I've got myself a huion camvas 22 which is a great drawing tablet, except i really miss the side keys i had on my older smaller XP-Pen. This is such a hassle not having a wheel with which i can zoom, rotate and change the brush size with my left hand while drawing with my right hand, that i decided to do something about it. So i've come up with this very simple and maybe a bit underwhelming mounting design for a simple macro pad that would be attached to the tablet. So far it seems to work
If anybody is curious how the keyboard is made it is a punched aluminium sheet, bent and laser welded (the switch plate to the rest of the "clamp" body.) the nuts are placed on bolt inserts, which are pressed into the sheet so you don't need a screwdriver and a nut driver to bolt the clamp up, like you would have to with normal screws.
the thing put together and clamped on the tablet (don't worry about the screen scratching, there is some squishy tape and foam seal under the "clamp" part
this is how the "clamp" works, you just manually adjust it and then torque down those three nuts. Of course the great rounded design of the tablet makes it much harder to make it work...
A single pro micro is more than enough for 8 keys + a rotary encoder with a pushbutton. so technically that would be 9 keys. Each switch is wired to an individual pin, there is no matrix whatsoever to make things simple. Keys are from a broken NTC board (i got 4 other working ones) and switches are some cheap chinese "alps" clones (they are more like APC clones) i bought out of curiosity on aliexpress some time ago, they are clicky
Of course it's not finished yet as it's missing a cover for the case. As the rest of the chassis this will be 2mm thick aluminium with a place for a USB type B because i like the shape of that plug and i have a nice printer cable for it. I don't really trust the pro micro connector for a longer use.. Drawing tablet macro pad
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- Location: United States
- Main keyboard: OmniKey 102
- Favorite switch: Tie between Blue Alps and SMK Cherry
this is so overkill i love it
- browncow
- Location: Poland
- Main keyboard: Chicony 5161 - blue alps
- Main mouse: microsoft ime3.0
- Favorite switch: Futaba MA
So i bought one of those cheap connectors on a PCB which makes mounting them way easier for me, i will just use some press-in standoffs and two screws. this is about where the connector will sit
- browncow
- Location: Poland
- Main keyboard: Chicony 5161 - blue alps
- Main mouse: microsoft ime3.0
- Favorite switch: Futaba MA
Thanks i wouldn't consider it overkill as this is pretty much a remake of how my XP pen tablet was, 8 buttons and an encoder. But you could say it's a bit more "robust"
- browncow
- Location: Poland
- Main keyboard: Chicony 5161 - blue alps
- Main mouse: microsoft ime3.0
- Favorite switch: Futaba MA
Also if anybody has some tips on how to mount a pro micro properly, instead of double sided tape because this thing has no holes whatsoever, i was thinking maybe soldering it onto one of those proto boards that do have mounting holes, but this is just gonna make it a lot thicker and i would have to ditch the detachable cables because they would hit the top of the case. :/
- browncow
- Location: Poland
- Main keyboard: Chicony 5161 - blue alps
- Main mouse: microsoft ime3.0
- Favorite switch: Futaba MA
the case is pretty much finished
ALREADY managed to break off the micro usb connector from my pro micro
unfortunetely i wasn't quick enough with adding the usb port here, because i'veALREADY managed to break off the micro usb connector from my pro micro
- browncow
- Location: Poland
- Main keyboard: Chicony 5161 - blue alps
- Main mouse: microsoft ime3.0
- Favorite switch: Futaba MA
So, i have managed to fix the pro micro while waiting for another to arrive in mail
I HATE THOSE USB CONNECTORS a friend gave me some coil wound wire which is perfect for that. First time doing a repair like this, beer definitely helps with shaky hands
I HATE THOSE USB CONNECTORS a friend gave me some coil wound wire which is perfect for that. First time doing a repair like this, beer definitely helps with shaky hands
- Muirium
- µ
- Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
- Main keyboard: HHKB Type-S with Bluetooth by Hasu
- Main mouse: Apple Magic Mouse
- Favorite switch: Gotta Try 'Em All
- DT Pro Member: µ
Micro USB is Satan’s own favourite flavour. Never have so many billions of seconds been so ideally wasted, let alone the damaged wires and ports. Diabolical joy!
I’d keep your bodged USB “cables” in mind if and when strange errors show up on the host computer. Especially random device disconnections. I’ve done similarly hairy stuff and got away with it, but the spec is quite tight assed about avoiding stuff like yours and mine. Could get weird, and good.
I’d keep your bodged USB “cables” in mind if and when strange errors show up on the host computer. Especially random device disconnections. I’ve done similarly hairy stuff and got away with it, but the spec is quite tight assed about avoiding stuff like yours and mine. Could get weird, and good.
- browncow
- Location: Poland
- Main keyboard: Chicony 5161 - blue alps
- Main mouse: microsoft ime3.0
- Favorite switch: Futaba MA
I don't think i've ever had a device with a micro usb port that didn't have some kind of issues with it, maybe it's a curse!Muirium wrote: ↑03 Oct 2022, 22:53Micro USB is Satan’s own favourite flavour. Never have so many billions of seconds been so ideally wasted, let alone the damaged wires and ports. Diabolical joy!
I’d keep your bodged USB “cables” in mind if and when strange errors show up on the host computer. Especially random device disconnections. I’ve done similarly hairy stuff and got away with it, but the spec is quite tight assed about avoiding stuff like yours and mine. Could get weird, and good.
I've put it back in it's case and it's working so i don't plan on touching the interior until it stops! however those wires are lacquered quite well, i had to scratch the ends of these pieces i cut fairly much with a sharp knife to solder to those, so i'm not too worried about shorts. if anything i feel like those "wires" are MORE solid than the stock usb port on that pro micro well, time will tell because this tablet is so much more useful now i'm gonna use the hell out of it. And the second pro micro i ordered as replacement will go in something else i haven't thought up yet.