Behind the Scenes of Issue 93

Monthly donation results, mini meetup with MrZealot, quick news, new vendors & coupons, meetups.

Hey y'all,

What a thrilling week full of odd encounters! :D 30% beauties, a 18-key abomination which tempts me to ditch some keys from my layout, and there are several crazy projects on the way I'm not even allowed to announce yet. ;)

In addition, I also met MrZealot aka Dénes "Ergogen" Bán for the first time IRL, and we had a great conversation.

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Welcome back for another edition of Keyboard Builders' Digest (this time Issue #93), a weekly roundup of this DIY keyboard focused newsletter and blog from Tamas Dovenyi – that's me. If you are new to this, you can read how this started out and what this is all about nowadays. If you like what you see, you can subscribe to the newsletter (free) and donate some bucks to keep this otherwise free and ad-free project alive.

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Quick news & links:

• The Obsessive Pleasures of Mechanical-Keyboard Tinkerers on newyorker.com.
• Dilemma officially released by Quentin (yesterday). I can't see any changes since I featured it last week.

Monthly donation report

As already indicated, I will regularly review the monthly donations and compare the sum to the amount of time I put in this project.

All this to evaluate if I should ditch some features to spare some time for other hobbies, projects, myself, and my family – or to press the pedal to the metal and take kbd.news to the next level.

August result: 30.5% of my monthly goal received in donations.

Not bad at all, I expected less. And I'm more interested in the trend rather than in the exact sum.

Btw, this is a mid-term goal which was conservatively set to half of what I'd earn if I'd spent the same amount of time with my other long-time hobby… :D

One-dollar donations

On a similar note: If you consider supporting this project, please don't send $1. Wait some time and send $2 instead. ;)

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for even the smallest support, but PayPal deducts more than 50% in fees from $1 donations.

So especially setting up a $1 recurring donation doesn't make much sense. You spend 12x1=12USD in a year and I receive $5.7 eventually.

In this case it's better if you donate $6 once a year and we are at about the same level of support.

Or sending the $12 at once means I receive about $11 instead of $5.7.

A weekend in Szeged

Last weekend I visited Szeged, a beautiful city in Southern Hungary, close to the Serbian and Romanian border.

It's famous for a lot of things from a spicy fish soup to Nobel laureate Albert Szent-Györgyi, but most notably it's the home city of MrZealot, creator or Ergogen. :D

I hit him up out of the blue, we hastily arranged a meeting, and had a great conversation – first time IRL. It's incredible how two introverted sociopathic nerds can talk about their shared hobby for hours.

Szeged is also home to possibly the largest collection of retro computers in the region, at least of those I'm aware of, but the exhibition was closed at the time of my visit… Aaargh!

4 years on Reddit

The day I discovered mechanical keyboards and r/mk was the exact day I signed up for Reddit so this means my reddit cake day indicates I'm four year long in this hobby.

I wanted to redo my cake day inventory from last year, but I totally forgot about this anniversary.

Maybe next week, however, the collection has probably doubled and a similar photo shoot will be a real challenge now with regards to both logistics and ceiling height. :D

Vendor database

New shops/discounts:

• clickeys.nl added, and Sander was kind enough to offer you a €5 discount on your first order.
• MajorKB added, and Alex offered you a 5% discount (KBDNEWS). He has a temporary WELCOME2MKB code with $3.00 off as well, so do the math which one works better for you depending on your shopping cart.

Meetup database

I think of this meetup database both as a calendar and an archive so I try to update recent events with galleries, videos, etc.

I'm not going to report all the changes here but as always, feel free to send me upcoming events or even ones from the recent past to make this collection as comprehensive as possible.

Unfortunately, there's no way I can keep an eye on all the obscure Discord channels these meetups are cooked up in, but that's why it's great to have 70K+ visitors and 2,500 newsletter subscribers who keep me informed. Isn't it? ;)

Donors

There's a new supporter on board who set up a recurring donation but doesn't want his name to be published. Thanks mate!

