Relocated connector on Apple Extended II keyboard.

[gmjhowe]

The title really says it all.

I am sure once upon a time it made more sense to have the cable come in at the side. Being able to choose one side or the other is quite a nice feature.

However on my desk it makes more sense for a cable to join in on the back somewhere. So I decided to reroute the connector. This is actually a fairly simple mod, you just replace the usual short grey cable with a longer one.

The AEKII has a little slider for adjusting the height, however its normal height is more than suitable for my needs. So I was happy to sacrifice this to make room for the socket.

I just need to laser cut a matching plate to stick over the hole.

AEKii-relocatedplug.jpg (186.13 KiB) Viewed 2170 times

AEKii-relocatedplug2.jpg (230.61 KiB) Viewed 2170 times

[gmjhowe]

I laser cut some back panel pieces for this yesterday. It matches the iMate case I made, and the media tags.

Here are a couple of pictures showing off the mod.

AEKiibackpanel1.jpg (199.12 KiB) Viewed 2081 times

AEKiibackpanel2.jpg (232.44 KiB) Viewed 2081 times

[Findecanor]

You have access to a laser-cutter? Jealous I am, in that case...

By the way, why did you not put your USB converter inside the keyboard and used a USB cable?

[dirge]

loving your work.

[tlt]

Are the white text done with laser too?

[gmjhowe]

You have access to a laser-cutter? Jealous I am, in that case...

By the way, why did you not put your USB converter inside the keyboard and used a USB cable?

I have access to one at my local hackspace. I did think about putting the converter inside the keyboard, the AEKii has plenty of room due to the massive stand mechanism. However the iMates are fairly pricey (about 20-30gbp) so I wanted to keep it external incase I got any more ADB keyboards.

Are the white text done with laser too?

The white is done by first laser etching the design into the acrylic, then inlaying it with a white wax.

loving your work.

Thanks dirge!