I've finish the design for the key-label sheet and made a conceptual image of what the finished product should look like. UV highlight off UV highlight on
The mini keyboard has smaller key spacing than a normal keyboard and when it's finished it won't feel much different than it did with keys. It will however be far more sensitive to pressure since there's no interface between my fingers and the contacts. If I find it too difficult to hit certain keys I'll either cut a new spacer sheet, or make up my mind as to whether or not I want to make custom keys out of polycarbonate.
you could cut a sheet to stick on top which would form a ridge between the keys, think it might help. also, what are you doing with big keys, like the space-bar - you might have to touch in one of two small points...
That's just the thing. the space-bar is the only semi-big key on the whole keyboard. Luckily though the center contact for it is in the natural landing position of either of my thumbs. We'll all just have to wait and see what I come up with. Even I can't be 100% sure what the end product will look like.
No no, its not the pressing of the keys that i'm susicious of, its the ability to hit the right key all the time. with a totally smooth keyboard, i cant see how you would be able to find the keys with your fingers with out staring at your hands the entire time you're typing.
I can see how that would be a problem for a touch-typist, but I'm not much of one. I'm almost done constructing the keyboard and should soon be able to move onto the machining of the LCD lid.
If anyone wants something oggle at, here's the key label sheet that I'm having printed locally for $16 (it's a custom size and it's being laminated to add durability). http://www.captainslug.com/modding/7_keys-final.gif (238kb)
KraftUndStil But, I had to make the numbers myself since the font doesn't include them. The name of this project may be changed to STENDEC or E115 at some point. I'm going for a semi-retro sci-fi theme now.
Just completed final case modifications LATE last night. New pics up some time tonight. Then I'll get my workshop setup for machining the LCD lid. To which the parts showed up yesterday and it works very well.
As you can see below I went to great length to add more ventilation to this case. The side ventilation was completely hollowed out where the original drilled holes were and the inside is now protected by a clear molded thermoplastic mesh (only $1 a foot!). It keeps out dust and debri effectively, and the airflow percentage is a 25% improvement over the original hole pattern. Plus it just looks so sweet with the 14 RED LED lights hitting it. I also rounded the 44-pin laptop hard-drive cable by splitting and wrapping it. The case breaths so much better now. So well in fact that I no longer need a noisy 60mm intake. And here's the 5.6" LCD Accomplished in the past week + improved ventilation + cable wrapping to clean up cable management + customized case lighting (2 Red 7-LED light bars, Red HDD activity LED and Orange power LED) + wired LCD to Molex connection + shortened HSF unit height 7mm by removing fan bracket Upcoming next week + Finish setting up workshop in basement + DVD window paquard + LCD lid machinig To do later + Get finished LCD lid anodized black to match case. + Keyless keyboard (I might scrap this project since I need to get used to the folding keyboard anyways)
I'll have better pics next week after the LCD lid is done. My camera is uber-crap so I'll be using my sister's for the next round of shots.
Foibles Foibles Foibles. First my Bandsaw refuses to work so I waste 2 days fiddling with it. I gave up and the manufacturer accepted a refund order and had UPS pick it up from my house. I was torqued because I hadn't put any of my tools to good use in a while. This was my only cutting tool for quite awhile, an inversly mounted jigsaw bolted through a shelfboard. It works great for plunging cuts and it's how I cut both the arrow shape out of the side of the case, and the window above the DVD-ROM. I wanted to get something done so I setup my new Drillpress and proceeded to work on the key-face plate for the keyboard. I cut it to fit the keyboard and test-fit it to mark all the key-holes. Then I center-punched 88 marks and then proceeded to drill and counter-sink 88 holes. This took about 3 hours and when I was finished, it was gorgeous. Alas, NONE OF THE HOLES FIT MY FINGERS. Not enough clearance was available for my fingers to effectively press through the holes. I went back to the drill-press to fix the problem with a larger drill bit, but it ate into the countersunk edges and tore it up. Dismayed and annoyed I was cheered up a little by the arrival of my inky-dinky 4-inch table saw. It's so cute It looks like the violent younger brother of an EasyBake Oven. Tomorrow I'm heading to a Plastics Shop in Maryland to buy some scrap plastic at $2 per pound. This will give me the material I need to make the LCD lid and the new key-face for my keyboard.
that keyboard is looking good... you said you ruined it noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo well hope it works out for you
