I've been using a Cooler Master Trigger keyboard for 4 years, I bought it after watching a couple of Youtube reviews and thought that was the best value for money at that time. I asked a relative in the US to buy it for me and told him to pick the one with brown switches. For 4 years I believed I had browns, but turned out it had blue switches. When I found out about this I knew I know nothing about keyboards and decided to learn a bit and see what switches I would like since I needed to get a new keyboard because the gaming look of the Trigger doesn't suit my setup at all.
As you'd know if you're a mech-head, once into the world of MK you can't go back. Once I'm familiar with the world of MK I immediately started working on a 60% board that I had high hopes for. Placed tons of orders and started waiting since most stuff is coming from China. First order was from US from WASD with lots of switches and stabilizers and I was very excited, but Chinese parts took an eternity to come so meanwhile I was browsing Reddit MK and GH learning new exciting things. By the time the Chinese parts started coming I lost all the excitement in this project because I knew this 60% build isn't what's right for me, but it's a good first step to find my endgame.
What I'm excited about now is what I think will be my endgame which is project MKPedalion.
MKPedalion is inspired by ortholinear split keyboards like Atreus, Ergodox and Dactyl, but with focus on ergonomics with a great addition IMHO pedals. Hands are fully busy between the keyboard and mouse but our feet do nothing so why not use them to take some of the work. MKPedalion is split, ortholinear, 40%, tilted with small thumb cluster for ergonomics.
- Split: so hands aren in shoulders level to not cause strain like TKL and similar
- Ortholinear: learning touch typing I hated row staggering so definitely ortholinear for swift finger movement
- Staggered columns: to keep fingers at a natural position on home row
- 40%: for minimal finger travel and compactness
- Tilted: many people tilt Ergodox for comfort so this one will come tilted by design
- Three keys thumb cluster: Ergodox have many keys in the thumb cluster making them hard to reach, so 3 keys per thumb with all front keys with one vertical key for minimal thumb travel
- Pedals will be programmable to do many tasks like scroll, arrows, layering, etc
The default layout contains the alpha keys with TAB and backspace on the sides, ESC, Caps lock, arrows, comma and FN on the bottom. On the right thumb cluster: SPACE[SHIFT on hold], ENTER, Opt. On the left thumb cluster SPACE[SHIFT on hold], Cmd and control. FN is a special key used to change settings not like usual FN that gives function and media keys. Not defining alphas now, I'm not sure what layout to derivate now.
I wish I could design the plate however I like and make it follow the shape of the keys in a curves like this:
But I know the case will be very difficult to build, since it needs to be 3D printed and such and I have zero access to everything so let's go for the simplest form.
I decided to add the key on top for pinky, I will not use it for alphas. On the left it will be ESC on the right it will be FN. In their places I will put L1, L2 for fallback when pedals aren't attached.
I added the stagger a bit on pinky column and made the prototype in www.keyboard-layout-editor.com
I made a plate design, first part was done on builder.swillkb.com, then exported the SVG and worked on paths and some screw holes manually editing SVG code with some Js helpers, I think it's good but will need validation from someone who has experience with plate design.
While I was designing the plate I had the design of the keyboard in my head, I draw it to think about the electronics and here is my sketch:
So in this sketch you can see the thumb cluster design I'm aiming for, while the keyboard is tilted I will have some vertical space so why not put a key in there and make it closer to the thumb than a far 3rd key, unconventional will be challenging to fit in the matrix but we'll see.
For the electronics, I saw most split keyboard use 2 cables, one to connect to the computer and another for connection halves, some use direct link of rows and some use IO extenders. I want to use only one cable for everything, I don't want to pollute the setup with many cables that will be hard to manage so I got this idea to use HDMI type D cables. They are small almost as small as USB mini, have 19 pins more than enough for all of my needs, parts are hard to get but I found them in dear Taobao. How I will do this is by splitting the 20 wires in the HDMI D into 3 groups: USB, matrix wires and pedal wires. I have a hole in my desk so I plan to make this a 3 way cable, 2 on top of the desk and the 3rd will go through the hole under the desk and split to go to the USB hub and pedals.
I want to make the Teensy removable so will add a USB mini to DIP converter with some female 2.54mm pins so I can easily take it out. Also I will use the 16p pin JTAG cables with the sockets to have a detachable matrix so I can open the keyboard easily and design the matrix without problems. I know 16 pins is too much but better have extra since I might want to add LEDs or whatever.
Pedals are as simple as switches so I will have 4 wires coming from the 2 pedals so looks like a perfect fit for USB mini to make them removable, for matrix fit they will have the same coordinates as L1/L2 so when you press pedal i or press Li key to the controller that's the same thing.
Now that I have the full idea and plate design, it's time to share this with the community and get some feedback to fix any mistakes then start sourcing parts.
I'm sending the plate to be laser cut on brushed stainless steel, also started selecting parts and negotiating with Taobao agents.
