Talk QWERTY to me, baby! (2 new keyboard sneakpeeks)

[Datamancer]

Thanks, Alex.

I was actually just having this conversation last night with a friend of mine. Seeing as how I'm already being propositioned by companies interested in my design assistance for individual components (heat sinks, cooling systems, etc), it's only a matter of time before someone wants to license a keyboard design (provided they don't just steal the design outright). I think what I'd do is choose one particular keyboard design and mass-produce just that one. They can make it out of plastic, tin-plate it, paint it, do whatever they want to make it as cheaply as possible, but it would pale in comparison to one of my handmade one-offs. I think that would be the best compromise between "selling out" and "cashing in", while still maintaining both my dignity and my position as a high-end customizer/fabricator.

-~D~-

[cthulhu_spawn]

Thanks, Alex.

I was actually just having this conversation last night with a friend of mine. Seeing as how I'm already being propositioned by companies interested in my design assistance for individual components (heat sinks, cooling systems, etc), it's only a matter of time before someone wants to license a keyboard design (provided they don't just steal the design outright). I think what I'd do is choose one particular keyboard design and mass-produce just that one. They can make it out of plastic, tin-plate it, paint it, do whatever they want to make it as cheaply as possible, but it would pale in comparison to one of my handmade one-offs. I think that would be the best compromise between "selling out" and "cashing in", while still maintaining both my dignity and my position as a high-end customizer/fabricator.

-~D~-

just do it, no one will have a clue it has anything to do with steampunk, itll just be a whimsical oddity to middleaged men and women looking to "retro" their home. and it will die off, and you will still be custom building eccentric contraptions for the rich and knowing. i plan the same, although my nonsensical rubbish wouldnt ever warrant mass production. you worked for it, take the dosh, and invest it in a steampunk museum..or save the polar bears..or..uh..i dunno. yeah, you get the idea...

[Commander Obadiah]

Datamancer: Have you thought of making a Hansen Writing Ball? I rather think you could make quite an impressive creation.

Commander C. Obadiah

[Commissar Swoosh]

If steampunk things became mainstream I bet this forum would have a lot of inactive users since a lot of people are into this just because it is fringe...

[cthulhu_spawn]

If steampunk things became mainstream I bet this forum would have a lot of inactive users since a lot of people are into this just because it is fringe...

i dont think it will. its very esoteric and odd and really i just dont see that many people getting into it. and if it does, then itll be vacuous and pointless and the trendy assholes wont have a clue what theyre talking about, and brassgoggles will remain the glorious home of eccentric anachronists and steam junkies it always was.

[Commander Obadiah]

Amen to that, Alex! Trendsters will like their brass-riveted belts until the Next Big Thing comes along, whereupon we will revert back to our fringe state of oddness oddisity.

Commander C. Obadiah

[Commissar Swoosh]

Never thought about that Alex. Well I do feel a little better about it then. Maybe if Steampunk became mainstream then society might adopt some steampunk ideals, or ideals I think a lot of steamers have (The shunning of the disposable technology of today and other such things)

[Datamancer]

Datamancer: Have you thought of making a Hansen Writing Ball? I rather think you could make quite an impressive creation.

Commander C. Obadiah

Thanks! I have actually. Better than that, I wanted to make a TWIN Hansen writing ball. I was inspired by this wacky-ass keyboard my friend Will uses...



I thought it would be cool to break it up into two 3/4-balls with a wristrest.

-~D~-

[Commissar Swoosh]

This may be a stupid question... But what does that look like cracked open? Is the board warped or are the keys on a slant still hitting on a flat board?

[Commander Obadiah]

Capital idea. I've been pondering the same thing, and setting one half in each arm of a chair. That is a very wacky keyboard, where on earth did he get it?

Commander C. Obadiah

[Datamancer]

That's a cool idea.

Kinesis-ergo keyboards

-~D~-

[Datamancer]

This may be a stupid question... But what does that look like cracked open? Is the board warped or are the keys on a slant still hitting on a flat board?

He's not sure exactly. The most taken-apart he's ever had it was when I asked him to pop a key off and take a picture so I could see if it was a membrane or mechanical-switch model. It's mech-switch, btw.
Incidentally, he loves the keyboard and claims that it's the most comfortable he's ever used...and he's a computer science major so that's saying a lot.

If I were going to build the "Nagy Writing Ball(s)", I think I'd just start off by buying a big pile of Alps keyswitches and wire them into a controller chip myself. It'd be quicker and easier than reverse-engineering the kinesis-ergo.

-~D~-

[Mydnight]

Does anyone know about any CHEAP mech-switch keyboards?  I've been debating getting one for a while now, but I don't want to purchase a $90 or 100 keyboard when all I need is the controller board.

