There’s more than one way to make a mechanical macro pad, and this wooden wonder represents one of our favorites. [Tauno Erik] had an old rubber dome rectangle keyboard lying around that still worked, but the poor thing was missing some of its caps. After salvaging the controller, [Tauno Erik] got to work on the tedious task of figuring out the mapping of the matrix, which was made easier with a Python script.
Almost every component of this beauty is wood, including the mounting plate and those thicc and lovely keycaps — their top layer is solid oak, and the bottom bit is birch plywood. In order to interface the ‘caps with the switches, [Tauno Erik] designed and printed connector pieces that sit inside the extra large keycaps and accept the stems of the key switches.
Speaking of switches, we’re not sure if [Tauno Erik] ended up using Cherry green switches, browns, or a mix of both (that would be interesting), but each one is mounted on a custom PCB along with a diode and a pull-up resistor. You can see more build pictures at [Tauno Erik]’s site, and stick around for a visual tour of the completed build after the break.
Wood is a great choice for keycaps, and we imagine they’ll only look better with age and use. A more common use for wood on a keyboard build is in surprisingly comfortable wrist rests.
It would look good If it would be in wood, instead of laminated glue
It’s the wood that makes it good.
Am I the only daily reader who is tired of KeyboardADay?
Here’s one for your tipline – a stereo tube distortion box that runs on just 12V. No DC-DC converters, only 12V. https://groupdiy.com/threads/low-voltage-vacuum-tube-saturation-amplifier.77783/#post-991519
Oh come on, at least this article didn’t use the f***tastic word “keeb” instead of keyboard. ;-)
I mean why not yboard, eeboard or byoard or whatever (with at least some semblance with “board” and “key” not neither)?
Those are some chonky keycaps.
I like the look, but I don’t need to build any more character sanding wood.
Laser engraving does sound like a good way of getting custom icons on your keycaps.