A little background before I get started. This will be the second S60-X that I am going to build. I built one of these a few months back, and since then I have also built a 60% from the leandreN R4 group buy. I had another one of these PCB's and I have slowly been collecting the parts for another build.
I still consider myself a noob at this, but I have learned a few things over the past two builds and thought it might be helpful to share this with others who are just starting out or who might be timid to try and build a board.
For now I am just going to go over the parts I'll be using. I'll update this post as I put this board together over the next week.
There are a few basic parts you are going to need to build a keyboard. The original kit from massdrop came with everything you need. I had a different idea in mind for this build though so most of these parts are different from the original kit. I'll go over the parts I chose for this build and will try to provide some info for anyone who might be looking for parts for their own build.
PCB - sentraq sq60-x - This is your circuit board that connects everything together. This particular board uses the ATMEGA32u4 chip and is fully programmable via TMK firmware. It supports a few different layouts. It does not have support for LED's.
Plate - This is a universal 60% that supports a few different layouts. Note that a plate is not required for the PCB because it has the holes for PCB mount switches. I've not built a plateless board, but from what I understand a plated board will provide a bit more rigidity. Keep in mind also if you decide to go with a plateless build you will want to make sure that your switches are "PCB mount".
Switches - Going with Gateron red switches for this build. This keyboard will be a gift for someone who will primarily use it for gaming, so I chose to go with a linear switch.
If you are looking at switches for your own build, one thing to keep in mind is there are "pcb mount" and "plate mount" switches. The only difference between these is the PCB mount switch will have 2 extra plastic pins on the bottom that help to hold it in place on the PCB. You will definitely want this type of switch if you are doing a plateless build. If you have a plate, PCB mount is still fine as long as the holes are on the PCB. If your PCB does not have the PCB mount holes then you are better off getting plate mount switches. If you get PCB mount that is OK you will just have to clip the extra plastic pins off of each switch.
Case - This is a iqunix lambo case I bought off of massdrop. For this PCB any standard 60% poker compatible case should work.
Stabilizers - these are needed to hold your bigger keys stable. If you got the original kit from massdrop it came with all the stabilizers you needed. I used mine on another build so I bought these off of ebay. For a standard 60% keyboard you will need a 6.25 unit stabilizer for your spacebar, and four 2 unit stabilizers to cover L-Shift, R-Shift, Enter, and Backspace.
If you are purchasing stabilizers for a build, keep in mind that these will also have "plate mount" or "pcb mount". For this build I am using PCB mounts. I've not done any build with plate mount stab's so I can't say too much about them. From what I understand (I could be wrong), not all plates are compatible with plate mount stabs so you should check into this before making the purchase.
Keycaps - These are some caps I got off massdrop also. I was hoping the blue was a bit lighter and close to the plate color. I may keep my eye out for some better caps for this board, but for the time being these will work.
Mini USB cable - Any mini usb cable will do. This one I made to match the blue theme. The cable kit came from 1upKeyboards.
