Building a Compact, Powerful Mechanical Keyboard for Travel

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Virtually people are content to leave their keyboard on the desk where it belongs, but I accept a different prepare of requirements. I'm a writer who travels a fair bit, and laptop keyboards merely don't cutting information technology. I like to bring a nice mechanical keyboard with me when I look to do any substantial amount of piece of work, only not all keyboards are ideal for this. I accept some that are too loud and others that are too heavy (run across: the M65-A). I decided a compact, quiet travel keyboard was in order, but none of the retail boards I could purchase fit all my requirements. And then, I built ane.

A Smaller, More Powerful PCB

This project started with the Zeal60 PCB — the PCB, or printed excursion board, is the basis for nigh custom keyboard projects. If you don't have a PCB to connect your switches, and so y'all have to hand-wire a controller. If yous're going for a standard layout, it's vastly easier to apply a PCB. It'south more durable, reliable, and just patently easy. Since this lath was going to ride around in my backpack, it needed to be solid.

The Zeal60 is and so-named because it supports 60 percent keyboard layouts. That means no defended keys for arrows, f-row, or the number pad. The smaller size makes this ideal for me as a travel board, but a lot of people employ 60 percentage boards full-time simply because the layout can be efficient with a few function layers — all those missing keys are withal accessible with a press of your Fn button and your hands don't have to move far.

One of the primary reasons I went with this PCB was the excellent firmware, which is known as QMK. It's an open source keyboard firmware with some of the most advanced features available. In improver to getting all those "missing" keys configured on the function layer, the Zeal60 can control the mouse cursor, media playback, and more than. Later the board has been programmed, information technology works exactly the same no matter which calculator you plug it into. Compare that with most mainstream boards with customizable features, which need desktop software to work correctly.

The Zeal60 is a chip more expensive than most 60 percentage PCBs because it has per-switch RGB lighting. The LEDs are SMD components that are already on the PCB out of the box. That means no added complications when building the board, simply not all switches play nicely with SMD LEDs. Luckily, I got my hands on some cool switches that practise.

Switches, example, and caps

Input Club, the makers of the WhiteFox keyboard, have designed some new tactile switches called the Hako Clear and Hako Truthful. I got a batch of pre-release switches to try for this build because they fit several of my criteria. Offset, they support SMD LEDs via a light aqueduct in the switch. 2nd, they have fiddling wobble, making them more than sturdy for travel. Finally, they're designed to be quieter by discouraging "bottom out" typing.

Hako True on the left and Articulate on the correct.

When typing on a mechanical keyboard, much of the noise from non-clicky switches comes from the bottom-out — when y'all press the switch all the way downwardly. Hako switches have a large space betwixt the actuation forcefulness (where the switch triggers) and bottom-out force. This gives you lot a chance to release the key and move on. Not simply is that quieter, it'south faster. The Hako True is a slightly heavier switch than I prefer, so I went with the Hako Articulate. It actuates at 55g and bottoms-out at 79g, only a fleck lighter than Crimson MX Clears.

The hako switches are based on Kailh'southward "BOX" design, making them IP56 water and dust-resistant. Practically, that'due south not of much use. If a keyboard gets wet, I take bigger problems than the switches. What I like about the BOX-manner slider is that information technology'southward stable. MX-way switches accept more than wobble that can pb to damage as the board bounces around in a haversack.

A Hako switch compared to a traditional Cherry switch (left).

For keycaps, I knew I wanted something low-profile and durable. A fix called XDA Canvas that I ordered final year before production had started was the perfect fit. XDA Canvas was created by noted keyset designer MiTo with a custom font and an optional Bahaus accent color pack. That'due south what I take on the board in all the photos. The XDA profile is flat and unsculpted, and it'southward made of harder PBT plastic. ABS keycaps allow for more colour combinations, but it also scratches and cracks more easily.

The case was the concluding piece of the puzzle. There are some gorgeous loftier-profile aluminum cases, just these things are heavy. For a travel board, that'south only non practical. I ended upward using an aluminum and acrylic sandwich case from Sentraq. The top and bottom are aluminum, and the summit doubles as the switch plate. The acrylic spacer keeps the unabridged thing calorie-free, and information technology also lets the lite from the LEDs bleed out a bit.

Building and programming

The process of building this board was similar to my other projects, but in that location were some interesting differences. Because the Zeal60 supports multiple layouts with RGB LEDs for each switch, it has a number of redundant SMD components. Out of the box, not all the LEDs work. You need to bridge some jumpers on the PCB to tell the board which switch locations you lot intend to apply.

Bridging jumpers.

Having gotten reasonably comfortable with soldering over the last few years, the jumpers weren't too intimidating. However, they're minor and might be a challenge for first-time builders. Y'all have to become a bead of solder on each of the adjacent pads, and then span them with a bit more solder.

Next, I had to confirm my layout and plug the switches into the pinnacle plate. Checking spacing with keycaps was vital here as a switch in the incorrect identify could prevent the caps from fitting. With the switch locations confirmed, I fastened the screw-in Cherry stabilizers to the PCB. Forgetting the stabs is ane of the near common mistakes people make when building keyboards, and it's besides one of the near abrasive. To go the stabilizers in, you have to completely desolder the keyboard. Y'all don't want to do that.

Soldering.

Soldering the switches hither is the same as whatsoever other lath. Each i has two solder points; the pins that become through the PCB. There are 62 switches in my layout, so that's 124 solder points total. All the lighting is handled past the SMD parts, and there aren't even the necessary holes in the PCB for in-switch LEDs. Before I assembled the case, I wanted to run across how the lights worked with the Hako switches. They look keen.

While I like the power afforded by QMK, programming the Zeal60 isn't the easiest process. Showtime, you have to flash the updated firmware, as well as another file to enable QMK's mouse keys. ZealPC provides these files, likewise equally the batch files needed to alter the keymap. You lot have to edit the keycode matrices in the batch file to change your keymap, and that means looking up all the function codes in the QMK wiki. For example, if yous want to add arrows on your function layer, y'all assign keys with KC_UP, KC_DOWN, and so on.

A snippet of the batch file keymap.

You also need to modify the variables at the elevation of the batch to tell the board which layout quirks you lot want to apply. I take a carve up correct shift on my lath (shift and Fn2), so I needed modify a "0" to a "1" on that line for the batch file. When executing the file, everything should just work.

Conclusion

The finished board hits all the right points. It's light, quiet, and seems like it'll be able to survive some trips crammed into my backpack. I've used 60 percent boards before, so the adjustment hasn't been too rough. I take Fn layer mouse keys on WASD and arrows on JIKL, then I can control my computer well-nigh completely without moving my easily more than a few keys. This comes in handy because I don't always have space to fix a mouse when I'thou mobile.

As for the Hako switches, I think these are a bit of an acquired taste. They're tactile switches, meaning there's a tactile crash-land but not an audible click. The crash-land is higher and smoother than a lot of other switches, and so at that place's a long ramp up in force. It gives the lath a springy feel, but I have been able to successfully keep from bottoming out the keys. So yeah, it'southward quieter and faster than some of my other boards. The grippy texture of the PBT keycaps is great, too.

The fancy LED effects are fun to play with, but I'chiliad probably going to keep those off most of the fourth dimension in public. That was generally just so I could exam out the Hako switches' SMD back up.