Introduction. Why.

15 April 2017

This is a guide to building a custom mechanical keyboard. Note that it is not a guide to building ANY mech keyboard, but this one in particular:

X6.5 ErgoLinear keyboard
X6.5 ErgoLinear keyboard

This is an plate-mounted, aluminium/acrylic (Perspex) sandwich construction with laser-marked PBT DSA keycaps on Gateron brown switches (saving the Cherry browns for the next version) and a custom (i.e. non-QWERTY, non-Dvorak, non-Colemak, non-Norman, non-Workman, non-MTGAP, non-QFMLWY ) key layout. I've got the numbers to back the layout up later.

There are other guides on the net which I am also following but I find they are missing a few steps, which I hope to fill in and pass on the tales of my suffering so that you can do better. In fact they sometimes remind me of the classic recipe for Rabbit Stew, which has as step 1:
1. First, catch a rabbit...

The full back story about why I decided to build a custom keyboard is on my blog, but here's a brief summary.

In 1994 Microsoft introduced their Natural Keyboard, and sometime after that I bought one. I can't remember exactly when but it was before 1998 when they introduced the terrible followup, the Natural Keyboard Elite. I know it was terrible because I bought at least one of those too. The original was properly designed and built, and I'm still using it today, 20 years later.

Microsoft Natural Keyboard Generation 1
A new Microsoft Natural Keyboard Generation 1 keyboard

However it's showing its age. I've popped the keycaps a few times to clean them and the keywells, but not entirely successfully. The space bar is sometimes problematic, the N key pops out, and most importantly, the Insert key frequently sticks. I use Insert a lot for copy (Ctrl-Insert) and paste (Shift-Insert) operations, because I use the mouse with my left hand, even though I'm right handed.

Why should you use the mouse with your left hand? Because

  1. It's closer to the keyboard that way. People actually switch to 75% and 60% layouts to achieve the same thing, which is totally unncecessary...
  2. The Enter key is on the right hand side. So are the arrow keys, home/end, page up, page down. If you use the mouse with your right hand, you need to keep moving your hand between the mouse and the keys. If however, the mouse is on your left hand, then you don't need to fly your hands around so much.
  3. But what about Ctrl-X, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V you ask, in desperation... relax, I've got you covered. There's alternates on the right hand side for Cut, Copy and Paste:
    OperationLeft hand shortcutRight hand shortcut
    CutCtrl-xShift-Delete
    CopyCtrl-cCtrl-Insert
    PasteCtrl-vShift-Insert

And then there was the Great Coffee Spill, which rendered the keyboard unusable for a few days, and a bit sticky after that, despite a cleanup. So I went surfabout looking for a replacement keyboard. Stared at lots of designs and read lots of reviews, and came away despondent. Could not find anything suitable.

Some of the options I looked at, and decided against, include

I already have two MS Natural 4000 models and they do not compare to the original, either in terms of layout or usability, and especially Thumb-Friendliness. Then I discovered that it was possible to build my own, and that sent me down the road of Lots To Learn.

A word about costs

Make no mistake, this is an expensive way of getting a keyboard. For example, you can find entry-level keyboards for under USD 10 on Amazon, or mechanical gaming keyboards starting at around USD 40. Years ago, when I first starting looking at an alternative keyboard, the wife freaked out when I said I was considering a Maltron, at that time around GBP 350 or R 3500. I even had trouble justifying that expense to myself.

However this current exercise has cost more than that... for example, just the controller for the keyboard (Teensy++) was USD24 plus US10 postage (and a nerve-wracking wait for it to arrive) or USD34. Having the keycaps laser-marked cost R760 (USD56 at time of writing). The keycaps (more than I needed, as it turns out) were USD196 including postage (and another nerve-wracking wait). Then there were the switches, parts of the keyboard body, USB cable, diodes, etc... as well as certain tools like a soldering station and mini power tool. So yeah, an expensive business. I've decided to try buying keycaps via AliExpress to check quality.. the price is way cheaper, don't know about quality or if they will actually arrive.

Regarding keycaps, the more you deviate from standard ANSI/ISO, the more it is likely to cost.

On to design.