The Korean Custom Keyboards #1: 356 Series

[guilleguillaume]

It sounds nice

[Gilgam]

a company near my house makes on demand steel, titanium cutting work.
Maybe i should ask...

[litster]

http://www.emachineshop.com/ would be another option. I haven't taken the time to figure out how to use its CAD software. The software tells you how much it would cost to make 1 or multiple copies after you put your design into the program.

[Haes]

impressive costum made keyboards.

will see when they pop up in eu and in the us

[mbodrov]

http://www.emachineshop.com/ would be another option. I haven't taken the time to figure out how to use its CAD software. The software tells you how much it would cost to make 1 or multiple copies after you put your design into the program.

I tried their software once.
The calculated price was pretty average for the market, i.e. expensive.

[nathanscribe]

I've used Schaeffer several times for panels; another case of downloading their software and making your own layout. It's pretty straightforward. You're limited to flat pieces but they do also make enclosures - and I suppose a keyboard is just that. One top panel, some (very) short sides, and a base...

The other way I wondered if it would be possible (or useful) to go was building an enclosure out of layers. One top layer, one base, and a couple of repetitive layers in between.

I haven't made any designs for this or priced it up, just thinking onscreen for now.

[cactux]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[litster]

So I found one machine shop here that could do just the top of a Filco case for $330 US with no finish, but it would have rounded corners and should look almost exactly the same as the plastic one. To laser scan it into digital form for milling, it would cost $275 US, and can be shared across all units. The $330 price is for one. I am trying to find out how much cheaper if we have an order of 10 or more. But I don't expect it to be much lower.

I would also need to find out if Majestouch 1 and 2 share the same case. Otherwise it would only fit MJ2.

Would anyone be interested?

[cactux]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[litster]

So I found one machine shop here that could do just the top of a Filco case for $330 US with no finish, but it would have rounded corners and should look almost exactly the same as the plastic one. To laser scan it into digital form for milling, it would cost $275 US, and can be shared across all units. The $330 price is for one. I am trying to find out how much cheaper if we have an order of 10 or more. But I don't expect it to be much lower.

I would also need to find out if Majestouch 1 and 2 share the same case. Otherwise it would only fit MJ2.

Would anyone be interested?

Do you have the actual drawings or you just show the actual case?
What type of Aluminum did they quote you?
If you have the drawings we can get several quotes and negotiate the price.
If you do not have the drawing, that shall be the first thing to do inorder to send the drawing to several machine shops and get some quotes.
I guess for this kind of job some machine shop in China can deliver a good end product and we can save some $$. Machine shops in the states are very expensive.

BTW good job man People with initiative is exactly what this forum and GH needs

Heh, so far I am No Action, Talk Only. I don't have the drawing yet. I am still working on a few leads locally.

[cactux]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[002]

Does anyone know where these guys are getting the keycaps for these boards?

[webwit]

I think it was Signature Plastics, unsurprisingly.

[TheSoulhunter]

Drawing? Made this here like 3 years ago...
http://soulhunters-crappy-website.com/m ... d_v.02.pdf
Dunno how exact it is tho, but feel free to use it, I also want to see CNC cases!

[litster]

So I found one machine shop here that could do just the top of a Filco case for $330 US with no finish, but it would have rounded corners and should look almost exactly the same as the plastic one. To laser scan it into digital form for milling, it would cost $275 US, and can be shared across all units. The $330 price is for one. I am trying to find out how much cheaper if we have an order of 10 or more. But I don't expect it to be much lower.

I would also need to find out if Majestouch 1 and 2 share the same case. Otherwise it would only fit MJ2.

Would anyone be interested?

Do you have the actual drawings or you just show the actual case?
What type of Aluminum did they quote you?
If you have the drawings we can get several quotes and negotiate the price.
If you do not have the drawing, that shall be the first thing to do inorder to send the drawing to several machine shops and get some quotes.
I guess for this kind of job some machine shop in China can deliver a good end product and we can save some $$. Machine shops in the states are very expensive.

BTW good job man People with initiative is exactly what this forum and GH needs

Heh, so far I am No Action, Talk Only. I don't have the drawing yet. I am still working on a few leads locally.

Not much talk, a little bit of action:

15-small.JPG (684.74 KiB) Viewed 6815 times

17-small.JPG (794.94 KiB) Viewed 6815 times

Three months ago, I left one of my treasured Filco keyboards with a friend of a friend who has access to the necessary resources, I see the result in person the first time today.

For questions I think people will ask, here are the answers:

- this is a prototype, nowhere near final.
- The final one will not look like this.
- the under plate is going to be re-made for this prototype.
- Those tiny slots will be gone, most likely.
- It could use a warmer. The case is super cold to touch! Great for the summer heat. Not so much for the winter.
- This thing is heavy. And rock solid. If you could balance, you could stand on its edge and it would support your weight.
- As you see it in the picture, it is not polished or coated. We may anodized it later.
- No, you can't have the CAD file. I won't have the CAD file myself.
- A couple will be made for me and my friend, but it will be at least a few months away.
- No, this won't be part of the Phantom group buy.

[cactux]

[Account and posts deleted on request]

[ninjadoc]

what is that? cable out?

Yup. They made those in a separate order. They are just so you have a bigger more durable plug instead of having to fiddle with the tiny fragline mini-usb plug.

What is the controller on the Mk II?

[pr0ximity]

Apologies for bringing this thread back from the dead (it's one of the best references around for 356's!).

I'm hoping someone has a copy of the webapp used to customize the 356 Mini which is linked in the OP. That link appears to be broken and I haven't had any success finding a mirror anywhere. Much appreciated!

[pr0ximity]

Bumping again to say that I located the 356 Mini V1 software linked to in the OP. Since this is so often pointed to as a reference for 356 keyboards, I'd like to link a new copy of it here. I haven't tried it, but it was provided to me as-is by the original host:

REMOVED

From what I gather it's basically an HTML+JS frontend to generate the keymap file that is used in the early version of ps2avr also included.

Also, here's a poorly lit picture (album) of my Mini:




EDIT: Rehosted on GitHub with proper licensing and attribution: https://github.com/jkomusin/356mini

I was able to successfully use the GUI to create a keymap and then flash the keyboard, README has a rough outline.

[cookie]

They are just sick! I always wanted one but they are too expensive

[mcmaxmcmc]

And now for late 2018, where the prices of these boards have been multiplied by 30...

[Man_In_Blue]

Made an account to necro this thread. Would anyone be interested in joining me to create a knowledge base for these boards in the wiki? I have a pretty large collection of images and schematics for these boards, and I think they deserve a bit of an encyclopedia.