Has anything ever happened in your life when you wanted something strange for a long time? It doesn’t matter what, because everyone has different tastes and preferences. My passion sat inside me for a long time, but one day it finally burst out. I like to do unusual things, and I've always liked modding as a means of self-expression. A few years ago, I became inspired by the products of modders from different countries and began to think about several projects of my own. In particular, I really wanted to make a stylized keyboard in the nineteenth century.

After studying the works of such famous modders as Filimon and Datamancer, I got to work. I want to say right away that although I am not complaining about a complete lack of imagination, I like to get a predictable result. Therefore, before taking up the instrument, I tried to model what I wanted to get in the end. Another feature of this project is that everything software, which I used in my work, is open and free: OS - Debian testing, software - Blender, LibreCAD, Inkscape.

Since my idea was to make the keyboard in wooden case, first of all, I needed to know the cross-sections of the wooden blanks that I would need. Having carefully measured the donor keyboard, I sat down to drawing and modeling.

Having drawn two-dimensional projections, I began modeling in 3D.

So, appearance The device has loomed and it’s time to translate it into wood and brass. Ash was chosen as the body material and oak veneer for the linings.

The final donor keyboard should be located between two veneered MDF plates. The key locations were carefully measured and, based on the data obtained, a drawing was drawn up in LibreCAD. According to it, holes will be cut in the MDF plate.

The green LEDs were removed and larger LEDs were soldered in their place, giving a warm, lamp-like glow. To make the LEDs look even warmer and more lamp-like, a brass trim was made for them.

According to the drawings, wooden blocks of the required sections were ordered, which were subsequently processed by hands holding the tool. According to the drawings.

By the way, the device was supposed to have a USB hub, the holes for which were immediately milled. A brass plate was also made for it.

The entire structure will be tightened with studs, but I absolutely did not want the nuts and ends of the studs to stick out from my piece, so I decided to make decorative brass plugs.

As for the keys themselves, I had the option of making them from buttons, but I decided that this was not true. Therefore, the round keys were machined from a brass rod, and the oblong ones were forged from a brass plate.

The space bar was made separately. It consists of three soldered blanks.

The keycaps were cut out of glossy black plastic. Letters and symbols are applied using laser engraving.

After all the preparatory work, the parts were carefully sanded, sanded, covered with several layers of stain and polished (also in several layers). After assembly, everything began to look something like this.

Additionally, a case was also made.

The dream has come true, but now there is an irresistible desire to raise the bar higher. There are a lot of ideas, and it’s also very interesting to challenge yourself. Wish me success.

I finally received a new keyboard Hexgears GK707. I am writing this note directly from it.

Review

The keyboard came in a simple cardboard box. Included in the kit: a keyboard, a device for removing switches, instructions and a plastic cover that can be used to cover the keyboard to prevent dust.

The keyboard has 87 keys, that is, there is no numpad here, which, however, allows you to save space on the desk.

Keycaps are made of double-molded ABS plastic; Matte on top, glossy on sides. Personally, I don’t like this solution - glossy plastic is associated with something old. Letters and symbols are made transparent and glow, but additional macro functions are engraved.

There are three LEDs above the arrows: Caps Lock, Scroll Lock and... I still don’t understand what the third one is for, it lights up all the time.

No, seriously, it's a numpad...

The backlight here is only white (although the instructions say about RGB), has many modes, and you can also change the brightness and speed of the effects.

One of the features of the keyboard is a removable cover. Without it, the keyboard turns into a skeleton.

In this model, there are three types of Kailh Box switches to choose from: red, brown and white. I chose brown because I was tired of the clicking.

One more feature of the keyboard in question should be noted - you can remove the switches. They are inserted into special sockets, so there is no need to solder anything. A white SMD LED is hidden behind the transparent switches.

The photo below shows the board from the reverse side. Coated with varnish from the factory.

And how can we manage without typing recording? This is what the keyboard sounds like out of the box:

Small upgrade

Well, now it's time to upgrade our keyboard a little. To do this, we will need the following things: cotton wool, a thin brush, silicone grease, a switch puller and screwdrivers.

Once inside, we see this picture:

There is too much empty space in which the sound from the keys wanders. Let it be absorbed by cotton wool!

