Author Topic: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services  (Read 28089 times)

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Offline Gondolindrim

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[IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« on: Wed, 01 January 2020, 21:25:17 »
I am analizing proposals in a case-by-case basis. For inquiries submit a response to the form here: https://forms.gle/EkUzmjzik6d93uKPA. Please avoid contacting me through Reddit, Geekhack or Discord as I dont check those regularly. Thanks. Commissions are closed for now and I don't have an ETA of when they will be back as I am full right now. Anyone is free to DM me for questions, offers, and inquiries.

Hi there guys! I'm Gondolindrim, a brazilian engineer and mech enthusiast, known for my open-source PCB designs -- such as the SharkPCB, Doddle60 and ArcticPCB -- and some GBs that I have participated in/am participating, such as the Austin and the Elongate!

I'm opening this IC to check if there is demand for offering PCB design services at a -- I believe -- just price. Any suggestions and feedback is highly appreciated. I will use the results and opinions from this thread to open a service post.

1. Who am I

I'm a brazilian mechanical keyboard enthusiast; I've been around the community since 2012 and in 2015 I started designing keyboard PCBs. Since then some of my designs caught some attention, such as the SharkPCB and the ArcticPCB.

I have reached 23 keyboard PCBs that are either in the finishing or finished state. Most of them are being released through the Acheron Project (oleaae check my GitHub page and the Acheron Project documentation at the AcheronDocs) and are actively maintained by me.

My technical background begins with being an electronics aficionado since 11 years old, when I started building overdrive and chorus pedals so I could play Black Sabbath's *Paranoid* on my guitar.

This has evolved into a double graduation in Electronic Engineering and Applied Maths, and a master's degree; I'm currently working towards my PhD. As such I have extensive experience with PCB design, ranging from digital control circuitry to high-fidelity audio equipment and switched power supplies. I am also a Senior Engineer in a technology company, so I know how to work in a group and the dynamics of a joint project.

2. The services

Usually there are two kinds of services that I do.

The first being to design a PCB from scratch, usually for a new keyboard for a personal project or Group Buy. This involves working with the case designer and I will need acces to case and plate files to check for fitting, connector placement, lighting effectiveness.

The second being to design a new PCB for an existing board. This is generally done when someone wants their keyboard to support features otherwise not originally present -- ALPS/Choc compatibility, RGB underglow, per-key RGB or different layouts. This kind of work is more difficult because I need to have an idea of the PCB edges, and the keyboard manufacturer seldomly does not provide information. These kinds of services I need to evaluate more carefully, and I might turn them down at my discretion.

I can accept any PCB-related job, so if you have an idea please let's talk about it!

For  contact, please avoid sending me personal messages on GeekHack. Instead, send an e-mail over gondolindrim@acheronproject.com or DM me in Discord, I'm Gondolindrim#9738.

3. My capabilities

I'd like to think I'm a very versatile designer. I can do most of the features the cool kids are using these days:
- New ARM processors;
- Per-key lighting including RGB
- RGB underglow
- Rotary encoders
- Layer and lock indicator LEDs;
- USB Type C connector
- Split keebs
- Detachable PCBs
- Multi-layout support;
- ALPS, Choc and MX/ALPS support;
- Hotswap sockets

My PCBs have, by default features,
- ESD protection on both USB data lines and power lines
- USB shield decoupling
- Overcurrent protection through a fuse
- Overvoltage protection through a Transient Voltage Suppressor
- QMK support
- For tray mounts, case grounding and decoupling

Please note that some QMK features are limited for the newer ARM MCUs, such as split support.

My designs are done using custom footprints of the Acheron Library, which are proven to work. I design my PCBs in KiCad, and strongly support that. If needed be I maybe can design in Eagle and Altium. i have extensive experience with 3D modeling and animation software like Blender, Fusion and SolidWorks.

I'd also like to think I'm a nice person.

- I can de-escalate situations easily with my rather weird sense of humor
- I can talk about food and music, preferably while eating or listening to music
- I can eat inhumane amounts of pizza and drink unthinkable amounts of beer (generally accompanied by aforementioned inhumane amounts of pizza)
- I can nanny your baby cousin and clean after your dog (additional fees might apply)
- I can pretend to be your boyfriend at that family gathering party so that the creepy uncle/aunt/grandma doesn't keep asking when are you getting a boyfriend
- I can laugh at your jokes (I mean really any joke, please hear my participations in Off the Clack and you'll see I like to laugh a lot)

4. Pricing

I have a standard flat fee of 300 US dollars which covers the design of any keyboard PCB, of any size and features, except per-key lighting and detachable PCBs. Both of these add 30 US dollars to the design fee. Per-key RGB adds 60USD to the design. This design fee covers QMK/VIA firmware building.

