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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: cribbit on Wed, 15 February 2017, 19:41:31

Title: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: cribbit on Wed, 15 February 2017, 19:41:31
I've now handwired three boards. The first I did using the old Brownfox guide (https://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/brownfox-step-by-step-t6050.html) by Matt3o. Though it's not a bad guide, handwiring mechanical keyboards was a relatively new concept at the time and I feel that it can be done much better. With my most recent two builds I refined a new method for handwiring. These techniques give a stronger, cleaner and easier build.

If you prefer the Imgur format, I've also posted this to Imgur (http://imgur.com/a/qcgdF).

For more details on the design and materials selection for building a board read this google doc addendum (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Eqvy9FG-OiuZov82HrgYj6GCGPKYLzweQbluhq92vxI) I wrote.

I hope that this guide is able to help people both new and experienced at creating their own boards.

The Result

(http://i.imgur.com/bXdlSgd.jpg)

It's quite pretty :)

Plate

Examine your plate for any imperfections. Checking your materials will be a common theme throughout this - the last thing you want is to start typing and realize you missed some critical damage. Things to look out for are warping, misalignment, excess material around the squares and anything generally out of place. The plate is pretty straightforward, and any real issues will be found as you start to put the switches in.

Here I used a 1.5mm steel plate from Lasergist.

(http://i.imgur.com/JTqjhEM.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/YbQzJds.jpg)

Switches

Depending on what material and thickness your plate is you may have to glue your switches in. A 1.5mm plate should have the switches snapping into place and be relatively difficult to pop out once in. As you put in each switch press it a few times to make sure nothing is wrong with it. If you have the time you can also take a multimeter and test that the switch properly actuates, but it’s very rare to find a faulty switch.

(http://i.imgur.com/MPYJnpi.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/v0OIgSP.jpg)

Diodes

Diodes are required to make sure that multiple keys pressed at once send the correct keycode. The first thing to do is to attach a diode to each switch. 1N4148 diodes are your best bet and are super cheap. To make the strongest solder joint you want to have the wire of the diode forming a loop around the pin of the switch. This loop concept will come up for every joint we make. I start the loop by bending a bunch of diodes at the same time over the edge of a box, so that they all have their loop at the same spot and as close to the diode as possible. For each individual diode, I start by wrapping the wire around the end of needle nosed pliers, then placing it over the pin and tightening the loop, pulling it off the pin to pinch the loop shut with the pliers before finally clipping the excess wire at the loop. The tighter the loop the cleaner your joint will look, while the pinch flattens the loop into a circle and makes it easier to solder. Done properly this is enough to make the electrical connections even without solder, though of course we still solder.

(http://i.imgur.com/VSGo1Wt.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/lMJNtav.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/XfTNR7A.jpg)

Soldering

The reason these loops are super useful is that solder has surface tension. You’ll see this in action as soon as you start soldering.  For cleanliness you’ll want the loop to be at the base of the pin - you should be able to use the excess wire on the far side of the diode to allow the loop to rest there. Hold the iron to the pin and loop for a couple of seconds, then touch some solder to the tip of the iron. It will quickly flow into the loop. Make sure to put just enough that the entire inside of the loop is covered, then remove the iron and solder wire.

(http://i.imgur.com/zRBVKdK.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/gm9Edbf.jpg)

Vise grip

The trick for the rows and columns comes from a very useful tool, the vise grip. This wonderful little tool makes it super easy to create gaps in wire insulation in the middle of the wire. It takes a little bit of measuring to get the length of insulation right (you don’t have to be crazy exact - I tend to just line the wire up with landmarks on the tool like the screw protector) but once you get in the rhythm of it you can quickly form your wire’s insulation. Remember that the insulation is being pushed, not removed, so you’ll want to remove some excess along the edges of the wire to give room for the gaps in the middle.

