I made a mechanical keyboard with 3d-printed switches
Fri 7 August 2020
The keyboard is done! This is basically the result of what I've been working on for the past 2 months, which has
involved 3 iterations of testing machines, over 100 printed switches, and now finally a keyboard that I can type on.
Unfortunately it is not a very good keyboard, but you can't win them all. Read more
Another new switch tester, test results, and thoughts on the keyboard design
Wed 15 July 2020
Just an update on the keyboard switch project. I've built the new 10-way testing machine, ran a (somewhat inconclusive) test to work out the best
thickness for the leaf springs, and thought a bit on how I'm going to design the actual keyboard. Read more
I made a macro keypad with 3d-printed switches
Mon 6 July 2020
Latest on the 3d-printed keyboard switch project: I've reached a switch design that I think is probably reliable enough,
and I've put 3 of them together to form a macro keypad just to see how it all goes together before I commit to a
full keyboard. I don't have a number for how many presses the switch lasts, other than to say that
the motor on the testing machine stopped working before the switch did (after about 250,000 presses). Read more
Keyboard switch progress & test results
Thu 25 June 2020
Status on the 3d-printable keyboard switch is that the latest test managed 110,000 presses
before failure, on the spinning cam tester. Read more
A better automatic keyboard switch tester
Sat 20 June 2020
Since breaking the last switch, I re-printed the same design in PETG
to see if it would last any longer, and it did! It reached over 100,000 presses under the gentle testing regime without
showing any failures, a big improvement over failing at 13,907. Read more
I broke my first 3D-printed keyboard switch
Tue 16 June 2020
Overnight I did my first test of a homemade keyboard switch on the automatic tester.
The spring in the switch broke after 13907 presses. That makes Martin our
competition winner, with a guess of 10000. Read more
Automatic keyboard switch tester
Sun 14 June 2020
I'm working on designing an open source 3D-printable keyboard switch at the moment,
with a view to eventually making my own mechanical keyboard using minimal off-the-shelf
components (just an Arduino, wire, and diodes, with homemade parts for switches, keycaps, and case). I have not
made a keyboard yet, but yesterday I made a device to test how many presses a switch can withstand
before it stops working. Read more