Hand Wiring or PCB?

[dragonxx21]

For all of you DIYers out there, what do you prefer to use when building a board? Is there any real difference between hand wiring and PCB, or is it simply just the way that they are all connected? I'm thinking about building a board but don't know what route to take in my first build. Would a hand wired board be cheaper, as you don't have to make a PCB, and is there any ready to purchase plates, or do you have to get them all machined by yourself?

[PepperPanda]

Overall I think the PCB route takes longer and is more expensive to design/make. But the reason I prefer PCB is because it feels more professional (personal opinion), and you can use SMD if you're feeling fancy.

You could buy plates from the classified or group buy section here sometimes, usually standard layouts. But if you're gonna do a DIY, might as well be unique and make a custom layout that you will love. A custom plate will be expensive but you can offset that price by making an acrylic case.

I wonder if you can make an acrylic plate.

[dragonxx21]

Overall I think the PCB route takes longer and is more expensive to design/make. But the reason I prefer PCB is because it feels more professional (personal opinion), and you can use SMD if you're feeling fancy.

You could buy plates from the classified or group buy section here sometimes, usually standard layouts. But if you're gonna do a DIY, might as well be unique and make a custom layout that you will love. A custom plate will be expensive but you can offset that price by making an acrylic case.

I wonder if you can make an acrylic plate.

What is SMD in this case? Also, how much would a plate cost (the ones you can buy, or a custom one), as well as the cost to make an acrylic case?

[CarVac]

SMD = Surface Mount Device.

They're the tiny little squares that need magnifiers to see and tweezers to handle. They're neater and cooler than through-hole stuff.

[dragonxx21]

SMD = Surface Mount Device.

They're the tiny little squares that need magnifiers to see and tweezers to handle. They're neater and cooler than through-hole stuff.

Oh I see, so they are the diodes that you just solder directly on top of the board?

[Findecanor]

SMD are smaller, but more difficult to solder by hand. If you have access to a "reflow oven" for SMD-soldering (which some makerspaces actually have..) then it is much easier.
I assume that you are thinking of using Cherry MX switches. With Cherry MX, you have the choice of PCB only (switches with two extra plastic pins for PCB-mounting), PCB + plate or plate with direct wiring.
If you are using Alps, then you must have both a plate and a PCB.
With a PCB, you can use Cherry's PCB-mounted stabilisers, if you have a plate you can use Cherry's plate-mounted stabilisers or Costar stabilisers.

With a hand-wired keyboard, you will need to glue the bottom of the switches to the plate in case you would want to change keycaps, or be very careful when changing keycaps. With a PCB, the solder joints would prevent you from pulling the switches off. Of course, some switch/keycaps combinations are more tight than others...
With a PCB, if you have through-hole diodes inside the switches, then they would be even sturdier.

If your layout is quite conventional, then you could take an existing plate and cut/file away things you don't want, or enlarge the position of switch holes to move them slightly. However, if you have an enlarged switch hole and you don't use a PCB then you would want to fill the space next to the switch to prevent the switch from sliding sideways as you type. The Phantom plates have large switch holes for the space bar and Caps Lock, which you would need to fill. Plates made of aluminium are much easier to work with than steel.

If you have an acrylic plate, then I think that you would need to use a PCB, or glue a reinforcement plate to the bottom. A custom acrylic plate is much cheaper to have made than a custom plate made of metal.

[Matt3o]

With a hand-wired keyboard, you will need to glue the bottom of the switches to the plate in case you would want to change keycaps, or be very careful when changing keycaps.

I've built 3 hand-wired keyboards so far and I never had this kind of issues. The keys actually stick pretty firmly on the board and you need a tool to detach them ( http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=45139.msg942463#msg942463 )

[dragonxx21]

With a hand-wired keyboard, you will need to glue the bottom of the switches to the plate in case you would want to change keycaps, or be very careful when changing keycaps.

I've built 3 hand-wired keyboards so far and I never had this kind of issues. The keys actually stick pretty firmly on the board and you need a tool to detach them ( http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=45139.msg942463#msg942463 )

Your Brownfox thread is part of the reason I want to make my own board. It just seems so cool to actually make your own board, instead of just buying one that a lot of other people have.

[Findecanor]

I've built 3 hand-wired keyboards so far and I never had this kind of issues.

I have had this issue with WASD Keyboards' keycaps, MX Clears and a Phantom plate for my one hand-wired keyboard. The keycaps stick tighter to the switches than the switches to the plate.