Your other option is to try to use a razor or normal wire stripper to create the cuts, or burn away insulation with the soldering iron. The former is tricky and time consuming, and the latter is additionally smelly and dirty. You can also try using many small pieces of wire but you add a lot of tricky soldering work and it won’t look as clean. A vise grip is $20 on Amazon and well worth it.

Keep in mind that using a vise grip is much easier with solid core wire than stranded wire. Stranded wire in general is much harder to work with.

The little knob on the head of the vise grip can adjust how thick of wire you're stripping. If it's not stripping easily or is cutting the wire rather than stripping try adjusting this knob.

(http://i.imgur.com/ldlvWZ9.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/ZYuoFcW.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/Ed4bhpi.jpg)

Rows

The next thing to add is the rows. Your ideal wire for rows is solid core. It doesn’t matter too much, but for safety’s sake you may want slightly thicker insulation as mistakes in the columns can affect the rows. The pictures here aren’t quite as useful as I’d like since I actually realized some better techniques to this after I had already finished. First, you’ll want to vise strip the insulation along a length of wire into the right sized gaps for your layout. What I did was to immediately put the wire along the row with the diode wires underneath it, then bend the diode wires over the row wire to hold the row in place before soldering each joint. This isn’t bad, but there’s a better way. Lay the row wire over the diode wires but only bend over one diode wire, on the edge (remember to not trim the outside edge of the wire until after soldering), and then feed the diode wire back under the row wire to form a loop. Solder this joint. Push the first piece of insulation against the joint, and create a loop with the next diode wire. Push the remaining insulation pieces to the side and out of the way, then solder this new joint. Push the next insulation piece against the joint and repeat this process all the way down the row. This allows for you to more easily create direct solder joints between the loop and the row wire without damaging the insulation.

(http://i.imgur.com/l4iaMhV.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/sQVZqQP.jpg)

The important thing to focus on while creating the loops of the diode wire around the row wire is keeping the row wire snug against the column of the switch. This can reduce the chance of damage in the future and makes it look cleaner.

(note for the picture below - do the below to tighten the row wire, then also route the diode wire back under the row wire to complete a loop)

(http://i.imgur.com/9JYhfHv.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/YdVhVSF.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/EblMOo4.jpg)

Columns

After doing diodes and rows you can probably guess what I'm going to say for the columns, and you’re right. Vise strip a wire to the right insulation lengths, create a loop like we did with diodes, solder that loop, and move to the next gap in the insulation. The trick with these loops is to do them one by one and solder them immediately, rather than trying to make all the loops first before soldering. Just place the incoming wire next to the pin, pull the wire tight around the pin, pull the loop off to pinch with the pliers, place it back, make sure the next section of insulation is out of the way and solder the loop as close to the base of the pin as you can. Remember to give enough slack in each section of wire so that it doesn’t slowly cut through the row wire and don't accidentally melt any insulation - this is where slightly thicker row wires can help avoid mistakes.

Good column wire is solid core but you can have as thin of insulation as you want. I’ve found that the individual strands of wire inside networking cables like ethernet are excellent for this. I personally used strands from a scrap telecom cable since it was wonderfully colorful.

(http://i.imgur.com/gFnpuTN.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/pUtz4yn.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/nNTTeuL.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/RvC4Evo.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/cuN7t5q.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/xlL0Kmy.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/7iX5A29.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/ArShuKP.jpg)

Controller

The controller can be wired with normal wire, but I find that a ribbon cable makes clean routing much easier. If you can get one of the ribbon cables pictured (this may be it) (http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/cw-industries/C2PXS-2406G/C2PXS-2406G-ND/1122829) it also makes attaching the ribbon back to the controller ridiculously easy. I got my ribbon cable from the scrap bin at my university. This part is straightforward. If you use a ribbon you can easily strip the ends by burning off a ring of insulation and pulling the rest away. I recommend stripping a decent length, then wrapping the wire around the joint you’re attaching to before soldering. I went so far as to bend the switch pin over the wire before soldering. Also remember to get solder all the way around the hole when you connect back to the controller - if you put too little and it only covers one side it may break easily in the future.

