How to Build a Wireless Corne Keyboard

This video will go through all the steps to build a wireless Corne keyboard, from ordering the parts, building the physical board, and of course flashing the firmware with ZMK. The steps shown here apply to both the low profile Choc and MX variants for the Corne. The board uses Choc White switches which feel pretty good although I still prefer Choc Robins for clicky switches. This board also uses Nice View displays which use very low power draw making them perfect for a wireless build.

~ Links ~

~ Handwiring Tools ~

~ Handwiring Parts ~

~ 3D Printing ~

~ Favorite Cheap Switches ~

~ Social ~

~ Community ~

~ Timestamps ~
0:00 - Intro
0:32 - Typeractive
2:38 - Parts
4:18 - Controller
6:30 - Display
7:19 - Unsocketing
8:20 - Battery
8:53 - Switches
9:35 - Assembly
10:35 - Firmware
12:57 - Flashing
13:41 - Pairing
14:19 - Typing
14:36 - Outro

~ Disclaimer ~
Some links may be affiliate links where I will make a small commission.

#corne #mechanicalkeyboard #zmk

[lunchboxtml]

Back in my day a wireless Corne meant we had to add bodge wires, used OLED holes for battery connectors, and hot glued our power switches on xD. This PCB you used here is really great.

[InsPage-nlrn]

im a finance student and i got interested in split keyboards and now this stuff is just overwhelming me now . beyond the scope of my research and actual work capacity. damn guys great respect to the engineers and actual technicians who make these things.

[winter-nuwf]

I saw that site before but have never soldered anything for keyboard builds so I was having a hard time visualizing how everything would be done. Other tutorials would just straight up skip to the end portion or not include what you had in this video. Thank you for the detailed guide, now I know what I'll be doing one of these weekends :))

[TheNicell]

Perfect breakdown and step-by-step tutoral! Thanks for all your effort, Joe 🙌

Oh and production quality on point as always 👌

[tihroflan]

Man, do I love your tutorials. Everything's crystal clear and you are very calm. Puts me in confidence for when I'm gonna solder my next keyboard :)

[yisus_christ]

By far the best tutorial out there for Wireless Corne build! I'm building mine in a few weeks and I will definitely follow this guide.

[sehunhan]

no one mentioned this, but in the video Joe said he was going to order ez solder hotswap sockets/headers. However, in the actual build, he used mill-max hotswaps. EZ solder has the black plastic case on the headers, and the mill-max hotswaps are just pins that you solder, just like Joe did in this video. Just a FYI

[grinder_.]

What are the odds that I searched for this video literally 30 seconds after you uploaded it, good shit

[michaeltaylor]

3d printed keyboard with an intergrated track ball next please. i wanna get a 3d printer just for that

[shahnurislam]

Thanks Joe, I was a bit overwhelmed by what was needed and this perfect!

[Tcannon]

You have the best custom keyboard channel! Love your videos. I think with your help, I will be able to tackle my own build! Thanks, and keep up the great work!

[nate_wil]

SCOTTO YOU LEGEND!!!!

I was struggling to pair the corne to my pc and I couldn't get it to work!
I didn't have the niceview!'s cause they were out of stock.
But your video showed I had to pair the two sides first by hitting the reset on both of them at the same time, I finally noticed the red lights under the mcu blinking at the same time.
Then it paired to the pc!!!
THANK

[piyiotisc]

This is the best tutorial I’ve seen! Amazing content. Subscribed

[andyshow]

Awesome video dude. Super informative and very high quality. Really appreciate your guides.

[jackshafer]

Joe, your video guided my Typeractive build. Thanks so much.

[MonkeyNeuronActivation]

Been watching some of your videos. You totally deserve a lot more subs. You basically taught me how to hand wire kbs from scratch, though I still haven't had a chance to get my hands on one. Just want you to know you're doing great and people like me appreciate your hard work.

[esoel]

Thank you very much, this was extremely helpful to build my lily58, it's better than typeractive's own instruction videos. Really appreciate it.

[torquebiker]

watching your vid and assembling my typeractive corne. thx!

[somedudewithakeyboard]

Great tutorial. I already have Cornish Zen. Now I can build this one for the office.

[ncfacanvass]

Your vids have been helpful so far- just wanna appreciate ya.

I'm sure I'll find more info as I move forward, but a few questions here.

1) I was unclear why you put on the microcontroller, then immediately removed it. My guess is because you didn't want to solder with the battery under the controller.

2) How do you feel about Corne's fifth column having such minimal stagger? Also, would you appreciate more flex?

I relate when people use the term "rabbit hole" in these spaces. Keyboards suddenly feel overwhelming, fresh, and overly important.