Mechanical Keyboards- Justify this please?????

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Mechanical Keyboards- Justify this please?????

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

I found out that mechanical keyboards are a thing because I took an interest in finding ways to type faster, which led to discovering the Open Steno Project (which has open-source software and guides for doing stenotype style input on a computer, which requires a keyboard with NKRO). It takes a while to learn, but I went as far as to get a Gherkin (which is a 30% keyboard) and add G20 keycaps. Getting the firmware sorted out was a pain, but I'm happy with the results!
https://twitter.com/nekoewen/status/1167889987896893445

I'm currently looking into getting a pretty mechanical keyboard for regular QWERTY typing, though I'm not totally sure what I want, plus I've already spent plenty on keyboards for now.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2019 21:10

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 20:30

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

I'll probably put them onto a better keyboard when I have more money to spare, but the Miami keycaps I ordered from KBDFans came today.
https://twitter.com/nekoewen/status/1170406997323206656

# ¿ Sep 7, 2019 19:51

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

Pretty sure this is the weirdest keyboard in my collection (which has grown way too fast). It's a chording keyboard based on ASETNIOP. It's kind of a silly toy (for $45 plus shipping from Canada), but I'm enjoying messing with it.

https://twitter.com/nekoewen/status/1220751609405198336

# ¿ Jan 24, 2020 19:13

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

mrking posted:

That keyboard has less buttons than an xbox controller....

Have you heard about the AlphaGrip?

# ¿ Jan 27, 2020 18:28

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

The Epomaker GK86X I got from their Kickstarter came absurdly fast, and I'm liking it so far.
https://twitter.com/nekoewen/status/1292100468835901442

Also messing with my Gherkin and using it as a QWERTY (rather than for steno or as a macropad) for the first time.
https://twitter.com/nekoewen/status/1292797370573307904

Currently I'm waiting for my Gergoplex Heavy to ship and then I'll truly be in the land of weird keyboards.

# ¿ Aug 10, 2020 21:34

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

redeyes posted:

Hey nice. I test boards for Epomaker. What options did you choose?

I got the wired version with Gateron Blue switches.

interrodactyl posted:

I still can't get over the backspace placement...it's just so far! Do you have any trouble hitting it correctly?

It hasn't been a problem for me so far, though the placement of the Delete/Page Up/Page Down can keys is taking some getting used to. I do find I want a Control key on the right side, and I may have to try setting the split spacebar up to provide that.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2020 18:27

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

I finally got the Gergoplex Heavy I ordered from g Heavy Industries, and after spending a few hours messing with the firmware I've started using it as the main keyboard on my desktop. It relies a ton on layers, plus it has more of an ortholinear layout, so it's taking some getting used to, but it legit feels good to type on.

https://twitter.com/nekoewen/status/1305538006636404743

# ¿ Sep 16, 2020 18:38

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

Arcturas posted:

Just got a Drop CTRL. So far it's been nice, though the Halo Clears require more force than I anticipated for a keypress - it feels like the springs are stiffer than I expected. So I'll give it a go for a while, but might look into swapping the switches for something a little softer (in the Gatereon or Cherry Brown space, maybe?). I think the TKL layout works for me, and it's nice to have less distance between my left hand on WASD and my right hand on mouse. Though I do miss the numpad more than expected.

I also now realize I want some new keycaps, something that looks pretty but doesn't require LED lighting to read the keys. I get the idea between the seethrough caps, which show off the RGB settings, but I want something a little more subdued.

I like my CTRL a lot, but I did immediately put some SA keycaps on it, and more recently I swapped the switches out for Gateron Clears because I'm the weirdo who likes really light switches. I've been slowly using the Halo Clears for other projects (like a Sweet16 macro pad).

# ¿ Oct 23, 2020 02:04

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

BTW I don't think I saw it linked here, but this Type-9 macropad looks just gorgeous, though at $99+ it's way more than I can justify spending on what would be my... fifth macropad.
https://treasuretypes.com/

Arcturas posted:

What do you mean by SA keycaps? Is that just the shape of the things? (God this hobby has so much terminology.)

As others mentioned that's the profile/shape. I love those chunky, retro keycaps even though they cost like 3 times as much as OEM keycaps. Specifically I got the Miami set from KBDFans.

