The lovely thing about a hobby like keyboard building is that the melting pot of designs manages to never turn into a nasty porridge. Rather, it remains a tasty chili that keeps getting more flavorful with time. It’s a simple recipe, really; someone becomes dissatisfied enough with their peripherals to do something about it, often trying various designs until they either settle on one, or come up with yet another awesome variant that suits their needs — and possibly someone else’s down the line.
The inimitable [Joe Scotto] has happened upon the katana layout, which has an inverse left-hand row stagger that lends symmetry to the design, and Scotto-ized it into a 33-key build that he says is the best-sounding one yet with lubed Gateron Milky Yellows.
The case and the keycaps are both 3D-printed, and as with all Scotto builds, it is beautifully hand-wired. This one uses an RP2040 Pro Micro, but an ATMega Pro Micro will work, too.
Everything is available on GitHub, and [Joe] promises a typing test soon, as well as a gasket version that foregoes the integrated plate.
Do you need a fast keyboard? Like, ridiculously fast? Then you should use an FPGA.
