Construct a mechanical keyboard from scratch with 3D-printed parts

Mechanical keyboards are all the craze and it’s simple to see why—there’s the pleasure of having the ability to actually hit the keys, the clicky sounds, and the truth that they are often extremely customizable. 

If you wish to improve your typing expertise with one in every of these devices, there are two methods to go about it: You possibly can at all times purchase one or, in case you’re up for the problem, put one collectively your self. Selecting one method or the opposite could not make an enormous distinction within the price ticket of your new peripheral. However there’s just one approach that provides you the satisfaction of getting made a keyboard that’s particularly made for you and by you. 

If you happen to’re prepared for an journey, right here’s how one can construct your individual 65-percent mechanical keyboard. A high-end peripheral can simply price in extra of $100, so we designed this venture to be typically inexpensive, and if you wish to minimize prices additional, you possibly can even 3D-print your case. Ordering your parts will typically be costlier, leading to a remaining price ticket of round $150. Making your individual components, then again, can scale back that price to lower than $50.

And don’t get deterred in case you don’t have a 3D printer at house—you possibly can at all times join a membership at your native maker house the place there’ll doubtless be machines you should utilize and even courses you possibly can attend. If you happen to actually need to make the leap and get your individual 3D printer, we’ve put collectively a information with all the things it’s essential know before you purchase one.

You possibly can select to purchase an aluminum case or a plastic one. Aluminum tends to be costlier, but it surely’s extra strong and hefty, which makes it a good selection in case you don’t have a tendency to maneuver your keyboard round. However, some folks favor the look of plastic instances, that are additionally often cheaper. Some instances include a becoming plate, which is the piece that holds the keyboard switches in place, however you can even simply search for a case that has an built-in plate. Decide the mannequin, coloration, and materials you want probably the most—simply be certain that the case has a mini-USB slot for the management board.

For individuals who select to 3D print their very own case, I like to recommend utilizing FedorSosnin’s SiCK-68 tada68 ‘factor’ from Thingiverse. It’s well-designed and the printing directions are simple to observe. If you happen to’re extra superior in relation to 3D printing, you possibly can alter the Thingiverse design or make one from scratch utilizing the swillkb Plate & Case Builder useful resource. I personally went with the SiCK-68 construct good and compact, and you may print it in no matter colours you want, however I used silver PET-G filament for the underside a part of the case and white filament for the highest. I selected PET-G filament as a result of it’s sturdy and sturdy, however you can even use PLA, which gained’t require you to alter the default settings on Ultimater Cura.

When utilizing the SiCK-68 template you’ll have to print some components individually—the decrease and higher case items (each left and proper), the dowels (to affix the items collectively), and the keycaps for the Alt, perform, proper shift, and CTRL or Command keys, in case you purchase a normal keycap set. These keycaps are barely smaller than the Tada68 structure, so that you’ll have to make your individual to suit the case.

The printing course of must be pretty related for all 3D printers however I used a Creality Ender-3 so I’ll describe the 3D printing course of primarily based on that. If you’re utilizing a printer that doesn’t have computerized mattress leveling, begin by leveling your mattress earlier than printing to make sure that you get the very best outcomes. I used Ultimater Cura to do my slicing, however you should utilize one other slicer reminiscent of Prusa Slicer. You could find the related settings I used beneath—you should utilize them as a baseline and modify them to suit your particular machine and filament. If these settings lead to a messy-looking print, slowing down the pace ought to repair any points.

3. Solder the switches to the diodes. Now it’s essential begin organising your keyboard’s management system, which permits the sign of a pressed key to journey from the precise change to the management board. Step one is to solder diodes to the pins of your switches. 

Diodes often are available units of 100, however you’ll solely want 68—one for every key. This can depart you with plenty of room for error in case you want it. These delicate parts be certain that present solely flows in a single route in order that there aren’t any loops that may find yourself frying your keyboard or inflicting your machine to register the improper key. 

Begin off by figuring out which finish is the cathode of the diode—you’ll acknowledge it by the black band painted on the physique. Use your wirecutter to trim the cathode right down to 1/2-inch and solder it to the left pin of a change. Repeat the method with all remaining switches and end up by trimming the remaining ends of the diodes to 1/2-inch.

5. Join every column of switches with a wire. Measure up, minimize, and strip 15 shorter items of stripped strong core wire lengthy sufficient to span the size of the columns of your keyboard. Solder one piece of wire to the precise pin of every change within the first column and repeat for all columns.

6. Join your rainbow wires to the row and column wires. Strip the ends of 5 wires out of your rainbow wire spool, and solder them onto the ends of every row of wire. You possibly can select the precise or left finish of the row wires, however no matter you do, be certain that your Teensy is ready to slot into its spot within the backside half of the case with out situation. If you happen to don’t router your wires correctly, they may bunch up and never depart sufficient house for the Teensy and the case won’t even have the ability to shut up correctly. 

Proceed by stripping the ends of a set of 15 wires out of your rainbow wire spool and solder them onto the ends of every column wire. 

At this level, the again of your keyboard ought to look one thing like this. 

9. Slot within the stabilizers and the keycaps. Stabilizers will assist, nicely, stabilize greater keys, just like the left shift key, the backspace, the spacebar, and the Enter keys. As soon as the stabilizers are in place, you possibly can connect the keycaps to the switches—simply line up the cross-shaped slot within the keycap and push it into place. In case you don’t keep in mind the place every keycap goes, you should utilize this structure as a reference.

10. Check the Teensy. Make sure that all the things works because it ought to, by going to the Keyboard Tester web site and attempting out your gadget. It’s best to see the platform registering every stroke as you hit the keys. 

Any points you run into could also be on account of shorts—possibly you didn’t apply {the electrical} tape correctly, or it might have been broken in some locations. That is a simple repair: visually examine the tape to see if there are any points. If issues persist, then it would imply one thing isn’t soldered accurately. Disconnect the keyboard, take away the tape, and rejoin something which may have separated. 

You won’t just like the roughness as a lot as I do (you possibly can simply polish that early on within the course of), however the motion of the switches and keycaps is fast and polished, so the feel doesn’t compromise the gadget’s efficiency. The Akko CS Ocean Blue switches are very tactile and clicky, which I personally love, however if you’d like one thing quieter, then there are different choices on the market.

I’m a brand new convert to mechanical keyboards and because of this construct there’s no approach I’m going again to a membrane keyboard. This can be a fundamental construct however you don’t should cease right here. You possibly can construct one to make use of at house and one for the workplace. You possibly can add extra customizations like totally different coloured keycaps and you may even add LEDs. The sky’s the restrict.