Arcturas posted:

Also I'll have to look into Gateron clears, too. Maybe I'll break down and just get the Drop switch tester to see what feels good. Along with a wrist rest because this keyboard is taller than my prior logitech...

So much stuff to buy!

Gateron Clears do take some getting used to because they're light enough that it's easy for the weight of your fingers to actuate them, so at first I would end up holding down a key without realizing it until I saw a bunch of Js on the screen. Once I got used to them I really liked the feel though.

Of course now I'm using a weird split keyboard with gChoc switches (a variant Kailh Choc with 20gf springs) so I can switch back and forth between QWERTY and steno, and if I ever wind up with someone else needing to use my computer (say if I have guests in like 2022) I'm going to just have to plug in a more normal keyboard for them.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2020 04:14

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

Today at 11:11am Pacific Time (about an hour from now) the group buy for return of the Magic Girl DSA keycaps goes live!

Then at 11:11pm Pacific (i.e. 12 hours after that), Rama Works is launching their KARA keyboard which looks generally nice and is a big deal for Rama Works because it's the first time they did a keyboard (other than macropads and whatnot) that cost less than $300 or so.

I've apparently started buying keyboard kits as a way to de-stress (which can be counterproductive when I get intensely frustrated when something goes wrong), and I'm really happy with the RoMac+ I built from a kit from littlekeyboards.com.

https://twitter.com/nekoewen/status/1325639334070906883

I also have an Alpha28 and a Pancakep on the way. This is going to be an expensive month.

# ¿ Nov 11, 2020 19:15

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

Nam Taf posted:

Must not buy for a light-coloured build must not buy for a pastel build must not buy for a pastel build...

I don't even have a pastel build, but I've been seeing the development of these caps on instagram over the last two months and they are so sexy.

I got the core set and novelties as well, and I'm planning to put them on the KARA (though the KARA ships Q1 next year while the Magic Girl is supposed to come in May 2021, so I'm fighting the temptation to buy another set of keycaps for the interim, though I'm also hype about Rama Works' KATE keycaps) and probably a numpad and macropad as well, though I still haven't found a numpad I like to replace the cheap one I've been using.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2020 19:11

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

LochNessMonster posted:

That looks like a really nice macropad and a great alternative to the duckboard.

Does the case come with the kit?

It does: https://www.littlekeyboards.com/products/romac

# ¿ Nov 12, 2020 22:59

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

After a lot of searching I finally found a mechanical numpad I wanted, but it was the Setta21, made by a hobbyist in Japan. I ordered the kit anyway, and spent most of today assembling it. I'm sort of glad that he's sold out of the Naked48 keyboard (which the Setta21 can connect to with a TRRS cable) because it's gorgeous.

https://twitter.com/nekoewen/status/1331777365546917889

I also build a FightPad (from Clawboards.xyz), though I've yet to actually use it for anything.
https://twitter.com/nekoewen/status/1328832140717424640

# ¿ Nov 26, 2020 03:42

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

Pegnose Pete posted:

I really want to lube the springs in the Halo Clears but the idea of taking the switches apart makes me a bit nervous.

I've taken switches apart to swap springs (to 20gf Sprit springs), and it's pretty easy as long as you get an opener tool. Doing it without the tool does sound like a nightmare though. With the tool the worst is every now and then you'll get a spring flying across the room.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2020 14:58

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

Soldering isn't too hard, but I would recommend doing something simple like a small macro pad to get some practice in before trying anything bigger. Also:

Be careful about the orientations of components, which is important for diodes and the Pro Micro.
Go for something that uses mostly or all through-hole components, as surface mount is a bit harder.
Double-check your solder joints; I don't think I've yet managed to build a board without having to go back and touch up some solder joints at least once.
Get some little plastic bags to keep stuff in.

# ¿ Dec 21, 2020 03:41

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

Josh Lyman posted:

I've had a Microsoft Natural 4000 for 6+ years now (I'm on my 2nd one after my first one died to a spill). I love it for typing and it's good enough for my light gaming needs. Especially nice are the calculator button, the volume/mute controls, and I have 2 shortcut keys set to launch Paint (for cropping/saving screenshots) and Notepad. Is there a "nicer" version? I'm mainly looking for better tactile feedback.