Instead of an introduction

Many users are concerned about what their workspaces look like. And if a person is not indifferent to computer hardware, then he is also concerned about the appearance of his iron friend. I'm one of the lucky group of users whose cases have a clear side window. You can see the actual description of the case here.

In this article, I will look at several interesting ways that helped me decorate the appearance of my workplace, the computer itself, and also tell you how I preserved the beauty of the inner “world” of the computer case. Let's start with the workplace.

Part one. Workplace or the place where I spend a third of my life.

Maybe, of course, I spend not a third of my life at my computer desk, but I think that on average it’s no less, and maybe more (like all avid computer geeks;)). In this part I will consider just one point - wires. Connecting cables are an integral part of any computer.

In a primitive example, only a monitor, keyboard, and mouse are present. As a result, there are very few wires and they don’t really spoil the look. But these devices are not enough for advanced computer scientists. Let's add to this list: speakers, headphones, scanner, printer, joystick, cable to TV (or antenna cable for TV-tuner "a), all kinds of USB cables for connection external devices. We get a whole bunch of wires that not only impede movement system unit to another location, but they also terribly spoil the appearance of the workplace. This is what my workplace looks like.

(A place to work at a computer)

No need to look at the table :). Look under the table - beauty. The wires are not visible at all (that is, they are visible, but they are right behind the body). I used the design of my table and glued all the connecting wires with ordinary tape to the back of the vertical part of the table.

(All wires, so as not to spoil the view, are located strictly behind the body)

(The wires are held on top with tape)

Behind the bedside table I placed a splitter that powers the peripherals and hid the long wires that got in the way. The result is the following picture: the wires from the case rise up, stretch to the left to the bedside table (held on with tape), and there they are directed in all directions. Long wires hang right behind the nightstand. It's a pity that I didn't take photos before I laid the wires, but I'll be honest with you - nothing pretty. A pile of these wires simply spoils the pleasant impressions created by the case.

This is how, with the help of a simple and easily accessible material (adhesive tape), you can get rid of the terrible picture - a pile of wires. Now let's move on to the keyboard and mouse.

Part two. Mouse and keyboard mini-modding

I currently have a Genius NetScroll Superior Wireless mouse, and previously I used an A4 Tech WWW-11 mouse.

(Good old mouse)

This mouse is about 4 years old. So far it is working properly. At that time, the mouse was very cool - 4 buttons (excellent software - you can assign absolutely any function to each button) and 2 scrolls (for vertical and horizontal scrolling) coupled with a handy shape were just an atomic bomb for me and my friends. True, the price at that time (400 rubles) was the only barrier to purchase. Having strained and saved up for the mouse, my happiness knew no bounds. No one had such a mouse :). Even now, several friends tried to beg me for this mouse, but I won’t give it to anyone, because not only is the mouse super awesome, but I also modded it a little. It was a lyrical digression. Let's get down to business.

After reading articles about mouse modding, I really wanted to do something with my mouse. It was practical to install a fan, but the design did not allow this. After carefully studying the internal world of the mouse, I realized that the internal lighting would be very effective at night due to the small gaps between the buttons. No sooner said than done. Two super-bright LEDs (green and blue) were purchased. Having measured where my mouse had +5 and the ground, I soldered LEDs in parallel so that they would shine directly through those same gaps.

(Soldered LEDs)

The effect was gorgeous - at night the mouse glows very nicely, which adds some pretentiousness to a night session at the computer.

(Mouse in the darkness of the night)

Then I purchased a multimedia keyboard from Sven. It fell apart as soon as the warranty ran out. It's a shame, the software was good. I decided to take a keyboard that was more expensive and of better quality; the choice fell on the Genius KB-21e scroll. After the purchase, the idea immediately came to my mind - to illuminate the left and top “sockets” from the inside. But after opening the keyboard, it turned out that the top panel is overhead and there is no way to highlight it (except by drilling the keyboard body). And the left panel turned out to be transparent, and there was enough space to install two LEDs. This time I chose two blue ones. Similarly to the mouse, I soldered them to +5 and ground, assembled them, checked them - they work.

(And now the keyboard is in the darkness of the night)

The effect is even stronger than from a mouse. At night I just want to look at the keyboard :).
The workplace is decorated, it’s pleasant to sit at the computer at night. It's time to go directly to the heart of the computer - the case :).

