I would like to build my first keyboard, but I feel like the DIY-kits available don’t let you get your hands on the keyboard enough. For instance, I looked into the M1W barebone as it checks all the criteria I have (I would prefer a 75% board, with a knob, and wireless option), except the only thing left to do is to plug-in the switches and put on the keycaps.
For example, the Zoom 75 is something I feel would suit me, but it’s 200$, not counting the 60$ shipping, and it’s “only” the board, so I need to buy the switches and the keycaps as well.
I saw the “Practice 75” board, which is nice, but for example there isn’t the knob and I would need to solder the switches to the board.
Is there a board out there that would ticks all the boxes ?
Thank you in advance for your answers !
You can find a PCB design and order it from a manufacturer (typically a 5 unit minimum). There are likely thousands of open source designs out there.
I’ve enjoyed putting together kits from Boardsource, Little Keyboard and MechWild. These kits all start with the PCBs and components and you solder it all together, and you can usually order hotswap or solderable switches in the same order. You’ll have to flash the MCU too. Most of these are split ergos, which I like, but not a lot of them are 75%. You’ll have to do some looking around.
How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go?
There’s a whole range of DIY, from just swapping out keycaps, to designing, manufacturing, and hand-wiring from the ground up.
I don’t know very well, but I would like to get my hands on the PCB I feel like, to know how it is mounted, what difference it can make
Thats more down to the case and plate than the PCB, you either need a case that supports multiple mounting types like carpool (https://github.com/dingusxmcgee/Carpool) or completely separate cases. For carpool you use the same PCB for all mount types and just change the plate.
Unless you have the tooling and knowledge to manufacture precision parts like swiches and stabilizers, and integrated electronics like a microcontroller, it would be very hard to 100% DIY a keyboard.
The most DIY I’ve ever did was to design, 3D print, handwire, build and program a split ergo keyboard based around a Teensy 2.0 microcontroller and Kailh Box Jade switches.
An intermediate but still very interesting route would be picking matching parts from vendors like kbdfans or kprepublic, with your choice of enclosure, PCB, switches and stabs, lots of soldering and testing, and some QMK fun to round it off.
If i was to follow that intermediate road, what are the caveats I should avoid? I tried looking for a website like PCPartPicker, unfortunately it doesn’t seem to exist And I’m afraid of picking up different pieces that will end up not being compatible with one another
PCB, top plate and case need to be compatible, so you need to pick ones made for each other, usually from the same vendor.
99% of the PCBs and plates out there are MX compatible, so you can consider switches, stabs and keycaps universal.
Thank you ! Could you point me in the direction of one you would recommend, if you know any? Do you advise against some of them?
I’ve built two XD64s from kprepublic, one with Box Jades for home and one with Boba U4s for work, because they perfectly fitted my use case: flashable with QMK, ISO layout compatible, bottom layout flexible enough to fit an arrow keys cluster despite being 60%. They’re very good.
I don’t have any experience with other vendors.
Truly DIY- I could ship you a chunk of copper and some plastic pellets, if you need it in a ‘kit’ form I could include IKEA-style instructions if you want?
It’s just that the packages that show up when I type “DIY” look more like “plug-in a bunch of switches and the add keycaps” I was thinking about buying the PCB and then mounting it maybe?
You’ll do that plenty in a lot of the hotswap boards, too. You typically have to place the PCB yourself, plus you’ll have fun with foam and tape under it, swichtes and keycaps on top. And then you can start modding your switches, lubing and filming them. There’s lots to do, but there aren’t that many different, seperate components once the PCB is assembled for you.
I’d say next level after that requires soldering – and it seemed like in another comment you weren’t too keen on that?
For truly DIY, look for a Handwired keyboard.
Here you go: https://youtu.be/Bl_iVm7SMbs?feature=shared
Shameless plug warning!
My BFCM sale starts tomorrow at https://www.diykeyboards.com. We’ll have seriously strong deals on build-it-yourself kits for Dactyls, Corne, and Sofle boards. Come on over and we’ll help you get your ergo freak on. Hit up the Discord if you have any questions.
