Enclave

The problem was twofold. Enclave was built for creative professionals and the mechanical-keyboard community, and those users juggle interface devices, dongles, and never enough ports. On top of that, most macro pads are plastic, glued shut, and binned when something dies. I wanted one that works as an extension of the tools they already own. Premium, serviceable, upgradeable, and worth keeping. And it fixes the port problem while it's at it.

Enclave is a nine-key macro-keyboard and USB-C hub in a case machined from a single piece of aluminium. Cherry MX-compatible, hotswap switch sockets, RGB underglow. The firmware is QMK, and the board is merged into the official QMK, VIA, and VIAL tools, so you remap keys without compiling anything. It can also run as a control board for 3D printers and CNC machines.

It took two PCBs and four case prototypes to get there. The first cases were two parts, and some mixed brass with aluminium for weight and perceived value. I user-tested the options and weighed them against manufacturing and retail cost to pick the final design and materials. The PCBs: an STM design that didn't work at first, shelved for an AVR board, and that's the one that shipped. Grey solder mask, red silkscreen.

The adhesive feet are custom too. Cast silicone, in a colour picked to complement each anodising colour.

Machining and PCB fabrication ran through Elecrow. The silicone feet came from a manufacturer I found on Alibaba.

Enclave started as my thesis project. A limited run sold through a community auction, and then the whole thing went open source under MIT: the one-part case STEP and drawings, both PCBs, the FR-4 plate, firmware, BOMs, and even the supplier list. Everything you need to build one without asking me. People used the hub more than I expected. Keyboards, drives, whatever else was on the desk ended up plugged into it. The dead STM board is in the repo too, labelled "use at your own risk".