Need help in building keyboard

[Zjedz]

Hello Guys!
I've decided to build keyboard based on Cherry MX by myself. But unfortunately I am not quite able to do everything, so that's why I would like to ask you for help.
First of all, I need CAD .dwg file of this plate http://i.imgur.com/OGHRhCq.jpg for laser/water cut (red dots are for 0.2inch holes for M5 screws, I'd like to have holes already mentioned on .dwg, whole picture was made from many different pictures I found, so scaling/positioning may be not correct - it is supposed to be typical plate for TKL with metal around for holes)
I dont know yet what metal should I choose for plate, Steel or Al, but the case will be made from wood which I'll do on my own.
Next thing I would like to ask is what controller should I use for my build. I'm going to direct wire the keyboard. Teensy seems to be the winner, mosty by availability in Poland. I've seen http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=20898 - the only thing I'll need there is exact connection of wires and how to connect it to Teensy (which wire goes where).
I hope you'll, guys, help.
Wish me luck

[dorkvader]

sweet, looks like an epsilon KB but with wood.

As for direct wire, you can follow the images on lowpoly's apple M0110 mod and there are some others that tell you what to do:
http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/brownfox-step-by-step-t6050.html

Wire diodes across one way on teh matrix (usually rows), wire up the colums with wire, then wire them both up to the microcontroller.

Make sure you have enough pins on the microcontroller for your matrix. If you do a 5*15 matrix you will need 20 pins. Doing a more "square" matrix requires less pins but it  is much harder to wire.

[MOZ]

Do you need assistance in making the CAD file, or do you want someone to make it for you? Making it yourself is a lot more fun.

I always prefer SS over Al for the sheer strength. Al is good if you are looking into getting it anodized.

I would highly recommend the Teensy at wiring it in the same way the Phantom is done would allow you to use the Easy AVR keymapper to easily handle the software end of things.

[dorkvader]

Do you need assistance in making the CAD file, or do you want someone to make it for you? Making it yourself is a lot more fun.

I always prefer SS over Al for the sheer strength. Al is good if you are looking into getting it anodized.

I would highly recommend the Teensy at wiring it in the same way the Phantom is done would allow you to use the Easy AVR keymapper to easily handle the software end of things.

Instead of trying to replicate the phantom PCB with direct wire, I recommend either buying a phantom PCB and using that or using a different firmware. Personally, I think soarer's controller firmware is easy to use, but lots of people prefer Hasu's TMK_Firmware over it. Up to you, but I'd stick with an atmega 32u4 as most firmwares support it. One reason teensy is so well liked is that it has support for lots of pins. Other atmega 32u4 devices (arduino pro micros) don't have as many. The Teensy++ is good if you want to make a very easy wiring job.

I also second the stainless steel recommendation. I much prefer steel plates to aluminium. Aluminium plates tend to get bent in the mail

[Zjedz]

Thanks for answer. I don't really feel up to making CAD by myself, I'd rathed have it done by someone more experienced. I will most likely build 6*18 TKL, is it gonna work with standard Teensy 2.0?

[Moralless]

Thanks for answer. I don't really feel up to making CAD by myself, I'd rathed have it done by someone more experienced. I will most likely build 6*18 TKL, is it gonna work with standard Teensy 2.0?

Have you tried attempting it yourself? It's a lot easier than you think. I'm on my phone ATM so I can't provide links but go to the gh cad resource thread and look for a file called plate_components which will have all the different types of switch holes with the spacing of different key sizes already taken care of. You literally only have to copy and paste each switch next to each other in the desired layout and then put the screw holes in. I also suggest reading matt3o's guides on building keyboard as they are very newb friendly. If you attempt it yourself I'd bet people would be more willing to look over your cad file and find the mistakes instead of just building one for you.

[dorkvader]

Thanks for answer. I don't really feel up to making CAD by myself, I'd rathed have it done by someone more experienced. I will most likely build 6*18 TKL, is it gonna work with standard Teensy 2.0?

a 6 * 18 matrix done the "easy way" (like lowpoly does n his apple m0110 mod) requires 6+18 = 24 pins, too many for teeny, but the theensy++ has enough.

If you were to wire it in a more fancy way, and get all the keys wired up in the most efficient way, you'd need a 9*10 matrix (for a maximum of 90 switches, I see 87 there in your image) then it would be a lot harder to wire, but would only need 19 pins, and would work with a normal teensy

[cinnamonrollz]

someone needs to make a guide about wiring matrixes.

[dorkvader]

someone needs to make a guide about wiring matrixes.

There's loads. The ones I already posted
http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/brownfox-step-by-step-t6050.html
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=20898.0

Plus several more. Just look!

[jdcarpe]

I can help you with a plate design, but do you REALLY need so many holes across the top? It would still be very stable with far fewer holes.

I would also advise getting a Phantom PCB and Teensy and using that with your custom case. Hand wiring is not very sturdy, and takes loads of time to accomplish.

[CPTBadAss]

someone needs to make a guide about wiring matrixes.

From here

[jdcarpe]

^^

Great video by matt3o!


Also, if you really want to understand the keyboard matrix, I suggest this post from komar007's blog:

http://blog.komar.be/how-to-make-a-keyboard-the-matrix/