Weekly BTS #2023/32 - Keyboard Builders' Digest
Keyboard Builders' Digest // Weekly BTS
Check out the new issue with awesome projects, tips and ideas!
Hey y'all,
Here are the posts I thought were worth sharing this week. A handful of links from the blog and my weekly editorial write-up:
- A short interview with Taro Hayashi, designer of the Killer Whale, a split keyboard with versatile thumb cluster options and intriguing acrylic pillars. (To be restocked next week.)
- Daniel Bauer's Corax56 is a low-profile wireless split with horizontal encoders.
- The LambBT is a cute, wireless, 34-key split travel companion by John Lamb.
- RaffOwO shared his Vesuveus, a handwired monoblock split with orthoish halves and full arrow cluster.
- The Batarang Armored version by Protieusz is a column staggered monoblock split with RP2040, Cirque trackpad, encoder, and glowing eyes.
- Joe Scotto released ScottoLoooooooooong, a new 10u version of his original handwired ScottoLong with a 7u spacebar.
- Mobop is a retro-inspired uniform keycap profile for low-pro switches designed by Penk Chen along the lines of vintage Siemens caps.
- Krisenplan shared QAZooie, a clever case for the QAZ, turning it into a modular cyberdeck.
- Hanachi is working on a new angle adjustment mechanism for his Ergotonic F24.
- r/ergomk is reopened -- as announced by u/OBOSOB. A bunch of well-known and respected members of the community have been added as moderators: quirk, iamnotyourbroom, louckousse, Kyek, klumpp, thomasbaart.
- The Jaye 44 by edd.boards is only marketed in Russia, but it's worth checking out for inspiration: all those small details, e.g. the top plate pattern, the translucent part, the bottom plate design:
- You never fail to surprise me. I had no idea the quite distant worlds of vintage IBMs and RGB intersected: Transforming an IBM Model M into an RGB backlit abomination -- committed by Sarbaaz.
- Finally: a drum keyboard by Eric Carr of EMCProductions. Not a real keyboard as of my understanding, so you can still be the first one to build a proper one. Or can you? Googling for "drum typewriter/keyboard" already reveals a bunch of weird projects! Seeing this I instantly started to analyze my e-drum set from a new angle: about 22 different triggers.. Hmm.
This issue’s supporters
splitkb.com, MoErgo Glove80, u/chad3814, MKUltra, Aiksplace, @keebio, Upgrade Keyboards, Cyboard, @kaleid1990, Sean Grady, Jacob Mikesell, Jason Hazel, KEEBD, cdc, kiyejoco, ghsear.ch, u/motfalcon, littlemer-the-second, Bob Cotton, Christian Lo, Richard Sutherland, FFKeebs, DROP, @therick0996, Joel Simpson, Lev Popov, Christian Mladenov, Daniel Nikolov, u/eighty58five, Caleb Rand, Skyler Thuss, Spencer Blackwood, Yuan Liu, Schnoor Typography, Mats Faugli, Ergohaven, James McCleese, Benjamin Bell, Davidjohn Gerena, Matthias Goffette, Hating TheFruit, anonymous, khor.store, 池上 昌明, Spencer Dabell, Anatolii Smolianinov, Penk Chen.
(You are awesome! Thanks everyone!)
Weekly keyboard art
Jaye 44 bottom plate design by edd.boards (source). More info soon.