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I gave up on gaming keypads and made my own.
The Backstory
My first gaming keypad was the Ideazon Fang. It was a challenge of dexterity to use, but once I got used to it, I was able to easily press up to 40 buttons without looking, with my left hand. At the time, World of Warcraft was designed around having 3 hotbars worth of buttons to press. I was happy being able to keep up, but it didn't last forever. The membrane eventually wore out. I was able to get one replacement, but by that time, SteelSeries had bought out Ideazon and discontinued the product.
A few years later, I was looking for another replacement. This time, I wanted to try a gaming keypad with a digital thumb stick. The Razer Orbweaver was the only product on the market for me. I got used to using the thumb cluser for movement which left me with 20 buttons for doing abilities, dodging, sprinting, or other functions. About every 2 years, 'W' on the thumb cluster would stop working. I don't think it was the switch itself, but I could never get the thing to work reliably again after taking it apart. So I kept buying their $200 keypad until the Orbweaver was discontinued. The only alternative was the Tartarus, which I tried. It, too, had the thumb cluster 'W' key break after a year. I decided it wasn't worth buying their membrane-hybrid Tartarus again.
The Build
About a year ago was when I needed to replace my final Razer gamepad. I did my research on 3D-printed keyboards and found various designs others made. I was looking for something specific: a thumb cluster for WASD, or the option to add one to the design. Eventually I found a gaming keypad which was designed for a Nintendo Switch analog stick. I made a few modifications to their code (to remove the analog stick and add more digital keys) and designed a thumb cluster of my own. With the help of a friend who owns a 3D printer, I was able to assemble it and get it working in a day, not counting the print time.
Here's the basic design I started from: https://www.billiam.org/2019/05/29/sherbet-an-ergonomic-keypad
The Results
It has been almost a year and I'm quite happy with my choices. The four-way switch I used for WASD failed but I expected it would, considering it was designed for use in TV remotes. I already had a backup plan in place. You can see the original gaming keypad below, and the replacement thumb cluster design.
If you have any questions about doing a similar project, feel free to ask. I won't share my code or my 3D files, but I'll be happy to help give you tips.
The first design:
The replacement thumb cluster:
My first gaming keypad was the Ideazon Fang. It was a challenge of dexterity to use, but once I got used to it, I was able to easily press up to 40 buttons without looking, with my left hand. At the time, World of Warcraft was designed around having 3 hotbars worth of buttons to press. I was happy being able to keep up, but it didn't last forever. The membrane eventually wore out. I was able to get one replacement, but by that time, SteelSeries had bought out Ideazon and discontinued the product.
A few years later, I was looking for another replacement. This time, I wanted to try a gaming keypad with a digital thumb stick. The Razer Orbweaver was the only product on the market for me. I got used to using the thumb cluser for movement which left me with 20 buttons for doing abilities, dodging, sprinting, or other functions. About every 2 years, 'W' on the thumb cluster would stop working. I don't think it was the switch itself, but I could never get the thing to work reliably again after taking it apart. So I kept buying their $200 keypad until the Orbweaver was discontinued. The only alternative was the Tartarus, which I tried. It, too, had the thumb cluster 'W' key break after a year. I decided it wasn't worth buying their membrane-hybrid Tartarus again.
The Build
About a year ago was when I needed to replace my final Razer gamepad. I did my research on 3D-printed keyboards and found various designs others made. I was looking for something specific: a thumb cluster for WASD, or the option to add one to the design. Eventually I found a gaming keypad which was designed for a Nintendo Switch analog stick. I made a few modifications to their code (to remove the analog stick and add more digital keys) and designed a thumb cluster of my own. With the help of a friend who owns a 3D printer, I was able to assemble it and get it working in a day, not counting the print time.
Here's the basic design I started from: https://www.billiam.org/2019/05/29/sherbet-an-ergonomic-keypad
The Results
It has been almost a year and I'm quite happy with my choices. The four-way switch I used for WASD failed but I expected it would, considering it was designed for use in TV remotes. I already had a backup plan in place. You can see the original gaming keypad below, and the replacement thumb cluster design.
If you have any questions about doing a similar project, feel free to ask. I won't share my code or my 3D files, but I'll be happy to help give you tips.
The first design:
The replacement thumb cluster:
