Image via [BranchNo9329] via redditThere are so frustratingly few details that this might as well have been a centerfold, but I thought you all should see it just the same. What we do have are several pictures and a couple of really short videos, so dive in.
I can tell you that [BranchNo2939] chose a glass substrate mainly due to curiosity about its durability compared with FR4. And that the copper circuitry was applied with physical vapor deposition (PVD) technology.
Apparently one of [BranchNo2939]’s friends is researching the bonding of copper on to glass panels, so they thought they’d give a keyboard a go. Right now the thing is incomplete — apparently there’s going to be RGB. Because of course there’s going to be RGB. Continue reading “Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Grasshopper Typewriter”→
Image by [StunningBreadfruit30] via redditHere’s the gist: this sexy split grid of beautiful multi-jet fusion (MJF) keycaps sits on top of Kailh PG1316S switches. The CNC-machined aluminium enclosure hides nice!nano boards with a sweet little dip in each one that really pull the keyboard together.
For the first serious custom build, [StunningBreadfruit30] wanted a polished look and finish, and to that I say wow, yes; good job, and nod enthusiastically as I’m sure you are. Believe it or not, [StunningBreadfruit30] came into this with no CAD skills at all. But it was an amazing learning experience overall, and an even better version is in the works.
I didn’t read the things. Is it open-source? It’s not, at least not at this time. But before you get too-too excited, remember that it cost $400 to build, and that doesn’t even count shipping or the tools that this project necessitated purchasing. However, [StunningBreadfruit30] says that it may be for sale in the future, although the design will have an improved sound profile and ergonomics. There’s actually a laundry list of ideas for the next iteration. Continue reading “Keebin’ With Kristina: The One With The Cheesy Keyboard”→
[Alex] of YouTube channel [EastMakes] wrote into tell me about his fantastic QWERTY ‘hexpansion’ board for the 2024 EMF Tildagon badge, and [Alex], I’m super glad you did. The system works!
Image by [EastMakes] via YouTube[Alex] started by importing the Tildagon into Fusion360 and designing a way for the keyboard to attach to it physically. He then modeled the keyboard after the Blackberry types that can be found on Ali using the official EMF buttons established in earlier badges.
This QWERTY hexpansion is based on the RP2040, which is soldered around back and visible through the 3D-printed backplate. In order for the 90°-oriented board to align with the… not-90° connector, [Alex] built a little meander into the PCB.
The default OS on the Tildagon doesn’t know natively what to do with the serial messages from the keyboard, so [Alex] wrote an application that reads them in and decodes them. Be sure to check out the build and walk-through video after the break.
Those white chocs are attached to a ThumbsUp! v8 keyboard, a line that [Sasha K.] designed. His daily driver boards are on v9 and v10, but the caps were getting jammed up because of the spacing on those. So instead, he used v8 which has Cherry MX spacing but also supports chocs.
As you can see, there is not much to the adapter, which essentially plugs the Selectric keycap’s slot and splits the force into the electrical outlet-style pair of holes that chocs bear This feels like an easier problem to solve than making an adapter for MX-style switches. What do you think?
Image by [WesternRedCdar] via redditBut you know why I chose this picture — those PS2 buttons. According to [WesternRedCdar] they are just for fun, although they do allow for pressing Ctrl and Alt at the same time with a single thumb.
Oh, and are those Nintendo Switch joysticks above the PS2 buttons? Those are for the mouse and vertical/horizontal scrolling. Honestly, this seems like a great amount of thumb controls. The basics are there (presumably), and there isn’t any thumb-extending excess, like keys on the insides by the mouse.
This bad mama jama runs on an RP2040 and has 50 hand-wired Cherry Brown switches plus the PS2 buttons. In the build guide, you can read all about [WesternRedCdar]’s troubles with integrating those. The Nintendo Switch joysticks weren’t terribly easy, either, since the ribbon connector can’t be soldered directly.
The final issue was one of weight. Since many of the switches stand quite tall, it sort of jostles the keyboard to actuate them. [WesternRedCdar] opined that that the ideal solution would have been to use metal base plates instead of wood, but took care of the issue by adding layers of 1/8″ steel flat bar inside the case.
Doesn’t this look fantastic? Hard to believe it, but the base of this keyboard began life as a cutting board, and there’s a gallery to prove it. This is actually [androidbrick]’s second foray into this type of upcycling.
This time, [androidbrick] used a FiiO KB3 and replaced the bottom half of the plastic shell with a hand-routed kitchen cutting board. The battery has been disabled and it works only in wired mode, which is fine with me, because then you get to use a curly cord if you want.
Image by [androidbrick] via redditThe switches are mostly Gateron EF Currys, though [androidbrick] left some of the original Gateron G Pro 3.0 on the stabilized keys just for comparison. As you might imagine, the overall sound is much deeper with a wooden bottom. You can check out the sound test on YouTube if you’d like, though it’s pretty quiet, so turn it up.
Those keycaps look even nicer from top-down, which you’ll see in the sound test video linked above. Just search ‘JCM MOA GMK’ on Ali and you’ll find them in a bunch of colorways for around $20. Apparently, [androidbrick] was saving them for months, just waiting for this build.
It’s been a minute since I featured a tiny keyboard, and that’s okay. But if you want to get your feet wet in the DIY keyboarding community, making a little macro pad like [Arnov Sharma]’s Paste Pal is a great place to start.
Image by [Arnov Sharma] via Hackaday.IOThis is a follow-up to his original Paste Pal, which only had two buttons for copy and paste plus an OLED display. This updated version does three more things thanks to a total of five blue (!) switches. The selected command shows up on the screen so you know what you’ve done.
Right now, [Arnov] has the Paste Pal set up to do Copy, Paste, Enter, Scroll Up, and Scroll Down, but changing the assignments is as easy as updating a few lines of code.
Paste Pal Mk. II is at heart a Seeed Xiao SAMD21, which in this case is programmed in Arduino. If you want to make things easier on yourself, you could program it in CircuitPython instead, although [Arnov] includes the Arduino code in his excellent build guide.
![A pair of hands holds the 2024 EMF Tildagon badge with a QWERTY keyboard Hexpansion built by [EastMakes].](https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/How-to-Build-a-QWERTY-Hexpansion-for-Your-Tildagon-EMF-Badge-YouTube-0-7-54.jpeg){kind=icon}
