The original motivation for this keyboard came from the desire to fit a keyboard with all my favorite keys into a 1170 Pelican Case because Cyberdecks are rad, and I still want to build one eventually. As I was exploring, I completely fell in love with this little layout that I dub the P52.
The P52 layout
My most comfortable keyboard layout is the 65%. I've moved on from TKL to save space, and the idea of making a layout that's as functional to me as the 65% but even more compact than 60% is quite appealing. I’ve self-imposed some constraints:
- Try to preserve as much of the original key locations and stagger as possible - especially the arrow keys. This should be an easy layout to switch from the 65% and back.
- Minimize width, but we're not aiming for 40% here. I want everything fairly reachable without having to create layers.
- Prioritize left mods over those on the right. I rarely use right mods.
- Trade off against the size of the mod keys. I'm hoping the locations will still feel natural despite the size reduction.
Admittedly, these decisions are very much a personal preference. This layout is highly unlikely to be popular - it introduces keycap sizes that are not common for their respective rows and legends, so getting keycaps for this beyond the uniform close to is probably impossible. I still think the compact size is attractive — a full keyboard with this layout (including the gap) would take exactly as much space as a TKL(!).
The prototype
It will probably take me a while to actually build a CyberDeck, but I wanted to try this layout out before I embark on a larger build journey. I’ve decided on a very simple hand-wired sandwich build.
I tried to design some flex into the plate, and had it cut from brass by sendcutsend.com. I also used brass for the base of the keyboard, giving it some weight and stability. The plate’s thickness is 1.5mm and the bottom is 3mm (1/8” and 1/16” respectively). Both of them came out great.
I used amoebas to make the hand-wiring part a little more pleasant. I’ve connected them using the off-cuts of diode legs, and wired the columns and rows to an Elite-C microcontroller. I used kbfirmware.com to help plan the wiring and generate the firmware. I also mill-maxed the amoebas because I’m a sucker for option value.
I used some cheap linear switches I had laying around, and started printing some case prototypes for fitting. The keycaps are from Signature Plastics’ pimpmykeyboard.com. There are quite a few unconventional caps that needed to be custom ordered in addition to the basic kits.
I used some threaded inserts and m2 screws to put everything together. Flashing the microcontroller took some trial and error but in the end, I had a functional keyboard I built (relatively) from scratch.
In closing
Even though I’m pretty sure this won’t be my daily driver — I much prefer the sculpted Cherry-like keycap profile, this was a fun first build project. I’m very excited to use both this layout in the aforementioned cyberdeck, as well as newly acquired skills in exploring some more layouts. 65% + numpad, anyone?