what is the dark blue keyset?
electrical tape as suggested by rob above or 3m scotch tape works best for plate mount stabs, it is mainly the rattling of the stabiliser housing in the plate that causes the noise
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So, I want to try a no-stabs Southpaw 1800 that can use sculpted keycaps. I have some bigger versions laid out in KLE, true pocket battleships, but this 100-key compressed version works with a cheapo set of White on Blue keycaps I got on Amazon, with fairly mediocre kitting for this sort of build. I’ll follow the lead of the ergo/40% crowd and mount the “spacebars” upside down (frontside back?). The other major aesthetic compromise is relying on the unstepped capslock as my enter key.
Plan is laser cut hardboard again for the plates and handwired RP2040 microcontroller, but I’ve thrown together a “load-bearing T-molding” design in CAD to 3D print and hide some of the worst offenses of my crude setup. Worse comes to worst, it’ll work fine as a low-profile sandwich case with some other kind of spacers. In consideration of the ongoing cheaper-than-cheap theme, I will use Outemu dustproof green and save my Box Navies for the next build.
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It’s Keykobo Artlife. The blue look is probably from the red background – it’s more of a deep purple.
why does it need to be divided into 3 pieces?
This looks material and CNC time cost reduction, but mostly for high volume production cases.
For a few units, having more parts will be more expensive to fabricate due to setup costs than with one big slung of aluminium.
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Strictly speaking, I suppose it doesn’t. The side case absolutely has to be at least two pieces, in order to fit on my 3D printer, and in general with cheap printers you get better results with smaller prints. I think for a build this size, 8 screws will also be better than six, and having accepted seams, a couple more is not so much worse IMO. Processing 3D prints done in PLA is a beatdown and I haven’t really tried to get them to the point where it hides that they were printed.
Fundamentally, this is just your standard stacked sandwich case, just with a few tweaks to hide the layers of Masonite under much smaller layers of plastic. 
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I see 
… My slow brain thought you had a large enough 3D print bed and maybe planned to machine them eventually. That division is unnecessary for CNC machining since it only introduces a longer cycle time.
well i think your screwless look 3d model is aesthetically better 
dont get too flattered, okay 
… I am very much interested in the no-stab pursuit but for now, i am against tiny spacebar like that 
my dumb right thumb always misses the button
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Ahh, no worries. I don’t have a CNC, though it’s always a possibility down the road, and recent projects are fabricated solely from what I can do on an Ender 3 clone and a 5 watt diode laser.
Recent builds have also been no-stabs, because (1) stabs are a noisy, finicky nuisance, (2) They cost a bit extra, and more unless you want #1 to become an even bigger issue, (3) long keys are not really necessary, (4) Keyboard Layout Editor basically turns making custom layouts into a video game.
I have probably fat fingered two space bars at a time on many occasions, but the default debounce code in the firmware has kept that from ever being an issue.
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So the parts are all done. I printed with “fuzzy skin” which adds a little semi-random jitter to the printer and results in a texture that is a bit less in your face about being 3D printed. The filament and the paint for the top-most plate of the sandwich are a pretty fair match. Popped in the switches (south facing) and made sure that the MCU slots in where I need it to. Still need to decide on colors for the lock indicators (old school 5mm LEDs), solder it up and program the keymap. I don’t think I’ll manage that until after our vacation. These are only fun if I spread the soldering out over three or four nights.
There was also a brief detour back into keycap lasering. Kiddo has been watching “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” and wanted a couple of keycaps for her unusable showpiece RK96. As usual, my phone has blown the white balance (or something) all out of whack. These actually look a lot better than the last full set of keycaps I did.
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thank you!
the set is beautiful, colour looks very rich
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Thanks for this tip! It worked like a charm for getting the rattle down to acceptable levels (vs. PCB mount stabs).
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Time to switch switches again, the Kiwis are just too heavy with the keywell, especially the outer pinky rows. So in with the Trash
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Was on my workbench, but now on my carpet. Built my GHS Jem today. Black with black PVD bottom weight. So damn heavy. Paired here with GMK Gray on Black.
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nice try！
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KBDfans D45 V2 / Roller Linear Switches / Key Kobo 2T BLUE
For a very long time I wanted to create an assembly with these switches and for the D45 v2 keyboard.
But I wanted to collect keycaps with Domikey.
And these rollerball switches are not compatible with these caps. I have a video.
So I got together with these KKB. So that the assembly stands on the shelf for a long time.
But there was a problem here too. The left “shift” and stabilizers of the WS wuque V3 also turned out to have a peculiarity. Keycaps “shift” simply did not stay in the stabilizers thread, stem is too narrow, doesn’t hold a cap.
So here’s Enter))
I also have a video of typing.
I still don’t understand the essence or meaning of the switches themselves.
They are not smooth. I can feel the balls rolling when pressed.
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Tested some springs. Springs I use most often currently in the top row. CK springs being tested in the bottom row.
Sorted by spring weights from heaviest to lightest:
- CK Springs 58g 2-stage (23mm) [1]
- CK Slow 58g 2-stage (golden), CK Springs 58g 3-stage (21mm) [2]
- Geon Springs 57.5g 3-stage
- CK Springs 55g 3-stage (21mm)
- MM Studio 53g 3-stage
[1] CK Springs 58g 2-stage (23mm) will serve well when I need a little more weight than CK Slow 58g without sacrificing loaded top weight. Made me want to try 55g version of this but they’re out of stock.
[2] CK Springs 58g 3-stage is close enough to CK Slow 58g to be a cheaper replacement ($8 instead of $13). CK Springs is more bouncy than CK Slow too.
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Yes, the balls roll smoothly, you can feel it. That’s the point. I love the switches, personally, but switches are very subject to personal opinion.
I ordered a second set of these to try and experiment on. This time I’m going to spring swap for something a bit heavier, and I’m going to lubricate the bottom and top of the housing for a different sound.
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aight, maybe next time…
I enjoy the sound btw. pretty deep, no leaf ping
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My most recent homebuild was flat with Cherry profile keycaps. My favorite one is flat with VSA. It took a couple of days to realize that the new one felt terrible because Cherry should not be on a flat board (or at least my hands think so). I had my 3D printer burp out a couple of feet and even just the 3-4 degree incline is a noticeable improvement.
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The sound is good. But a little bit of a blow, up, high. Down strike is quieter. Maybe this is because the factory lubricant is weak. Manual lubrication will fix it. I haven’t tried it. There is no ringing.
But they need to be bought with a reserve. I didn’t buy with a reserve.
The sound is not the same for the whole pack, some make a completely different sound. And some with friction of balls inside. With friction I mean some kind of squeaky sound.
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