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I usually use boards with numpads, but my TKL’ish handwire with Box Navies has just sort of stayed on my desk. After another project fizzled, I figured I’d go back to basics and make something quick I’d been putting off. This numpad went from design to fabrication in just a couple of days. Another Masonite hardboard laser-cut project, but there was a can of indoor/outdoor textured spray paint in the garage, and it came out way nicer than I had any right to expect. Dug out most of the numpad keys from the same VSA set currently on my board, as well as the last three blank red DSA keycaps. The numpad came in within 1mm of the oak and aluminum keyboard’s height, which is nice. Switches are Gateron KS-3 blue, so a pretty garden variety clicky, but smoother than average. KMK running on an AliExpress RP2040 board.
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Masonite works great for painting! It’s used in a ton of furniture and interior doors partly because of this. You can also stain or use polyurethane on it (with the exception of really low quality Masonite) if you like the raw look.
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I got this PC Molly in the mail recently from TKC and it’s pretty nifty. A great deal as well, at something like $230 built with Silent Penguin switches and a decent set of Akko Starry Night keycaps in OSA profile that are smoother than GMK CYL but more matte than SA profile caps from Signature Plastics. A nice profile. I believe this keyboard was around $400 when it was first in a group buy and I didn’t really feel like trying it out then.
There are a few strange things about this build.
The keycap set includes some very questionable iconography choices that I’m going to chalk up to Akko being a company just trying to grab icons for an audience of young people. That’s not on TKC, though I really would second guess anyone who uses those caps and is old enough to know better.
This one is on The Key Company, however. I was surprised to note tonight there are no indicator lights installed on the keyboard. Weird thing to leave to the customer on a pre-built and I’m not sure what the disassembly would look like to install them. None were included in the box.
The design of the board makes bottoming out pretty loud, despite the “silent” switches. Even when I remove the keycap the switches themselves are pretty noisy on return. There is a piece of foam loose in the box that could quiet it down if it had been installed, but this being a solder board I’d likely have to desolder the entire thing to do it.
The feel of the switches is pretty nice, however.
One thing about the build is that you don’t get any documentation of what was used in it. I have no idea what stabilizers were used, for example. Unfortunately I also didn’t think to get archive.org to grab a copy of the page before it was changed the next week.
Overall I am still glad for the board, it will probably go with an old 2010 iMac I got at a garage sale a few months ago and it sits well next to the original design.
4 Likes
Other than the Discord post about it, I can’t find any trace of the pre-built M0lly either. Found the PC B-Stock and the product guide but neither will help you out on the fully built version part list. Have you tried reaching out to TKC? I’m sure they’d be happy to let you know what they used in the pre-built boards.
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I’ll second reaching out to TKC, they’re nice folks - I’m sure if they have the LEDs and/or light pipes that are supposed to go there they’d be glad to send them to you.
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Finally got some time and sent them an email! Thanks @Deadeye and @ListlessLlama
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Finally put up a gallery all 9 of my handwires from the past year. If nothing else, I think I’ve brought a dogged and slightly stupid determination to the practice. I might have one more in me before I finally dive into learning some basic PCB design. I just sort of don’t need any more damn keyboards, LOL. 
8 Likes
Novelkeys Clearance Sale Build - bought these parts during one of NK’s deep cut sales. I rarely use a TKL so this will likely be gifted at some point, but I am enjoying looking at it greatly 
Might keep the keycaps since they are SP and NK will never run these again as they were very unpopular.
DSS Easter is a stunner in person. It has slightly off kitting. If you choose Tsangan you end up with three control keys. The colors of the keycap set are very vibrant and the texture is downright luxurious feeling.
The NK TKL Lite is Tsangan bottom row, but the rest of the board is ANSI.
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Ouuu the texturing on those keycaps look like they would feel nice.
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Here is an instagram post with some additional photos of my two 60% cases from Null Design Co.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6cLPCIvyNv/
She is currently selling a few extras and has started a preorder for 65% cases. The last group buy was pretty quick and headache free.
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1999 IBM Space Saver Keyboard w/ TrackPoint II (P/N 84G2524)
- Model M4-1 keyboard
- 83-key US English ANSI-like layout
- IBM buckling sleeve tactile key-switches
- Pad-printed PBT keycaps
- Made by Unicomp in the USA
- The Model M4-1 was IBM’s first desktop TrackPoint keyboard when introduced in 1992
2011 IBM MANPOS Keyboard (P/N 93Y1223)
- Model “M9-e” Modular POS series keyboard
- 117-key UK ISO layout
- IBM buckling sleeve tactile key-switches :sleeve:
- Lasered/filled PBT keycaps
- Made by XSZ for IBM
- MANPOS stands for Modular Alphanumeric Point of Sale
- The “modular” refers to the fact features such as its card reader and pointing module are removable
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Those flat keys are wild. It may just be the shadows, but it looks like there are bars underneath them as well. Surely that can’t be?
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We’ll need @SharktasticA to confirm, but if we’re starting a betting pool, I think it’s the way the light is playing with the stems in that big-ass keywell.
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I agree. I think it’s just an interesting optical illusion because there is a gap between the keys and we’re seeing a repeating reflection on the steel (?) plate underneath the caps.
Zoomed out, it definitely looked like intersecting pipes under the flat keys, something like this:
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I’m impressed with all the blank keycaps used as spacers.
It’s just lighting/shadows. It’s pretty much all flat under the keycaps.
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They’re all supposed to have transparent keytops for relegendables (like on this IBM RANPOS below) but that keyboard is just missing them.
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Thanks for the clarification.
Thanks for sharing these. What’s the lock on the top right used for? 
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