Keep in mind these pictures just show how I chose to do the controller placement. Depending on what sort of case you want you can place the controller anywhere that suits you. I put mine there because the ribbon cable was too short to put it anywhere else.

IMPORTANT: Pins D6, GND and VCC on a Teensy are to be avoided.

(http://i.imgur.com/Cpi4Qcc.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/tS8C1Hi.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/0HCfUXo.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/KARRntm.jpg)

If you use the fancy ribbon cable it’s got a full 40 pins, while your build likely only needs at most 25 pins (remember, you need 1 pin per row and 1 per column so total pins is rows + cols). I like to use a bandsaw to chop it into one side of 18 pins and one of 20 (killing one pair of pins) since this perfectly fits a Teensy onto it. If you need more than that you can either cut your ribbon into a piece of more than half (making the smaller piece scrap) or use normal wires to connect the back edge pins to rows/cols close to the controller, as I did in the picture.

(http://i.imgur.com/C2Q4wIx.jpg)

Clean up

Take a multimeter and test that there’s a connection from the start of each row to each wrapped diode wire and from each column start to each switch connection. Check that each row does not connect to any column. Check that each controller pin connects to a join in the row/column other than the joint it is directly soldered to. (you can set a multimeter to beep when there’s a circuit). Mostly a sanity check but better to take five minutes being careful than be ripping your hair out later.

Take thin wire cutters (there are fancy ones with shaped blades to reach into gaps) and trim all the switch pins. If you were good about pushing loops down before soldering and soldered cleanly you should be able to trim them quite far down. This will make it so that only the switch columns make contact with anything.

Inspect every solder joint. Make sure that the solder goes all the way around each loop.

Finishing up

(http://i.imgur.com/CiWYmaZ.jpg)

Decide on a case - I personally run without a case since the joints are strong enough to allow that. Layered acrylic or sandwich standoffs are common. I like to be able to show off my work of art.

All that’s left now is putting on caps and figuring out your firmware! http://qmk.sized.io/ (http://qmk.sized.io/) is obviously helpful. A multimeter is invaluable in determining your pins if you used the ribbon cable. Congrats! You’ve handwired a keyboard!

(http://i.imgur.com/rJWrExu.jpg)

(http://i.imgur.com/kmoubtQ.jpg)
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: KetchyKech on Wed, 15 February 2017, 19:48:28
dude this is awesome, I always thought hand-wiring was this daunting task that I prob would never try out~

you make me think otherwise!! Thanks for posting  :thumb:
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: stoic-lemon on Wed, 15 February 2017, 20:20:51
Thanks for sharing this guide and including great pictures with it. I'm often put off hand wiring as it often looks terrible, but this really is very nice.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: need on Wed, 15 February 2017, 20:50:02
Newbies like me am still confused about the controller part. Which strand of the ribbon cable goes to which hole on the Teensy?

Thanks for the detailed write up, will be immensely useful for noobs like me.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: jal on Wed, 15 February 2017, 21:07:22
Really nice writeup. Thanks for posting that.

In the middle of my first (and only) handwire, I remember thinking that looping the diode terminals seemed sensible, and promptly forgot about it and haven't done one since.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: cribbit on Wed, 15 February 2017, 21:20:12
Thanks for all the positive feedback!


Newbies like me am still confused about the controller part. Which strand of the ribbon cable goes to which hole on the Teensy?

Thanks for the detailed write up, will be immensely useful for noobs like me.

It doesn't matter which strand of the wire goes into which hole, as long as you don't use VCC, GND or D6. (there are exceptions for D6 but you don't have to worry about them unless you absolutely need that last pin). All that matters for the pins is correctly indicating which row/col # is wired to which pin when you do the firmware.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: pixelpusher on Thu, 16 February 2017, 00:20:56
Awesome project.  I agree that is does peek my interest in hand wiring where I thought I could never achieve such a feat.  One question though...How us that teensy going to go out of the case in that direction? 
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: OfTheWild on Thu, 16 February 2017, 00:57:07
/r/cableporn needs you.

