[IC] Alish 40 | GB and Vendor Announced!

[NamesReed]

Alish 40

An affordable 40% unibody split Alice

GB Thread: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=118014.0

Discord: https://discord.gg/JtBQ8nmr7R

Updated V1.2 Board

Howdy fellas, I've never done one of these, so I suppose I'll keep it nice and short to try and keep myself from looking like a goober.



Why did you make this stupid thing?

I fell in love with cheap through hole kits a while ago. I also happened to fall in love with 40's. But after an hour or more of typing on a "standard" 40, my wrists and hands would get pretty tired.
I noticed I felt much more comfortable typing on Alice layout boards, but I hated reaching for keys in the next zip code.  So I came up with this thing. 


Why this kit over the other 69,000 through hole kits out there?

So, I've built my fair share of through hole kits. With this board, I intend to solve a bunch of little gripes I had with them. First and foremost I wanted this thing to be as cheap as possible.
I have tried my best to make this one of the easiest kits on the market to build, granted I've got some experience with soldering, but this kit took me 45 minutes to put together.
I think it looks pretty rad, but that's subjective of course, you be the judge.
Wanted compatibility with many different dev boards, therefore it utilizes a Pro-Micro footprint.
With QMK working on adding RP2040 support hopefully soon, that would allow the use of running QMK and your choice of either via/vial on the super feature rich KB2040.
Until then, I've already got KMK working on a KB2040 for those really trying to keep the cost down.


Any nifty features at least?
Colors dependent on IC, would like to only have to order a few different colors if possible.  Options are in IC form.
In the pursuit of keeping costs down, its pretty featureless. 
It has an optional encoder under the left palm.
I'm still deciding on LED strip backlighting or not, answers on IC form will likely dictate that.

How many buckaroos?
Really trying to keep the cost of the kit down to 30 USD + shipping. This price includes everything you need minus switches, keycaps, and a pro micro equivalent.

PLEASE NOTE: The art in IRL Prototype pictures WILL NOT be on the board, the KiCad Viewer is the current iteration.
When I first made this board, doing an IC or GB was not on my radar.  I cannot seem to contact the copyright holders for the art used.

The prototypes I have in hand are completely featureless.
Again, I originally did this just for me, but I've gotten a lot of folks asking where they can buy one.  So I'm trying my best is what I'm trying to say.
Probably (for now) going to restrict purchases to North America only, not for sure though.
I decided no matter how this goes, I want an encoder, so I'll post V1.1 pics once I order them and get them in.

Thanks for your time, all feedback is appreciated.

[chris_]

seems like a neat kit, especially for the price you're shooting for. could be a fun little soldering project!

[Extra Fox]

I'd totally be down for one given the price, but mostly because the name was good for a hearty LOL.

[TranquilMarmot]

Always wanted to try this layout. At $40 it would be kind of silly NOT to pick this up. I definitely have some extra switches and keycaps laying about haha

[nevin]

i just LOVE any "just add promicro" type kits. makes really trying out other layouts so much cheaper.

[NamesReed]

I'd totally be down for one given the price, but mostly because the name was good for a hearty LOL.

I was pretty proud of myself for that one. Shocked that no one (that I have been able to find) has used that name yet lmao.

[NamesReed]

i just LOVE any "just add promicro" type kits. makes really trying out other layouts so much cheaper.

That's the idea! Wanted it to be an easy way for folks with not a lot of disposable income to have some fun and get into the hobby.  Or a way for 40/Alice curious fellers to get their feet wet without spending hundreds. 

[DarkS7R]

Any reason for the large gap between the QAZ/WSX columns?

[NamesReed]

Any reason for the large gap between the QAZ/WSX columns?

Totally forgot to mention, that was a little bit of an oversight.  But also you've gotta move the right side up, and the left side down (maybe I've got that backwards, dont have it in front of me) to get them to fit without collision. And I feel like the asymmetry is easily noticeable on a 40.  Something I'm totally open to changing, before I posted this, I had already moved them in .4mm on each side just to get a little closer. 

So in short, I'm open to changes, I just did what I thought looked good at the time.

[JackPikatea]

The gap between the QAZ and the rest of the board does not sit well with me. I think it needs to be closed up.

[nevin]

i just LOVE any "just add promicro" type kits. makes really trying out other layouts so much cheaper.

