I was one of the lucky guys who got one of the TMK64 alps PCB's made by Hasy , my PCB is Nr.7 and this is my build log
Here it goes:
First step was to prepare the diodes, I used a piece of wood cut down to size so I could bend all the diodes :
All diodes soldered in place:
With the diodes soldered I tested each switch with some needle tweezers to make sure that everything works.
Now the hard part, as a donor I used a NIB black Dell keyboard Alinh had, de-soldering the switches was a pain but that was not the hardest part.
I had to cut down to size the steel plate, for that I used a Dremel and some cutting disks, I think I broke around 10 of them but it worked in the end
The disks were not meant for cutting 1.5mm steel but I didn't had the time to order something else. Anyway, the end result looked good :
I managed not to destroy any of the stab mounting holes. For the screw holes I used a carbide drill and it worked well.
This is what was left of the Dell plate
:
After cutting and sanding the plate I made a test to see if everything fits and it did to my surprise :
Final step was to solder all the switches and test if all the switches work, and surprisingly it did :lol:
This is how it looked on the back :
For the case I have used a stock Poker X case :
For the firmware is just classic TMK everybody knows it so I won't cover that part. You have a reset switch on the back in the same position where the Poker DIP switches are placed, I must say it's a nice touch:
And the final product :
Conclusions:
Except for the short 1.75u Right Shift and Pinky Fn that I miss so much the board is great, I managed to put a layout that it is easy to use, I'm typing since yesterday on this keyboard and it feels really nice. I know people hate the black Alps, but I like them, they feel interesting. I didn't had any issues with the PCB, everything worked as it was supposed to.
It was the first time I got a chance to test and evaluate a prototype and it felt great :mrgreen: This small project had a lot of firsts for me, modding a plate, Alps switches, TMK firmware and the end result is a fully functional keyboard that looks and feels better than a commercial one
For soldering I used an Antex XS25 soldering iron with 1mm tip and 0.5mm 60/40 soldering wire. The Antex soldering iron was much better than the cheap one I used in the past, it allowed me to make much cleaner soldering points, a great tool all together. I bought this one directly from their web site, they have fast and cheap delivery, and their products are of very good quality for a good price.
