Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
Got the part mounted. Just enough clearance to clear the wires. Too tired after work to solder it today... Work was easy... Stupid Fallout 4 kept me up late!
It fits NIIIIICE!!! It self aligns nicely, as well.
God, oak is such a pain to work with, especially with the crummy hand tools I have, but I want it to last, and oak will last. Still, I'm proving one major point with this build... It's possible to do a fairly good looking wood case with nothing but a $3.80 piece of wood trim moulding from the hardware store, sub $10 hand tools, and a Dremel. I hope it serves as an inspiration to those who want to try, but are not sure if they can. Sure, I've got a lot of experience, but I've also been stuck inside my apartment, without access to good tools this winter. I've certainly not let that stop me. :D
I think I've found my bottom plate. I was going through my storage unit and found an old piece of rack mount test equipment from the 1960s (A Phase Angle Voltmeter, for the sakes of useless trivia). Had an aluminum cover panel with a laminated plastic layer that has a faux "leather" like texture to it... BINGO! That's the bottom! :D
I'll cut two pieces, one for the keyboard, and one for the as of yet nonexistent, but planned number pad (maybe just a wide piece I can trim to specific size later). It even has a paint coat on the inside, so it SHOULD be insulated from contact with the switch matrix, even if it were pressed inward, but I'll still drop in a sheet of plastic as an internal insulator. It's really thin... 1.1mm (.043 inch), and I can punch a nice countersunk hole for each screw. I'll get wood screws for the bottom, that'll go in flush. That way, I'll only add a hair over 1 mm to the thickness once I add the bottom plate.