Table Of Content
Jake has been an avid mechanical keyboard user for the past six years. He has a background in Mechanical Engineering and wants to apply his expertise to break down how mechanical keyboards and other tech work to show the world all of the cool aspects of the hobby. At the end of the day, you end up with a super cool custom mechanical keyboard which is sure to make all of your friends jealous. If you’re struggling to get started, we recommend checking out our keyboard build checklist to help you make sure you have all of the tools and parts you need on-hand. Once you get a taste of the custom mechanical keyboard world, you can’t go back.
Akko PBT Cool Gray Keycaps
They work similarly to tactile switches but use an extra mechanism that makes a sharp click sound when pressed. The exact design of that mechanism can differ depending on the switch. If Points are where the magic happens, PCBs are the star of the show. Creating a circuit board we can send off for manufacturing is the whole reason we're here after all.
Let's Design A Keyboard With Ergogen v4: Introduction
You’ll find here my current and past thoughts about my work and hobbies, including but not limited to system administration, programming, photography ,boardgames or mechanical keyboards. To us, custom keyboards are more than just putting parts together. It is the effort of researching your preference, sourcing the components, fulfillment of assembling and tuning each part, and the absolute bliss of typing on a completely personalized keyboard. Our goal is to help all levels of enthusiasts, from the beginners to veterans, achieve that next level THOCK. Stabilizers (or “stabs”) are little components that go under large keys like the space bar or backspace to keep them from rattling or wobbling when pressed. Many a decent keyboard has been hindered by subpar stabilizers, so it’s worth checking your bigger keys first to ensure they aren’t distractingly shaky or uneven.
Other mechanical keyboards we tested
This Game-Changing Table Mat Wirelessly Charges your Keyboard, Mouse, Smartphone, and AirPods - Yanko Design
This Game-Changing Table Mat Wirelessly Charges your Keyboard, Mouse, Smartphone, and AirPods.
Posted: Sat, 09 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
If you’re not fussed about swapping your switches or adjusting your actuation points, there’s actually a solid feature set for you here. To make the process as easy and flawless as possible, we put together this comprehensive, step-by-step guide on building a custom mechanical keyboard. For our build, we used the D60 WKL keyboard kit from KBDFans but the steps here should apply to most keyboard builds. The 60HE+ also feels better for typing, with less rattling on large keys like the space bar. Wooting’s HE keyboards support a slightly wider actuation range on top of that, plus they cost $30 to $55 less depending on size.
Keycap Options to Consider
The first thing to decide with any keyboard is what size and layout you want. Full-size layouts have all the keys you’d ever need — a number pad, a full function row, arrow keys, etc. — but they also have the largest physical footprint. A 96-percent or “1800” keyboard is similar, but crunches the navigation cluster (Page Up, Home, etc.), numpad and arrow keys closer together to save space. Tenkeyless (TKL) or 80-percent keyboards omit the number pad entirely; they're often considered the best blend of size and functionality.
Never has that been more true in the world of mechanical keyboards, where building your own can enhance your daily computing experience. Thanks to big streamers like Taeha Types, more enthusiasts than ever have caught the keyboard bug and are itching to build their very own custom mechanical keyboard. Each key is set up through a series of menus that can be cumbersome to truck through for every game you need.
For the real reset button I’m going to use a small SMD button like the RS-187R05A2-DS MT RT or the Alps SKQGAFE010. But, once done, if for any reason you need to update the firmware, there’s no way to make the firmware enter the DFU mode anymore (unless you included a RESET key combination in the keymap). To be effective, the capacitor must be placed as close as possible from the MCU on the final PCB. Note that there are 4 VCC pins on the Atmega32U4 (2 AVCC, UVCC and 2 x VCC), so ideally we would need 5 100nF capacitor and one 10μF for VBUS.
Recommended for intricate designs requiring sharp inside corners and high dimensional accuracy. Waterjets mainly cut sheet material into 2D parts using a high-pressure stream of water and abrasive. Waterjet cutting is suitable for most materials and yields clean edges.
How to Build a Custom Mechanical Keyboard: A Step-By-Step Guide
Rather than breaking your nails trying to open each one, just press each switch and then separate them. Having lead solder makes it much easier to desolder switches. Our custom keyboard checklist can make this part much easier so you can keep track of all the equipment required.
With switches installed and the internals of the keyboard safely mounted, it’s time to put the case back together. Typically, this means screwing both halves in place, but the process can vary, depending on your keyboard’s construction. If your kit has threaded stand-offs for the plate, simply line up the plate, fitting it over your stabilizers, and use screws to fasten it down.
If you’ve followed every step of our guide, and used the same parts, you should have a new keyboard for around $150, based on the MSRPs of the barebones kit, the switches, and the keycaps. While that matches the amount of the pre-built version of this keyboard, it doesn’t take into account any discounts or bundle pricing you might be able to score. And even if you don't account for discounts, the pre-built version doesn't offer the benefit of full customization without double-buying bits. The actual switches, which employ springs and plungers, last far longer and offer the opportunity for customization, and many users find them more satisfying to type on.
Having a nice pair of tweezers lets you pick up the springs easier without lubing up your fingers in the process. A wire keycap puller won’t scratch your keycaps and will let you change keycaps quickly without trying to manhandle them with your fingers. Of course, you can find them for cheaper, but it’s important to understand what separates the high-end keycaps from the cheaper ones. It’s not uncommon for a set of keycaps to get up into the $200 range. You can also look at other switches, we recommend a switch tester to figure out what kind you prefer.
First of all, you need to import an outline to give shape to the new PCB. The Points section defines where each key should go, but we still need to specify what sort of key switch footprint we need on the board. This is also where we can add component definitions and footprints for other parts like the microcontroller and its reset button. Finally, we'll need to define the "Nets" for our components. These are definitions used by the PCB to indicate that Key A needs to connect to Pin B. If you don't have Node installed or are generally weary of command lines, there's also a web-based version of Ergogen.
No comments:
Post a Comment