geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: Matt3o on Sun, 24 November 2013, 11:10:01
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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
(http://i.imgur.com/oyhBMzz.jpg)
2) Drill switch (and diodes) holes with zen monk precision
(http://i.imgur.com/DDO8X83.jpg)
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)
(http://i.imgur.com/OZP2lUy.jpg)
5) A couple of hours later...
(http://i.imgur.com/eepCZNF.jpg)
6) All diodes in position, soldered and ready to diodize
(http://i.imgur.com/HmnshMa.jpg)
7) All switches soldered
(http://i.imgur.com/Rt7WCbQ.jpg)
7b) Naked front
(http://i.imgur.com/d9vXrFc.jpg)
8 ) Teensy ready
(http://i.imgur.com/wXkgi06.jpg)
9) It's alive! ... or... look ma' no screws!
(http://i.imgur.com/GBq8Xub.jpg)
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 :)
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You're crazy and I love you for it. I want to make my own PCB now!
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16 hours for a whole keyboard including a PCB? Not bad! Does that include the case as well?
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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.
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Beautiful! I always love these foxy projects. :D
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Matt30... this is insane. Great layout too!
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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?
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It is glorious!
And that keycap set is the gift that keeps on giving. So versatile. ;)
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very cool matt3o!
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Brilliant! Very well done - like magic :)
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This thing is really badass, nice work matt3o!
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Next time someone says you can't make a PCB, I'll tell them about the mad keyboard scientist who made it look easy!
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Absolutely love this, the DSA retro set gives it a very post apocalyptic look imo..
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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!
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Wow great job sir! I wish I could build a board!
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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 :)
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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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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.
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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 :)
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This is such an amazing piece of work indeed. :thumb:
Can't wait to see the final working keyboard.
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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)
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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?
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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.
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OMGWTFBBQ great job Matt3o. give those korean custom tuners a kick in the behind. :)) :thumb:
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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.
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thank you guys, looking forward to seeing your creations!
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Keyboard finally finished!
(https://i.cloudup.com/MdnPbW0VE9.jpg)
(https://i.cloudup.com/xRZ7QQnUHh.jpg)
(https://i.cloudup.com/V3gCbWB1HZ.jpg)
Just a pinch smaller than Filco Minila Air!
(https://i.cloudup.com/TH0oCd2R9F.jpg)
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)
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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
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supercool!
congrats!!!
perfect hadcrafting skills Matt3o
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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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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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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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I found a neat article about pcb's that might interest visitors to this thread
http://www.robotroom.com/PCB.html
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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.