Are you eager to get your feet wet in the keyboard surf, but not quite ready to stand up and ride the waves of designing a full-size board? You should paddle out with a macro pad instead, and take on the foam face-first and lying down.

Luckily, you have a great instructor in [Robert Feranec]. In a series of hour-long videos, [Robert] guides you step by step through each part of the process, from drawing the schematic, to designing a PCB and enclosure, to actually putting the thing together and entering a new world of macros and knobs and enhanced productivity.

Naturally, the fewer keys and things you want, the easier it will be to build. But [Robert] is using the versatile Raspberry Pi 2040, which has plenty of I/O pins if you want to expand on his basic plan. Not ready to watch the videos? You can see the schematic and the 3D files on GitHub.

As [Robert] says, this is a great opportunity to learn many skills at once, while ending up with something terrifically useful that could potentially live on your desk from then on. And who knows where that could lead?

Holy Leather Work, Batman!

[Notxtwhiledrive] had long wanted to design a keyboard from scratch, but could never think of a compelling concept from which to get going. Then one day while doing some leather work, it dawned on him to design a portable keyboard much the same way as he would a wallet.

The result? A stunning keyboard wallet that can go anywhere and may outlast most of us. The Wallet42 is based on the FFKB layout by Fingerpunch. This hand-wired unibody split uses the Supermini nRF52840 microcontroller with ZMK firmware and rests inside 2 mm-thick chrome-tanned leather in chocolate and grey.

Switch-wise, it has Otemu low-profile reds wearing TPU keycaps. [Notxtwhiledrive] is thinking about making a hot swap version before open-sourcing everything and/or taking commissions. Even better, he apparently recorded video throughout the process and is planning to upload a  video about designing and building this beautiful board.

The Centerfold: Levels, the Prototype

At the risk of dating myself, this ’80s kid definitely appreciates the aesthetic of Levels, a new prototype by redditor [timbetimebe]. This is a centerfold because look at it, but also because there is like basically no detail at this time. But watch this space.

Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!

Historical Clackers: the Secor

When we last left Historical Clackers, we examined the Williams machine with its curious grasshopper-like type bars. If you’ll recall, the Williams Typewriter Company was acquired by Jerome Burgess Secor, a former superintendent of the Williams Typewriter Company.

Secor, an inventor in his own right, began working at Williams in 1899. By 1902, he was filing typewriter patents for frontstrike machines that looked nothing like the Williams grasshopper number. By the summer of 1910, Secor took over the failed company.

Though radically different, the Secor typewriters were not radically better than the Williams grasshopper. And though the typist could see more with the Secor, the only real hype surrounded the removable, interchangeable escapement.

The Secor Company produced about 7,000 machines between three models, one with a wide carriage. Between the impending war, competition, and alleged labor issues, the writing was on the wall for the Secor Company, and it folded in 1916.

But you shouldn’t feel sorry for Mr. Secor. His main wheelhouse was mechanical toy and sewing machine manufacture. He did well for himself in these realms, and those items are far more sought after by collectors than his typewriters, interestingly enough.

Finally, a Quick Guide to Cleaning That Awful Keyboard Of Yours

Oh, I’m pointing one finger back at myself, trust me. You should see this thing. I really should go at it with the compressor sometime soon. And I might even take all the steps outlined in this keyboard deep-cleaning guide by [Ben Smith].

[Ben] estimates that this exercise will take 30 minutes to an hour, but also talks about soaking the keycaps, so (in my experience) you can add several hours of drying time to that ballpark. Plan for that and have another keyboard to use.

Apparently he has two cats that sit directly on the keyboard at every opportunity. I’m not so lucky, so although there is definitely cat hair involved, it doesn’t blanket the switch plate or anything. But you should see [Ben]’s keyboard.

So basically, start by taking a picture of it so you can reassemble the keycaps later. He recommends looking up the key map online; I say just take a picture. You’re welcome. Then you should unplug the thing or power it down. Next up is removing the keycaps. This is where I would take it out to the garage and use the ol’ pancake compressor, or maybe just use the vacuum cleaner turned down low with the brushy attachment. But [Ben] uses canned air. Whatever you’ve got.

For any hangers-on, bust out an old toothbrush and go to town on those browns. This is as good a time as any to put your keycaps in a bowl with some warm water and a bit of dish soap.

My suggestion — if they’re super gross, put them in something with a lid so you can shake the whole concoction around and knock the dirt off with force.

After about half an hour, use a colander to strain and drain them while rinsing them off. Then let them get good and dry, and put your board back together.

Enjoy the feeling of non-oily keycaps and the sound of full thock now that the blanket of cat hair has been lifted. Rejoice!

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Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly.

Do you consider your keyboard to be a fragile thing? Meet the glass keyboard by [BranchNo9329], which even has a glass PCB. At least, I think the whole thing is glass.

There are so frustratingly few details that this might as well have been a centerfold, but I thought you all should see it just the same. What we do have are several pictures and a couple of really short videos, so dive in.

I can tell you that [BranchNo2939] chose a glass substrate mainly due to curiosity about its durability compared with FR4. And that the copper circuitry was applied with physical vapor deposition (PVD) technology.

