ThinkPad external classic keyboard ribbon cable to USB adapter board by 'xy3dg12'

[TrackPointClassic]

I love the classic pre-chiclet ThinkPad keyboard, and use a SK-8855 external keyboard full-time at my modern desktop. This was the last USB classic keyboard produced by Lenovo.

The SK-8855 is now very expensive due to supply and demand. For a long time I've been looking for an adapter board that could convert any old ThinkPad shell into an external USB keyboard.

There have been various projects and hacks over the years, but to my knowledge never an easy/cheap plug-and-play product for sale. But I've now discovered one in China, developed by user 'xy3dg12'.

Searching "xy3dg12" or "3dg12" leads to various Chinese forums where this board has been developed, since 2015(!): https://www.thinkpad.com.cn/thread-1619134-1-1.html

I'm unaffiliated with this product but would love to see anyone using/importing it to the US. Does anyone have one? How does it work? What kind of external keyboards have you built?



Images of this product linked below:

https://preview.redd.it/z87a4zq1d5yd1.p ... 301954c98b
https://preview.redd.it/vjiqlvq1d5yd1.p ... 9624be16a5
https://preview.redd.it/uxjeb1j3d5yd1.p ... 16ddc0daa8
https://preview.redd.it/mgoaybly8c3d1.p ... 3342e504ea