Additionally, I also require a fee of 10 USD per manufactured PCB; this covers basically the technical maintenance and support  for you and the people that buy the PCBs (how to keep an updated firmware, troubleshooting issues with customer support, replacing PCBs...)

These prices DO NOT include Paypal fees and they DO NOT INCLUDE PROTOTYPES (for the love of God please have this in mind). If you wish to avoid Paypal fees, I do have US and EU bank accounts you can transfer to.

If you have other business/payment model in mind please contact me so we can work something out! Prices are negotiable if you are hiring more than one design.

In order to start the design, I require a deposit for the initial fesign fees to ensure I'm not working for free. Unfortunately I have had bad experiences with people that commissioned a PCB from me, made me spend 15-20 hours on a design only to drop the project and never pay me.

I'm also accepting PayPal only currently.

5.Prototypes

Prototyping the PCBs is really very important to check for a myriad of parameters, among them suitability, mechanical and electrical compliance. You can choose any method of prototyping; most times the customer will have a local shop that takes small quantities or will order from a big manufacturer and assembler.

I also can do prototypes at home; most PCB manufacturers MOQ is 5 units. I assemble the PCBs by hand using professional tools (hot-air station, solder paste, solder station and de-solder station). I buy components from LCSC and generally order PCBs from JLCPCB or Elecrow.

Generally, considering all shippings, PCBs and component prices, the 5 proto units cost 200-250 USD. This escalates quite well with quantity, but I can't assemble more than 15 PCBs by hand. The turnkey is 3-4 months (I know this is not a nice timeframe but shipping to and from Brazil takes that much time).

If you have another preferred way of doing protos I am also perfectly fine.


Due to the issues I had with the brazilian customs regarding the Doddle60 and other projects, including events like parcels coming back or being lost, I don't assemble prototypes myself anymore. Protos will have to be ordered at a fab house or another place like PCBWay or Elecrow.

6. What do I spend that money with and why am I doing this

As you guys can see, prototyping PCBs is not cheap. All the current PCBs I have open-sourced I have prototyped out of my pocket, sometimes by not eating out but most of the times moonlighting as a cleaner, bartender, car washer. I have also accepted a sponsorship from PCBWay (a big chinese PCB manu) for three of my PCBs, which helped immensely.

Turns out I'm really tired of doing that because it's getting rather unhealthy.

Generally all money I earn designing PCBs is spent with the Acheron Project. By hiring my services you directly support me and the project so I can prototype and innovate on open-source designs, bringing some of my knowledge to the community specially on the field of hardware engineering.

By going this you also allow me the opportunity to spend time helping new and aspiring PCB designers with their designs.

7. Open-sourcing

I would like to publish the design in my Acheron Project, under my Open-Source Hardware license that I have written advised by a couple of lawyer and entrepreneur friends.

If you choose not to open-source that's perfectly fine.

If yes, the files are published after the GB is over or whenever you'd feel comfortable to.
« Last Edit: Tue, 02 August 2022, 11:46:51 by Gondolindrim »
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline rinkaan

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #1 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 00:24:21 »
Looking good! I'm sure there are people who would engage ur services! Have fun working on projects (that are paid) next time! :)

Sent from my Redmi K20 Pro using Tapatalk


Offline goddream

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #2 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 00:26:04 »
Do you also have much experience with OLED Display support?
Rei XT-60 | Endash | KHDD | Jinsoul | Tengu | PC Dolphin | Nunu | Hyphen | Mc65 | Unikorn | Dahyun | CARDBORD

Offline equalunique

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #3 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 00:28:36 »
Ok, I am very excited to see you back in the game!

Is the email address on your github profile the same one you use for PayPal?

Sent from my Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 using Tapatalk


Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #4 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 05:26:19 »
Looking good! I'm sure there are people who would engage ur services! Have fun working on projects (that are paid) next time! :)

Sent from my Redmi K20 Pro using Tapatalk

Let's hope so! I'd link to think my services are worth it!

Thanks for the support!
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #5 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 05:28:02 »
Do you also have much experience with OLED Display support?

Yes! I'm not sure about QMK support on ARM but if I recall correctly works fine with AVR!
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #6 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 05:28:43 »
Ok, I am very excited to see you back in the game!

Is the email address on your github profile the same one you use for PayPal?

Sent from my Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7 using Tapatalk

Thanks man!

No it's not. Please PM for the right address.
« Last Edit: Thu, 02 January 2020, 12:06:27 by Gondolindrim »
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline vosechu

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #7 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 10:54:56 »
Do you have any experience with nordic ble chips? Nrf51 is just fine.

