Hello! My name is Gord. My username is also Gord.
I currently have an off-the-shelf Ergodox EZ and K-Type but am looking to get a bit deeper into the keyboard build and customization scene. I’m currently working on two keyboard-related projects:
1: My first design/build!
The idea is to have a mostly-ortholinear layout that feels as close to ANSI as possible - I’m a fan of columnar layouts, and while there are plenty of keyboards out there providing that (Ergodox, Atreus, Planck, TypeMatrix, Maltron, Advantage, Dactyl all come to mind), I haven’t come across any that try to avoid freaking out users who aren’t looking to learn a new layout, form factor, function layers, etc. So I’m setting out to make a vanilla-as-possible TKL with a modified 60% section. (I should clarify that I’m no fan of ANSI personally, but a lot of people just aren’t willing to try anything else, and I think it would be nice if something existed to bring the magic of columns to those kinds of folk).
While I have a decent handle on electronics and the idea of hand-soldering a matrix doesn’t seem particularly intimidating, I have pretty much no idea what I’m doing, so I expect I’ll be asking a lot of questions around here.
2: Making a desktop keyswitch force gauge
I think it would be fun to be able to test switches (force-distance curves, click volume, actuation point, etc) at home, and as such I’m working on an Arduino-based project to tie various sensors together in a compact package and generate synchronous data. Although when I see the scale of the rigs traditionally involved in force sensing, I wonder if other people know something I don’t about the feasibility of this… 
I’m sure I’ll be posting more here as I proceed (or more likely get stuck) on both of these projects. This seems like a nice community and I’m looking forward to being a part of it!
