Mechanical Keyboards

I accidentally soldered a switch on crooked. I got the switch off the board but i'm having trouble cleaning out the holes so i can put a new switch in.

Can this switch footprint be saved after being clogged with solder and melted a little, or should i try to get the other switches off and start over on a new board?

And what's the best way to desolder these switches if i have to remove the rest?

I had spare PCBs left over from an earlier project. I got the Signature Plastics DSS Honeywell keycaps on sale from a vendor who was closing down. I made the plate design using online tools, then cut it and the bottom plate on my home laser. I designed the 3D-printed case to look like the original terminal keyboards that inspired the keycaps. I used black switches because a heavy linear feels right for something like this. Firmware is QMK/VIAL. More info here. There's much that could be better, but I'm pleased with how it came out.

Join our Groupbuy: https://www.jellykey.com/artisan-keycaps/retrotv-series-first-frame

• Keycap sizes: 1u
• 12 TV designs & 12 TV screens
• Art Toy keycaps x32 & x77
• Stand Boy & Spotlight Dock
• Payment: PP / CC
• Price at start: $55

Hi everyone. Every keycap comes with a complimentary sticker. Order 12 keycaps to unlock a special limited edition keycap as our gift to you. Plus, orders of 6 keycaps or more qualify for free shipping. Stand Boy & Spotlight Dock with integrated lighting are available exclusively during this group buy.

This group buy closes on November 4th, 2025—though we may close earlier than expected. Remember: we never restock or reopen sales for any design once it’s gone. Don’t miss out.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/37481146

I'm making a custom keyboard with a Raspberry Pi Pico as the MCU, and i don't understand what all the different pins are for and how they should be wired up to my key matrix and trackpoint.

My current understanding is that GPIO are normal pins that can be wired to the rows and columns, but what of VBUS, VSYS, 3V3, and all the others that aren't just GPIO or GND? And how should the ground pins be used here?

The schematic currently doesn't include the trackpoint because i'm planning to hand wire it and the MCU to the PCB, so i can put them under the PCB in the case and i don't have to try to fit them onto the board. Is there a better way to connect these that won't require adding a bunch of space to the board to fit the MCU?

I was counting my boards a few weeks ago and realized I had enough to post one every week for the next year. I'm three weeks into this project, and recently discovered an app called Keebuilder. I've been using it to catalog and share my builds as I take images every week. Over the years I've built so many I've forgotten what I built them with, so am using Keebuilder to index that info as I look up my receipts. Soon enough I'll finally have a database of all of my builds, thanks to Keebuilder.

OC text by @Moltz@lemmy.ml

While most people don't spend a lot of time thinking about the keys they tap all day, mechanical keyboard enthusiasts certainly do. As interest in DIY keyboards expands, there are plenty of things to obsess over, such as keycap sets, layout, knobs, and switches. But you have to get deep into the hobby before you realize there's something more important than all that: the stabilizers.

Even if you have the fanciest switches and a monolithic aluminum case, bad stabilizers can make a keyboard feel and sound like garbage. Luckily, there's a growing ecosystem of weirdly fancy stabilizers that can upgrade your typing experience, packing an impressive amount of innovation into a few tiny bits of plastic and metal.

ending:

Still, a good-quality set of stabilizers, properly installed and lubricated, is probably the best upgrade you can make to a mechanical keyboard in spite of tariffs. The duty paid on a $20–30 item won't break the bank, and it really will make your keyboard better.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/36216357

Here's what the layout should look like when it's done, and what the schematic for the right half looks like now. I've seen Joe Scotto's tutorial on the subject.

I'm currently making a schematic for this keyboard in KiCad v7.0. The schematic has the power & backspace keys moved down near the thumb keys to use one fewer pin on the controller, hence the slightly messy wiring.

• What controller should i use for a keyboard like this? How many more pins will it need than just the 5 columns and 6 rows on each side?
• What USB connector ports should i use? What are the differences between one USB-C port and another?
• Do i need a controller for each part of the keyboard, or only for the part that plus into the computer?
• Where can i get KiCad files for a trackpoint so i can add that to the schematic and PCB?
• I've only ever owned one mechanical keyboard (Chouchou by dlip) and it doesn't look like it has any diodes. Do i need those or not?
• Can i hide the controller and ports in a case if i'm using low-profile switches and caps?

Thanks in advance.

Keyboard from 2010 built by TG3 for a Siemens chemistry analyzer. I cleaned it up, added some weight to the bottom, and converted to USB. Cherry MX Black and PBT Dye-subbed DCS caps. Take a peek at what should be F9 and F10 (and are after conversion), as well as some of the keys above the numpad, which, tangentially, now has 5 keys that do absolutely nothing related to what's written on them.

Keyboard is one I first made a year or so ago, but recently upgraded a little. DIY with laser-cut Masonite plate, 3D printed sides, Outemu "mid height" Black switches, and JWA PBT low-profile keycaps with DIY legends. KMK firmware on an RP2040 dev board.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/35772689

Putting the cart before the horse a bit here, as I haven’t been writing much lately, but I got this education market ARM Chrome tablet pretty cheap and followed some instructions to get it fully converted to Linux. ChromeOS is gone. It’s running Debian Trixie via the “velvetOS” project. I could’ve just used the Linux container in chrome OS, but everything has such high guardrails that even the most minor of customizations got very frustrating. Anyway, I specifically picked the 10E because it was known to at least mostly support Linux.

Some limitations, as the camera doesn’t work, I don’t think the external speakers work (could be specific to this particular boot image), and on full boot I have to manually rotate the screen to make sure the touchscreen coordinates stay aligned with the display. Otherwise it works surprisingly well.

Firefox is probably too slow on this old MT8183 with 4 GB of RAM, but it is much faster on the EMMC install compared to the USB, and it was not torture to go online and grab a couple of files directly. The word processor is Focuswriter with their green theme tweaked to amber and it runs perfectly. Suspend/resume is working well enough with auto-login that I can just leave Focuswriter up. Battery life is an open question, but before I wiped it, Chrome OS reported it had 96% battery health 🤷. With a mobile-grade SoC, and with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned off, I’m optimistic it won’t be too bad.

I also fixed up one of my DIY mechanical keyboards, and I think it’s a pretty nice little writing setup. Right now, I just have Wi-Fi turned off, but I could theoretically strip out the drivers altogether, or (if I remember correctly), even take the Wi-Fi module out of this one. I opened it briefly to short out the hardware write protection on the firmware, but forgot to look for the Wi-Fi card. As an aside, this was by far the easiest I could imagine a tablet being to service — zero glue connecting screen to case.

OC by @not_woody_shaw@lemmy.world

It's amazing being able to see and try out so many crazy and interesting keyboards in one place. Stuff that even bigger places like Bic Camera don't have, and that you could never imagine e seeing in a shop back in the UK. I picked up a Rainy75 and a set of WS BigLucky Tactiles to go with it. I'm looking forward to getting home to try it all out for real and get familiar with the setup. I'm also kinda weirded out to not hate the linear switches that the Rainy comes with. Shop guy Olodeh (hope I got your name right bro!) was super helpful, and overall a really positive experience. My favourite thing was the switch testers that show you on screen what each switch is, and some details about it. Some minor disappointments: no Boba U4T in stock today - i was looking forward to trying those; and no Wooting keebs for my gamer son to try out, although they did have another HE board that was above our price range, so at least we got a feel for that one.