which causes carpal tunnel
- Neutral tilt to minimize wrist extension (wrist bending upwards)
- Adjustable tenting to minimize forearm pronation
- As low profile as possible to avoid forearm bending upwards or wrist extension
- Contoured keywell and innovative thumb cluster for comfortable reach of all keys to reduce finger and thumb strain and stress
- All ergonomic features working together holistically to allow for palm resting on palm rest while typing (should you want to) to allow you to relax your arms and shoulders while typing
In this post I will try to describe the ergonomics design of Glove80 and explain the rationale behind the design. But before we do that, lets have a look at what typing is like on a Glove80.
A well designed keyboard can help you to maintain a good posture and comfort to avoid many common causes of RSI traditionally associated with keyboards.
Ulnar deviation happens when the wrist is bent outwards. It is a common cause of carpal tunnel syndrome, which is caused by pressure on the median nerve. On a standard staggered row keyboard, because of the straight rows, the wrists are forced into a position of ulnar deviation. A split keyboard, such as Glove80, allows you to reposition the keyboard halves wherever you like, such that the wrists are straight when viewed above.
Glove80’s ability to reposition the halves has another advantage. The halves can be positioned further apart, to eliminate the need to round the shoulders, which helps to keep the shoulder relaxed.
Wrist extension happens when the wrist is bent upwards. This bending can greatly reduce the blood flow, and is a common cause for wrist pain and fatigue. Glove80 is designed with a sculpted palm rest such that the wrist is straight when viewed sideways (i.e. no wrist extension), when the palm is resting on the palm rest and your forearm is horizontal. This is called a neutral tilt. Glove80 is one of the very few keyboards that offer a neutral tilt typing position.
This brings us to the next point. It is generally recommended that the forearm should be held at a horizontal position and should never be tilting upwards. Likewise, as we discussed prior, the wrists should not be bent upwards. To allow for the horizontal arm position and no wrist extension, the keyboard (specifically the top of the keycaps) must be low enough.
Unfortunately the amount of space between the hands and your thigh is extremely limited, and that space needs to accommodate the table, keyboard and still leave enough wriggle room for your legs. This is the reason why we did everything to make Glove80 so low profile.
Glove80 uses premium low profile Kailh Choc switches. The lowest keys “D” and “K” are an incredible 20mm (0.8 inch) from top of the keycap to the table (try measuring your current keyboard). Furthermore, we designed a tenting system that adds no extra height, unlike the tenting kits of many other ergonomic keyboards.
So what’s the tenting system? If you press your palm flat on your desk and hold it there for a few minutes, you will feel tension on your forearms and you are experiencing forearm pronation. If you rotate your palms such that your thumb points slightly or more into the air, you will find the position more comfortable. This is the purpose of tenting.
By default, Glove80 has a tenting angle that is comfortable for most people. However we found that this is one variable that differs greatly between users. So we built a clever tenting system into Glove80. The legs of Glove80 can be extended to change the tenting angle of the keyboard, with infinite levels of adjustments. Unlike many other ergonomic keyboards, the tenting kit is integrated and adds no extra height.
The finger keys for Glove80 are arranged in columns to minimize sideways finger movements and the compensating wrist “wriggling”.
Glove80 has a contoured keywell that is shaped to follow the curves your fingertips draw when you curl your fingers. The contoured keywell minimizes the finger motions you need to press a key, and so allows you to type faster and with less fatigue. Compared to a flat keyboard, a contoured keywell minimizes the need to move your palm.
Glove80 has an innovative design for the thumb keys. Our thumbs are our strongest digits, and are underutilized on most keyboards. Unlike other thumb cluster designs, Glove80 offers comfortable access to 6 thumb keys per thumb so you can relieve the workload on other fingers, especially the pinkies. With 12 thumb keys altogether, the thumbs can handle the modifiers and other common non-alpha keys like space, return, delete and backspace.
For most people, of all the thumb joint motions, the flexion-extension motion (sweeping along roughly the palm plane) of the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint is the most comfortable and with the greatest reach. The CMC joint of the thumb is the joint located at the very base of the thumb.
With a well designed contoured key well, the palm hardly ever has to move, so effectively the CMC thumb joint stays at one place. Glove80 is designed to take advantage of that, so that you can reach every thumb key simply by drawing an arc with the CMC joint as the centre, without stretching your thumb or moving your palm much if at all.
However there is more to the whole than just the parts. These Glove80 ergonomic features work together. Because the palm hardly ever had to move to reach the finger keys and the palm keys, a user could choose to rest the palms on the palm rests while typing, which allows the arms and shoulder to remain relaxed.
Wow, you made it to the end. Thank you for reading!
Perhaps we should have another look at a Glove80 typing test to see how Glove80 ergonomics work in practice.
If you want to know how we create and test the ergonomic designs, please check out RSI and how the "ultimate" ergonomic keyboard is created through 500+ A/B ergonomic testing experiments.
If you are interested to know more about Glove80, our website is at www.moergo.com. The Glove80 Kickstarter campaign is slated to start on January 25, 2022 (UTC17:00).
Gradient dyed cable guide
How to make gradient dyed mechanical keyboard cables – tips, tricks and experiences shared by htig.
Fellow redditor htig, who runs a shop on Etsy selling coiled cables, shares everything he's learned so far about gradient dyeing mechanical keyboard cables.
