this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2023
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ErgoMechKeyboards

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Ergonomic, split and other weird keyboards

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Keep it ergo

Posts must be of/about keyboards that have a clear delineation between the left and right halves of the keyboard, column stagger, or both. This includes one-handed (one half doesn't exist, what clearer delineation is that!?)

i.e. no regular non-split¹ row-stagger and no non-split¹ ortholinear²

¹ split meaning a separation of the halves, whether fixed in place or entirely separate, both are fine.
² ortholinear meaning keys layed out in a grid

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[VENDOR] Sale of all Skree products! Check out my terrific work! (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by Skree to c/ergomechkeyboards
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Hey! Marshall here from Skree LLC. I'm so very lazy at posting advertisements and community updates but I figured I should get off my butt and do something.

So I've been at this for about a year. The rave reviews and many customers turned friends I've made leads me to assume my work is at least of pretty good quality! I make only wireless builds unless you want something specifically custom.

My dactyls can be ordered with whatever switches you want, they're all hotswap too! I produce custom keycaps to your specifications, including font, format, size, position, etc!

I've got lots of new stuff on the horizon! Choc dactyls, choc flexible pcbs, custom MCU-breakout boards that allow for near ZERO soldering thanks to the use of FPC and JST cables! Just assembled a pick and place machine for all custom pcb manufacturing!

You can check out my reviews, customer photos, and work at SKREE.us or etsy.com/shop/TheBigSkree

If you want any custom work at all let me know! I'm always looking for fun projects!

PS: If you want kinesis board work, be it foam, switchs changed, or even repairs I'm far quicker and have no "lead time" like the current other options!

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[–] NrdyN8 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dude, these look awesome! I have been mulling over whether to build my own or purchase pre-assembled. I thought I landed on making my own, but I guess I need to revisit the idea after looking at your Etsy shop. If you don’t mind my asking, how did you make that transparent one? The design I have been planning requires a black semi transparent body and I have been fearing print lines. Your transparent one looks almost as if it was injection molded.

[–] Skree 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It's resin from JLCPCB. My small resin printer just can't do a 5x6 sadly. The first transparents I had done was with PETG.

Sadly, JLCPCB doesn't do tinted black, but honestly a clear coat with a little black alochol dye probably would do the trick.

I was blown away with the quality from JLCPCB. It's not that expensive but shipping hurts. Holes aren't perfect, but my switch dimensions worked great surprisingly. I need to do a little more work getting the threaded inserts I have fully working (might have to drill potentially because I didn't expect the oval circles). Their texture really confuses me. I legit don't know for sure what technology they're using for their resin prints.

[–] NrdyN8 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I’ll definitely check them out when I reach that step. At this point I am still trying to figure out features that I want. I saw some Cthulhu keycaps and purchased them. Kind of kickstarted my entire process just so I can prove to my wife I have a plan and it wasn’t an impulse purchase lol

I didn’t think to use black alcohol ink to tint it, but that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the suggestion.

[–] Skree 2 points 1 year ago

Not 100% sure on if you can easily get this consistent. I know that there are ways of dying resin post print though.

I wonder if you can just get evenly tinted semi-clear automotive for it.

[–] dreipunkteinsvier 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I stumbled upon your dactyl PCBs the other day and thought they were a pretty neat idea. What are the intended LEDs for per key RGB? SK6812 Mini-e with the small legs?

[–] Skree 2 points 1 year ago

SK6812 Mini-E (they're the big legs, but I don't know the component name difference).

They can be per key (not supported on ZMK currently) or just treated as up facing underglow. BUT! The biggest concern I've had is the realization thaht all RGB boards on the market that use SK6812 in bulk don't seem to consider the total peak power consumption.

One color can peak at 12ma at 5v. They're often ran at 3.3 or 3.7v. 3 colors per led for 36ma per led. So on sofie type boards where there's ~30 keys per half you're pulling 1.08ma if you ran the leds at max white. This would be HIGHER if they're run on 3.3v or 3.7v due to the relationship between wattage and voltage. Yet! They've worked fine. I've had good success.

Going forward I'm swapping to SK6805 surface mounted leds. I've got the pick and place running, and the goal is to have per key rgb with underglow. That would almost 1/3rd the amperage requirements. Also gives me a little more board space I'm hoping.

Ideally, I'll have non-rgb options, up facing perkey rgb, underglow, and up and underglow rgb options (probably 2 independent rgb channels aka underglow has its own data pin). All in either Choc v1, MX, and whatever else I decide to support.

I've got a working "screw" mount solution that works! The problem is with the pcbs fitting super well (model dependent) (I've based on the standard dactyl) why bother using lots of screws when a little hot glue does the job. My first versions were wrongly sized and I ended up being extra cautious with lots of extra glue to ensure there's never a issue with pcbs coming free, but at this point I'll either cut the number of screw points down, or honestly supply it but not use it myself.

The nice thing with getting access to production equipement (my designs are all about saving my time in production) you get to save that time too.

Sorry for the silly long response!

[–] iZRBQEcWVXNdnPtTV 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can your pcbs be used in a skeletyl?

[–] Skree 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Should work fine. If you're worried I can print a single column cut from the skeletyl to test.

[–] iZRBQEcWVXNdnPtTV 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The skeletyl is 3x5 so would I have to chop an extra key off? Also, did you do any post work to that resin case after print? It’s beautiful!

[–] Skree 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yep, just cut. Super simple to do, right at the start of a flex strip. I've got lots of things going on! I sanded the verticals on one half for a frosted effect. The other half I have to prep and figure out what clear coat I'm going to spray on it. Been utterly distracted doing the pick and place machine (got my flexible pcbs populated with diodes) learning how to do multiple components is going to be the next step.

[–] iZRBQEcWVXNdnPtTV 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Does JLPCB prints come with supports and you have to remove that as well?

[–] Skree 1 points 1 year ago

Non-transparent they'll do light sanding to. Transparent they come with supports removed, but there is very fine markings where supports attached to the model.