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Most people are content to leave their keyboard on the desk where it belongs, but I have a unlike ready of requirements. I'm a writer who travels a fair bit, and laptop keyboards just don't cut it. I like to bring a nice mechanical keyboard with me when I expect to do any substantial amount of work, but not all keyboards are ideal for this. I have some that are too loud and others that are besides heavy (see: the M65-A). I decided a compact, tranquillity travel keyboard was in order, just none of the retail boards I could buy fit all my requirements. So, I congenital one.

A Smaller, More Powerful PCB

This project started with the Zeal60 PCB — the PCB, or printed circuit board, is the basis for most custom keyboard projects. If you don't have a PCB to connect your switches, then you have to hand-wire a controller. If yous're going for a standard layout, it'south vastly easier to use a PCB. Information technology's more durable, reliable, and just plain piece of cake. Since this board was going to ride around in my backpack, information technology needed to be solid.

The Zeal60 is so-named because it supports 60 percent keyboard layouts. That ways no dedicated keys for arrows, f-row, or the number pad. The smaller size makes this ideal for me as a travel board, only a lot of people use 60 percentage boards full-fourth dimension just because the layout tin be efficient with a few function layers — all those missing keys are all the same accessible with a press of your Fn button and your hands don't have to motion far.

One of the primary reasons I went with this PCB was the first-class firmware, which is known equally QMK. It's an open source keyboard firmware with some of the most advanced features available. In addition to getting all those "missing" keys configured on the function layer, the Zeal60 tin control the mouse cursor, media playback, and more. After the lath has been programmed, it works exactly the same no matter which figurer yous plug it into. Compare that with near mainstream boards with customizable features, which demand desktop software to piece of work correctly.

The Zeal60 is a fleck more than expensive than well-nigh 60 percent PCBs because it has per-switch RGB lighting. The LEDs are SMD components that are already on the PCB out of the box. That ways no added complications when building the board, just not all switches play nicely with SMD LEDs. Luckily, I got my hands on some cool switches that do.

Switches, case, and caps

Input Society, the makers of the WhiteFox keyboard, take designed some new tactile switches chosen the Hako Clear and Hako True. 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. Second, they take little wobble, making them more than sturdy for travel. Finally, they're designed to be quieter past discouraging "bottom out" typing.

Hako True on the left and Articulate on the right.

When typing on a mechanical keyboard, much of the dissonance from non-clicky switches comes from the bottom-out — when yous press the switch all the fashion down. Hako switches have a large infinite between the actuation force (where the switch triggers) and bottom-out force. This gives yous a adventure to release the key and motility on. Not only is that quieter, it's faster. The Hako True is a slightly heavier switch than I prefer, and then I went with the Hako Clear. It actuates at 55g and bottoms-out at 79g, just a bit lighter than Cherry-red MX Clears.

The hako switches are based on Kailh's "BOX" design, making them IP56 water and grit-resistant. Practically, that'due south non of much apply. If a keyboard gets wet, I have bigger problems than the switches. What I like about the BOX-way slider is that it's stable. MX-manner switches take more wobble that can atomic number 82 to harm equally the board bounces around in a backpack.

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

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

The case was the last slice of the puzzle. At that place are some gorgeous high-profile aluminum cases, but these things are heavy. For a travel lath, that'south just not applied. I ended up using an aluminum and acrylic sandwich case from Sentraq. The peak and lesser are aluminum, and the top doubles as the switch plate. The acrylic spacer keeps the unabridged thing lite, and it also lets the light from the LEDs bleed out a bit.

Building and programming

The process of edifice this board was like 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, non all the LEDs piece of work. You need to bridge some jumpers on the PCB to tell the lath which switch locations you intend to employ.

Bridging jumpers.

Having gotten reasonably comfy with soldering over the terminal few years, the jumpers weren't likewise intimidating. However, they're small and might be a challenge for first-fourth dimension builders. You have to go a dewdrop of solder on each of the adjacent pads, and so bridge them with a fleck more than solder.

Adjacent, I had to ostend my layout and plug the switches into the top plate. Checking spacing with keycaps was vital here as a switch in the wrong place could forestall the caps from plumbing fixtures. With the switch locations confirmed, I attached the screw-in Scarlet stabilizers to the PCB. Forgetting the stabs is ane of the most common mistakes people make when building keyboards, and it's also 1 of the most abrasive. To get the stabilizers in, you have to completely desolder the keyboard. You don't desire to do that.

Soldering.

Soldering the switches here is the aforementioned as any other lath. Each one has two solder points; the pins that go through the PCB. In that location are 62 switches in my layout, and so that's 124 solder points total. All the lighting is handled by the SMD parts, and there aren't even the necessary holes in the PCB for in-switch LEDs. Before I assembled the example, I wanted to see how the lights worked with the Hako switches. They look not bad.

While I like the power afforded past QMK, programming the Zeal60 isn't the easiest process. First, y'all have to flash the updated firmware, as well as another file to enable QMK'southward mouse keys. ZealPC provides these files, also as the batch files needed to change the keymap. Y'all 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 you want to add arrows on your part layer, y'all assign keys with KC_UP, KC_DOWN, then on.

A snippet of the batch file keymap.

You also need to alter the variables at the top of the batch to tell the board which layout quirks you want to use. I accept a split up right shift on my lath (shift and Fn2), so I needed change a "0" to a "one" on that line for the batch file. When executing the file, everything should just work.

Conclusion

The finished lath hits all the right points. Information technology'southward light, quiet, and seems like it'll exist able to survive some trips crammed into my backpack. I've used 60 percentage boards earlier, and so the adjustment hasn't been likewise rough. I have Fn layer mouse keys on WASD and arrows on JIKL, so I can control my reckoner almost completely without moving my hands more than a few keys. This comes in handy because I don't ever take infinite to set up a mouse when I'm mobile.

As for the Hako switches, I think these are a bit of an acquired gustatory modality. They're tactile switches, meaning at that place's a tactile crash-land but not an audible click. The bump is college and smoother than a lot of other switches, and and then there's a long ramp up in strength. It gives the board a springy experience, only I have been able to successfully keep from bottoming out the keys. Then yeah, it'south quieter and faster than some of my other boards. The grippy texture of the PBT keycaps is cracking, besides.

The fancy LED furnishings are fun to play with, only I'yard probably going to continue those off almost of the time in public. That was by and large simply and so I could test out the Hako switches' SMD support.

With LEDs on full.

I'm overall happy with the event of this project. I hope this board will see me through many time to come business trips.

Check out more of Ryan'south mechanical keyboard builds, likewise as How to Choose the Right Mechanical Keyboard.