I’ve been lurking here for a little while but figured it was time to introduce myself. I’ve been hanging out in the ai03 designer discord as s.nagy and I’m on reddit as visageofscott.
I’m Scott, and I’ve been getting progressively deeper into mechanical keyboards over the past year. I started with a generic Durgod TKL, then switched to orthos and splits with preonics, id/xd75s, a nyquist, as well as a few acrylic stacked staggered layouts and macropads.
Probably about 6 months ago I decided to start building my own keyboard. I’ve been using a POM sandwich split version of my keyboard, which I’ve named The Basis, for a few months now and I’ve just finished building the first polycarb monolithic version. I’m still working on the firmware for that version because I switched to an MCU that isn’t supported in QMK. I’ve started posting most of the photos of this board on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/\_tangent_space\_/
For my day job, I’m a software engineer for a big tech company in the Seattle area. I have a 2 year old daughter who wants me to build a version of my keyboard for her, and making a toddler-safe version of my board is next on my list.
I had some requirements for what I wanted when I began the project:
My functional requirements were:
Ortho
Dedicated keys for numbers and special characters like brackets, because I use them all the time while programming and don’t like switching back and forth between boards with layers (preonic, etc) and my laptop keyboards.
Non-1u peripheral keys. I liked the XD75’s layout flexibility but definitely missed the usability affordances of larger keys on the edge of the keyboard.
I wanted 3 axis of encoders to use with 3D authoring apps.
Originally I was planning it as a split but designed the PCB to use in either mode and decided to go with the monolithic version for my first CNC case.
Centered hand position when on the home row.
I also just wanted it to feel like a top tier keyboard - low vibration, tunable audio qualities, and a solid feel.
Aesthetically, I love the look of translucent plastic, and I wanted to use that. I wanted a seamless look and curves that felt inviting to touch, and wanted something that I would be happy to leave on my desk without feeling like it was adding visual noise. I was originally looking at a low profile look but iterated towards high profile after my first few renders.