Also, how do you want people to contact you about projects?

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #8 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 12:05:46 »
Do you have any experience with nordic ble chips? Nrf51 is just fine.

Also, how do you want people to contact you about projects?

I have used NRF51422 before. I don't know about QMK support though.

Preferably Discord. I'm Gondolindrim#9738
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline mrpetrov

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 12:27:34 »
This sounds amazing from anyone let alone someone with your excellent reputation! Can’t wait to work with you.

Apart from that, my only question to you would be whether there would be some way of outsourcing the QC process for prototypes to someone you trust based in the US (for US customers) which could significantly cut down the 3-4 month turnkey turnaround? Food for thought.
« Last Edit: Thu, 02 January 2020, 12:29:53 by mrpetrov »

Offline Capsy

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 12:34:02 »
As a part of the Austin GB, I can vouch for the quality of the PCBs and the effort Gondo put into the whole design. From nice little marks on the PCB for WKL/WK layouts to general aesthetics, he did a damn good job of it.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #11 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 17:25:53 »
This sounds amazing from anyone let alone someone with your excellent reputation! Can’t wait to work with you.

Apart from that, my only question to you would be whether there would be some way of outsourcing the QC process for prototypes to someone you trust based in the US (for US customers) which could significantly cut down the 3-4 month turnkey turnaround? Food for thought.

I don't know chief, about the excellent reputation you mention :P

Well you can always order from a PCBA like Elecrow, PCBWay, AllPCB . These will deliver assembled prototypes in a month; their prices for low quantities are quite expensive, ranging in the 60-80 USD per unit with an MOQ of 5.

The only US-based PCB manufacturer I have ever used is OSHPark and their stuff is good, but their prices are generally higher than China-based. I'm sure there are more US shops but I can't recommend any beyond OSHPark as I have only used that one.

JLPCB is doing a very nice job and very cheap, but they don't have some components in stock and don't solder connectors, so that's a deal breaker most of the times.

My 200-250 US dollars price isn't a price per se as I don't get anything from that money; it goes straight to materials (PCB and components) and shipping costs. Also shipping to Brazil costs 40-50 USD, so that's also why the high quote. When I do protos for myself I spend as little as 20 bucks a unit
« Last Edit: Thu, 02 January 2020, 17:46:06 by Gondolindrim »
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #12 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 17:27:12 »
As a part of the Austin GB, I can vouch for the quality of the PCBs and the effort Gondo put into the whole design. From nice little marks on the PCB for WKL/WK layouts to general aesthetics, he did a damn good job of it.

Thanks for your words Capsy! We did really put much work into Austin and we are proud of how it turned out. I'm glad you appreciated it!
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline Nevermore012

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #13 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 23:41:28 »
I. am the one who request your service with pcb for e6-v2 board, can't wait to see mine and try it on, confirm he is a nice guy and friendly.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #14 on: Thu, 02 January 2020, 23:52:47 »
I. am the one who request your service with pcb for e6-v2 board, can't wait to see mine and try it on, confirm he is a nice guy and friendly.

I'm sure we'll have something amazing at the end!
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline h9n9n3

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #15 on: Fri, 03 January 2020, 00:59:32 »
Hello, I'm very interested since I've been looking for "PCB only" for a few keyboards.
I've read your profiles but still don't understand few so could you please answer?
(1) If you have archived PCB, how much does it cost to produce 1 or 5 pcbs? I'm looking for G80-3000 series custom PCB, FYI.
(2) G80-2500 series might need detachable PCB. So you don't make those as far as I could tell but could you confirm?..

Thanks!

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #16 on: Fri, 03 January 2020, 08:25:11 »
Hello, I'm very interested since I've been looking for "PCB only" for a few keyboards.
I've read your profiles but still don't understand few so could you please answer?
(1) If you have archived PCB, how much does it cost to produce 1 or 5 pcbs? I'm looking for G80-3000 series custom PCB, FYI.
(2) G80-2500 series might need detachable PCB. So you don't make those as far as I could tell but could you confirm?..

Thanks!

Hey! Sure!

(1) PCB production has an MOQ of 5 units. That's not.mine, that's the MOQ of the PCB factories. At that number, protos are expensive. If I'm assembling them, they cost 200-250 USD (40-50 USD a unit) with a 3-4 month turnkey, whereas if you hire a big PCB assembler manufacturer it'll cost 300-400 bucks for 5 units (60-80 USD each) with a typical 1-month turnkey.