Apparently one of [BranchNo2939]’s friends is researching the bonding of copper on to glass panels, so they thought they’d give a keyboard a go. Right now the thing is incomplete — apparently there’s going to be RGB. Because of course there’s going to be RGB.

erkbd Can Be yrkbd, Too

Erik + Keyboard = erkbd, and now [EarflapsOpen]’s wide split is open-source and now has a fully documented build guide on GitHub by special request.

Inspired mostly by the Corne and the Void Ergo S layout, this is a 44-key, hand-wired number that runs on a pair of Waveshare RP2040 Zeros programmed with QMK.

I really like the inclusion of OLEDs and rotary encoders, although I feel I would inadvertently turn them by accident. Maybe not. At the very least, they appear to be taller than the keys and might get in the way.

[EarflapsOpen] addresses this a bit at the bottom of the reddit thread, stating that they are not in the way when typing. But since they are kind of far from the home row, you have to move your entire hand to use them. Currently, [EarflapsOpen] uses them for scrolling, adjusting volume, video scrubbing, and so on.

The Centerfold: Battle Axes

So perhaps [delusionalreddit]’s setup is a bit of a departure from the regular centerfold material, but that’s okay. Just look at all those guitars! Yours truly is down to just six or so, and really ought to have them situated similarly around the laboratory. Maybe someday.

So there isn’t much detail here, especially about the peripherals, and I apologize for that. Please see the next paragraph. Almost no one sends me centerfolds! You know your keeb is sexy; now get it out there.

Do you rock a sweet set of peripherals on a screamin’ desk pad? Send me a picture along with your handle and all the gory details, and you could be featured here!

Historical Clackers: the Williams

When the people demand some new advancement in technology, the early response by manufacturers can sometimes be less than appealing, visually speaking.

This is not the case with the stunning Williams line of  typewriters, which were developed in response to heavy demand for visible typewriters — machines that let the typist see what was being typed without having to stop and do something first. Of course, you could only see a few lines at a time, and just by peering over the tippy-top of the machine, but this was revolutionary.

Form follows function in these lovely machines, which don’t seem to waste an inch of space on frivolity. To create visibility, the Williams typewriters had the platen situated in the center, between two sets of type bars that struck from the front and rear, kicking like grasshopper legs. The paper is first secured along the top and curled downward into the basket.

Don’t quite understand? Don’t blame you. Check out this short video, which demonstrates how to insert paper and type on a Williams Academy model.

Isn’t that cool? The earliest Williams models like the No. 1 pictured above became available in 1891. The keyboard was curved slightly, and the body featured Victorian-inspired filigree. Beginning in 1895, the No. 1 was manufactured with a straight keyboard. The No. 2 came out in 1897 and were nearly identical to the straight-keyboarded No. 1s, but they got an upgrade in the form of typebar alignment. No. 2s were also called Academy like the one in the video, or Englewood.

Inventor John Williams was quite the character and inventor, and was known to rub elbows with Alexander Graham Bell and Emile Berliner. He patented all kinds of things, from cigar cutters to one of the first helicopters in 1912. Unfortunately, the Williams Typewriter Company was fairly short-lived, as they were in litigation for patent infringement pretty much the whole time, until 1909. They were acquired by Jerome Burgess Secor, who would go on to produce a completely different typewriter. Stay tuned!

Finally, Another Use for All Those Melty Beads

So [humanplayer2] was having some fun last Saturday while his daughter played with those melty beads. After some trial and error, it seems we have a new viable switch plate material!

The trial and error was, of course, about finding out what inner bead configuration would result in the snuggest fit. As it turns out, a plain old open square holds them the best, followed by hand-cut-away corners, then full interiors.

For what it’s worth, [humanplayer2] was using Hama beads specifically, which is why the holes are almost all completely melted shut.

Keep in mind that not all melty beads are created equally, so your mileage may vary depending on what you’ve got. But it probably shouldn’t matter too-too much in this case, unless you use the ones that are supposed to be really terrible.

Be sure to check out the custom Hama bead game pad he made for her so she can play Paw Patrol in style.

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Got a hot tip that has like, anything to do with keyboards? Help me out by sending in a link or two. Don’t want all the Hackaday scribes to see it? Feel free to email me directly.

[Hope This Works] wants to someday build a tiny factory line in the garage, with the intent of producing some simple widget down the line. But what is a tiny factory without tiny conveyor belts? Not a very productive one, that’s for sure.

As you may have noticed, this is designed after the transporter belts from the game Factorio. [Hope This Works] ultimately wants something functional that’s small enough to fit in one hand and has that transporter belt aesthetic going. He also saw this as a way to level up his CAD skills from approximately 1, and as you’ll see in the comprehensive video after the break, that definitely happened.

And so [Hope This Works] started by designing the all-important sprockets. He found a little eight-toothed number on McMaster-Carr and used the drawing for reference. From there, he designed the rest of the parts around the sprockets, adding a base so that it can sit on the desk or be held in the hand.

For now, this proof-of-concept is hand-cranked. We especially love that [Hope This Works] included a square hole for the crank handle to stand in when not in use. Be sure to check out the design/build video after the break to see it in action.

How happy would you be to see Factorio come up in a job interview?

Thanks for the tip, [foamyguy]!