Group Build prototyping phase

[pyrelink]

I am going with Round 5, myself. The only issue with that, is you will probably have your keyboard fully assembled, half a year before your keycaps arrive... You might want to pick up a SP DSA Dolch set in the meantime (if they have any left). Not as awesome as the Sphericals, but will hold you over in the mean time.

[Ryan_Alan]

I am going with Round 5, myself. The only issue with that, is you will probably have your keyboard fully assembled, half a year before your keycaps arrive... You might want to pick up a SP DSA Dolch set in the meantime (if they have any left). Not as awesome as the Sphericals, but will hold you over in the mean time.

I'm in no rush..... I think Ivan's GB will go well.

I'm also in the midst of writing my PhD dissertation... immediately move and start a new job after that. I won't have time to solder together the damn thing till Christmas break. Wow, that's more depressing than I thought until I typed it out.

[Pyrox]

Today I had some free time, so I started sketching the case, pretty much like the one Matteo posted

keyboardcase.png (146.82 KiB) Viewed 4746 times

What about the thickness of the layers? Here is how I made them (metal plate in "sandwitch" is 1,5mm thick):

keyboardcasedims.png (39.4 KiB) Viewed 4746 times

Will there be enough place for wiring, controller and all or it is better to make thicker layers?

[matt3o]

if you use a PCB and SMD components you need at least 6mm. From your schema you seem to have approx 4.5mm free room which is not enough.

If you use a PCB and teensy you need a lot of space. 15mm at least.

[Pyrox]

Alright, so I will have to change it. Also, another thing I noticed in your plate layout is the big rectangulare space on the left of keyboard switch. What is that for?

[matt3o]

that's to fit the teensy on the top of the PCB instead of to the bottom, and doing so saving approx 6mm height.

[Pyrox]

So, in case of a hand wiring (which is what I had in mind) that would be useless?

[matt3o]

no, you don't need it in case of hand wiring

[ping_Win]

Inspired by TypeMatrix

[matt3o]

image seems broken

[Muirium]

A deleted upload, apparently.

[Eszett]

Dear matt3o, what do you think about symmetrical staggering as an aesthetical value. Symmetrical staggering consequently by 0.5 u could be a good compromise between a grid-like layout (Typematrix) and the common inhomogenous staggering.

(Please ignore the legends of this picture, it is just about the arrangement of the keys!)

symmetrical.jpg (56.06 KiB) Viewed 4626 times

[matt3o]

I'm not a fan of "symmetrical vanity". Personally I don't give any value to symmetry in a keyboard.

That being said I like your layout, maybe the FN position is not optimal, but that's very subjective.

Some pages ago I suggested something like this



It has "almost" default staggering and it's symmetrical.

[Muirium]

Symmetrically vain is my new catchphrase, love it! And I really like these symmetric layouts, of course.

Matt: sorry, I missed that one. Your narrow aspect ratio diagrams have lulled me into not spotting a different stagger. Give 'em a stretch to 1:1, go on!

Eszett: throw some HHKB at those outside row 4 mods (traditionally shifts, but space and backspace for you) by giving them both a 1u Fn key on the outermost edge. That could actually be hugely handy for everything in the function layer. Mind, I haven't pondered where you'd source your caps yet. Like blanks?

[Eszett]

matt3o, well, it's all about taste, then. The mash-up of functionality and vanity renders "keyboarding science" attractive in my eyes. Muirium, you are right, as there are no caps with legends for the shown layout, blanks would do it, as it shouldn't be difficult to memorize the function of 6-10 keys.

[Muirium]

Also, where's enter? On the function layer!?

[pyrelink]

This is the Robot-65 ANSI layout, right? I assume the bottom row are just 1.25u modifiers, but do you have the sizes for the rest of the keys? This is definitely my favorite of the layouts.

[matt3o]

it's a pretty "standard" layout. bottom row is all 1.25 + 3 1u. Shift is 1.75. Backspace is 1.5u.
everything else is standard.

[Pyrox]

After last posts I decided to add the arrows separator since I never use right ctrl. The new layout is the following:

ISO69noctrl.png (21.51 KiB) Viewed 4413 times

keyboardcasemodholesnoctrl.png (125.4 KiB) Viewed 4413 times

[matt3o]

I hope to receive the prototypes next week. If it works we can go production

[pyrelink]

I hope to receive the prototypes next week. If it works we can go production

Awesome timing. Can't wait.

[Pyrox]

Great, can't wait for it pity that the switches GB has run out of brown ones, so I will have to wait for them.

[bearcat]

re: symmetry

Muirium, if you like symmetry, then why do you like all these right-biased designs? If you consider your hands on the home row (F & J for the qwertz types), then the center of symmetry should be between G and H.

Just sayin! Reject your false gods!

[Muirium]

Believe it or not, I have given that some thought. Trouble is I like the left column of mods just where they are. So I'd rather shorten the right hand side of the keyboard, but actually picking which keys to remove isn't obvious.

That's why I like my left column of function keys on the XT. But its just a hack to balance things up a bit. Really, a radical design is needed instead of trying to conform to traditional staggering etc.

[jacobolus]

Believe it or not, I have given that some thought. Trouble is I like the left column of mods just where they are. So I'd rather shorten the right hand side of the keyboard, but actually picking which keys to remove isn't obvious.

That's why I like my left column of function keys on the XT. But its just a hack to balance things up a bit. Really, a radical design is needed instead of trying to conform to traditional staggering etc.

Instead of removing keys, you could just add 1-2 columns in the middle, between the hands. This also makes the keyboard noticeably more comfortable to type on.

[SL89]

Instead of removing keys, you could just add 1-2 columns in the middle, between the hands. This also makes the keyboard noticeably more comfortable to type on.

would you keep the 'staggered' keys or make them conform to a grid like a numpad?

[jacobolus]

Instead of removing keys, you could just add 1-2 columns in the middle, between the hands. This also makes the keyboard noticeably more comfortable to type on.

would you keep the 'staggered' keys or make them conform to a grid like a numpad?

Something like this:

Or you could make the stagger symmetrical, or whatever.

[Muirium]

Everything looks good in Granite! I don't recall Apple logo caps in Matt's GB, though. Or 2.5u space bars. But there's something very right about that layout, over all. Maybe Colemak it up and move the thumb keys up a row into the split space bars…

[snoopy]

will it still be possible to order a complete steel board later or only in combination with wood or acryl?

the thread is a bit confusing Not sure which options there will be available, but this is still my most awaited gb for 2014.

[matt3o]

you could do whatever you want the wood case is just an option.