(2) I don't think the series need a detachable PCB. Detachable PCBs are those that can be split or cut, like some split keyboard PCBs out there. I believe I can do PCBs for that series, and I can also do detachable despite not being needed for that particular series.
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline eas

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #17 on: Fri, 03 January 2020, 17:20:38 »
Would you consider a split design with SMK footprint? Not clear where split arm stands now.

Offline MdotMaxson

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #18 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 00:38:13 »
I’m also an EE and been designing surgical machines for 10+ years. What is this Archean project ? I’m interested since you mentioned customer PCB footprints and putting a lot of your time into it....

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #19 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 06:53:31 »
Would you consider a split design with SMK footprint? Not clear where split arm stands now.

Yeah, I can support SMK (they are MX compatible, no?)

As for split, as far as I know split arm is not supported yet
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline zekth

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #20 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 07:32:44 »
You got my thumb up!

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #21 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 08:53:07 »
I’m also an EE and been designing surgical machines for 10+ years. What is this Archean project ? I’m interested since you mentioned customer PCB footprints and putting a lot of your time into it....

Acheron is the compendium of my open-source PCBs. I have already published about half of them and another half is coming. Please see its documentation at http://gondolindrim.github.io/AcheronDocs .

The project encompasses a KiCad footprint, symbol and datasheet library named the Acheron Library: http://github.com/Gondolindrim/AcheronLibrary . It has everything you will need for a keyboard PCB and more; all footprints were field-tested and are guaranteed to work.
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #22 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 08:54:34 »
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline h9n9n3

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #23 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 10:22:59 »
Hello, I'm very interested since I've been looking for "PCB only" for a few keyboards.
I've read your profiles but still don't understand few so could you please answer?
(1) If you have archived PCB, how much does it cost to produce 1 or 5 pcbs? I'm looking for G80-3000 series custom PCB, FYI.
(2) G80-2500 series might need detachable PCB. So you don't make those as far as I could tell but could you confirm?..

Thanks!

Hey! Sure!

(1) PCB production has an MOQ of 5 units. That's not.mine, that's the MOQ of the PCB factories. At that number, protos are expensive. If I'm assembling them, they cost 200-250 USD (40-50 USD a unit) with a 3-4 month turnkey, whereas if you hire a big PCB assembler manufacturer it'll cost 300-400 bucks for 5 units (60-80 USD each) with a typical 1-month turnkey.

(2) I don't think the series need a detachable PCB. Detachable PCBs are those that can be split or cut, like some split keyboard PCBs out there. I believe I can do PCBs for that series, and I can also do detachable despite not being needed for that particular series.

Thanks for your reply. I actually have one more question:
How can you measure the layout when you design the PCB? (e.g. Distance between F row and Num row for G80-3000)
I guess that's all I'm curious about at this moment.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #24 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 11:44:10 »
Hello, I'm very interested since I've been looking for "PCB only" for a few keyboards.
I've read your profiles but still don't understand few so could you please answer?
(1) If you have archived PCB, how much does it cost to produce 1 or 5 pcbs? I'm looking for G80-3000 series custom PCB, FYI.
(2) G80-2500 series might need detachable PCB. So you don't make those as far as I could tell but could you confirm?..

Thanks!

Hey! Sure!

(1) PCB production has an MOQ of 5 units. That's not.mine, that's the MOQ of the PCB factories. At that number, protos are expensive. If I'm assembling them, they cost 200-250 USD (40-50 USD a unit) with a 3-4 month turnkey, whereas if you hire a big PCB assembler manufacturer it'll cost 300-400 bucks for 5 units (60-80 USD each) with a typical 1-month turnkey.

(2) I don't think the series need a detachable PCB. Detachable PCBs are those that can be split or cut, like some split keyboard PCBs out there. I believe I can do PCBs for that series, and I can also do detachable despite not being needed for that particular series.

Thanks for your reply. I actually have one more question:
How can you measure the layout when you design the PCB? (e.g. Distance between F row and Num row for G80-3000)
I guess that's all I'm curious about at this moment.

I'd say mostly experience, but using "units" (the 1u key unit) really makes it easy.
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline gbchk

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #25 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 12:06:57 »
Any experience or interest in making a hotswap Alps PCB?

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #26 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 12:20:51 »
Any experience or interest in making a hotswap Alps PCB?

Not any experience -- I didn't even know there was a hotswap system for ALPS -- but I do got the interest!

Is there a socket or special mounting system for hotswapping ALPS?
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline gbchk

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #27 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 12:36:08 »
Any experience or interest in making a hotswap Alps PCB?

Not any experience -- I didn't even know there was a hotswap system for ALPS -- but I do got the interest!

Is there a socket or special mounting system for hotswapping ALPS?

