3D Printing Happiness

Last year I acquired an Apple Adjustable Keyboard for my collection. I do not recall ever seeing this keyboard in person, and I thought it would be both fun and pleasant to type on. Unfortunately it did not come with the curved palm rests that truly give the keyboard its presence on a desk. They’re almost as tall as the keyboard itself!

One day I was lamenting about this to a fellow Apple collector and friend who informed me that the 3D model files for the left and right rests are available on Printables. I do not have access to a 3D printer, but I had heard about companies that will just ship you prints.

After a bit of research I discovered a San Francisco-based company called Makelab. I uploaded a .stl file and was immediately overwhelmed by complexity. FDM, SLA, VCJ, MFJ, PLA, PETG, ASA, etc. What is all this nonsense? How is a newcomer supposed to just print?

I quickly learned that Makelab has an incredible support team. I explained the project and they provided a few quotes in addition to helping me choose a custom color that resembles “early 90s aged computer plastic.” I went with an FDM machine using PLA material at 200 microns. (Don’t ask me what that all means.) A few days later the parts arrived and… perfect. They attach easily, look great, and feel comfortable even after several hours of use.

In addition to 3D printing the rests I also had to find a way to connect an ADB keyboard to USB-C. The same collector friend gifted me a Drakware ADB2USB connector. It has some mild temperaments (make sure you connect the keyboard to the connector and then the connector to a USB-A to USB-C dongle) but otherwise works beautifully. Now I’m up and running with the keyboard at my home office and slowly adjusting to the home key indicators’ placement on the “d” and “k” keys instead of modern “f” and “j” keys. Yes, Apple had to do everything their way in the 90s.

Oh one more thing… I purchased a second Apple Adjustable Keyboard for my desk at Meta.

Apple Keyboard