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That's all for today. Thanks for reading.

Feel free to comment in this issue's r/mk thread, and as always: keep learning and building.

Cheers, Tamás

The Kunst keyboard

The Kunst keyboard is a wireless 18-key ergonomic design by Fu_Lan.

Fu Lan aka Kunsteak shared his Kunst, an ultra-portable low-profile wireless keyboard with only 18 keys.

It may look quite intimidating at first sight, but delving into the elaborated keymap even I feel tempted to ditch a dozen keys from my own layout.

I actually daily drive this… – Fu_Lan.

The fact that Fu Lan uses this minimalist keyboard as his daily driver is even more impressive if you know that he writes not only in English but also in German and Croatian. In addition, he does programming daily, so add some artificial languages to that pool.

By the way, the name Kunst comes from his real name and is a part of his online appearance. Furthermore, it's also a reference to the German word Die Kunst (the art) – which is quite fitting in this case.

If it wasn't obvious, the design was inspired by "unofficial Ergogen maskot" Ben Vallack's Youtube videos, and the PCB was generated via Ergogen.

Just by chance I happened to have a great IRL conversation with Ergogen creator Dénes "MrZealot" Bán this weekend (more on this in my next editorial), and he has an introductory video on Ergogen if you are new to this workflow.

All in all, the Kunst came at the right time to take some inspiration from.

With regards to getting accustomed to such an extreme logical layout, Fu Lan writes:

I know it seems insane at first glance, I was baffled too as to how this works… but once you remember all the keys and layer switching it becomes very easy to type on. I’d recommend checking out Ben Vallack (YouTube). You can see him type on 18 keys. He even typed on 16 but that was too few keys and it unnecessarily hindered the flow in certain scenarios, mostly uppercase keys.

He is getting better at typing: Starting with 20 WPM two weeks ago he's up to 60 and thinks 100 WPM is possible despite the few keys and many layers.

Reacting to concerns about tailor-made layouts affecting our ability to type on standard or more conventional keyboards, the designer answered:

It definitely affects my ability to use other keyboards… this is mostly due to the layout and two-layer-alpha keys […] What I have also noticed is that my overall sitting position, distance from keyboard and shoulder tension/relaxation influence my wpm speed by about 10-15 wpm. Whenever I keep my elbows level with the keyboard or the desk (90 deg.), my lumbar spine supported and my shoulders relaxed (which also helps me remember to breathe when typing) I tend to write up to 20 wpm faster and with better accuracy.

Resources

All the files, including the Ergogen YAML config, outlines and KiCad files, are available in this GitHub repo:

https://github.com/kunsteak/kunst_keyboard

And here is the ZMK repo:

https://github.com/kunsteak/zmk-config-kunst

Dissatisfaction30

Dissatisfaction30 is a classy 30% keyboard / macropad by dj_edit.

Ming-Gih Lam aka dj_edit/dcpedit published his cute Dissatisfaction30, a tiny 30% keyboard or a relatively huge macropad – as you please.

Since I don't think I can legally call this a keyboard, I'm just gonna introduce my latest project as a macro pad – dj_edit.

After his previous projects like the Red Herring and µ10 keyboard, dj_edit came up with another classy design.

Taking design cues from the Sat75, the Dissatisfaction was originally intended to be a display piece, however, it also happens to be functional with a rotary encoder, OLED screen, and Vial firmware.

The author also took the opportunity to experiment with the case design, making it a tray mount with hidden screws.

The goal was to hide the case screws by using adhesive to secure the top 2 layers.

Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/5sZTefW

GitHub repo: https://github.com/dcpedit/dissatisfaction30

CyberSlice

MReavley's CyberSlice is a 42-key split keyboard powered by on-board RP2040 controllers.

MReavley published the CyberSlice keyboard, an evolution of his Slice36.