I made a case from cardboard to test the design, it's comfortable but will need a wrist rest, I will also angle the thumb cluster for better reach. I tested height and feels like 40mm on the high side and 25mm on low side are offering good tilt with enough space to put the vertical key. So here are some pictures of my ghetto case, I will get to 3d model the case.
Finally after a long wait the plates are here, that's what you get for sourcing things in China. The cut isn't bad at all, there are some holes with some play especially holes for Costar stabilizers, but most are good and tight enough. There are some scratches here and there but not very noticeable with the brushed stainless steel, overall I'm happy with the quality/price ratio (37,94 USD shipped).
Here is how it looks with switches and stabilizers.
Time to make a better cardboard case to test the feel and find the best angle for thumb cluster, for now here is how it looks with the old ghetto case.
It's been a while, I was working on the project from time to time:
- I designed the case (which is obsolete now), files are in Case folder
- I ordered parts from Taobao through an agent, parts are on the way with a sample of Zealios to test which will work for me
- I'm changing the case design, the case is too high and hard to use with a mouse, the height is a result of the vertical thumb key, I think it's not worth it so I'm developing a new concept for the case
This new design is using the space/shift key in a tilted angle which is a great position for the thumb. I think I'll make that key 1.5u instead of 2u to save some space and make the thumb cluster closer, also be able to use Ergodox keysets since currently no keyset has 6 R3 2u keys and 2 1.5u keys.
I made the decision, I'm sticking with the 3 2u thumb keys, 2u stabilized is so good to discard, I couldn't do it. For compatibility with kits there are some Ergodox keysets who offer 3 2u per half like the SA Carbon, hopefully more kits can do that (Oblivion SA I wish you did). The layout has changed too, I'm placing the 2 keys in place of the single one and have the single one horizontally below them. This design is more compact and offers minimal travel for the thumb.
I was learning OpenSCAD as I was trying to make the case, and the math is getting complicated with the tilted plates, too much trigonometry for my taste so I switched to guessing and I hated it. So I'm switching to Fusion 360 to use projections and alignments, also doing things in UI is easier than code, though sometimes I miss the control of code. I never used Fusion 360 before or any modeling tool, so I was just trying to learn the minimum as I go and avoided any complicated stuff like constraint which I know are important, hopefully someone who's knowledgeable can fix my mistakes.
I still need to work on screw holes and support for the plates, add some holes for wires and plan the PCB and cutouts. The shipment is at customs, hopefully I get it by the end of next week to measure things and finalize the design to send the case to be 3d printed. I will also try Zealios and make my decision on which weight or which switches to order if I didn't like Zealios.
I added plates support and screw holes, design files updated, parts are still in customs UGH! on the bright side Oblotzky said he will add a 3rd 2u to Ergodox kit, Awesome 👍
Shipment was received, pedals are great but are very loud, MX blues and greens sound is ant whispers compared to these so I will need to mod them later. The hype about Zealios is real, I liked them very much, they feel like Jailhoused lubed blues but without the short travel, I'm ordering a bunch for MKPedalion. I'm going to use 65g for central area and 62g on sides and bottom row for lighter switches in hard to reach places, for thumb cluster I'm going to use 78g for spaces and 67g for the others. Now that I'm going with those clear housings the natural thing is to think about RGB LEDs :) .. soon!
Mistakes were made, I ordered DC3 16p for the matrix, but the socket is high and will add unnecessary height to the keyboard, I ordered the 90degree version .. the wait chapter II. I'm not going to use the 2.54mm sockets for the same reasons, I wanted a removable Teensy and HDMI PCBs but for the same height issue I'm going to solder it flat the the PCB. I can't finish the case design until I finish the PCB so 3D printing the case has to wait. On another subject, Oblivion will not have 3 2u per half, after further discussions with Oblotzky the addition isn't worth it for everyone so I need to get the 2u from some kit or hopefully through SP if they have blanks in GQM, GD or WFK after Oblivion production.
I noticed the lack of pictures in the recent updates, here is the latest version of the case:
Finally everything is here, the 90 degree DC3 16P port is very low profile and fits great with the rest of the components, I needed to add a 5mm extra height to the case but everything should fit fine in it. I finished the case design and I'm sending it to be 3D printed soon. I added PCB support and holes for wires to go from thumb cluster to PCB area, I also added the HDMI D hole.
The rest of Zealios are here, this is a picture of how I will be using the different weights as explained previously:
On another subject, Oblivion drop is live now, I'm going with Hagoromo alpha, Colevrak and 2 Assembly kits and the arrows. I'm abandoning the Ergodox kit, 78$ for the 5 2u keys isn't a good idea and I still need another 2u which is available for 20$ in the GQM Spacebars or for 26$ in Assembly. Since Assembly reached the lowest drop point, it's the best value for the money. If the price continued to drop, I'll get Git modifiers for that gorgeous Git logo and the 1.5u TAB, also the 2.25u keys might work well for horizontal thumb key. The set will be shipped hopefully on June 2018 so I'll have to use my hideous CM Trigger caps for now.