[Hikaro Takayama]

How about using these?
"Making Memories" Alphabet Charms

Thanks for the suggestion, however I've already got some of those... You see, when I left work, and had about 2 hours to kill before I had to be in class tonight, I decided to go to the new Michael's on a hunch (since the more I looked at the buttons I got from Jo-Ann's the less I liked them), and sure enough, they had the 3/8" versions of the pewter and copper scrapbooking charms, which are perfect.... I could care less about the small "letters" under the telephone numbers, since I pretty much have them memorized anyways (not to mention that there just isn't enough room on the 3/8" buttons).  I'm figuring on using "P" for the pound key and "S" for the star key, since the assortments of charms didn't have any sybols other than the ampersand.

Still trying to decide on whether the pewter or copper looks better with the brass faceplate, though.  Also need to get some good epoxy; I was thinking about using the super-heavy duty epoxy putty stuff they sell at Radio Shack that supposedly can permanently bond just about anything under the sun, but would like to know what you'd reccomend (I have little experience with gluing metal to plastic, sice I generally preferr to bolt things together for ease of repair/replacement).

Does anyone know about any CHEAP mech-switch keyboards?  I've been debating getting one for a while now, but I don't want to purchase a $90 or 100 keyboard when all I need is the controller board.

Well, considering that computer keyboards have been around for a good while, it should be possible to purchase a standardized virtually stand-alone keyboard controller IC chip.... That's how I was able to build a DTMF encoder for my 65-year old telephone in less than an afternoon; Finding the IC I needed took a bit longer, however, but I was able to do it.  Try doing a google search for "Keyboard Controller IC chips", but be prepared to wade through a mountain of crap to find what you're actually looking for, though.

[Bobby_Brazil]

very nice

[Markus Stratus]

These would be very nice to have because you can REALLY just feel the position of the buttons underneath. There's a large space between them so the difference between this button and that is much more visible to the hands.

Very nice piece of craftsmanship,
Markus

[Lurker]

Beautiful work. I think I need to get off my butt, and start working on that Ouija Keyboard.

[Datamancer]

How about using these?
"Making Memories" Alphabet Charms

Thanks for the suggestion, however I've already got some of those... You see, when I left work, and had about 2 hours to kill before I had to be in class tonight, I decided to go to the new Michael's on a hunch (since the more I looked at the buttons I got from Jo-Ann's the less I liked them), and sure enough, they had the 3/8" versions of the pewter and copper scrapbooking charms, which are perfect.... I could care less about the small "letters" under the telephone numbers, since I pretty much have them memorized anyways (not to mention that there just isn't enough room on the 3/8" buttons).  I'm figuring on using "P" for the pound key and "S" for the star key, since the assortments of charms didn't have any sybols other than the ampersand.

Still trying to decide on whether the pewter or copper looks better with the brass faceplate, though.  Also need to get some good epoxy; I was thinking about using the super-heavy duty epoxy putty stuff they sell at Radio Shack that supposedly can permanently bond just about anything under the sun, but would like to know what you'd reccomend (I have little experience with gluing metal to plastic, sice I generally preferr to bolt things together for ease of repair/replacement).

Does anyone know about any CHEAP mech-switch keyboards?  I've been debating getting one for a while now, but I don't want to purchase a $90 or 100 keyboard when all I need is the controller board.

Well, considering that computer keyboards have been around for a good while, it should be possible to purchase a standardized virtually stand-alone keyboard controller IC chip.... That's how I was able to build a DTMF encoder for my 65-year old telephone in less than an afternoon; Finding the IC I needed took a bit longer, however, but I was able to do it.  Try doing a google search for "Keyboard Controller IC chips", but be prepared to wade through a mountain of crap to find what you're actually looking for, though.

Hahah cool....great minds tinker alike. Those will probably be perfect for you.
I wouldn't rule out dry transfer lettering entirely. They make that stuff as small as 6- and 8-point, maybe even smaller. You could probably even fit the "oper" on the 0 button.
If you make some blank keys out of a spare piece of copper or "pewter", I can send you a * and # in a similar size and font to the engraved lettering on the charms.

-~D~-

[Sir Ratchetspanner]

If you want something a bit unusual, and easier to use.. Try the dvorak layout. I used it for a few months, and it really was more comfortable.

[Hikaro Takayama]

Hahah cool....great minds tinker alike. Those will probably be perfect for you.
I wouldn't rule out dry transfer lettering entirely. They make that stuff as small as 6- and 8-point, maybe even smaller. You could probably even fit the "oper" on the 0 button.
If you make some blank keys out of a spare piece of copper or "pewter", I can send you a * and # in a similar size and font to the engraved lettering on the charms.