This 36-42 key split (breakaway outer column) is powered by an onboard RP2040 and has footprints for magnetic pogo connectors with the intention of adding further functionality.

This was my first time working with a microcontroller directly when laying out the PCB, it took a lot more time but I'd say it was worth it as a learning experience – MReavley.

The custom 3D-printed case is held together by 3mm neodymium magnets (STLs in the repo).

Obviously, the name is derived from his previous project, with a well-deserved prefix:

[…]What I thought would make it deserve the "cyber" prefix, [is] a modular connector (using the magnetic pogo connectors) on each side for additional accessories (pointing devices, oleds etc through 3.3V, GND, and 8x GPIO 2 of which are analog capable), although I've not really had the time to work on that[…] – MReavley.

Features

• Reversible PCB designed for PCB assembly services
• RP2040 per side, with 16MB of flash
• Laser cut aluminum plate, custom designed 3D printed case with magnets
• Footprints for magnetic pogo connectors on each side
• Breakaway tabs convert the layout from 42 to 36 key

Resources

More details and photos in this GitHub repo:

https://github.com/MReavley/CyberSliceKeyboard

Gnat

This Gnat, built by ai_Doge, is another member of Jim Merricks' bug themed ergo split family.

The Gnat (formerly Termite) is another member of Jim Merricks' bug themed line of tiny ergo split designs.

This isn't a new one but, in contrast to the Flea, Mosquito or Midge, the Gnat hasn't been featured on kbd.news yet so thanks ai_Doge for posting your build and making me aware of this version.

The Gnat is like a Midge with an extra inner key or a Mosquito without the outer pinky key.

All the files are available in this GitHub repo:

https://github.com/jimmerricks/bugs

Modified Rosaline

Rpiguy9907 crammed a numpad into Paul James' Rosaline - originally a through-hole 40% in a 60% case.

This is a custom PCB by rpiguy9907, based on the open-source Rosaline by Paul James aka peej.

As far as I can tell, rpiguy crammed an extra column into Paul's Rosaline, updating it for 40% mods and making enough room for a numpad on the left.

Well, based strictly on the number of keys, we are almost back to 60% but with a 40%-ish aesthetics.

The PCB files of this particular build are pending, but the original design is available at:

https://github.com/peej/rosaline-keyboard

Chakra56

Chakra56 is a handwired low-profile split keyboard designed and shared by Noctevo.

This custom split is called Chakra56 and was designed by Noctevo aka Nocte who also shared the case files for those who are interested in printing it.

was designing my own 3d printed split but it looks too much like a lily58 – Noctevo.

The author decided to call it chakra56 as his surname ends in "chak" and the keyboard has 56 keys.

Handwired, 3D printed, slightly tented, columnar stagger, number row, thumb cluster, OLED displays, rotary encoders.

The case, designed in Fusion 360, is slightly tented – 6.5-7 mm at the outer edge and 11 mm where the screens are.

The rough surface is achieved by printing it on a PEI surface (amazon).

STL files: https://www.printables.com/model/268802-chakra-low-profile-split-keyboard

Noctevo wants to make a PCB when he can find some free time and he has other plans as well:

I like how it feels but I still need a palm rest. I want to design one that's still connected to the keyboard but it's adjustable. Maybe the only thing I don't like is that it's too lightweight and so it moves around too easily – Noctevo.

Nemm keyboard

Nemm is a wireless split keyboard designed by kien242tran.

Fellow redditor kien242tran posted his nemm, a wireless split keyboard with an OLED display and the classic row-staggering.

it is nemm, a wireless split keyboard designed by me – kien242tran.

The GitHub repo is quite chaotic, but you can find the files for both the case and PCB:

https://github.com/kien242/ZMK-config-split-keyboards/tree/nemm

The Platform

ZSA announced a new tenting system: the Platform.

ZSA Technology Labs announced a professionally looking tenting solution: The Platform.

A tenting system like no other: All-metal, slides, locks, and folds in seconds.

