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Desire65

A New Level of Sophistication

One of the most popular layouts in the custom keyboard world is the 65%, with offerings from many designers. So how can we make one that stands out from the crowd?

Exterior – All about those curves

The most eye-catching part of the Desire65 has to be the curvaceous bezel machined from aluminum – inspired by early designs of smartphones when they had a sizable bezel, and designers had more freedom in experimenting with different bezel designs. The organic shape is accentuated by the silver anodization and invites to be touched and felt.

The bezel’s curves continue downwards to the polycarbonate bottom which acts as a light diffuser for the RGB underglow.

Below and behind is an external brass weight which houses the USB-C daughterboard. The USB port is situated as low as possible and parallel to the desk surface.

One may notice there are no logos or text depicting the identity of the keyboard – this is intentionally done as to draw curiosity and intrigue from the observer.

Internals – Intricate with a simple purpose

The mounting system is of the tried and true one from Ashley with some adjustments – the number of gasket strips has been reduced from 8 to 6, reflecting the more compact footprint, the gaskets are also slightly compressed to improve acoustics and reduce z-height, while still retaining an ample amount of travel – a worthwhile compromise.

The intricate internal shape of the polycarbonate bottom is all done to reduce the z-height to the bare minimum while allowing the mounting system to fully work. The use of plate-mounted stabilizers (as opposed to commonly-used PCB-mounted ones) also contribute to lowered z-height.

Design Features and Specifications

• 7-degree typing angle
• Mounting system: The plate is sandwiched between 6 pairs of soft poron gaskets that are short and thick, with minimal compression by the case halves, giving the plate/PCB assembly plenty of vertical travel
• Plate: Brass with cut-outs for plate-mounted stabilizers
• PCB: Desire65 open-source hotswap PCB with QMK/VIA/Vial firmware support and RGB underglow
• Brass external weight
• USB-C Unified Daughterboard (C-series)
• Weight: 1.29kg (with switches, brass plate and keycaps)

Project Timeline

Mar 2024	Inception and PCB design
May 2024	PCB prototype manufactured
Jul 2024	Case design
Oct 2024	Case prototype manufactured

(C) ArcherKeyboard 2024