Part three. A little about coolers

The side window of my building is transparent. This feature (like everything in this world) has positive and negative sides. Positive - you can admire the insides of the computer, the effect is enhanced by the presence of well-organized backlighting. Negative - it will be disgusting to admire the insides if there is a mountain of dust in the case.

My case came with a four-color fan on the side wall, as well as a blue neon lighting. I am also the proud owner of a GlacialTech Turbine 4500 cooler, which has two transparent fans (it’s a pity without backlighting). But here's the problem - they have labels of manufacturing companies on them. I don’t know about you, but personally I don’t like this picture at all. A transparent fan should not be partially transparent, but completely transparent. Otherwise it turns out to be pornography.

(Compare: one fan has already lost its sticker, but the other two have not yet)

But this point can be easily corrected - the stickers can be torn off. There is even a special “Mean for removing stickers” for this (the original has a slightly different name, but the meaning is clear). It is a spray (like air fresheners, mosquito repellents :)).
Here's a mini guide on how to get rid of the sticker:

We tear off the sticker itself and carefully scrape off the pieces

Take the above product in your hands and sprinkle a little onto the sticky surface

After 5-7 seconds, wipe with some napkin (preferably cotton)

Repeat steps 2), 3) until the stickiness goes away completely

I had to struggle with the GlacialTech fans, but the glowing cooler sticker came off easily. It was on a metal base, and the GlacialTech Carlsons had paper stickers. After spending a couple of minutes we have completely transparent fans.

(Now here's the full transparency effect)

Personally, I like it much better. Moreover, the glowing fan now looks much more impressive and illuminates a little better (the light reaches the floor). We've sorted out the coolers, it's time to move on to solving the resulting problem.

Part four. Dust control

Dust is the evil that spoils both the internal appearance of the computer and its components (for example, fans). In an opaque computer everything is simple. Once every three to four months I opened it, vacuumed it, and closed it. But with transparent everything is much more complicated. Even a small amount of dust catches the eye, let alone the mountains. Now let's imagine this situation. In my case, three fans work for intake and three for exhaust (plus a power supply fan for exhaust), add a processor cooler and the result is wild air flow inside the case. This, of course, has a very good effect on cooling. But we must not forget about the amount of dust that will end up in the case after some time with such an air flow. And this dust will remain there if you don’t remove it yourself. But as one good saying goes - “clean is not where they clean, but where they don’t litter,” it is better to take care that dust does not get into the case. All you need for this is a filter. But this is only at first glance an elementary matter. In reality, coming up with a good filter is very difficult.

With front fans it will be easy - the filter can be installed in any color and from any material, because... You still won’t see it behind the front panel. But with a side cooler it will be more difficult - no matter what you put the filter in, it will ruin the look. Therefore, to solve this problem, my good friend. After some discussion, the answer came naturally. The fact is that my friend’s case is very primitive and there is not even room in the front for an intake fan. He did this: he cut out rectangular holes in the plugs for one CD-Rom and one drive and glued a small metal grill on the inside. The work takes half an hour, but it kills three birds with one stone: outside air penetrates into the body, dust does not pass through, and the view is 100% (very reminiscent of a car radiator grille).

I decided to buy myself the same grille, but smaller. There was no such thing on the market, so I borrowed a small piece from a friend.

I don’t have metal scissors, so I decided to sacrifice simple scissors. But the scissors turned out to be extremely good: they cut the mesh confidently, although the sharp edges were damaged a little, but that’s okay, beauty requires sacrifice;) First of all, let’s deal with the side fan. We measure out the required dimensions.

(Apply a fan and leave 3-4 mm on each edge)

I cut out the desired piece and folded two opposite edges. I made cuts in four places to make it easier to bend the edges. It turns out to be a square like this.

(By folding the edges we get the grid square we need)

The last step left to prepare the filter is to make holes for mounting. To do this, I once again used the “All in One” folding equipment. By the way, it was a gift from my girlfriend on February 23rd :) When folded, it looks like a folding knife. It has everything, pliers, 2 screwdrivers, a wood knife, a bottle opener, and a few more retractable parts. The purpose of one of these was a mystery to me until I needed to make a hole, where this part came in handy :).

(With the help of my device, the grille got holes)

Now we put the filter on the side fan and screw it into place

(Fan with grill in place)

Now let's look at the result.