Very nicely done sir.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: Fiery on Thu, 16 February 2017, 01:21:26
Good post, makes me want to try and handwire a board  :thumb:
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: laughatpain on Thu, 16 February 2017, 01:37:47
Great read, didn't realize you went to the same school as me till i read the Google Doc. Shoot me a PM if you wanna meet up, I always love talking keyboards and I'd be happy to share my collection.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: stoic-lemon on Thu, 16 February 2017, 02:30:00
If I do hand wire, I would really like to still have the ability to remove the switch tops, so I'd probably go for a plate that allows that. Would that mean I should go for a thicker material?
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: pixelpusher on Thu, 16 February 2017, 10:58:03
If I do hand wire, I would really like to still have the ability to remove the switch tops, so I'd probably go for a plate that allows that. Would that mean I should go for a thicker material?

Switch top removal just requires the right cutout, it doesn't really have to do with material thickness. 

http://builder.swillkb.com/

You'll want to choose the cutout for MX{_t:3}  That one allows for switch opening.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: stoic-lemon on Thu, 16 February 2017, 16:43:49
If I do hand wire, I would really like to still have the ability to remove the switch tops, so I'd probably go for a plate that allows that. Would that mean I should go for a thicker material?

Switch top removal just requires the right cutout, it doesn't really have to do with material thickness. 

http://builder.swillkb.com/

You'll want to choose the cutout for MX{_t:3}  That one allows for switch opening.

I was thinking more about stability. I have it in my head that the extra cuts mean less stability, and a thicker plate means more.

I've been tweaking designs on that site for the past two weeks, but am too indecisive.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: funderburker on Tue, 21 February 2017, 15:58:47
Ok, WOOOOOOW. This is definitely the cleanest hand-wire job I've ever seen. Really want to use your technique to make another hand-wired board just because of this.  :p
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: Wylte on Wed, 22 February 2017, 00:46:18
Super detailed, thank you for making this!  This will definitely be the guide I come back to when I finally have time to start my numpad switch tester  :thumb:
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: Griftrix on Wed, 22 February 2017, 01:37:14
Hey cribbit,

This is a fantastic guide.  The best part is, it is an ACTUAL GUIDE!  With instructions, and descriptions, and PART NAMES!!!  This is so much more than a picture blog of things you've done.  I super appreciate the extra work you have done into writing this up. You not only explain in detail what you do, but you explain WHY you are doing it, which gives readers a chance to make their own decision while weighing them with your experience.  I want to give you such glowing praise, because on the internet, there are so many glorified picture blogs that people refer to as guides.  I have much love for Matteo's blog post of wiring the brown fox, but it's not a guide or instructional.  I know, I know, it's super taboo to say anything bad about him, but it's true.  I have already copied the link to this in my google doc I made to keep notes for my own build.  I will personally be wiring my row wires on the opposite side of the keys as you, so it won't be pressed against that side of the switch column because of my LED wire placement, but because you explain your reasons so well, I know it's not a big deal.  Details like this are golden.  Thank you so much :)

This deserves a link in the sticky thread at the top of this sub forum.

-Griftrix
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: menuhin on Sun, 12 March 2017, 17:58:47
Very need job!  :thumb:
Thanks for sharing.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: vvp on Mon, 13 March 2017, 06:26:27
It's pretty. Anyway there is an easier way for people who do not want to bother so much with plastic insulation stripping. They can use enameled (magnet) wire. Use a wire with a diameter of about 0.15 mm. Set your iron to about 400 °C. The thinner the wire the lower iron temperature can be used. The hot solder will burn away the enamel. No need to play with insulation stripping.
It is often possible to use a bare wire without insulation in one direction (e.g. for rows) and an enameled wire in the other direction (e.g. columns). That makes the job easier/quicker.
Two examples of this approach are attached.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: cicada on Mon, 13 March 2017, 07:37:16
Outstanding guide sir
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: cribbit on Mon, 13 March 2017, 12:28:53
It's pretty. Anyway there is an easier way for people who do not want to bother so much with plastic insulation stripping. They can use enameled (magnet) wire. Use a wire with a diameter of about 0.15 mm. Set your iron to about 400 °C. The thinner the wire the lower iron temperature can be used. The hot solder will burn away the enamel. No need to play with insulation stripping.
It is often possible to use a bare wire without insulation in one direction (e.g. for rows) and an enameled wire in the other direction (e.g. columns). That makes the job easier/quicker.
Two examples of this approach are attached.

