Sunday, August 14, 2016

Tiny Whale

The MinOrca

  • 40% handwired keyboard
  • Steel top plate 1.5mm
  • Formed metal bottom
  • Teensy 2.0
  • QMK firmware
  • Gateron blue switches
  • G20 keycaps
  • WS2812b LEDs 
Minorca kit purchased from Switchtop. The kit contained all the parts needed. Plate, bottom, screws, nuts, diodes, Teensy 2.0, stabilizers, wire. I had my own switches and keycaps. I also used my own wire, 30awg wirewrap wire.

I tried to follow the same wiring pattern and pinout that was used in the instructions, but they were inconsistent with the firmware samples provided. So I wired it the way I usually wire a 40%.

The formed metal bottom is made of a thinner sheet metal than the plate. About 1mm thick. It is still very sturdy. It is also much lower profile than the Planck formed bottom. The Teensy just barely fits.

The screws and nuts are tiny, and there are no spares provided.They are socket head so you will need a set of hex keys to tighten them.

Link to firmware https://github.com/di0ib/qmk_firmware/tree/master/keyboards/handwired/minorca RGB specific settings are in the rgb keymap.