deskthority

Hello everyone still alive on DT,
I just wanted to share a project that has been my sort of personal keyboard-related dream since i've got my first badly beaten ES100 keyboard module.
I fell in love with the switches, but the keyboard was unusable to me because of the layout. I really frequently use right alt key, because i have to type in polish, it just wouldn't do.
Then i realized the keys were all uniprofile so...
Why not try to build something else from these. It has been a long time in the making, and right now, being 90% done, as i'm typing on it right now - I figured i will have to do this thread as a sort of a reverse-worklog or maybe more as a teardown thread of my own work - as i am unsure like many others about future of this forum i have kind of stopped posting on it, though i quickly figured out trying to show and explain each next person about my project, it is absolutely terrible to do it over discord, and way easier to just link to a nicely readable forum thread.
So i guess i'll start this thread with a picture of the thing i built in it's current state - then i can go backwards and explain, if anybody has any interest in how it was built and why.

How did you build the case and what's that thing in the middle - relay? Also, is it wired or wireless, and if wireless - how did you implement the antenna?

DMA wrote: 21 Feb 2025, 03:39 How did you build the case and what's that thing in the middle - relay? Also, is it wired or wireless, and if wireless - how did you implement the antenna?

The case is of my own design, i drew it in cad, cut on a turret punch, bent, and the bottom also has two bits welded in it. The top and bottom are 1,5mm mild steel, the side covers are 3mm aluminium, the flip out feet mechanism is made from 2mm aluminium. The thing on the top is a relay, you are correct here. It's a wired keyboard, on the photo it just has the cable unplugged.
I will post more pictures soon.

Yes please! Photos, tech drawings - whatever you are comfortable sharing. This is pretty interesting project and truly herculean effort.

Taking it apart requires unscrewing those four M3 screws on the front: And loosening those four on the back: It is enough to just loosen them, no need to take them out completely. this is because these screws hold both bottom and top of the case to the switch mounting plate. The bottom part of the case is very simple, it's welded to the sides, which also have those aluminium covers to make it fit flush with the top, and hide the foot mechanism. Everything attaches to the top of the case. This is mostly to make the wiring easier for myself, I can just wire everything up with the board upside down, there's no cables that i need to plug when putting the case back together. Plus it makes it really stiff. There is a lot of those BSO self clinching studs, plus, the switch plate has three bends that mate with the top of the case when screwed together. This basically creates a closed beam section when the whole top assembly is put together, so i really have no idea how else you could make it stiffer. There's absolutely no flex or, what mostly concerned me having before made a steel board - case ping, any nasty resonance caused by the case being able to vibrate when you type, there's none of that a rather nice, hollow sound instead. Closeup of one of the mounting points of the plate to the top of the case, enter key hinge mechanism i had to replicate and some of my wiring (this is first time i did hand wiring of a keyboard, it took me a while to find a proper wire for the columns, that was easy enough to strip the insulation of like this - not just at the ends. other than that, it was a relaxing experience, nice thing to do in few evenings! Would definitely try it again. Also i wanted to make it look more "period correct" with the cable lacing technique that was common when a board like this could have been made.)
In the next post i will write about the flip-out feet mechanism, which has four settings

This is a very cool project. Will it be left in the raw or do you have plans for a finish? Your hand wiring is very clean, good job.

rsbseb wrote: 25 Feb 2025, 15:54 This is a very cool project. Will it be left in the raw or do you have plans for a finish? Your hand wiring is very clean, good job.

Thank You very much!
It will be painted, except the aluminium parts, those will be left raw. The rest of the case is mild steel and has to be painted, but i have a trouble deciding on a colour. i'm thinking either black, as the caps, or some of the colours that would match olympia SM series typewriters, they had many nice interesting colours that i think would be fitting for something like this.

Black with gold pinstriping.

With a little practice on pieces of scrap metal, it's easier to do freehand pinstriping than you might think.

You can also get gold transfer letters for that Simplex style.

AndyJ wrote: 27 Feb 2025, 05:40 Black with gold pinstriping.

With a little practice on pieces of scrap metal, it's easier to do freehand pinstriping than you might think.

You can also get gold transfer letters for that Simplex style.

i have a bit of an idea how to draw using brush and ink, so i guess that's rather similar to oldschool hotrod pinstriping, but this board is supposed to be more like a stock cadillac, not a modified one black and gold would be just a bit too gaudy i think, though a cool idea!

An alternative might be waterslide decal pinstripes. Or you could even buy blank decal paper for a dollar or so per sheet and cover it with paint, then use a guillotine cutter to make long perfect pinstripes. I did this recently for a model which required long pinstripe decals but did not include them.

Nice!

Actually, older (some 1920s-1930s) Cadillacs had pinstriping. So did some European luxury cars. All done by hand.

You would just want some tasteful accent lines, not a full Himsl or Roth hot rod style.

AndyJ wrote: 12 Mar 2025, 00:55 Actually, older (some 1920s-1930s) Cadillacs had pinstriping. So did some European luxury cars. All done by hand.

Yeah. Damn car dealers use them to bump the price $100-$200-whatever. Totally not worth the money but you literally can't opt out. This and painting tires black.

AndyJ wrote: 12 Mar 2025, 00:55 Actually, older (some 1920s-1930s) Cadillacs had pinstriping. So did some European luxury cars. All done by hand.

You would just want some tasteful accent lines, not a full Himsl or Roth hot rod style.

i like Ed Roth's cars and drawings, but this is a bit different style, i think simple accent lines would work better as you said

simple foot mechanism i came up with, using those spring-loaded ball studs. two nuts holding it together are not on this photo, but you can see where they would go, just holding the outer "knob" to the leg part of the mechanism. The ball studs click into each set of the holes in the case as you rotate the knob. those two threaded studs are for locking the outer and inner part together, and the non-threaded stud in the middle just acts as an axis. Because there are two of these ball studs, nothing rocks to one side as the forces balance each other out. Allows for four differnt typing angles:

Really nice solution, looks very in-character for the board.

That is very likely the most over built foot in the history of keyboards, I love it.