Customized wireless mechanical keyboard

I needed a custom keyboard to match an antique radio project I am working on. This was the result.

andrew

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Description

I was working on a separate project that required a retro looking keyboard of some sort. I intend to eventually use this to control a home theater pc so wireless was a must. A 60% keyboard seemed to fit the size requirements and who doesn't love the feel of mechanical keyboards.

All of these requirements led me to the anne-pro keyboard. This keyboard fits all of the above requirements with some additional benefits. Being a typical mechanical keyboard, it has replaceable key caps which will help match the look and feel of the larger project.

I wanted to keep this a fairly quick and simple project since the larger project its going into already has plenty of complication. The mods I settled on are as follows:
- Custom walnut case to match the parent project
- Retro key caps
- wireless QI charging (makes for a cleaner case and will automatically charge when "docked")
- Battery level indicator (oddly, not included on the keyboard as it comes)

Details

This was just meant to be a pretty quick and straight forward build to add some features and give the keyboard a look that would match another project. Nearly all of the parts were sourced off of amazon and can be found by searching using the descriptions included in the parts list.

Components

1 × Qi charging receiver (amazon) Vilight Qi Wireless Charging Receiver Module Compatible with Samsung Galaxy Note 3
1 × Qi charging pad (amazon) CHOETECH Qi Certified T511 Qi Wireless Charger Pad with Anti-Slip Rubber for Qi-Enabled Devices - Black
1 × Black paint pen I used One4All black acrylic. It might not have been the best choice as it scratches easily but nothing should be touching the board to scratch it.
1 × Wire/solder
1 × LiPo battery level indicator (amazon) Icstation Lithium Battery Capacity Tester with LED Indicator for 1pcs 18650 18550 Li-ion Lipo Battery Cell

View all 11 components

Build Instructions

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1

hackaday.io fix build instruction sorting bug

I tried adding all of the build steps but due to a sorting bug they ended up in a random order. The bug is supposed to be corrected soon so hopefully I can try adding them again this weekend.
2

Unboxing
3

Replace key caps

There was no reason to replace the key caps at this stage and it just meant that I would need to take them off again but I was impatient to see how they looked. Note key puller that came with the anne to the right of the keyboard. No complaints about a free puller but, the wire loop ones are much nicer and I did end up buying one because when I tried to use the one in the picture on the new keys, it began to pull the silver rims off of the keys