(Fan on)

I don’t know about you, but for me it’s very cool. Still, there is something mesmerizing in the combination of a fine mesh with a silver body and backlight. Let's move on to the front fans. I have them located horizontally at the bottom of the case. Measure the required piece of mesh and cut it out. I needed a rectangle measuring 18x10 cm.

(The piece fits just right)

Again we make holes for fastening. I decided to test in advance whether the screws fit into these holes. We try on the mesh and screw it into place. Although he looks beautiful, I won’t see him soon, because... the front panel will hide it from viewers. But there is always the opportunity to admire the side fan filter. Beauty, and that's all. Although no, there is also a benefit - dust will no longer penetrate into the case, but at least, coarse dust. As for the small ones, they are not so noticeable, and they will always get out of the case with the help of exhaust fans. After such work, it's time to move on to conclusions.

Conclusion and conclusions

In previous parts, I talked about how to improve the appearance of the workplace, keyboard and mouse, as well as the interior of the case. WITH minimal costs time and money, I achieved very important results:

Firstly, the huge number of wires does not spoil the appearance of my workplace.

Secondly, mini-modding of the keyboard and mouse creates some pleasant atmosphere when sitting at the computer at night.

Thirdly, I got rid of dust inside the case, and the transparent fans and mesh filter gave the case a fascinating look.

As a result, even avid computer scientists and modders are not ashamed to show off their workplace and the computer itself.

Lutovinov Maxim (aka. Kok)
26 /05.2005

I was given an interesting task again. Or rather, I slipped it to myself (yeah, yeah, my bad head doesn’t give my hands any rest!). In general, one of my clients, due to limited mobility, struggles with turning on or resetting the computer, the buttons of which are on the system unit, and the system unit is on the floor.

Once I was visiting him and said: “So let’s put these buttons directly on your keyboard, since you’re sitting at the table with it?” This is how Ideas with a capital “I” are born in our heads, which then turn the world upside down. As usual, a detailed photo report under the cut (as well as a small bonus).

The very idea of ​​the problem was simple to the point of impossibility: the problem was solved head-on - we take a button or toggle switch, screw it onto the keyboard, wire it from it to the system unit, where we put this wire on the standard “Power” contacts from motherboard. But we are not looking for easy ways: our task is not only to do it, but to do it carefully and with the possibility of “expanding” the design - say, if it is necessary to display some other buttons or indicators in a similar way.

At the joint council, it was decided to leave only one toggle switch on Power button: with a short switch you could turn the machine on or off, and a long switch could make it crash (and Reset was not needed). It was also decided to abandon Reset due to the fact that it can simply be pressed accidentally. And again, for the same reason, the choice was made in favor of the toggle switch.

The keyboard was Cherry with a built-in touchpad. For some reason it seemed to me that such a device should have had a USB port (implements the HID class and is seen as two devices: a mouse and a keyboard), but everything turned out to be simpler and more brutal: the tail from the keyboard branched into two PS/2 connectors for the keyboard and for the mouse. Inside, I was disappointed to see an old brownish scarf, which for some reason brought back in me nostalgic memories of 286 computers and when the “click” keyboard was chic (the buttons clicked so coolly when you pressed them). What also made me smile was the food supply in case of a nuclear war, which immediately quickly migrated to the vacuum cleaner.

So let's get down to business. First, we drill a hole and secure the toggle switch, using the mnemonic rule: to the right - on, to the left - off (what’s wrong with Usability?).

As a connecting cable, I used a soft (multi-core) twisted pair, which I found in time - a very convenient cable, as many as 4 pairs of wires (just pulls on Power, Reset, Power LED, HDD LED, gee)), gray (almost like standard tail from the keyboard) and soft. I decided to show off: I carefully drilled a hole exactly above the place where its standard tail comes out of the keyboard, and carefully let it through twisted pair and secured it with a zip tie, at the same time pushing it behind the switch: now you can tear it out only “with meat.” It also turned out that the keyboard cover, the switch and the cable made up one single whole: it can be removed separately, and there are no frail wiring trailing behind it.

I also left quite long unused ends in case I really needed to screw something to the keyboard. I secured them to the lid with hot glue, then filled everything else with hot glue and assembled the structure. On the second tail of the cable I soldered a standard BLS-2 system chip, which is used in the standard connection to the motherboard. The keyboard was dragged, stuck in and immediately tested. It worked as it did (didn’t break anything, hehe), and for some reason the toggle switch, after soldering and screwing it on, became even easier to switch, and after about 5 minutes the client got the hang of it and was happy.

