PRODUCT ENGINEERING // KEYBOARD DESIGN

CUSTOM KEYBOARDS

A gallery of custom keyboards I've designed and manufactured.

PROJECT SUMMARY

I have designed a wide range of keyboard projects, much of it through self-taught work that grew from layout and concept development into production-minded mechanical design. The process has covered CAD, materials, finishes, tolerance decisions, and the practical tradeoffs that separate a visually interesting board from one that can be manufactured cleanly and consistently.

Across these projects I worked with polycarbonate, steel, brass, acrylic, and aluminum, while designing around CNC machining, injection molding, PCB integration, vendor limitations, and small-run or larger production realities. Some boards were manufactured or prepared for production, some were commissions or boutique runs, and some remained unreleased but still involved real development work. Even when collaborating with PCB designers, factories, or outside partners, I was typically driving the core product decisions and using each project to build stronger judgment around what makes a design both compelling and buildable.

More to see on chickenman.studio.

16 boards currently surfaced from the source archive.

PROJECT GALLERY

Keyboard Archive

Selected boards, shown as a compact archive for quick scanning rather than a long-form case study.

KEYBOARD PROJECT

Ciel

Ciel 60

CNC Bakeneko with an internal weight as well as slightly edited back profile

Came in 5 colors of Burgundy, Blue Grey, Lilac, E-White, Black

Ran in Mid November 2021-Delivered early March 2022

[GB] Ciel - Gasket 60% | Oct 7-31 (geekhack.org)

KEYBOARD PROJECT

Jixte

A V2 of it's successful predecesor, the Ciel, Jixte is a 60% gummy o-ring mount keyboard, featuring a large external backplate and internal weights, centered daughterboard, and HG side.

Internal and external weights use flat sheet price to reduce cost

The Jixte is exclusivley an in-stock product

KEYBOARD PROJECT

Ciel65

65% continuation of the Ciel platform.

KEYBOARD PROJECT

Ciego

A commission for San Diego Mechanical Keyboards, San Diego Ciel, Ciego

A modified version of the Ciel that came in all brass, with a replaceable top for hhkb/wk/wkl

Two engravings were offered, the GMK Cluck Chicken enter novelty and the San Diego skyline along with a matte finish or polished

KEYBOARD PROJECT

Adware

A collaboration between Mechkeys Helpers and ParamountKeeb: Adware features aesthetics sides, a through-hole weight, multicolored and splash ano designs, and a multitude of layouts.

Integrated is a plateless tadpole or plated top mount. A standard AI03 daughterboard supports a central bottom usb.

KEYBOARD PROJECT

Starry FRL

Commission for Oprah

Based on Bocchi the Rock, some anime or something, I don't quite know, could be a pebble

FRL WKL, Top Mount, LED and Knob, some of my favorite side profiles paired with the seamless design

PCB made by Sawns, great working with him on the LEDs

Photos taken by Oprah

KEYBOARD PROJECT

Dino104

A commission board by Faiz#2502, a hulking full-sized beast with seamless sides, internal weight, artistic engravings vaguely based around the Google Dinosaur.

Entered IC in early August of 2021, GB TBD

Pics by Faiz