Very true! You can also burn the insulation on most normal wire at the cost of potentially looking worse, as long as you have a fume flume, though at that point it's much more effort than just using the stripper.

Also, while it's totally possible to use uninsulated wire for either the rows or the cols it can lead to issues down the line. This is exacerbated when using the enamel wire, since one slip with the iron and you can ruin a wire already done.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: rvense on Thu, 16 March 2017, 07:13:11
This guide is really great. Helped me loads when I made my custom board a few weeks ago. Nicely presented, too.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: tobsn on Thu, 16 March 2017, 21:02:36
since you want to make this modern:

(https://www.beta-estore.com/images/product_large/RK-10026_697.jpg)

http://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=TOL-13114

It's called a lead bending tool.

For wiring I use Kynar, works nice because it's one wire, thin, thick enough, and the insulation can easy be moved around:

http://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/kynar-series/1966

For the teensy I made a mix of an existing teensy mount that is much flatter and fits a bit better:

(http://thingiverse-production-new.s3.amazonaws.com/renders/fd/6d/47/4b/ae/90108db25fe8f5e33f788f966205b991_preview_featured.jpg)

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1837563

Example:
More
(https://scontent-waw1-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/14693892_638310036347271_6417330002408243200_n.jpg)

(https://scontent-waw1-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/14709433_349748405374943_8944021015961272320_n.jpg)

(https://scontent-waw1-1.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e35/14711837_1824684621079992_1347432417299791872_n.jpg)
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: lawless on Tue, 11 July 2017, 18:40:37
Quote
Vise grip

The trick for the rows and columns comes from a very useful tool, the vise grip. This wonderful little tool makes it super easy to create gaps in wire insulation in the middle of the wire. It takes a little bit of measuring to get the length of insulation right (you don’t have to be crazy exact - I tend to just line the wire up with landmarks on the tool like the screw protector) but once you get in the rhythm of it you can quickly form your wire’s insulation. Remember that the insulation is being pushed, not removed, so you’ll want to remove some excess along the edges of the wire to give room for the gaps in the middle.

Your other option is to try to use a razor or normal wire stripper to create the cuts, or burn away insulation with the soldering iron. The former is tricky and time consuming, and the latter is additionally smelly and dirty. You can also try using many small pieces of wire but you add a lot of tricky soldering work and it won’t look as clean. A vise grip is $20 on Amazon and well worth it.

Keep in mind that using a vise grip is much easier with solid core wire than stranded wire. Stranded wire in general is much harder to work with.

The little knob on the head of the vise grip can adjust how thick of wire you're stripping. If it's not stripping easily or is cutting the wire rather than stripping try adjusting this knob.

Excellent guide. Super helpful since I'm considering building a board.

What you're calling a Vise Grip is just a self adjusting wire stripper. Irwin Vise Grip is the brand name. Most people think of locking pliers when you say Vise Grip. But yeah, self adjusting wire strippers are excellent when you gotta strip a lot of wire.  :thumb:

Again, thanks for the write-up.


EDIT:

It's pretty. Anyway there is an easier way for people who do not want to bother so much with plastic insulation stripping. They can use enameled (magnet) wire. Use a wire with a diameter of about 0.15 mm. Set your iron to about 400 °C. The thinner the wire the lower iron temperature can be used. The hot solder will burn away the enamel. No need to play with insulation stripping.
It is often possible to use a bare wire without insulation in one direction (e.g. for rows) and an enameled wire in the other direction (e.g. columns). That makes the job easier/quicker.
Two examples of this approach are attached.

