ONI FRL TKL
An FRL TKL designed to be clean and minimal with a hint of style
Specifications
Typing angle: 5o
Daughterboard: Unified C3 (USB C – Left Side)
Mounting Style: Top Mount
Layout: Layout Options
Price: TBA (Hopefully sub $350)Introduction
I’m SJP and I have been working on this board now for a while. I decided a month back that it might be possible to get this to run as a GB and so I thought why not. I went over the design and adjusted everything so that it would all fit together and hopefully work first time. Since then, I have commissioned a PCB design and have spoken with a few manus as well as shared some work in progress screenshots on a few different discord servers. And all that leads me to now. As this would be my first keyboard it will not be running in a month and likely wont in two months. I still have a lot to learn with this project and am asking for help at every corner to make sure that I am taking the right path and have the right resources to continue with board and take it to group buy. That is why I am asking everyone that has even the slightest bit of interest in the board to fill out the IC Form above so that I can get every bit of feedback from the community and hopefully make this board a reality not only for my desk, but for yours too. In the coming month I will be ordering prototypes which will hopefully give me the go ahead to get the board to group buy.
I have just started working a full-time job, however, so updates may be slow but whenever there are any updates I will share them everywhere possible. This will primarily be on the Oni FRL TKL Discord Server and some smaller updates may be shared around different communities that I am a part of as well as the boards discord server.
Inspiration
The layout board was initially inspired by a different board in the hobby, the Calliope, however I personally thought that the macro keys on the left made the board look one sided. Being from the UK I myself am an ISO user and although none of the renders have an ISO enter with either keycaps or a cut out on the plate, the final version of the board will have an ANSI or ISO plate version so you can decide which you prefer. As for the bottom row I wanted to make sure that people had the option to stick with a standard keyboard layout if they would like but also have the ability to switch to the more aesthetically pleasing Tsangan Layout. With Tsangan layout being supported I also plan to offer a WKL version of the top case on purchase if that proves popular in the interest check form above.
For the overall aesthetic of the board, I first wanted something that looked minimal yet still had a presence on the desk. After messing around with different side profiles, I finally settled on the current design as it gives the board a bit more shape than just having flat edges with a single indent on the bottom. Whilst it is nothing that is particularly out there, I feel as if it has the right blend of personal identity and minimalism.
As for the top case I decided very early on that I would like to have indicators somewhere for at least caps lock. When brainstorming ideas with a few members on a discord server someone suggested having two light bars that could act as the indicators and from there I was immediately hooked with the idea. Initially the plan was to have them as part of the N in the middle of “ONI”, however when having that on the board the letters would have to be thicker removing from the subtle detail “ONI” adds to the board. Instead, someone suggested to place them between the nav cluster and the alpha keys and so I did just that. Since that suggestion I can’t fathom having the LEDs anywhere else.
Special Thanks
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone that has given me feedback on this board during the design phase. Every bit of feedback that was given was listened to and thanks to you I was able to settle on the design that I have now. All of you have helped out so much with board even if your feedback didn’t make it now it doesn’t mean it won’t in the future.
I would also like to thank Iinko for the renders of the board with keycaps, they have done an excellent job. As well as Sleepdealer who is working on the PCB for this project which I will have soon so I can order prototypes.
