Thread: Custom Keyboards

While doing some research to get ideas for new props for our Halloween parties I ran across a website for some custom-made keyboards that definitely have a retro feel to them. The link is below:

Datamancer.net - Technical Art and Steampunk Contraptions

The keyboards and other peripherals he's making are works of art, and the prices he charges for them place them well out of my range, but I figure with the description how he created them I'm going to try to make one myself. I have access to aluminum stock and plenty of older keyboards to cannibalize. The biggest hurdle will be finding affordable typewriter key caps to use.

Considering we all appreciate non-standard shaving materials I figured I'd post the website so others could view these wonderful and functional pieces of art as well.

- Mark (S-4-C)

pretty sweet! i like the laptop......

I've come across that site before, and I quite like his work. Pricy though, very pricy.

I would get myself a Das Keyboard, but at the moment I have a Type Matrix and I've found I really prefer the grid-like arrangement of the keys as opposed to the normal staggared rows. I'm also torn between the extreme tactile response of boards like the Das and the scissor style keys on my current board (like a laptop keyboard). If Das went to a grid arrangement I'd definitely check one out though.

Those are pretty slick, but a few hundred $$ for a keyboard?? Guess I'd rather spend it on fountain pens, razors, fedoras and the like...

Originally Posted by oftenfacetious

pretty sweet! i like the laptop......

Yeah. Me too!

I like most of the keyboards too. "Das pricey" , though.
I wonder what the action feels like on those keys . Some of them look like you'd have the same action as playing a trumpet.

Originally Posted by New2CutThroats

Some of them look like you'd have the same action as playing a trumpet.

Now that would be sweet!

Originally Posted by New2CutThroats

I wonder what the action feels like on those keys . Some of them look like you'd have the same action as playing a trumpet.

I'm pretty sure I remember reading that they are just custom key caps on top of the normal mechanism, so they should feel just like whatever keyboard the skeleton is from.

Originally Posted by holli4pirating

I'm pretty sure I remember reading that they are just custom key caps on top of the normal mechanism, so they should feel just like whatever keyboard the skeleton is from.

You're right about that. He uses the old IBM "Clicky" keyboards for his builds, so If you're familiar with them you'd know about how they'd feel to use.

I'm planning to use a more current quiet-touch model on the one I build. I figure if I'm going to use it every day I don't want to deal with the extra racket of the key clicks if I can avoid it. The only problem with this plan is that I have to incorporate the top and bottom halves of the keyboard shell in the build since the keys on the newer models are attached to the top half rather than being secured on the lower half. Some creative dremel work will hopefully minimize the amount of plastic I have to keep.

It should make for some interesting trial and error situations as I work through the build.

- Mark (S-4-C)

Originally Posted by Strapped-4-Cache

You're right about that. He uses the old IBM "Clicky" keyboards for his builds, so If you're familiar with them you'd know about how they'd feel to use.

This means they'll break quickly like those IBM keyboards will. I wouldn't buy a thing from this guy unless he guarantees replacement if they break. ESPECIALLY for that kind of coin. I go through about a keyboard every year because of the time I spend on it. My current keyboard is a logitech G15 and that thing is going strong for over a year, but the "W" key is starting to lose is sensitivity. Maybe from all that running forward.

Damn I thought I was going to see a bunch of piano keyboards. Oh well