At Tindie, we applaud makers of all types for creating cool things. We think the creative and intricate is just as awesome as the functional and straightforward. We also applaud makers who attempt to decrease the cost of their projects, as this can enable hackers and makers from all over the world to access tools they otherwise might not have been able to. The jankdek is a great example of some of these principles – a 4×4 macropad with 4(!) rotary encoders, all running on the Vial fork of QMK on an RP2040.
To lower the cost, the case is 3D printed and left mostly unfinished. The keycaps are blank as well, though the rotary encoder knobs are metal which is a nice touch. You can easily remove the case, give it some gentle sanding, and then prep and paint it in whatever custom colour or pattern you want, making it uniquely yours. The keycaps can be customized as well, with stickers or colour coding.
The inspiration behind the project was to create a low-cost entry point into using OBS, instead of purchasing something like the StreamDeck which is famously quite an expensive piece of equipment! The 4 rotary encoders are actually an upgrade over many much more expensive macropads, which usually only have one or two at most. Customization of the jankdek only needs to be done once on a single computer, and then afterward no software needs to be running on the host machine, which is another nice benefit. The included documentation makes getting set up a breeze, and overall we think jank enterprises did a fabulous job!