-~D~-

Don't worry: I just went with the Capital "S" for the Star (*) and "P" for the Pound (#) keys, which has the added benefit of making the bottom row look like it says S O P (Standard Operational Procedure), which is perfect, considering that it's a MILITARY phone in the first place.... Trust me, there is no room for the small leters on the "keys" since the primary number fills it from top to bottom, and I personally think they look better without.... I'll be posting pics soon (I accidentally had the star and pound keys reversed, which spelled out P O S, which was bad enough.... Fortunately, the glue won't fully set for about 24 hours, so I was able to pop the key tops off with a utility knife blade, and re-glued them in the correct place... gonna have to wait an hour or two before the glue sets enough to set it up for taking a picture and posting in my project thread).

[Datamancer]

haha POS.

That 'S' could also stand for "splat" (not making a crass POS joke....well kind of..... but, that's actually what they are known as in some circles)

Star/Asterisk/Splat Wiki

-~D~-

[LanaPowers]

I don't suppose you clever ladies and gentlemen could come up with a modification for a significantly smaller keyboard?

Say - this one?
http://z.about.com/d/cellphones/1/0/W/E/4/nokia-e70-g.jpg

It is a fair grand beast for a mini computational device, but whomsoever designed it was going for function and ignored form. (The predecessor, the Nokia 6800 had both form and function - http://www.mphone.co.uk/nokia/images/nokia_6800_open.jpg. Alas, it also had a design flaw resulting in the deep cracks that killed it once and for all.)

I can figure out how to modify everything except for the keys - especially since they light up.

Please let me know if I should put this post somewhere else, but most of the reason I love this phone is because of its QWERTY keyboard.

[Commissar Swoosh]

But I thought that steampunk was almost a Rube Goldberg machine which used many big bulky old pieces to come up with a somewhat futuristic result. Like a gigantic steam powered (go figure) boilerplate looking thing that had tubes all over the place and after 5 minutes and 9 pounds of burnt coal would produce a single piece of toasted bread. That seems like something that could be made to look cool but not steampunk since it is so modern looking and not easily changed.

[fewterer]

If you do another wood surface, a technique woodworkers use to simulate age, or just for texture effect, is to raise the grain. Best of all, it's easy. After you get it sanded smooth, but before finishing, wipe the wood down with a wet (but not drenched) sponge, then let dry. The wood swells, but not equally, causing the grain to stand out.

Those keyboards really are smashing.

Have you considered "setting back" the internals more, hiding the original button surfaces more? You could then make smaller holes in the surface plate, just big enough for the shafts on the backs of your custom keys. You might have to make the shafts longer though...

[LanaPowers]

But I thought that steampunk was almost a Rube Goldberg machine which used many big bulky old pieces to come up with a somewhat futuristic result. Like a gigantic steam powered (go figure) boilerplate looking thing that had tubes all over the place and after 5 minutes and 9 pounds of burnt coal would produce a single piece of toasted bread. That seems like something that could be made to look cool but not steampunk since it is so modern looking and not easily changed.

Steampunk is that - and a lot of things too. My idea was to do more of an arcane device, since my phone is a beast of the deep (I've named it Gojira for in size and capacity it is a beast). Also, if you are standing at the shore of the East river trying to call something out of the deep = a precarious situation at best, how much equipment do you want to be carrying if things go wrong?

I can figure out the external, either do a case out of leather, copper, or (my current favorite) make a mold out of the cheap premade case I found, and cast it in resin (The plastic keeps breaking - cheap modern material, but with filler I can preserve the shape enough for a mold.) None of this helps the keyboard.

Being an admirer (as are we all I think) of these wonderful keyboards, I was hoping to find a way to do a miniature version, hence the location of this post. Copper plates with sigils, bound by leather has tremendous appeal, as well as the parchment keys. I begin to believe the closest I shall get is Ms. Kowal's computational device technique- which is a most admirable and useful technique, but slicing out components this small is daunting.

Without being able to adapt Datamancer's excellent technique, the only other idea I can conjure is to employ a flexible skin of sorts stretched over the entire keyboard and then inked for position and location of symbols (A'la AoD Necrinomicon perhaps).  (Functionally I suppose it would be a grid in which arcane components are kept - black salt, wormwood,etc -, and then when you press upon the proper symbol it calls those components into play. Granted, it could all be sigils and nothing more, but that's cheating. Besides, why else would it be so big?)

I would be appreciative of anyone's ideas. In the meantime, I must visit a gentleman called Michael, who runs shops in which resin alchemy supplies can be found. And for some reason, aisles of artificial flowers...