TBH I kind of just threw that out there; I'm not 100% sure myself. Looking around a bit, it seems like it has been done but requires drilling into the PCB.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #28 on: Sat, 04 January 2020, 12:54:08 »
Any experience or interest in making a hotswap Alps PCB?

Not any experience -- I didn't even know there was a hotswap system for ALPS -- but I do got the interest!

Is there a socket or special mounting system for hotswapping ALPS?

TBH I kind of just threw that out there; I'm not 100% sure myself. Looking around a bit, it seems like it has been done but requires drilling into the PCB.

Send me what you've got and let's work it out!

I'd also be interested in open-sourcing that so that we can give that to the community!
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline MdotMaxson

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #29 on: Mon, 06 January 2020, 04:56:12 »
I’m also an EE and been designing surgical machines for 10+ years. What is this Archean project ? I’m interested since you mentioned customer PCB footprints and putting a lot of your time into it....

Acheron is the compendium of my open-source PCBs. I have already published about half of them and another half is coming. Please see its documentation at http://gondolindrim.github.io/AcheronDocs .

The project encompasses a KiCad footprint, symbol and datasheet library named the Acheron Library: http://github.com/Gondolindrim/AcheronLibrary . It has everything you will need for a keyboard PCB and more; all footprints were field-tested and are guaranteed to work.

Hey that is really awesome! I would think since it’s a business endeavor for you you would keep all that to yourself so others don’t come along and use it to steal your business but the fact that you share it with the community says a lot about your character, way to go! I have yet to download and mess with KiCad even though I keep telling myself it would be fun. It’s hard to go from my Cadillac seat of Allegro PCB at work (apparently they pay like 75,000$ a year for 1 seat. Ouch) to anything else. I mean it makes doing DDR4 line length and impedance matching something a electro school kid could do haha. But maybe one day I will make my own PCB just to say hey I made this keyboard from scratch I’m typing on. I also wanna learn the WMK process and how that gets applied to a fresh PCB. I do software at work as well

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #30 on: Mon, 06 January 2020, 08:21:34 »
I’m also an EE and been designing surgical machines for 10+ years. What is this Archean project ? I’m interested since you mentioned customer PCB footprints and putting a lot of your time into it....

Acheron is the compendium of my open-source PCBs. I have already published about half of them and another half is coming. Please see its documentation at http://gondolindrim.github.io/AcheronDocs .

The project encompasses a KiCad footprint, symbol and datasheet library named the Acheron Library: http://github.com/Gondolindrim/AcheronLibrary . It has everything you will need for a keyboard PCB and more; all footprints were field-tested and are guaranteed to work.

Hey that is really awesome! I would think since it’s a business endeavor for you you would keep all that to yourself so others don’t come along and use it to steal your business but the fact that you share it with the community says a lot about your character, way to go! I have yet to download and mess with KiCad even though I keep telling myself it would be fun. It’s hard to go from my Cadillac seat of Allegro PCB at work (apparently they pay like 75,000$ a year for 1 seat. Ouch) to anything else. I mean it makes doing DDR4 line length and impedance matching something a electro school kid could do haha. But maybe one day I will make my own PCB just to say hey I made this keyboard from scratch I’m typing on. I also wanna learn the WMK process and how that gets applied to a fresh PCB. I do software at work as well

Yeah, I have access to Altium at work and in uni and it really spoils you how it can automate so many things. Issue being that it's not free nor opensource, and the license it plain prohibitive for a small hobbyist, so I publish my designs with KiCad. For this stuff (keyboards and audio) it's perfectly fine, but I still use Altium for my high frequency stuff.

Also to be quite frank this is not a "business" for me. To be really frank I was designing PCBs and helping people for completely free, but when I got a pile of 11 projects I thought it was time I starte getting paid for the time and to avoid some of the misendeavours I had. The price I'm offering is very... "competitive" because I still want to help small runners as much as I can; also I don't use the money I earn, all goes back into Acheron, to get stuff back into the community, and helping people. Also I'm done working in my free time to pay for protos, so that's a plus too.
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline serapath

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #31 on: Mon, 13 January 2020, 12:08:22 »
Hey, Gondolindrim,

I tried to reach out to you and we already talked on email to get started, but I wonder if you changed your mind, because I didn't receive any answer.
I'm continuing to collect information about the project in this thread: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=104103.0

I'd be very happy to get started :-)
Hope you didn't change your mind, cheers :-)

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #32 on: Mon, 13 January 2020, 13:08:22 »
Hey, Gondolindrim,

I tried to reach out to you and we already talked on email to get started, but I wonder if you changed your mind, because I didn't receive any answer.
I'm continuing to collect information about the project in this thread: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=104103.0

I'd be very happy to get started :-)
Hope you didn't change your mind, cheers :-)

I believe we talked over Reddit?