Why am I sharing this information? I've learned a lot from the internet and especially reddit, so I'd like to pay it forward by sharing everything I've learned. I think sharing information is extremely important, and I believe that it will actually help my business rather than hurt it. Cable-makers, most with other full-time jobs and careers, work really hard to create elegant and beautiful products, so learning about what we do behind the scenes can only help people appreciate our products more. Both creative adventures and DIY are things that I really enjoy, so I'd like to share that joy with other people.
Click here for the full guide.
In the meantime the guide was uploaded to htig's morefunlessscience.com too.
Keyboard Spotting
Dorner PDS 320
Dorner Electronic's PDS 320 was a fancy concrete mixing hardware with an impressive keyboard layout. Posted by Zerfallsgesetz.
The Austrian company Dorner Electronic has been around in the construction material industry for almost 60 years.
Even though much has changed over the last 50 years: our passion for concrete remains – Dorner.
While they are mainly into software development nowadays, Dorner sold dosing computers from 1972 (PDS8 and PDS80), built around the first microprocessors available from Intel.
According to their website the PDS320 (in the picture) appeared in 1992. To say the truth, based strictly on the photo, I would have dated this to the first half of the '80s – were it not for the color displays.
The PDS320 is a specialized control unit for cement (or other material) mixing facilities at large-scale construction sites.
Btw, the Dorner PDS320 was the last in-house built hardware offered by Dorner. In 1998 they announced the first PC - and Windows-based control with the PDS NT.
Click this link for a larger image – originally posted by Zerfallsgesetz.
And if you liked this, check the Aesthedes 2 too – another monster with a similarly generous keyboard layout.
Raytheon 226274
This Raytheon 226274 from 1969 came with KB-SR1 switches made of glass!
In the original Deskthority thread PDP_11 was selling some pretty unique keyboards, among others this Raytheon featuring glass switches.
From the listing:
This is a Raytheon 226274 keyboard that appears to be from the late 60s or early 70s. It is extremely rare, and I have been unable to find any pictures online of it. The keyboard uses Raytheon KB-SR1 switches, which are made of glass, and allow you to see the switch mechanism in action. The keycaps are of an interesting shape, which enhances the vintage look. The keyboard is contained in a metal case, and it weighs in at 7.5lbs – PDP_11.
Answering the question if it's "glass on glass, or glass on plastic?", timetoy who reposted the original pictures from 2019 replied:
It's from 1969, plastics were just starting, so I would say glass on glass! No rage banging that keyboard!
Well, taking a closer look at the switch, it has a metal stem:
Also, I had to look up this but several plastics became widely accessible in the 50s so, while today's favorite switch materials may have come later, there were various plastics around in that time – looking at the keycaps this should be pretty obvious.
However, many parts of a contemporary computer were made of glass (e.g. vacuum tubes) and maybe it was straightforward to make the switch housing from this material too.
As it turns out, Raytheon is quite a big name in high-end audio and audiophile circles so that would make sense for an expert in glass tube manufacturing.
Finally, as already told, this warehouse liquidation happened and ended in 2019 so please stop contacting the seller. ;)
Kinesis Evolution
Thrift store find: a Kinesis Evolution chair-mount split ergo shared by GhotiGoat.
I wasn't aware of this Kinesis model from the early 2000s. (Is this vintage age?) It came with Cherry MX Browns.
Small gallery: https://imgur.com/a/3rrqd97#FspYemO
- Model: Evolution (chair, dual)
- Model #: KB425DTP
- Serial: 25K4029DTC.
U.S. patent number 5,311,210.
Inspiration
Onehand -- a one-handed keyboard
SouthPawEngineer's Onehand is a creatively named accessible keyboard with five-way switches.
This is a concept for a one handed keyboard by SouthPawEngineer using 5-way switches "to greatly expand the number of switch functions quickly accessible to a single finger".
I've seen some focus lately on small onehanded keyboards that have a focus on chording. This particular design still does, but to a very minor extent in comparison. The keymap thus far is mostly designed to be familiar to users of QWERTY – SouthPawEngineer.
The keymap, while it is subject to change, is pretty straightforward. The top row is the primary hand, and the second row is the opposite hand. In general, up is the top row, right is the middle row, down is the third row, and left is numbers on the base layer. This arrangement makes using the board quite intuitive for those coming from QWERTY.
The keycaps increase the lever arm of the small 5-way switches so you can control the force needed to actuate in the cardinal directions by changing the height of the keycap – at the expense of key travel.
I have seen a number of folks on this forum and others like it who have injured a hand and asked for help with one handed designs or layouts. There are quite a few out there, but something like this might be able to help those people who either don't have use of both hands, or have injured themselves in some way such that they temporarily don't have proper use of one hand or the other. While a design more focused on chording may able to achieve higher WPM, this design should be able strike a balance between a complicated chording interface that can achieve high WPM and a more intuitive and more familiar way of inputting text.
Shown is the left hand variant, but one of the variants has a flippable PCB so that either hand may be used.
The board features an NRF52840 module running ZMK firmware. As such, both USB and Bluetooth may be used. By default, the small function keys on the right side are used for Bluetooth configuration and profile switching.
That was Issue #62. Thanks for stopping by.
MoErgo Glove80, u/chad3814, Aiksplace, @keebio, @kaleid1990, ghsear.ch, Timo, cdc, kiyejoco, Bob Cotton, FFKeebs, Matt Osius, Davidjohn Gerena
Your support is crucial to help this project survive.