Very true! You can also burn the insulation on most normal wire at the cost of potentially looking worse, as long as you have a fume flume, though at that point it's much more effort than just using the stripper.

Also, while it's totally possible to use uninsulated wire for either the rows or the cols it can lead to issues down the line. This is exacerbated when using the enamel wire, since one slip with the iron and you can ruin a wire already done.

I wonder about  Insulating Varnish (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DRHSG0O/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I2XFGK7E6XRTNW&colid=BJT7UYUPKQ08) that comes in a spray can.  It's used to insulate the windings on electric motors.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: dodgeyhack on Wed, 12 July 2017, 01:07:33
Amazing guide. Thanks for taking the time to share this. I'm currently investigating how to hand wire my own board so I'm very grateful this appeared at the top of the unread posts list!
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: lawless on Wed, 12 July 2017, 06:39:43
That's because I kinda necro'd it.  :-[
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: rowdy on Wed, 12 July 2017, 21:38:46
That's because I kinda necro'd it.  :-[

Says the person with username "lawless" :))

4 months is hardly a necro, especially for something as detailed and interesting as this.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: ɔiɈɘʜɈƨ∍∀ on Wed, 19 July 2017, 22:01:26
One day. One day I will do something like this lol. Looks great
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: amp_tron on Sat, 14 July 2018, 13:51:48
Thanks cribbit, this is really top notch. I will be referencing this on my next build.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: amp_tron on Sat, 14 July 2018, 13:54:22
Thanks cribbit, this is awesome. I will be referencing this in my next build.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: Minotaar on Tue, 19 February 2019, 18:37:34
Lovely guide.  Thanks so much for teaching us.

I am thinking of hand wiring a contoured keyboard by 3D printing the plate to hold the switches.  Do you know of any builds that have gone in this direction?

Thanks!
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: 4sStylZ on Mon, 04 March 2019, 09:25:51
There is many project like that on geekhack.org or thingiverse.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: tex_live_utility on Mon, 04 March 2019, 18:54:59
Lovely guide.  Thanks so much for teaching us.

I am thinking of hand wiring a contoured keyboard by 3D printing the plate to hold the switches.  Do you know of any builds that have gone in this direction?

Thanks!

Look for the "Dactyl", "Manuform", and "Dactyl Manuform" keyboards, among others.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: inkrap on Sat, 17 August 2019, 22:15:40
Lurker, but just wanted to swing in and say thank you for the guide. Was an amazing tool during my first build.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: Cbolo79 on Tue, 26 May 2020, 06:24:49
Hello,

Thank you for this it's clear and very useful :)

Chris
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: Me on Fri, 12 March 2021, 23:58:31
Is it possible to just strip the wire bare and then cover the rows with insulating/electrical tape? I saw this in a video of the "whitefox"(have no idea what that is) by matt3o.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: Leslieann on Sat, 13 March 2021, 01:51:20
Yes, but if there is a problem that could get really messy really fast.
Electrical tape also has a habit of becoming nasty with age, and shrinking (because you stretch it when you pull it off), all of this makes it a less than perfect long term solution for something like this. It's bad enough on wire splices.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: vvp on Sat, 13 March 2021, 03:44:31
@Me: Use enamelled (magnet) wire. It is the best option. Insulation is there and you still do not need to do any insulation stripping.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: Me on Sat, 13 March 2021, 10:47:42
ok thx guys!
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: plainbriny on Sat, 20 March 2021, 05:32:13
Thanks for the excellent guide.
Title: Re: A modern handwiring guide - stronger, cleaner, easier
Post by: rjohn on Wed, 11 January 2023, 09:57:55
thanks for the guide!
i might try build a hand-wiring 40% or 60% using a Elite-C on a budget with part i already have, only part i am missing is the PLATE ,any source to find a cheap one (EU) ? Don't mind if it plastic.