That's the idea! Wanted it to be an easy way for folks with not a lot of disposable income to have some fun and get into the hobby.  Or a way for 40/Alice curious fellers to get their feet wet without spending hundreds. 

being this style ("just add pro micro") also lends itself to more flexibility as well. like putting something like a nice nano in it and moving from QMK to ZMK to be wireless. because the pcb's are pretty much just the matrix of the switches.

[NamesReed]

The gap between the QAZ and the rest of the board does not sit well with me. I think it needs to be closed up.

After reviewing feedback from here and the IC form, I agree, I have updated the post to include a new KLE layout with tighter spacing. Will work on implementing that into the KiCad project when I get home.

Thank you for the feedback.

[NamesReed]

i just LOVE any "just add promicro" type kits. makes really trying out other layouts so much cheaper.

That's the idea! Wanted it to be an easy way for folks with not a lot of disposable income to have some fun and get into the hobby.  Or a way for 40/Alice curious fellers to get their feet wet without spending hundreds. 

being this style ("just add pro micro") also lends itself to more flexibility as well. like putting something like a nice nano in it and moving from QMK to ZMK to be wireless. because the pcb's are pretty much just the matrix of the switches.

Absolutely! fully intend to have ZMK firmware ready and built prior to GB.

[nevin]

Absolutely! fully intend to have ZMK firmware ready and built prior to GB.

 

[DarkS7R]

Any reason for the large gap between the QAZ/WSX columns?

Totally forgot to mention, that was a little bit of an oversight.  But also you've gotta move the right side up, and the left side down (maybe I've got that backwards, dont have it in front of me) to get them to fit without collision. And I feel like the asymmetry is easily noticeable on a 40.  Something I'm totally open to changing, before I posted this, I had already moved them in .4mm on each side just to get a little closer. 

So in short, I'm open to changes, I just did what I thought looked good at the time.

Makes sense, I know the original Alice layout has one column of the numrow "elevated" on each side to accomodate this.  From a usability perspective, I'll say that having that gap can be fairly annoying as your pinky fingers do not sit normally on the home row.  It's my sole complaint on the Chalice from CustomKBD, and the gaps on that layout are only slightly larger compared to other Alice-style boards I have.

[NamesReed]

Just an update, V1.1 pcb's have been ordered, I will update the post with new pictures of the 3D viewer. 

V1.1 will include an encoder, but no backlighting.  I'm not too keen on adding it, but if I suddenly get a wave of people wanting it, I might try and figure that out.

[nevin]

an underglow strip could easily be added without any kind of extra traces on the pcb. just wire it up to the promicro on an open pin and specify what you did in the firmware. would probably only need a couple to accomplish the effect so draw shouldn't be an issue.

could even do a 3d printed middle layer if the user felt so inclined.

per key, on the other hand it a whole other ball of wax.

[NamesReed]

Just a quick bump to say that the V1.1 PCB's are done and awaiting shipping, hopefully I'll see them mid next week. Thanks everyone for all the support on this project, means a lot to me<3

[Mandy]

This is an easy buy for me. I'd be willing to pay more for through hole led/hotswap sockets at a $50 price point. I can definitely respect trying to keep it cheap as possible though.

[NamesReed]

Hey guys, just a bump to say that I got the V1.1's in, everything works as expected and they look great. 

So far the only change between this and the GB model is an optional big 2.25 enter.

I've updated the top 2 pictures of this post to show the new protos.

[NamesReed]

3D printed case files are finalized and available. Uses magnets to attach the top section to the bottom plate, bottom plate replaces FR4 plate that comes with the board.

[nevin]

case looks wonderful.
at first glance i was going to guess paper towel mottling, but i'm going to change that and guess the salt/rust technique?

[NamesReed]

case looks wonderful.
at first glance i was going to guess paper towel mottling, but i'm going to change that and guess the salt/rust technique?

I'm not super sure what the technique is called, but I lay down multiple heavy coats of my base color, then rip up a sponge to make the surface uneven, apply paint to the sponge and gently dab it onto the object.

[nevin]

ok. yeah, sponge, paper towel, anything like that. sponge usually gives a repeating pattern somewhere but because of the size of this it's probably not noticeable even if there was repetitive marks.

nice. thanks for sharing.

[Versaknight]

Looks super cool

[NamesReed]

GB Announcement bump, link to thread at top of post <3

[nevin]

Congrats Reed. Excited for you!