You know, it’s a tale as old as custom mechanical keyboards. [penkia] couldn’t find any PCBs with 36 keys and Gateron low-profile switch footprints, so they made their own and called it the LoremIpsum36. Isn’t it lovely?
This baby runs on an RP2040, which sits flush as can be in a cutout in the PCB. This maneuver, along with the LP switches in hard-to-find SK-33 sockets results in quite the thin board.
[penkia] says that despite using a 3 mm tray for added rigidity, the entire thing is thinner than the Nuphy Air60 v2, which is just over half an inch (13.9 mm) thick. For keycaps, [penkia] has used both XVX profile and FKcaps’ LPF.
And yeah, that area in the middle is crying out for something; maybe a trackball or something similar. But [penkia] is satisfied with it as-is for the first version, so we are, too.
Do you like 36-key boards, but prefer curves? Check out the Lapa keyboard, which doubles as a mouse.
Might as well go split colemak if you put this much effort in.
I love the cute tiny keyboards but the reality is the combo-keys required to use them are a real pain, which is just my opinion of course – i’m sure if you can put the time in to get used to it then it is good.
I’m the opposite, I use a max fat Sun workstation keyboard with extra keys for cut, copy, paste, save etc
yeah i can see the argument for chording if you’re making like a truly portable pocket keyboard (like the twiddler) but for desktop use…i really don’t see the appeal.
i mean i guess i do see the appeal. if you want to make something “radically different”, then throwing out the practical rules that make every other keyboard look the same is a good first step…just make something impractical :)
There’s appeal other than portability, it can really help with speed and, in some cases, RSI.
biggest reasons are ease of construction and consistency. Fewer keys means fewer parts, lower cost, etc, and having a single layout on all of your keyboards even when you have the desk space is handy. all of my keyboards have and will have a layout based on one that can fit in a trs80 case, because I have one trs80 based computer and don’t want to have to switch between layouts. I put enough effort into learning that layout that I don’t want to put in effort into learning more
A for design, F for execution.
If this was to be used daily, keyboard body with its 3D printed infill would become rapidly biofouled and can’t be easily cleaned. A better idea would be to buy a piece of wood and cut the desired shape, either by hand or with a mill. Then impregnate it with linseed oil or something.
But this would require some actual skill, not just ordering a PCB from china and pressing “squirt” on a plastic squirter.
hahah i’m not any more impressed with this than you are but i think your criticisms are unfounded. yeah it’ll be dirty, just like every keyboard in my house. yeah it’s a little bit lazy but imo that’s what makes it a hack!
the thing i think it’s missing is the same thing probably 90% of the articles here are missing — a retrospective. did this device get used? did it break right away? did they iterate or give up on the idea?
anyways i’m responding because i also felt the same immediate kneejerk reaction against 3d printed plastic in a keyboard. but the fact of the matter is, for basically a custom project box of this size, i think it’s a fine application. assuming it lasts and that it doesn’t have a few ergonomic problems i might guess at, and that they have something stiffening it besides just the plastic (even if it’s just the desk under it)
just imagine, if i had made it, i might have been inclined to use luan underlayment as the top plate! could have used wood and still frustrated you even more than this execution did!
This looks great. Because it is open source, there is no reason why you couldn’t smooth printed ABS plastic with acetone or CNC the case with another material based on the provided files.
Polypropylene is great for sealing printed plastic.