I did that, and it came out to $19 w/o shipping, $32.06 with (slow) shipping to the US, for qty 5. That breaks down to their usual $4 setup plus an extra $15 charge for the board size, but overall not bad.
To keep this keyboard-related: this is also roughly the size needed for the bottom PCB needed for a full-custom keyboard layout (a little wider, not as tall), so feasible for that as well. Dropping the thickness down to 0.4mm for that purpose doesn’t increase the cost at all.
So very cool. Might be something of interest for the wider community to replace the top plate, potentially. For a future thing, after you’ve got the keyboard mod working the way you want for yourself 
This looks brilliant. I would absolutely love to have one, given the fact that I’m an avid VIM and Sway user, and would purchase the parts needed as soon as they’re available!
That prototype looks exciting. What’s the next step here? Can we help?
Is this also possible on the Laptop 13? I’d love to have the Thinkpad keyboard back 
Hi! Your work is really helpful, I’m trying to turn one of these keyboards into a bluetooth one myself, and the pinouts were really appreciated! I think I’m going to end up making a simpler version of your first PCB (the blue one with all the pins exposed), just making it easier to wire it to the nice!nano. Do you have the part no. / spec for the FPC connector you used?
Loving the progress with this build! I’m really trying to avoid buying a ThinkPad, and your efforts may finally allow me to fully commit to a framework 16.
Are there any other parts or components you need sponsored? I’m happy to pitch in on any additional purchases for this project.
Same here, would chip in support, too - any news on this as of today (2025-08) ?
Any update on this? Trying to fit a Framework mainboard into a T420 and any keyboard advice would be grand! Thanks again.
If the community could come together and focus on one model, like the T420 and create a mod kit for the 13” boards, that would be amazing!
Any updates? Would like to contribute as well… 12/20025
This post was really helpful to me. I’m working on a project to convert a T420 keyboard into a wireless keyboard, and choosing the right connectors is really giving me a headache.
How is that going? I am thinking about doing the same thing! Feel free to start a new post if you are still working on it and we can see if other people would be interested and see where we could take this!
Ummmm…. long time no see… I had to sell my framework cuz I was out of a job… and also a shit tone of life stuff happened…
That being said, I am working on this project again. I also have a few other projects under my belt now.
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I am using the TP X13 keyboard as it dosen’t have the three buttons meaning it can stay as a single height keyboard module. I have quite a few other ideas that I am looking at for this.
That being said, there is still the problem of height but I think that might be a solved problem with shimming. I need to test that my self.
I have a the keyboard working on a breadboard atm so I am trying to get that onto a PCB. It will probably be a flex one that goes in a space at the bottom of the keyboard… Yet to figure that one out fully.
Hopefully this time I can get this to a state that is at least usable.
Oh, also I am very interested to see the new TP T14 keyboard IRL as the one I saw in the iFixit teardown looks very thin…
Thanks,
Harley Godfrey (She/Her They/Them)
Re done a bunch of the PCB today. I think there is probably a smaller (physically) flash chip I can use for it but not put much time into looking.
I am still not 100% sure what connector I should use for the keyboard connectors. I have a 36 pin 0.5 pitch and a 14 pin 1mm pitch connectors but I should probably find the type with the locking mechanism.
The housing for the keyboard still needs lots of adjustments but it is coming along (please excuse the potato quality for some reason signal got weird)
I am still trying to figure out where to put the pcb but I am thinking of doing a flex cable or supper thin pcb just bellow the spacebar… not sure how possible that is though.
Since last I posted, I have worked on this a fair bit more. For now, I am ignoring the casing for it. But I have updated the PCB to be similar to the one found in the frame work. The routing for it has been a pain in the back side as it is a two sided pcb.
As it is such a small PCB, it only has a connector for the keyboard ribbon cable. I plan to directly solider up the trackpoint to save on space. Though, I am looking at creating a custom flexpcb but that is down the line for now.
I need to order the PCBs and then assemble. I have the parts for the board, so hear is hoping it goes well.
I have also been looking at alternative solutions. One of the main problems with this project is the height of the trackpoint. It has a plastic rod sticking up which would likely damage it. One solution might be to try and cut that down a bit but another could be to make my own trackpoint. The princibles of it seem simple but we shall see. I have ordered some parts for that as well.
I hope to report back soon.
