The day my keyboard died.

It’s a shame when your beloved and trusty things die. I had a laptop that during it’s life span had 2 replacements screens, got submerged under a foot of water, dropped gosh knows how many times, one of the ram slots died but I kept it trucking on until ultimately the mobo died. Oh HP how that was a memorable 5 months.

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It took me 3 HP products before I vowed never to buy any HP related product again (safe antique lab equipment from them).

I have the smoll one and honestly it’s a non-issue. Even if u might find it weird at first, u’ll get used to it in a matter of days, if not hours

IMO, there’s no reason we should have to adapt, which is why I’m building my own keyboard, the availability of ergo ISO style keyboards is awful. That being said, over the years I’ve switched between qwerty azerty and qwertz ISO layout several times, humans adapt pretty quickly when you use something everyday.

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Got my keyboard good enough to use now :smiley:

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Very nice, what are your plans in regard to face plate or other encasements?

Though I would’ve put the 6 on the other side, just makes sense to split a row of 10 numbers halfways I would’ve thought. Also where’d you get all these parts from?

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I have this thing cut out but I’m debating on having everything lasered / buying a laser and doing it myself. I wil likely make a sandwich of wood panels to keep everything contained and I have an aluminum plate I might use for the face, not sure yet.

I wanted to keep F keys and number keys together (above each other), this was the only way I could make it work. Turning your keys sideways brings all kinds of challenges. For example I’m very used to typing y with my left hand and b with my right hand. But IIRC the way I designed it now it is the proper touch typing style.

PCBs were relatively cheap ~40€ from jlcpcb including shipping for 5. I bought a polycarbonate plate and cut out each switch by hand ( do not recommend, get it lasered for like 25€/plate instead). Switches(gateron silent browns) and caps are freely available on many hobby websites but since this is a prototype to me I got them cheap from aliexpress. See https://candykeys.com/ or https://mykeyboard.eu/ or https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/
For the controller I am running a teensy 2.0++, available from any electronics store. Diodes for the switch matrix are also cheap.

I have to get used to this a bit now. I am already regretting not making the slanted keys more aggresively slanted :joy:

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Nice keyboard. I wonder if there is something similar for buying parts to make a mouse?

Since my mouse breaks every few years, it would be handy to learn how to fix it or replace parts of it.

Doomy The Keyator. :upside_down_face:

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What breaks on your mouse? The buttons or something else? There’s not that much to mod on a mouse as a diyer since all the smarts is in the optical sensor. (Some people put mechanical clicky switches in the buttons though :D)
I have good luck with logitech mice. My last logitech mouse lasted a decade and I only replaced it because it got gross and the battery stopped holding a charge.

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For me it’s the button switches, logitech in particular has a now long existing tendency to develop double clicking behavior and start failing to hold a button pressed. I love every other aspect of logitech mice but their buttons always start failing a few years down the line.

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Makes sense, should be replaceable but I’m guessing you’d need a hot air gun to replace them in a modern mouse :\

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After a ton of research years ago, my mouse of choice is the Logitech M525. I’ve never had it fail on me, and the batteries last forever. You can choose to put in one AA or two AA batteries, which can help achieve the mouse weight you prefer (of course two batteries lasts twice as long). I use rechargeable AA batteries. Also, the scroll wheel is the nicest one I’ve ever used. :sunglasses:

EDIT: And it’s ambidextrous for right or left handed folks.

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As Fraggles mentioned, for me it is also the double clicking, not holding a button press, or just not working.

That’s too bad for me. My buttons break much sooner than the optical sensor. Perhaps a trackball mouse (I’ve never owned one) or mechanical mouse would be more long lasting if I could ever repair these buttons.

It would be cool if I could custom make the perfect mouse size and shape for my hand though.

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My favourite mouse ever was the Microsof Trackball Explorer.

I think i bought it in 2003 and replaced it just two or three years ago. The software was lacking by todays standard, but the scrollwheel and sensor was really slow. But lovely ergonomics.
Swapped it out with an G502 and that’s a mouse that can actually work with games.

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*Good for you, you should be able to replace those.

I’ve been wanting to do this for ages, maybe I’ll get a cnc mill one day… I wish, maybe with a resin printer :slight_smile:

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Somebody kick start this! lol Srsly, don’t think I’ve had the “perfect mouse”.

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Hahaha! I wish I was an entrepreneur but there are so many things to consider.

People grip their mice in 3 ways, the palm, claw, or fingertips. So first there needs to be 3 mouse designs for those grips. Then there needs many differing sizes of mice by length and width based on palm size and finger length. Too much customization…

The only way to turn a profit would probably be to have the mouse have interchangeable parts to replace the buttons, optic laser, or cord in a static mouse frame or to customize how many buttons there are and where they are. I guess that is possible because the mouse frame would be the most customized and expensive part that doesn’t need to be replaced.

sigh I would need an army of 3d printers and gallons of resin. I’ll consider it if the economy rebounds as things look increasingly bleak atm.

If the idea ever gets off the ground, as a bonus project, I’ll create custom keyboards too and send one custom made for Fraggles in hot pink.

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I’ll take it, spray painting a keyboard is an easier modification than changing the key layout. : )

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Maybe you could 3d scan your own hand with a cellphone and have a service that automatically prints a perfect mouse shell for your specific hand, that would be cool :slight_smile: You could add user configurable tilt before production so people can have ergo-style mice that exactly fits their palm.

IMO people do claw grip and fingertips grip because mice are often one size fits all(or one size fits none)

I want one! I’ll send you one of mine in exchange!

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Make mine in silver. XD

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Could I have blue please? :revolving_hearts:

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Could I have blue cheese? mmmmmmm

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