Mouse with fur (promised bonus)

But this is the promised bonus. Once upon a time we were sitting with a dude (DJ Riff - a hellish tamer of Soviet speakers and translator of Thief) in the kitchen, and I said: “Why the hell are these plastic MICE anyway? Why the hell doesn't she have fur?! After all, it would be nice - you take it in your palm, stroke it on the back...”, to which the comrade said to me: “So what? I have a lot of fur over there! Let’s go glue!” And we stuck THIS on the mouse. It turned out really cool and cool. In the darkness it still glowed as if alive. The mouse is alive and still plowing - what will happen to it?..

DJ Riff's mouse with glued fur :)

Having finished modding the mouse, I decided to do something with the keyboard...
The simplest thing you can do is change the color of the indicators. I have heard and seen many times how the LEDs in the “Num Lock”, “Caps Lock” and “Scroll Lock” indicators are soldered, I have seen blue, red, and multi-colored versions. All this is interesting, but too simple, maybe. Any beginner can re-solder an LED.
I believe that modding should not only be beautiful, but also functional. After a few minutes of thinking and experimenting with a screwdriver, I remembered that the “Num Lock” indicator lights up when the additional keyboard is turned on, i.e. the part of the keyboard on which the numbers and the numlock itself are located. So why not light up this entire keyboard with a numlock indicator? I turned on the keys and they lit up. It turns out both convenient and beautiful.
All that remains is to figure out how to do it. There is not much space inside; a small LED can hardly fit. I took an SMD LED, soldered the wires and began to look for a place where it would give a lot of light, would not be visible and would not interfere. There were many places, but the best of them was at the top, right under the button:
It was very easy to attach the LEDs there: I soldered thin wires to them without insulation, drilled 2 holes (0.5 mm) in the keyboard cover and inserted the wires into them. I pulled the wires inside and secured them with tape. The LED was pressed tightly to the body with stretched wires, but for reliability I covered the holes from the wires with super glue. After waiting a little, I put the buttons back, turned the lid over and began to think about how to attach the wires inside.
The wires protruding from the cover should not “interfere” with the buttons or block the contacts underneath them, otherwise the keyboard will not last long. I didn’t invent anything and simply glued the wires with insulated tape to the lid so that they did not intersect anywhere, twisted the ends of the wires together so that both diodes were connected in parallel. Next, as in the mouse, thick wires were soldered to the thin wires, which I inserted in place of the “numlock” indicator.

I connected the keyboard, checked it - it lights up brightly and beautifully, all the buttons work and nothing is broken.
The hardest part remains - collecting it all. The soldered wires get in the way and prevent the lid from closing properly. I suffered for about 20 minutes, shortened the wires, but closed the lid and screwed it onto all 13 bolts. It seemed that you could forget about this horror and enjoy the craft, but no... There was a hole left in the place of the soldered LED and it is very noticeable. I quickly found a solution - I glued a small plastic ball from a toy gun to the inside of the lid. The top is indistinguishable from an LED, it just doesn’t light up.

Next in the plans:
Add a few more LEDs - 2 from below, and then according to the situation.
Make contacts on springs so that the cover can be removed and put back without fear of the wires.
Place 2 red LEDs under the "Esc" button.
Highlight "Caps Lock" in the same way as numlock - there will be even more benefits here, maybe. The capslock indicator often obscures the monitor.
Then you can highlight the space and the trinity “ctrl+alt+delete”.
What, other than laziness, prevents you from doing this: In order to increase the number of LEDs on the numlock, you need to add a transistor, maybe. The keyboard controller is not designed for such a load.
Capslock and Esc require red and green SMD LEDs, but I can’t find them yet.

In general, I hope that what is described above will interest at least someone and the work will continue. If you want to install more LEDs, keep in mind that the PS2 port may not be able to handle a load greater than 150-200mA and may need separate power. To connect additional power without additional wires, I came up with a small adapter... I'll tell you about it later.

Well, as it should be,
PS: I am not responsible for crooked hands and damaged equipment!
And one more thing: if you disassemble the keyboard you will lose the warranty!