Author Topic: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)  (Read 10655 times)

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Offline Matt3o

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DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 11:10:01 »
To try something different instead of the usual hand-wiring I opted for a home made, one of the kind, super handcrafted PCB.

This is the HHFox project (still on going)

The procedure involves handling of dangerous materials. Do not try it at home :P If you really have to, ALWAYS wear safety glasses and gloves. I'm not responsible for any damage blah blah blah

Let's start from the beginning.

1) Cut a piece a vanilla copper PCB



2) Drill switch (and diodes) holes with zen monk precision



3) I used inkscape to draw my PCB trails (since I'm no good with kicad and such

4) Draw the trails on the PCB with a waterproof marker and (just to be sure) with liquid silicone. Put the wannabe PCB into acid (ferric chloride)



5) A couple of hours later...



6) All diodes in position, soldered and ready to diodize



7) All switches soldered



7b) Naked front



8 ) Teensy ready



9) It's alive! ... or... look ma' no screws!



10) Swear! The keyboard is not 100% functional and I need another day of debug. The whole process took about 16 hours.

I'll post better shots as soon as I debug this beauty. Stay tuned :)

Offline CPTBadAss

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 11:12:53 »
You're crazy and I love you for it. I want to make my own PCB now!

Offline BlueBär

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 11:39:42 »
16 hours for a whole keyboard including a PCB? Not bad! Does that include the case as well?

Offline Matt3o

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #3 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 11:48:12 »
16 hours for a whole keyboard including a PCB? Not bad! Does that include the case as well?

16h just for the PCB and soldering part... but I will probably have to spend another couple of hours on it. The case was laser cut few months ago.

Offline jdcarpe

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #4 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 12:04:07 »
Beautiful! I always love these foxy projects. :D
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Offline jwaz

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #5 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 14:14:55 »
Matt30... this is insane. Great layout too!

Offline AGmurdercore

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 15:15:15 »
This is AMAZING  :eek:

You are officially my idol now i wanna be like you when i grow up :X

I will try to make one like this for my project although i am not sure that i will be able to. How did you mark the spots to drill btw?
What the hell am I even doing

Offline absyrd

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 15:18:22 »
It is glorious!

And that keycap set is the gift that keeps on giving. So versatile. ;)
My wife I a also push her button . But now she have her button push by a different men. So I buy a keyboard a mechanicale, she a reliable like a Fiat.

Offline Photekq

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 15:19:36 »
very cool matt3o!
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Offline rowdy

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 15:23:12 »
Brilliant!  Very well done - like magic :)
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

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Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline Dubsgalore

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #10 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 15:51:09 »
This thing is really badass, nice work matt3o!

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #11 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 16:00:40 »
Next time someone says you can't make a PCB, I'll tell them about the mad keyboard scientist who made it look easy!

Offline McWilloughby

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #12 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 16:18:40 »
Absolutely love this, the DSA retro set gives it a very post apocalyptic look imo..

Offline HoffmanMyster

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #13 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 16:23:54 »
Very nice!  I was contemplating attempting something like this, but determined that I don't have the skills to drill my own PCB.  Looks like that wasn't an issue for you.  :P

Congrats on such a beautiful board!

Offline dustinhxc

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #14 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 16:27:10 »
Wow great job sir! I wish I could build a board!

Offline Matt3o

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #15 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 16:39:33 »
thank you guys! It has been a very interesting project.

To make precise holes I took the CAD file I used for the plate and added the switch holes to it. Then printed and sticked to the raw copper PCB. With a hand drill I made just a 1mm dent for each hole and then used a standard drill to make the holes. They came out surprisingly well. It was such a please to slot the switch in the plate and see that it fit perfectly into the PCB :)

Offline blueSmoke

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #16 on: Sun, 24 November 2013, 17:51:29 »
Very interesting. My hats off to you for those precise holes. Can you explain a little moar please?

1. What type of pcb laminate and how thick? I cant able to find such a long pcb here in ol USA.
2. How did you draw? Pen method or printer paper heat press, or any other? direct printing with CNC?

thanks.
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Offline AGmurdercore

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #17 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 01:40:53 »
Very interesting. My hats off to you for those precise holes. Can you explain a little moar please?

1. What type of pcb laminate and how thick? I cant able to find such a long pcb here in ol USA.
2. How did you draw? Pen method or printer paper heat press, or any other? direct printing with CNC?

thanks.
He explained what he used to draw in the OP.
What the hell am I even doing

Offline Matt3o

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #18 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 01:50:46 »
Very interesting. My hats off to you for those precise holes. Can you explain a little moar please?

1. What type of pcb laminate and how thick? I cant able to find such a long pcb here in ol USA.
2. How did you draw? Pen method or printer paper heat press, or any other? direct printing with CNC?

thanks.

