humanplayer2

Thanks :)

Yes, I do! I enjoyed a cardboard prototype before, and only just finished this. I really like it. The fit is great, and I like the sound. I gave it some small feet in the back (some 3mm foam tape) to lift it a bit from the table/deskmat, to get some more sound out - there’s zero space between the switches and bottom plate… And I like the sound.

Switching to the prototype, I switched to Colemak, too. I’m still learning that. So I’m by no means a fast typist on it yet. But I already know better where the keys are on Colemak than I did on QWERTY, and I think the symmetric, column-staggered layout helped a lot with that.

Edit: I put up my .svg files here, in case they might be useful.

Cool! I just did a full Inkscape+laser-cutting build using MDF and acrylic. I’m still to write something up about it, though. In short, I used a 1,5 mm acrylic bottom cover, on top of that 2x 3mm MDF as “case” (minimum height with a 1,5mm plate), the top one supporting the plate, but with larger holes so the switch clamps fit, a 1,5mm acrylic plate, and finally another MDF layer on top of the plate, outlining the keys, for aesthetics and rigidity.

After having set up the keys, I used mainly offsets around those to do the outline etc.

Nice! If you haven’t bumped into it, then the build log of the Steel Tormentor and it’s cardboard prototype have been really illuminating for me.

Edit: Also, an Inkscape trick: you can set it’s zoom using a real ruler placed on the screen so it can show you your drawing real size. Then you can test button placement without having to print.

Depends on what they want. Inkscape is perfectly fine for plate design, which you can then lift using standoffs, like the Steel Tormentor.

Aha, interesting! This opens up an entirely new category of things to look for in thrift stores, for me. It hadn’t occurred to me that electrical typewriters would be of relevance! Thanks for the learning!

What, and they just fit?!

Edit: It looks great!