SA works on ErgoDox

[tricheboars]

I am really liking the feel of SA caps on my ErgoDox. So feel confident when 7-bits's Round 5 arrives. Anyone else rocking SA on an ErgoDox?

[Vierax]

Not on an ergodox but I have 7 keys for each thumb on my Tipro and after a little time of adaptation from DCS and GMK this is a pleasure to type on SA vintage Blacks. Row3 on alphas (not enough R2/4) R1 on numeric row : it's not perfect but it works well. I realise that it's easier to me to use R2 under thumbs, totally the contrary of what 7bit does in Round5 so I ordered some blanks.

[tricheboars]

yea i bought caps on Round 5 for a labeled ergo dox. i am very excited for some white SA alphas and 1.5x red mods. shit is going to look dope.

[davkol]

I totally need some PBT SA, unless I stick to thick Cherry keycaps. DSA is just wrong... not like uncomfortable or anything, only it's _impossible_ to remove those caps from clear stems.

BTW those soft palm rests, are they from Kinesis?

[fifted]

Very nice looking. I'm going for DSA, but am curious about SA, too. The height concerns me a little, since I'm commuting with my 'dox at the moment.

[vivalarevolución]

Yea, I have had those same caps on my Ergodox for a few months now. A great combo. Not sure what inspired me to put them on. I think I tried them at a keyboard meetup and they felt great to me.

[lally]

tricheboars: off topic, but that's the best looking ergodox I've ever seen. Nice taste!

[Muirium]

That old SA magic never fails!

@Fifted: they are a fair bit higher, and you will notice it. I'd definitely want a good carrying case for lugging around a board with them. Especially both halves of an ErgoDox!



@Vierax: I expect I'd like row 2 on thumbs much better too. Whatever 7bit has in mind with sharp edged thumb keys, I don't know. I do use them on my row 2/4 concave arrow cluster, but it's not for thumbs.

[Julle]

I completed my Ergodork today. It's got ergo clears, an aluminium plate and a full hand PVC case from Falbatech. I got the PCBs from the Massdrop group buy. They only offered surface mount diodes which were a pain in the ass to solder by hand. When I reached testing phase, I had only 4 faulty solder connections on those diodes. I'm pretty proud of that.

Even though everything went well in the end, I do have some criticism on the components I ordered from Falbatech (some of these make me feel like I have a wrongfully inflated sense of entitlement, but hopefully I'm being reasonable in my observations):

• Aluminium is not probably the ideal material for a switch plate. The switch holes are very tight, so there were some issue with bending during assembly. I was afraid of breaking the part that connects the thumb cluster to the alphanumeric part of the keyboard.
• Some of the screws in the case had already stripped the corresponding threads. There is a lot of redundancy, though, the amount of screws is higher than necessary, which I like a lot.
• Some of the corners of the case look very crude and need filing and sanding.
• The case feels a little flimsy around the part where the thumb cluster joins the alpha cluster.
• There was a lot of PVC dust from the CNC machine inside the cases. Not a huge problem for anyone who owns a vacuum cleaner, but still, it would a nice touch if I didn't have to do it yourself.
• The rubber nubs provided do not seem to fit or stick to the bottom screws very well. I replaced them with four large furniture anti-slip pads.

Anyway, here it is.

Spoiler:

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Aluminium for a plate is pretty unusual, but not unheard of. The BBC Microcomputer largely used aluminium plates:

http://wouter.bbcmicro.net/pictures/com ... index.html

The two AWC keyboards (Futaba and SMK switch versions) had aluminium plates, as did the PED keyboard. The only version with a steel plate was the SMK keyboard, and Wouter considers this to be a downgrade from aluminium. Nobody has the faintest clue who PED were, and I don't know whether other AWC keyboards also used aluminium — the only other keyboards I know they made were for the Atari 800 series.

I don't understand why the choice of material would have any effect on the size of the mounting holes, and if the plate is bending because the holes are the wrong size, try making the holes the correct size ;-)

[Julle]

I may have worded that better: I meant that the holes are pretty tight, just the right size to begin with. The soft material makes it hard not to bend the plate when inserting the switches.