1. it's a 300x200mm board, 1.6mm thick. I'm sure you can find it on ebay.
2. the drawing is done with plain old carbon paper :)

Offline phoenix1234

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #19 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 03:17:34 »
This is such an amazing piece of work indeed. :thumb:
Can't wait to see the final working keyboard.
I like linear switches

Offline blueSmoke

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #20 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 03:37:08 »
Very interesting. My hats off to you for those precise holes. Can you explain a little moar please?

1. What type of pcb laminate and how thick? I cant able to find such a long pcb here in ol USA.
2. How did you draw? Pen method or printer paper heat press, or any other? direct printing with CNC?

thanks.

1. it's a 300x200mm board, 1.6mm thick. I'm sure you can find it on ebay.
2. the drawing is done with plain old carbon paper :)

Still not sure...
You noted:
<<
3) I used inkscape to draw my PCB trails (since I'm no good with kicad and such

4) Draw the trails on the PCB with a waterproof marker and (just to be sure) with liquid silicone. Put the wannabe PCB into acid (ferric chloride)
>>

I got the software side, i.e. inkskape. But how did you use the carbon paper with waterproof marker and liquid silicone? It seems you hand drew?

I am curious to try this method. Can you elaborate please?
Model M, Filco Tenkeyless White, Few others, few more others, Noise-hater (ongoing project), blah-blah (to be fillled later...)

Offline Matt3o

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #21 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 03:44:02 »
print the schema you did on inkscape. use a pencil to copy the drawing from paper to the pcb using carbon paper. Use a waterproof marker to go over the trails.

Offline redskull

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #22 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 05:58:07 »
OMGWTFBBQ great job Matt3o. give those korean custom tuners a kick in the behind.  :):thumb:

Offline nubbinator

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #23 on: Tue, 26 November 2013, 20:11:44 »
It's projects like this that have convinced me I need to learn how to do a circuit diagram for my own keyboard.  This is awesome.  Absolutely love it. 

And after seeing your traces, I really want to make an art of them.  Don't necessarily go for the most efficient traces, but make them look fluid and organic, like a piece of art.

Offline Matt3o

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #24 on: Wed, 27 November 2013, 01:25:09 »
thank you guys, looking forward to seeing your creations!

Offline Matt3o

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #25 on: Mon, 02 December 2013, 05:40:26 »
Keyboard finally finished!







Just a pinch smaller than Filco Minila Air!



I'm now trying to get used to the HHKB layout (with some important variations actually).

All switches are MX Blue except for the right FN which is Red. After a while working on it I found a little tiring to pinky-press it, so I softened it a bit with a MX Red.

Home/End are on < and > instead of L and .
It feels much more natural to me this way.

The Hyper key is actually a second FN key. very useful to reach the function layer with the left hand. The C64 is for firmware update. Everything else is very close to the HHKB.

This is by far the most complicated, long to build, swear-prone, keyboard I've ever build... But it's also definitely the best one! :)

Stay tuned for the next custom keyboard :) (I've got an ALU poker case so I might end up doing something with it)

Offline CPTBadAss

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #26 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 07:51:25 »
Stay tuned for the next custom keyboard :) (I've got an ALU poker case so I might end up doing something with it)

Please tell me it's Alps :D

Offline agodinhost

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #27 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 14:32:45 »
supercool!
congrats!!!
perfect hadcrafting skills Matt3o
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Offline Photoelectric

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #28 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 14:49:48 »
This is so very cool!  I had no idea that you could make a PCB like that out of a sheet of copper.  A few things were a surprise, such as that silicone does not dissolve in acid and leaves the drawn trails shiny.  Also does the reaction with acid produce a thick enough "salt" layer on both sides to avoid conducting electricity inside the PCB and scrambling all the signals?  That's the most non-straightforward part for me in this experiment.
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Offline jdcarpe

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #29 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 14:52:44 »
It's not just a sheet of copper, it's copper PC board. :)

You just etch the copper off the parts where you don't want pads or traces.
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Offline Photoelectric

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #30 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 14:54:35 »
Ohh I see now, I was so confused, because I thought it was an actual sheet of copper, as per the wording in the OP: I read it as "cut a PCB sized-shape out of a sheet of copper."
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Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #31 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 14:58:45 »
I found a neat article about pcb's that might interest visitors to this thread

http://www.robotroom.com/PCB.html

Offline Matt3o

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Re: DIY PCB (Happy Hacking Fox)
« Reply #32 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 17:01:21 »
Ohh I see now, I was so confused, because I thought it was an actual sheet of copper, as per the wording in the OP: I read it as "cut a PCB sized-shape out of a sheet of copper."

yeah bad wording, sorry. it's a sheet of epoxy glass covered by few micron of copper layer. Acid attacks copper only that's why silicone is not affected.