Making a Custom Mechanical Keyboard
Delta One
Inspiration
A few years ago I got my first custom mechanical keyboard. A prebuilt from Kono called the whitefox. I thought it was the epitome of keyboard luxury. That illusion would’ve stayed true until the day that I spilled coffee all over it.
Then I began my research into a new keyboard, and I discovered r/mk. I was fascinated by the amount of design that could go into something I thought was simply a typing mechanism. I found my dream keyboard, but aftermarket the lowest price was over $2k. So I said, I’ll just make my own.
Isolation Gasket Mounted
The plate is mounted atop silicon + poron multi-layer gaskets reducing reverberation of typing on the plate to the case (and then further resonance within the aluminum chassis). Further testing will continue to be done to find the optimal material ratios and thickness for the aforementioned gaskets. Further testing will (once the first prototype arrives) occur to reduce in case resonance with sound channels and absorbing foams.
Design Inspiration
Designed to commemorate
one of Paul Dirac’s most momentous accomplishments to physics: the Dirac delta function. As seen on both sides of the keyboard weight, there are the two components that define the Dirac delta Function. The rest of the keyboard was meant to accentuate the quite minimalistic equation with the keyboard’s own minimalistic, yet utilitarian features. The Dirac delta function formalizes the idea of instantaneous events in the language of continuity, natura non facit saltus. It codifies the notion of idealism in the words of realism. The Dirac delta function entertains infinity.
Acknowledgments:
Massive thanks to the IRON165 by Smith and Rune which this was inspired
by. The Delta One has a very similar design language, but I hope that I
improved upon the elements that I believed would make the keyboard
better.
Big Thanks to Quantrik for this video, I could not have begun the design process without such an in-depth tutorial of how to design a keyboard.
Lastly thanks to ai03 for the universalized daughterboard standard which I could use to make the keyboard even better.
Prototype One
Design Changes
Lowered inside face of the bottom frame by 2 mm to leave room for sufficient flex. The previous design had a conflict with the bottom of pins and bottom frame.
Increased from height from 17mm to 17.5mm to allow for sufficient flex.
Added a chamfer on inner and outer edges for both aesthetics and comfort. Added increased outer fillet for aesthetics.
Delta ONE R2.
Renders
PCB v1
The First Prototype of the PCB is shown below (rendered in KiCAD). More information will be shared soon, once the prototype arrives.
PCB v2
Manually routed traces and reconfirmed pinouts. Attempted to balance aesthetics and physical traces design by minimizing used vias.
Created a hot-swap variant of the PCB. Also manually routed to maximize aesthetics.
More to come soon.
The second prototype is on the way, and thus much more information will be added ASAP.
This such includes, open-sourcing the current CAD files (as designed in FUSION360, however, a STEP may be provided). Along with full history (with images) of design changes (specifically for manufacturing) will be posted soon. This also will include the FEA done to qualify the plate for service and evening load scenarios.