Send me an e-mail, I agreed to take the project on and I will. it's just that I try to keep my communication channels here and Discord or else I go insane haha
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline Atlantic

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #33 on: Mon, 13 January 2020, 15:28:48 »
I've heard nothing but great things about you, and in the case that I ever get around to designing my board I will most definitely contact you for the pcb! Good luck

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #34 on: Mon, 13 January 2020, 18:18:14 »
I've heard nothing but great things about you, and in the case that I ever get around to designing my board I will most definitely contact you for the pcb! Good luck

It's astonishing to me that I was in some big drama and the community still considers me a good member. I am really humbled by how I was accepted in this place.

I'll be in touch if you need me!
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline serapath

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #35 on: Tue, 14 January 2020, 12:25:49 »
oh perfect - then let's continue on discord?
how do i find you on discord?
do i need to join a specific server? :-)

i think i sent you an email, but maybe you did not receive my reply? :-)

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #36 on: Tue, 14 January 2020, 15:08:22 »
oh perfect - then let's continue on discord?
how do i find you on discord?
do i need to join a specific server? :-)

i think i sent you an email, but maybe you did not receive my reply? :-)

Oof let me take a look at that, what's your email address?
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline serapath

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #37 on: Wed, 15 January 2020, 05:10:29 »
I sent two emails on the 9th and 10th of January to Removed
I assumed that's you because we exchanged a few mails before :-)

Mod edit: Please discuss private info in PM:s

« Last Edit: Wed, 15 January 2020, 08:00:09 by Signature »

Offline _BMW_M3_

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #38 on: Sun, 22 March 2020, 18:27:01 »
Hey mate, interested to discuss maybe designing a PCB for the LZ Ergo. I know the Ergo had a lot of issues with the PCB. I've got one that is currently unusable. Let me know if you're interested and we can get in touch!
Dolphin v1 LE | TGR Jane | LZ Ergo

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #39 on: Sun, 22 March 2020, 19:45:12 »
Hey mate, interested to discuss maybe designing a PCB for the LZ Ergo. I know the Ergo had a lot of issues with the PCB. I've got one that is currently unusable. Let me know if you're interested and we can get in touch!

Hey! I think we can talk, but I have a big backlog of projects right now and I might take some time to do it. Hit me up on Discord PMs
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #40 on: Wed, 29 April 2020, 04:46:33 »
Reserved
« Last Edit: Wed, 29 April 2020, 04:49:40 by Gondolindrim »
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #41 on: Wed, 29 April 2020, 04:49:10 »
Reserved
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline Nixytheria

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #42 on: Thu, 21 May 2020, 18:52:20 »
Really love this. I will send you an Inquiry

Offline Softkore

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #43 on: Thu, 21 May 2020, 20:14:33 »
This looks great. As someone who has wanted custom PCBs in the past, the price seems very fair. One thing I'd love to know is whether it might be possible to expand your services to offer PCBs for contactless switches someday. I know contactless is only coming back into fashion lately and I have no idea how different a contactless PCB would be from a standard PCB - only that there are magnets involved.

Offline Hadi

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #44 on: Thu, 21 May 2020, 20:30:17 »
This looks great. As someone who has wanted custom PCBs in the past, the price seems very fair. One thing I'd love to know is whether it might be possible to expand your services to offer PCBs for contactless switches someday. I know contactless is only coming back into fashion lately and I have no idea how different a contactless PCB would be from a standard PCB - only that there are magnets involved.

Pretty sure Gondo has been working on a Topre-compatible board for a while, but all of the hall effect switches are proprietary to my knowledge. MX switches, on the other hand, are simple mechanical switches that only require two pins as far as the design is concerned.

Offline blankets

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #45 on: Thu, 04 June 2020, 12:21:26 »
Looking good! I'm sure there are people who would engage ur services! Have fun working on projects (that are paid) next time! :)

Sent from my Redmi K20 Pro using Tapatalk

Let's hope so! I'd link to think my services are worth it!

Thanks for the support!

what are your timelines like?

I've used two PCB designers in the past. One designed a PCB and when I wanted updates, ghosted me.

Talking to another PCB designer as well and that designer took two months to come back with a response after our original discussions, let alone a designed PCB. And these are not new designers either.

Both designers have designed some famous PCBs, but are unable to communicate or be professional about it.

Sorry about the rant, but without any clear timelines, everything else associated with those PCBs just gets postponed and becomes a disaster.

