First plate design, 60% with arrows that can fit a poker case

[zeitg3ist]

The idea is to have a 60% keyboard that can fit in a poker case (because they are everywhere and as cheap as 20€) with arrow keys.

So i made this

keyboard-layout.png (26.56 KiB) Viewed 3633 times

i'm not too concerned about finding keycaps. A max keyboard ansi kit can be bought for 19$ on ebay and will have all the right keys minus an extra 2u.

this is the plate

FqYv4NE.png (21.75 KiB) Viewed 3633 times

Now since im building this for myself, i really dont want to make a pcb which would be too expensive. It will be handwired.

I was ready to send out the files to a friend to have the plate cnc'd when i realized that the hole i tought were for the plate to be screwd on the case, are instead to have space to screw the pcb instead.

I'm a little lost now, should i decreade the hole radius? will the scres heads get in the way while typing?
The two solutions i see are
1. Decrease the hole size and use screws with a very thin head
2. tap some stepped hols so the screw head can be flush like this (random immage)

Milling-depth-in-number-42-hole-so-2-56-screw-head-sits-flush.jpg (19.63 KiB) Viewed 3633 times

Someone with more experience than me can maybe help?

[bazh]

why bother with the Poker case when you can have 2 plates and make a sandwich style case?

sourcing the 2x shift might be another problem too, you can have them in lasered Cherry caps, but for more quality options there're none other than DSA

Psion MC400 layout is a better choice for layout IMO, just need shorter (6x) spacebar and an Alt sneak into the bottom right will do it.

[zeitg3ist]

why bother with the Poker case when you can have 2 plates and make a sandwich style case?

sourcing the 2x shift might be another problem too, you can have them in lasered Cherry caps, but for more quality options there're none other than DSA

Psion MC400 layout is a better choice for layout IMO, just need shorter (6x) spacebar and an Alt sneak into the bottom right will do it.

Really i think a well made sandwich case will be more expensive than 20€. Plus there are plenty of new and used poker cases out there in acrilic, aluminium and wood.

That Psion board has a gorgeous layout.

[Matt_]

With a Poker case you need M2 screws, which generally have heads small enough to not be problematic (keycaps won't hit them). You can countersink holes (I'm not sure that a 1.5 mm plate is thick enough for "stepped holes") if you want screw heads to be flush with the plate but that should not be necessary.

But yes, you should decrease the hole diameter, down to 2.5 mm or something. Screw heads will fit between switches without interfering. And you'll want to use spacers between the plate and the case holes.

As for the layout, I dabbled with those myself, the first one has the stame stagger as the Pure Pro/Minila on row 4 (like yours), the second has the regular stagger and a L-shaped arrow cluster.



All 60% layouts are a matter of compromise, so if yours suits your needs, by all means, go for it!

[ajx]

There are several thing that may annoy me on your layouts
Tilde should be placed after |\ like on HHKB
Win key may bother for gaming purpose (i would put next to Altgr)
I put CTRL instead of Alt, using thumbs to reach it, i find it easier than using pinky
FN instead of 2nd CTRL (almost same spot as HHKB once again)
I know its still programmable though but i believe the best layout i ever tried its a sort of mix of HHKB and standard 60% layout
Yours are pretty close (the first layout looks perfect to me at least with size modifier)

[vivalarevolución]

I've been playing with some of these ideas lately. Problem is that with my layouts, all of the screw holes are in the places when I am proposing to place switches. The only open screw holes are the two on the edges of the case.

My goal with these layouts is to try out as many ideas as possible that fit into a 60% form factor, and then scale back if they don't work. For example, if the 1u Tab is too small, make it bigger on the next version. Or if the Fn key is the middle doesn't work or is too small, adjust accordingly. Or if the Minila-style 4th row stagger causes too many errors and requires too much adjustment, change that back to the standard stagger.

keyboard-layout.jpg (44.74 KiB) Viewed 3445 times

[vivalarevolución]

So it seems like this topic doesn't have much interest...