lol, yeah, I’ve brought the prices as low as I can, but even then it’s still not cheap compared to a big box store keyboard.

Custom caps from FKCaps.

They run a top notch service that I highly recommend.

Please do, I’ll be selling the parts in January. But, everything you need to source your own parts is in the GitHub repository too.

You’re welcome, it’s been a fun little project.

That’s an awesome project.

One of workmates has been using it, I’ve actually printed the resulting STLs from this when his printer died.

Links updated, let me know how you go!

I hear you, it’s a slightly bigger stretch, but on the other hand habits are hard to break. Also, if you’re a gamer I could definitely see the dedicated number row as a hard requirement, particularly if you’re not comfortable making custom layouts.

I still use a qwerty layout and have a number row in my numbers layer as it requires less re-training.

I suspect that layouts with a dedicated number row are a transitional form for most people that stick with it, I quickly moved away from the Sofle for example. As before though I can understand the desire for something different.

Index fingers, though you can use thumbs but that felt quite clumsy to me.

In the base layer they act as arrow keys. In the functions layer they are volume and zoom.

I’ve found the arrow key scrolling to be quite nice. It takes a little getting used to, but once you’re used to it regular arrow keys for text navigation feel clunky.

Yes. It’s fairly straight forward and there are test points to check everything is soldered properly as you go.

There is one exception, the backlight has some very small surface mount parts, the SMD resistors in particular are quite fiddly.

My current thinking is to sell pre-soldered kits with all the surface mount parts done (LEDs withstanding). This way people only need to solder the controller sockets and encoders to get a functioning keyboard.

I will of course keep all of the design files freely available. If you order your own PCBs from JLCPCB you will need to order a batch of 5 so you’ll have some practice boards 😊

I’m still working on a cost effective way to solve the pre-soldering of LEDs. I’ve looked into reverse mountable LEDs, but I’ve yet to find something that meets the required criteria (price, color, efficiency and availability).

Me too, I highly recommend checking out FKCaps. The service is top notch.

Thankyou 😊

Thanks.

I am working on a similar MX design that has a number row (Rolio Max). In addition to the roller encoders it’ll have these bad boys too:

https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Alps-Alpine/RKJXT1F42001?qs=6EGMNY9ZYDTsBzSTrhiL0w%3D%3D&mgh=1&vip=1

It’ll be much more of an at home board than one you can shove in a backpack. But I figure why not make an all you can eat board too.

I don’t anticipate having the prototypes even until December though as I’ve got a fair bit of work happening at the moment. In practical terms I guess that means no publicly available designs until early next year.

Thanks, I’ll get that sorted later tonight.

Are you wanting to build one or just being helpful for those that might want to make one?

I have a few spare PCBs of the posted iteration, if you’re based in Australia I’m happy to send some on. Though I’d recommend waiting for the 1.0 release.

Thankyou.

I’ve started assembling V1 today. Which means I can finish the mechanical design this week. I’m looking forwards to having it, I think it’s going to look very nice.

I expect once it’s at a “now it’s done” stage that might come up more.

Right now this is little more than a nice POC. I think the refined version will be quite a bit better…. And easier to make all going well.

Thanks. The loose assumptions are dead on.

Funnily enough after implementing the “math mode” I realised I’d made a gaming half board.

If you use szxc instead of wasd in math mode you have all your numbers still. The left side has a USB mode so you can avoid lag that come from BT (though that hasn’t been an issue for me). SZXC could easily be remapped to WASD on the firmware.

It got me to thinking whether I should tinker with a games mode…. But I don’t play enough PC games to have the right perspective for that. I suspect it’d be a very poor fit and more the kind of thing best left to people that like to make their own stuff to update the keymap who do a bit more of that than me.

Ah, sadly I don’t have this with ZMK, going wireless very much limits what can be done. I’d love to add a small trackball for example (PIM447 maybe) but the energy budget is a big factor.

Ah, yes, I did suspect this was muscle memory at work.

The stagger is very similar to that of a Sofle though, and, inline with goals it should hopefully be usable by other newcomers.

Thanks.

I took some hand measurements and this is what it came out with:

I didn’t add the splay, I started to add it, but decided that in practical terms it likely doesn’t make much difference but it made things quite unwieldy looking.

In practice I’ve found the pinky column needs to drop by about 3-4mm which is a change I have in the newest iteration.

Nice, I’m glad it resonates with you.

In a month or so I expect having a properly refined release.