Offline Gondolindrim

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #46 on: Thu, 04 June 2020, 12:34:51 »
Looking good! I'm sure there are people who would engage ur services! Have fun working on projects (that are paid) next time! :)

Sent from my Redmi K20 Pro using Tapatalk

Let's hope so! I'd link to think my services are worth it!

Thanks for the support!

what are your timelines like?

I've used two PCB designers in the past. One designed a PCB and when I wanted updates, ghosted me.

Talking to another PCB designer as well and that designer took two months to come back with a response after our original discussions, let alone a designed PCB. And these are not new designers either.

Both designers have designed some famous PCBs, but are unable to communicate or be professional about it.

Sorry about the rant, but without any clear timelines, everything else associated with those PCBs just gets postponed and becomes a disaster.

I'll refrain from saying anything about fellow designers as I consider that kind of... unethical.

Myself I take 20-30 days to finish a design and I try to be responsive as possible. As of late I've been dealing with family and personal COVID issues so those times are higher and I've been away for a lack of spirit honestly.
« Last Edit: Thu, 04 June 2020, 12:37:43 by Gondolindrim »
A pessimist will tell you the cup is half empty. An optimist will tell you the cup is half full. An engineer will tell you it's exactly twice the size it needs to be.

Offline blankets

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #47 on: Thu, 04 June 2020, 12:45:46 »

Myself I take 20-30 days to finish a design and I try to be responsive as possible. As of late I've been dealing with family and personal COVID issues so those times are higher and I've been away for a lack of spirit honestly.

 :eek:  :thumb:

Offline rinkaan

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #48 on: Sat, 06 June 2020, 21:26:47 »


I'll refrain from saying anything about fellow designers as I consider that kind of... unethical.

Myself I take 20-30 days to finish a design and I try to be responsive as possible. As of late I've been dealing with family and personal COVID issues so those times are higher and I've been away for a lack of spirit honestly.
[/quote]

stay safe and hope your family issues are sorted! stay indoors and hope God will relief the situation soon for you! if you need help do pm me! :)

Offline PizzaKeyboards

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Re: [IC] Gondolindrim's PCB design services
« Reply #49 on: Mon, 27 July 2020, 05:25:16 »
Hi there guys! I'm Gondolindrim, a brazilian engineer and mech enthusiast, known for my open-source PCB designs -- such as the SharkPCB, Doddle60 and ArcticPCB -- and some GBs that I have participated in/am participating, such as the Austin and the Elongate!

I'm opening this IC to check if there is demand for offering PCB design services at a -- I believe -- just price. Any suggestions and feedback is highly appreciated. I will use the results and opinions from this thread to open a service post.

1. Who am I

I'm a brazilian mechanical keyboard enthusiast; I've been around the community since 2012 and in 2015 I started designing keyboard PCBs. Since then some of my designs caught some attention, such as the SharkPCB and the ArcticPCB.

I have reached 23 keyboard PCBs that are either in the finishing or finished state. Most of them are being released through the Acheron Project (oleaae check my GitHub page and the Acheron Project documentation at the AcheronDocs) and are actively maintained by me.

My technical background begins with being an electronics aficionado since 11 years old, when I started building overdrive and chorus pedals so I could play Black Sabbath's *Paranoid* on my guitar.

This has evolved into a double graduation in Electronic Engineering and Applied Maths, and a master's degree; I'm currently working towards my PhD. As such I have extensive experience with PCB design, ranging from digital control circuitry to high-fidelity audio equipment and switched power supplies. I am also a Senior Engineer in a technology company, so I know how to work in a group and the dynamics of a joint project.

2. The services

Usually there are two kinds of services that I do.

The first being to design a PCB from scratch, usually for a new keyboard for a personal project or Group Buy. This involves working with the case designer and I will need acces to case and plate files to check for fitting, connector placement, lighting effectiveness.

The second being to design a new PCB for an existing board. This is generally done when someone wants their keyboard to support features otherwise not originally present -- ALPS/Choc compatibility, RGB underglow, per-key RGB or different layouts. This kind of work is more difficult because I need to have an idea of the PCB edges, and the keyboard manufacturer seldomly does not provide information. These kinds of services I need to evaluate more carefully, and I might turn them down at my discretion.

I can accept any PCB-related job, so if you have an idea please let's talk about it!

For  contact, please avoid sending me personal messages on GeekHack. Instead, send an e-mail over gondolindrim@acheronproject.com or DM me in Discord, I'm Gondolindrim#9738.

