I printed and built three popular mechanical keyboard designs from thingiverse. While they look fantastic and I enjoyed putting them together, none quite make the cut as a replacement for my GMMK Pro. The SiCK-68 is a comfortable size, but I prefer something with a little more weight and I’m concerned that jostling the cord too much will damage the chip’s wiring.

All three were printed with the following settings on my Prusa Original Prusa i3 MK3S:

  • PrusaSlicer’s 0.15mm QUALITY @MK3 settings for hatchbox pla filament
  • 25% infill
  • 8 perimeters
  • 8 layers top and bottom
  • 5 mm brim
  • Support blockers to prevent supports from being generated where the dowels or screws go


SiCK-68

Pros

  • Looks rad! I love the hot pink with this retro design.
  • I’m a fan of 60% boards. It’s a great size for practical use.

Cons

  • While I loved learning how to wire a keyboard, I loved it less as I completed each row. I think I’ll stick to hot-swappable and PCB keyboards in the future.
  • I had to print and glue a small block to help stabilize the chip.

I tried many different variations of slicing the keycaps, but couldn’t get a successful print. I ended up printing a few of these instead. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:468651


TheUltiPad – Macropad with Rotary Encoder

Pros

  • That rotary knob is 🧑‍🍳😙🤌 (chef’s kiss).
  • I can detach and reattach the cable without having to take apart the case. I added a small 3d-printed block to the chip holder to help stabilize it.
  • I always need a micropad to pair with my laptop or my 75% keyboard.

Cons

  • It was nice to learn about resistors and calculating which Ohm you need, but, ugh…more wiring.


Redox rev.1

Pros

  • Soldering a PCB is far more fun than wiring a keyboard. 😀
  • The PCB gives the keyboard more weight than the others, which I like.

Cons

  • I tried taking a typing test with it and peaked at 7 words per minute. I’ve improved to 15 words per minute, but feel that switching to an ergo keyboard would be more work than I’m inclined to put into it.
  • It requires special keycaps, which I was unwilling to order. I used some I already had which may have contributed a little to my poor typing speed.

Other Notes

  • Originally I ordered a really cute coiled TRRS cable. But it turned out that I ordered a TRRS to TRS cable, which took me a really long time to figure out.