awesome-mechanical-keyboard VS keyboard-labs

You should build something you would want for yourself no? Have a look here for some options: https://github.com/BenRoe/awesome-mechanical-keyboard

I have found two different GitHub repos that have a database of open-source mech keyboards. Most have plate files available as well, I’d start there.

I'm very late to this party, but here's an amazing list of buildable keyboards[0], specifically linked are the split ones (like Ergodox).

Most of these today run QMK and specifically the Configurator[1].

I recommend most people stay away from the Ergodox unless your hands are larger and have a specific reach. While a great keyboard back in 2012-2015, the thumb cluster is outside of comfortable for most people and there have been a lot of improvements in this area over the years.

If building a keyboard yourself isn't your thing, I highly recommend the keyboard.io crew.

[0] https://github.com/BenRoe/awesome-mechanical-keyboard/blob/m...

[1] https://config.qmk.fm/#/hotdox/LAYOUT_ergodox

I'm in the middle of designing my own ergonomic split keyboard. The way I do it is to put my hand over a sheet of paper and curl up my fingers like I would if I were to use a keyboard efficiently, then I draw where the fingers are in the home position. I check the location where my thumb is most relaxed as that will be the location for the spacebar (on one hand). Then I check and draw in the arc of my thumb as it moves with little or no strain and mark off the other thumb keys that will be comfortable to use. (My thumb can with relative ease cover 4 keys from under my middle finger and out, but not as far out as e.g. the Moonlander). Next I check where I can most comfortably move my pinky, which seems to be in a diamond shape. Next, can I move the middle finger both 1 key up and 1 down or should I go for 2 keys for the ring finger and therefore shift the column a bit? For the index finger I also check what stagger the second (inner) index column needs, and I can only comfortably hit 2 of those so I focus on getting good positions for them. I then draw the location of the keys with the amazing ergogen software, and printed it first on paper to test. Next I bought some sample choc key switches and I use their footprint in ergogen, exported to kicad pcb and made a color printout. I cellotaped the printout to about 3mm of cardboard and made through holes with a pin and mounted the keys and tested a real physical model. To get mm precision I needed to do one iteration as the tenting and height of the keys will affect what's most comfortable. This is where I am at right now. I still need to draw the rest of the PCB. From my second iteration I can see that there are a few keyboards that closely match my thumbfan position, but only 1 that has a vaguely similar pinky cluster. Since I also want low profile keys it looks like the best option is to continue to make my own design. But if you are in luck and you know what you're looking for you might be able to find something that closely matches your specs in a previous design. There is a pretty large list here https://github.com/BenRoe/awesome-mechanical-keyboard/blob/master/docs/README.md GL

here's a list of keyboard builds you can check out.

This GitHub repo is a good source to find tutorials and open source projects https://github.com/BenRoe/awesome-mechanical-keyboard

There’s a whole bunch of small boards listed here — https://github.com/BenRoe/awesome-mechanical-keyboard/blob/master/docs/README.md — but most are one-off or small runs. The only commercial 36ish-key ones I can think of right away are split keyboards:

Many of these are pro-micro based: https://keebfolio.netlify.app/

- Here's a build guide https://github.com/rgoulter/keyboard-labs/blob/master/docs/buildguide_rev2021.4_budget.md / video log https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhKnluxdRtA

Ah, it's a custom PCB design https://github.com/rgoulter/keyboard-labs/ and the design takes a clear inspiration from the Lumberjack PCB https://github.com/peej/lumberjack-keyboard

Keyboard. Keycaps are MDA profile from Melgeek. Keyboard PCB is custom PCB. https://github.com/rgoulter/keyboard-labs Devboard is a WeAct Studio MiniF4 "Blackpill", which runs Arm (so allows e.g. firmware with Rust, or KMK, or more bells/whistles from QMK).

Hi, I'm planning on building a mechanical keyboard and found this SN74LVC1T45DBV in the schematic which is used to convert a 3.3v signal to 5v so that the RGB LEDs receive data reliably, as per component shortage those are hard to find and quite expensive since I just need two and it doesn't seem that critical to me (low current and common voltage from 3.3 to 5) but I don't know how to look for an alternative do you have any suggestion on how to look for one other than footprint (sot-23-6in this case) as I don't really understand enough on this datasheet to find one myself and this is the last part to find before ordering the electronics. If that matters I'm buying most of the electronics from china (to avoid 20€ shipping from mouser and similar for just basic components) and mechanics from another site. I think it's on-topic but if it's not feel free to remove the post

Gerbers and lasercutting assets can be found at: https://github.com/rgoulter/keyboard-labs/releases/tag/x2-rev2021.1 (with sources to generate these made available in the main repo).

Ah, I hope it's not too rude of me to say I'd had a go at designing a keyboard to a similar spec. https://github.com/rgoulter/keyboard-labs/releases/

I recently made a low-budget build, + wrote a build guide here: https://github.com/rgoulter/keyboard-labs/blob/master/docs/buildguide_rev2021.4_budget.md There are a number of sub-100x100mm PCBs which would be similarly cheap. Not quite as cheap as hand-wired, but much less effort required.

https://github.com/rgoulter/keyboard-labs/ I have a design which is also smaller than 100x100, but use a more powerful dev board than the pro micro.