It seems this device was specifically designed for the Moonlander keyboard but I wanted to feature it anyway to give you some inspiration.

The project, which has been in the making for over a year, was announced in a newsletter by Erez Zukerman. It's not a group buy or pre-order, 800 pieces of this clever contraption are in stock right now sold out in 24 hours.

Other than the adjustable tenting angle (up to 60 degrees), the rigid all-metal construction adds heft to the board, making it more stable "even at extreme tenting angles".

Check out the product page for more pictures, animations and a video: https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/platform/

Those who are signed up for the monthly ZSA magazine received a discount code which I'm not going to disclose respecting Erez's intentions.

Sign up for their newsletter to get such discounts next time.

EDIT:

All the 800 items sold out in 24 hours.

We'll make more, I'm not exactly sure when though. I can't wait to hear what people think once they have it – Erez.

Otrona 2001

The Otrona 2001 is a cool and rare vintage computer from 1984. Posted by Cerb-r-us.

Thanks to a post by Cerb-r-us I discovered the short-lived Otrona Corporation, and their second major product, the Otrona 2001.

Based in Boulder, Colorado, the Otrona Corporation manufactured these luggable computers from 1981 to 1984.

The Otrona 2001 was an IBM PC compatible model. Lighter – which is a surprisingly important factor with these hefty luggables –, and was meant to be a superior alternative to similar products made by IBM and Compaq.

If you've seen my 2021 cake day inventory photo, you know I own some of these early luggables and terminals from the same period, and I was quite into this topic a few years ago.

That said, the Otrona 2001 stands out with its futuristic dark grey/amber color scheme and the relatively large pivoting CRT (twice the resolution of standard PCs).

On a side note, the IBM 5155 Portable weights 13.6 kg (30 pounds) but I confess it feels twice as much, probably because of the uneven weight distribution, and also the distressingly thin handle.

I couldn't find the exact parameters of the Otrona 2001, but if the company would have been able to considerably reduce the weight, it could have been a major achievement.

Anyways, they probably couldn't, because just a few months after the introduction of the 2001, the company ceased production and filed for bankruptcy protection.

The 2001 model barely made a mark at all and probably ranks as one of the rarest of the early PC clones.

Got Milk?

Got Milk? - an artistic 3D printed case/plate test run by QDP2D.

This is a tester I did for a Nickelodeon themed board I want to make – QDP2D.

The keyboard is a FFLX by Sadek Baroudi / Fingerpunch, and the case is 3D printed in Priline CFPC (on a Voron 2.4) and Elegoo standard white (on an Elegoo Saturn 2).

(Milky yellow switches and MT3 2048 and /dev/tty keycaps complement the design.)

According to the author, the quite thick top layer doesn't seem to affect ergonomics, but if it were uncomfortable, she would probably "just throw a bean bag/wrist rest on there and call it a day".

32-key buckling spring keyboard

This 32-key IBM/QAZ buckling spring keyboard was committed by Pocketfullofbugs.

The lower case. Part IBM. Part QAZ. All killer, no filler. A 32 key buckling spring keyboard – Pocketfullofbugs.

After his QAZer Beam, a beamspring beast, Pocketfullofbugs came up with lower_case, a similar concept but without the hard-to-source beamspring switches:

This thing does what I wanted the QAZer Beam to do. Use the correct switch. The QAZer beam was awesome but I cannot get beamspring switches, so it boils down to an MX board hiding in a much cooler case. It felt like putting a Ferrari kit on a Kia. This though, this is real.

Solenoid noise is still integral part of the design – working title for the board was: "make them reinstate work from home".

If you are interested in this slightly masochistic/sadistic part of the hobby, check out Model D, this chopjob or ofc the QAZer Beam with case files.

Resources

Files on GitHub: https://github.com/ImYourHuckleberry/lower_case

Coffee Break Keyboards Discord server: https://discord.gg/HpC8UWW

We are doing a production run in the future – Pocketfullofbugs.