[IC] GMK HAD to Scandinavian (Euro?) Add-On Kit
Posted: 01 Jun 2016, 11:40
While this may not be relevant for the vast majority of users on this forum, I had an idea last night. In my opinion, the best Cherry-compatible keycaps out there are Cherry's own doubleshot (I have yet to try their dyesub PBT which I hear are even better); high quality, good looking and nice profile. However, while they are very nice to type on, this is an experience most Scandinavians are deprived of, since original Cherry keyboards in Swe/Fin, Den and Nor layouts are as rare as hen's teeth. Moreover, while GMK make keycaps using Cherry's old molds today, their high MOQ make Scandinavian (or any layout exept for US-ANSI and a minimal ISO adapter) compatibility unfeasible.
However, while there is a distinct lack of Scandinavian layout Cherry keyboards, there are plenty of German ISO ones out there and looking at the layouts, there is not a whole lot between them. This revelation made me think that German to Scandinavian adapter kits should be possible, enabling a Scandinavian layout keyboard with doubleshot keycaps for not a whole lot of cash.
So, I sat down and compared the different Scandinavian layouts with the German one and found that the following keys were lacking:
HAO (SE/FI):

HAM (DK):

HAN (NO):

Combining them yield a grand total of 20 keys:

(I took the liberty of color coding SE = R, DK = G and NO = B).
Color is of course debatable, but I'd say that the classic beige is by far the most common (come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a German Cherry in anything but Beige and Skidata), and we should thus go for beige. With GMKs usual price structure, I'd say this should (at 150 sets) be $25ish or so. Maybe some keys could be combined using e.g. front print (like for instance the <> one)? Give me suggestions!
I should add a disclaimer regarding the fact that I myself am an ANSI user and thus I had to look it all up and the set may or may not contain errors due to this and/or related to my sloppyness. Additionally, it should be noted that I have yet to reach out to GMK so I don't know for certain that they still have the molds for these caps. However, given that they have recently started to loosen up a little with regards to custom keycaps, i don't think this should be an issue. As a final note, I do not have limitless time on my hand, what with having a kid and all that so if anyone with more time on their hands would be willing to run the show, I'd be more than happy to hand things over! If not, this should be such a small GB that it should be manageable, even for a first timer, with a kid.
What do you guys think?
However, while there is a distinct lack of Scandinavian layout Cherry keyboards, there are plenty of German ISO ones out there and looking at the layouts, there is not a whole lot between them. This revelation made me think that German to Scandinavian adapter kits should be possible, enabling a Scandinavian layout keyboard with doubleshot keycaps for not a whole lot of cash.
So, I sat down and compared the different Scandinavian layouts with the German one and found that the following keys were lacking:
HAO (SE/FI):

HAM (DK):

HAN (NO):

Combining them yield a grand total of 20 keys:

(I took the liberty of color coding SE = R, DK = G and NO = B).
Color is of course debatable, but I'd say that the classic beige is by far the most common (come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a German Cherry in anything but Beige and Skidata), and we should thus go for beige. With GMKs usual price structure, I'd say this should (at 150 sets) be $25ish or so. Maybe some keys could be combined using e.g. front print (like for instance the <> one)? Give me suggestions!
I should add a disclaimer regarding the fact that I myself am an ANSI user and thus I had to look it all up and the set may or may not contain errors due to this and/or related to my sloppyness. Additionally, it should be noted that I have yet to reach out to GMK so I don't know for certain that they still have the molds for these caps. However, given that they have recently started to loosen up a little with regards to custom keycaps, i don't think this should be an issue. As a final note, I do not have limitless time on my hand, what with having a kid and all that so if anyone with more time on their hands would be willing to run the show, I'd be more than happy to hand things over! If not, this should be such a small GB that it should be manageable, even for a first timer, with a kid.
What do you guys think?