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Keyboards

March 2, 2024

On Custom Keyboard Design

I picked up an interest in keyboard design during my first year of University. What started as a simple hobby has evolved over the years, from tweaking existing keyboards to creating my own PCB designs and bringing them to life. I figured it would be a good idea to write a brief overview of the projects I have worked on so far. A lot of the issues I encountered during my builds were often resolved by reading blogs like this, in addition to reaching out to like-minded enthusiasts who were always willing to help.

If you are unfamiliar with the world of custom keyboards but are still interested in diving in, I’d suggest you have a quick run through this awesome mechanical keyboard guide. It may seem a little overwhelming, but I think it provides a great overview of the types of builds that are common in this community.

Sector C Keyboard and Ergo Dash

My first big project was the Sector C and Ergo Dash Keyboard:

Sector C Split

Sector C PCB

Sector C Single

Sector C Assembled

ErgoDash Split

ErgoDash PCB

ErgoDash Assembled

ErgoDash LEDs

Initially, I was cautious about spending too much on custom designs in case they didn’t work out. So, I made slight modifications to the existing Ergo Dash and Sector C designs. Printing five boards of each through JLCPCB cost me $9.40 for the Sector C and $12 for the Ergo Dash.

JLCPCB Order

They both used a similar parts list for assembly. You can find more info on each of these here: Sector C and Ergo Dash.

In all fairness, I kind of regretted trying to build these from scratch. While I liked the Sector C design, the documentation was non-existent and I could not get it to work. While the PCB designs are readily available, I did not find any pre-written firmware and I did not have the time to start working on writing one. I might consider getting back to it later.

I did get the Ergo Dash to work, but I did not use it for too long. I kind of like a minimalist aesthetic and opted to instead make another build based on the Corne keyboard design. You can find more info on it here: Corne Keyboard.

CRKBD: My Daily Driver

I’ve since settled on using the Corne CRKBD with mechanical switches GAZZEW BOBAGUM SILENT LINEAR SWITCHES (Silent Boba Reds) as my daily driver. I’ve modified it to have five different layers with multiple shortcuts and mouse controls, making it incredibly efficient for optimizing productivity. Check out the key map on GitHub.

I have written a more extensive piece on my current layout here.