Keyboard enthusiasts and known to be creative DIY-ers and for good reason. For me, and for most of us into mechanical keyboards, half of the enjoyment comes from putting together a keyboard from all the parts as much as using it afterwards. Experimenting with different mods, 3d-printing custom cases, and mixing up different switch parts are naturally a part of the hobby. After browsing some awesome keyboards to feature on our site, we stumbled upon this amazing build from u/MomonaBoy. He combined both a Planck and Preonic into this amazing battle station keyboard that I've never seen before.
Mega Ortholinear Keyboard
Through an ardous process, with this version being V3, u/MomonaBoy created something awesome by combining a Planck and Preonic ortholinear keyboard. They went through a whole process of research and prototyping to get to this amazing result as you can read below:
The more I gamed on PC and did my research with keyboards, I had a few ideas for a custom keyboard with the Preonic and Plank. You can see the first prototypes I did.
Then I cut some acrylic to build a sandwich style case to house both PCBs. The Plank PCB sits slightly higher so the cable can run underneath it. That was V1, but I knew I could make it even better. After using V1 for a long time, I started cutting the aluminum cases that came with the Preonic and Plank, took measurements and modeled a housing in fusion 360 to print.
V2 was amazing but way too bulky and plain, so I trimmed all the excess material off of V3 and added some cutouts and designs to spice things up.
Color me more than impressed and honestly love to see this level of creativity! We love ortholinear keyboards a lot and combining two of our favorite into this mega keyboard is great. If you're interested in these tiny and powerful keyboards check out the links below and some other articles and guides:
- Ultimate Guide to Ortholinear Keyboards
- The Best Portable Keyboard for Travel: 40% Ortholinear Keyboards
- Why You Should Switch to an Ortholinear Keyboard
- What to do after getting your first Ortholinear Keyboard
Planck
The latest version of the Planck keyboard supports hot swappable switches, LEDs, a small speaker and even rotary encoders. There are several offerings for baseplates: EOTW (easy on the wallet), hi-pro and low-pro. These keyboards usually come in as a kit with some light assembly required.
Buy on Drop
Preonic
The Preonic keyboard is the Planck's big brother with an extra row of keys for those really missing the number row or want more keys to customize. The newest version of the Preonic is almost identical the Planck in terms of features.
Buy on Amazon Buy on Drop
