May 27, 2023
Description
I love my Kinesis split keyboard, but the accessories are… pretty expensive. So I took a shot at making my own.
The wrist rest snaps into the existing holes and bits on the keyboard. This is shaped to fit the Kinesis Freestyle Pro, but may also fit other Kinesis keyboards.
The tenting risers are designed to act as legs to hold the middle of the keyboard up higher, for a more ergonomic position. They are made of a Base piece (which is glued or double-sided-taped) to the bottom of the keyboard, and removable legs, which come in various lengths/angles. With the legs removed, the keyboard lies ALMOST flat, and is much more compact for moving/storing.
There are leg models for 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 degrees. I personally use 30, and it feels pretty good. Higher angles would probably require a different design, for stability.
You will need two copies of the wrist rest. REMEMBER TO MIRROR THE SECOND ONE.
You will need 4 Riser bases, and 4 riser legs of the chosen angle. You don't need to worry about mirroring these.
PLA works just fine. I haven't had any breakage issues.
Optimized for 0.2mm layer heights and 04.mm nozzle, but you should be able to print it with just about anything.
Wrist Rests should be flat on the bed, with the tab down. They will need some support for the posts that fit into the keyboard. DON'T FORGET TO MIRROR THE SECOND COPY.
Riser Bases should be placed with the large flat side down.
Riser Legs should be printed on their sides, with the little notch on top (this prevents the need for support on the overhang). If you have bed adhesion problems, a brim would probably be useful for the riser legs (since the contact area is a bit narrow).
No other support, rafts, or brims should be needed.
I used 4 perimeters at 0.5mm extrusion width for all of these parts, and didn't have any issues.
The wrist rest should snap into the holes and tabs of the keyboard pretty snuggly. Still, I found it useful to put a few dabs of hot glue around the edge to get it to stay, especially when using the riser legs.
The wrist rests should work just fine on their own, but they're more comfortable if you tape/glue a bit of foam on the tops. I used yoga mat, but you do you.
You will need to use glue or very strong double-sided tape to attach the riser bases to the bottom of the keyboard. I would suggest spacing them out as much as possible along the inner edge. If you are using the wrist rests, you should place the bottom leg onto the the wrist rest, rather than the bottom edge of the keyboard (since that's where most of the weight from your hand will be resting). For best gluing results, rough up or score the bottom surface of the base. Hot glue or proper double-sided tape are good “removable" solutions if you don't want to commit, but CA glue or epoxy will definitely work. Make sure you align the bases parallel to the inner edge of the keyboard, or the legs won't be straight.
The narrower end of the legs should be a gentle press-fit into the bases. If they are too loose, a very thin layer of duct tape/electrical tape/hot glue should give it a snug fit. I took the rubber feet off the inner edges of the keyboard and glued them to the bottom of the feet, to prevent slipping.
v1 - Initial version
v2
I'm more than happy to consider any recommendations or variation requests.
License:
Creative Commons — Attribution — Noncommercial — Share Alike
zimboptoo