Microsoft did a couple of updated wireless models along similar lines, though they're thinner and have more laptop-like keys, especially the gray Surface Ergonomic Keyboard (though it also has Bluetooth). I don't know of any mechanical keyboards that have all of that functionality in one place, but if I were aiming for that I'd probably combine some kind of split ergonomic keyboard (Ergodox, Moonlander, Lily58, Gergo, Kinesis Freestyle, etc.) with a numpad and/or macropad.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2021 20:30

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

abraham linksys posted:

these have kinda limited support right? was thinking about doing some kinda split low profile board at some point but i think you need a special pcb that supports these kinda switches

even for "regular" boards, didn't seem like there were a ton of low profile options out there

The Kailh Choc switches have different leads from MX so the PCB does have to be made for them. There are only a few premade keyboards that use them (notably NuPhy, Keychron, and a few Chinese ones); otherwise they're mostly being used in kits, and those are mostly split and/or ortholinear (like the Gergoplex, Pancake, Naked48, Microdox, Corne LP, etc.). I like them a lot personally (my Gergoplex has become my daily driver), but the options are still pretty limited. Online stores like mkultra.click and NovelKeys do at least have some other varieties of choc switches besides the basic Red/Brown/White (I prefer gChocs and silvers personally), though no one's really adopted the Choc V2 switches that are compatible with MX style keycaps, sticking with the Choc keycaps that attach with two vertical prongs.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2021 20:35

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

Koskun posted:

Redragon makes ok "My First Mechanical Keyboard", I'd say bordering on good (for what they are), but then they go and make this - https://www.amazon.com/Redragon-Mechanical-Keyboard-Ergonomic-Anti-Ghosting/dp/B09V4HTWLT

Clearly we can do better than that:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/razer-novelkeys-big-keyboard-ces-bfk,36350.html

# ¿ Aug 11, 2022 20:28

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# ¿ Apr 25, 2024 20:30

Ewen Cluney: May 8, 2012; Ask me about
Japanese elfgames!

HamburgerTownUSA posted:

OK, I am banging my head against the wall on this one because I haven't messed with anything keyboard related in forever and this is really frustrating.

I have decided that I want to take one my 3-key macropads, and reprogram it so that it does media controls so I can easily control music when I'm indoor cycling.

Even though it's QMK, this should be easy. I've done it a million times before with other keyboards; use QMK Configurator to make the keymap I want, hit the compile button, download the .hex file, put the keyboard into DFU mode, and use QMK Toolbox to flash it.

Only this time it's not working. I flash my macropad, and then it's basically useless until I put it back in to DFU mode, and flash the default .hex file grabbed through an old version of QMK Toolbox. Even compiling and flashing the "default" layout as generated by the Configurator doesn't work.

To make sure it's only happening to this macropad, I use Configurator and Toolbox and flash some other random QMK macropads I have, and it works no problem.

Is it possible that there's an issue with the files that the configurator is using to compile the firmware?

I'm not asking for a whole lot. Just 2 layers.

Layer 0 is just "KC_MPRV", "LT(1,KC_MPLY)", "KC_MNXT"

Layer 1 is just "BL_TOGG", "KC_NO", "RGB_TOG"

The macropad PCB I have is one I know very few people have: a Woodkeys.click BigSeries 3-Key board, which is designed to use 3 of the big-rear end NovelKeys Big Switches. Not a lot of people have this macropad because the dude running the site was running a bunch of preorders for various products, sent out a handful of things, and then disappeared with everybody's money, never to be heard from again.

https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/tree/master/keyboards/woodkeys/bigseries/3key

I have been at this for hours, and I am seriously about to just run some wires from the switches to a different macropad PCB just to get this stupid form factor to work, and I am way too dumb to try and get QMK MSYS working to try and compile something myself to flash. Either that or just throw the loving thing against the wall and give up.

I went ahead and put it together with MSYS; putting your layout in and compiling it went just fine, though you'll have to see what happens when you flash it.
https://github.com/nekoewen/ewen-qmk

# ¿ Jan 9, 2024 16:46

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Mechanical Keyboards- Justify this please?????