Over the past few years, I've dabbled with mechanical keyboards (I even designed my own for the Little Luggable). Like many people, I got my start on the Planck–its strongly opinionated compact ortholinear design was wonderfully enticing and, for me at least, offered just the right level of flexibility while remaining accessible to newcomers.

The beautifully minimal Planck leaves lots of room for expression

Unfortunately, after a number of years of trying, I've accepted that ortholinear keyboards aren't for me (at least in the form of the Planck)–a combination of the greater key travel, weight, and increased height that comes from a mechanical keyboard, coupled with the non-standard layout seriously exacerbates my RSI. That's incredibly disappointing when they look as beautiful as the Planck, but there's no sense in pushing my luck.

With that in mind, I wanted to take a few moments to celebrate the two Plancks I built during the pandemic before finding them new homes.

Easy On The Wallet

The 'EOTW' design is manufactured exclusively using PCBs to keep the cost down and really does a wonderful job of celebrating the raw electronics and mechanics of the Planck–I still think it's one of the most beautiful executions of a plain PCB keyboard design.

The back of the EOTW wallet features charming woodland art by Katie Doodles

For the keycaps, I selected the SA Granite Keycap Set from Kono Store. This has a wonderful retro vibe with accented modifier keys that just pop and is definitely a set I'd consider going back to in the future if I again dip my toe into the world of mechanical keyboards (I've still got a staggered Rama Works keyboard to try somewhere in storage).

Kono Store's SA Granite keycaps feature beautifully vibrant modifiers

The EOTW design really shows off its internals with the classic multi-layered PCB design

Lo-Pro

Inspired by some of the renders for the Rama Works M50-A GRID keyboard¹, I opted for the GRID Set B keycaps–low-profile Cherry MX compatible keycaps that I also returned to when designing the keyboard for the Little Luggable.

• Matte black aluminium case
• 65g Zeal Zilent V2 Switches (Silent Tactile) 65g
  • They use a Gateron case
  • Hotswap Cherry MX compatible

I'm still on the lookout for a keyboard that strikes the right balance of looks and functionality. I've been eyeing-up the standalone MNT Reform Keyboard, until I take the plunge, I'm grudgingly sticking with the Apple Magic Keyboard.

If you're tempted to buy your own Planck, it looks like they're out of stock on OLKB, but still available through Drop.