3. My capabilities

I'd like to think I'm a very versatile designer. I can do most of the features the cool kids are using these days:
- New ARM processors;
- Per-key lighting including RGB
- RGB underglow
- Rotary encoders
- Layer and lock indicator LEDs;
- USB Type C connector
- Split keebs
- Detachable PCBs
- Multi-layout support;
- ALPS, Choc and MX/ALPS support;
- Hotswap sockets

My PCBs have, by default features,
- ESD protection on both USB data lines and power lines
- USB shield decoupling
- Overcurrent protection through a fuse
- Overvoltage protection through a Transient Voltage Suppressor
- QMK support
- For tray mounts, case grounding and decoupling

Please note that some QMK features are limited for the newer ARM MCUs, such as split support.

My designs are done using custom footprints of the Acheron Library, which are proven to work. I design my PCBs in KiCad, and strongly support that. If needed be I maybe can design in Eagle and Altium. i have extensive experience with 3D modeling and animation software like Blender, Fusion and SolidWorks.

I'd also like to think I'm a nice person.

- I can de-escalate situations easily with my rather weird sense of humor
- I can talk about food and music, preferably while eating or listening to music
- I can eat inhumane amounts of pizza and drink unthinkable amounts of beer (generally accompanied by aforementioned inhumane amounts of pizza)
- I can nanny your baby cousin and clean after your dog (additional fees might apply)
- I can pretend to be your boyfriend at that family gathering party so that the creepy uncle/aunt/grandma doesn't keep asking when are you getting a boyfriend
- I can laugh at your jokes (I mean really any joke, please hear my participations in Off the Clack and you'll see I like to laugh a lot)

4. Pricing

I have a standard flat fee of 165 US dollars which covers the design of any keyboard PCB, of any size and features, except per-key lighting and detachable PCBs. Both of these add 30 US dollars to the design fee. Per-key RGB adds 60USD to the design.

This design fee covers QMK firmware building and maintaining.

If the PCB being designed is meant for a Group Buy or a store stock, I also require a fee of 5 USD per sold PCB.

These prices include Paypal fees but they DO NOT INCLUDE PROTOTYPES (for the love of God please have this in mind).

If you have other business/payment model in mind please contact me so we can work something out! Prices are negotiable if you are hiring more than one design.

In order to start the design, I require a 50% deposit to ensure I'm not working for free. Unfortunately I have had bad experiences with people that commissioned a PCB from me, made me spend 15-20 hours on a design only to drop the project and never pay me.

I'm also accepting PayPal only currently.

5.Prototypes

Prototyping the PCBs is really very important to check for a myriad of parameters, among them suitability, mechanical and electrical compliance. You can choose any method of prototyping; most times the customer will have a local shop that takes small quantities or will order from a big manufacturer and assembler.

I also can do prototypes at home; most PCB manufacturers MOQ is 5 units. I assemble the PCBs by hand using professional tools (hot-air station, solder paste, solder station and de-solder station). I buy components from LCSC and generally order PCBs from JLCPCB or Elecrow.

Generally, considering all shippings, PCBs and component prices, the 5 proto units cost 200-250 USD. This escalates quite well with quantity, but I can't assemble more than 15 PCBs by hand. The turnkey is 3-4 months (I know this is not a nice timeframe but shipping to and from Brazil takes that much time).

If you have another preferred way of doing protos I am also perfectly fine.


Due to the issues I had with the brazilian customs regarding the Doddle60 and other projects, including events like parcels coming back or being lost, I don't assemble prototypes myself anymore. Protos will have to be ordered at a fab house or another place like PCBWay or Elecrow.

6. What do I spend that money with and why am I doing this

As you guys can see, prototyping PCBs is not cheap. All the current PCBs I have open-sourced I have prototyped out of my pocket, sometimes by not eating out but most of the times moonlighting as a cleaner, bartender, car washer. I have also accepted a sponsorship from PCBWay (a big chinese PCB manu) for three of my PCBs, which helped immensely.

Turns out I'm really tired of doing that because it's getting rather unhealthy.

Generally all money I earn designing PCBs is spent with the Acheron Project. By hiring my services you directly support me and the project so I can prototype and innovate on open-source designs, bringing some of my knowledge to the community specially on the field of hardware engineering.

By going this you also allow me the opportunity to spend time helping new and aspiring PCB designers with their designs.

7. Open-sourcing

I would like to publish the design in my Acheron Project, under my Open-Source Hardware license that I have written advised by a couple of lawyer and entrepreneur friends.

If you choose not to open-source that's perfectly fine.

If yes, the files are published after the GB is over or whenever you'd feel comfortable to.

8. Closing remarks

Hi am brazilian

Selling services for a friend

PP only. Thank you sir

(jk please hire me)
I sent you a message