I would just make sure you practiced soldering on something else first. And get decent soldering equipment or it will be a lot more difficult. Personally I would just pay someone else to assemble it for me, lol.I might actually have my friend solder it while I do everything else, would you recommend that? I don't want to screw anything up!
Make sure you know where you're getting all the parts from because waiting for one component when you have all the rest is really annoying :pHaha good advice!
I would probably recommend that especially if they have nice equipment. I've only done soldering of switches, so i'm not sure what else is there to do unless you are looking to mod the switches!I would just make sure you practiced soldering on something else first. And get decent soldering equipment or it will be a lot more difficult. Personally I would just pay someone else to assemble it for me, lol.I might actually have my friend solder it while I do everything else, would you recommend that? I don't want to screw anything up!Make sure you know where you're getting all the parts from because waiting for one component when you have all the rest is really annoying :pHaha good advice!
I really messed up the first custom board that I built. Everything looked right when it was coming together, but it was only after I got the caps on that I realized that I had put everything together upside down.Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/WfY1Fk3.jpg?2)
It was totally unusable. I eventually had to sell it to someone in Australia.
Since you're investing this much into a really nice keyboard you might want to lube and sticker the switches just to make it perfect. Maybe do custom switch like ergo-clears (personal favorite) ;)I am planning on kyrtox lubing it and using vinyl stickers from techkeys on the 62g ergo clear switches!
Do you have a keyset to use with it?Yes, Dolch and Yes (I think!)
Are you sure you are ready to invest so much into a keyboard?
I would just make sure you practiced soldering on something else first. And get decent soldering equipment or it will be a lot more difficult. Personally I would just pay someone else to assemble it for me, lol.
Originative will assemble it completely for you if you want. Their charges are very reasonable. That's the option I'd go with myself, given the cost of the investment and the low percentage the assembly represents of the total price.
Originative will assemble it completely for you if you want. Their charges are very reasonable. That's the option I'd go with myself, given the cost of the investment and the low percentage the assembly represents of the total price.
Ha, I wouldn't trust originative to do a build, especially since they can't mail packages right now.
Originative can't mail things?
Originative can't mail things?
See this (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=57652.0) and other threads in the Originative sub-forum.
****. I ordered a Dolch extension kit from them. But I got a shipping confirmation, so it should be fine right? That's also where I was planning on ordering the Kmac from!Originative can't mail things?
See this (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=57652.0) and other threads in the Originative sub-forum.
Oh I see. That is ... discouraging!
I think soldering it yourself is entirely doable. Other than it being expensive, learning on a keyboard makes a lot of sense. You see, the switch pins are far enough apart that it's easy to get in there, The PCB is usually got plated through holes, and the cherry switches themselves are generally very tolerant of temperature. You can still break things, but it's much more resilient than other projects. I learned to solder on a $200 amplifier kit and it worked out well due to the good PCB, but was much harder than a KB because of the component density.Okay, thanks for the advice. I have another question: do you think I should get the kmac or the lightsaver? I feel like the lightsaver is a little intimidating due to all the talk of firmware and the massive amounts of customization, but I also feel that it is better looking and cheaper which could be a smart purchase. There is also a group buy going on at the moment if I am not mistaken, right? So I am actually leaning more towards that now, what do you think?
Of course, reading tutorials and thinking about it (visualization can really help you learn new things, especially ones that require finesse. It is the reason I was so good at Gymnastics when I did it) will greatly help your soldering too.
I am completely new to soldering and I have never built a keyboard myself before, but I am pretty motivated and I believe I can do this. I have been looking at the Kmac 2, but are there any other options I should check out? Beginner mistakes that I should avoid, or is it as straightforward as it is made out to be? Any help is appreciated, thanks! :thumb:
I think soldering it yourself is entirely doable. Other than it being expensive, learning on a keyboard makes a lot of sense. You see, the switch pins are far enough apart that it's easy to get in there, The PCB is usually got plated through holes, and the cherry switches themselves are generally very tolerant of temperature. You can still break things, but it's much more resilient than other projects. I learned to solder on a $200 amplifier kit and it worked out well due to the good PCB, but was much harder than a KB because of the component density.Okay, thanks for the advice. I have another question: do you think I should get the kmac or the lightsaver? I feel like the lightsaver is a little intimidating due to all the talk of firmware and the massive amounts of customization, but I also feel that it is better looking and cheaper which could be a smart purchase. There is also a group buy going on at the moment if I am not mistaken, right? So I am actually leaning more towards that now, what do you think?
Of course, reading tutorials and thinking about it (visualization can really help you learn new things, especially ones that require finesse. It is the reason I was so good at Gymnastics when I did it) will greatly help your soldering too.
Do I have to make a markup file to choose the layout, or do I just do all of that stuff when I get the keyboard. Ugh all of this **** is so confusing.I think soldering it yourself is entirely doable. Other than it being expensive, learning on a keyboard makes a lot of sense. You see, the switch pins are far enough apart that it's easy to get in there, The PCB is usually got plated through holes, and the cherry switches themselves are generally very tolerant of temperature. You can still break things, but it's much more resilient than other projects. I learned to solder on a $200 amplifier kit and it worked out well due to the good PCB, but was much harder than a KB because of the component density.Okay, thanks for the advice. I have another question: do you think I should get the kmac or the lightsaver? I feel like the lightsaver is a little intimidating due to all the talk of firmware and the massive amounts of customization, but I also feel that it is better looking and cheaper which could be a smart purchase. There is also a group buy going on at the moment if I am not mistaken, right? So I am actually leaning more towards that now, what do you think?
Of course, reading tutorials and thinking about it (visualization can really help you learn new things, especially ones that require finesse. It is the reason I was so good at Gymnastics when I did it) will greatly help your soldering too.
It's really personal preference. The Lightsaver V2 groupbuy has a max amount of spots though, so if you want in on that you should contact elton asap. In terms of customization it just comes down to choosing your key layout, which is pretty simple. Don't let firmware scare you off from what you want man!
I think soldering it yourself is entirely doable. Other than it being expensive, learning on a keyboard makes a lot of sense. You see, the switch pins are far enough apart that it's easy to get in there, The PCB is usually got plated through holes, and the cherry switches themselves are generally very tolerant of temperature. You can still break things, but it's much more resilient than other projects. I learned to solder on a $200 amplifier kit and it worked out well due to the good PCB, but was much harder than a KB because of the component density.Okay, thanks for the advice. I have another question: do you think I should get the kmac or the lightsaver? I feel like the lightsaver is a little intimidating due to all the talk of firmware and the massive amounts of customization, but I also feel that it is better looking and cheaper which could be a smart purchase. There is also a group buy going on at the moment if I am not mistaken, right? So I am actually leaning more towards that now, what do you think?
Of course, reading tutorials and thinking about it (visualization can really help you learn new things, especially ones that require finesse. It is the reason I was so good at Gymnastics when I did it) will greatly help your soldering too.
It's really personal preference. The Lightsaver V2 groupbuy has a max amount of spots though, so if you want in on that you should contact elton asap. In terms of customization it just comes down to choosing your key layout, which is pretty simple. Don't let firmware scare you off from what you want man!
I pm'd him and he said it was full and he capped it at 30.I think soldering it yourself is entirely doable. Other than it being expensive, learning on a keyboard makes a lot of sense. You see, the switch pins are far enough apart that it's easy to get in there, The PCB is usually got plated through holes, and the cherry switches themselves are generally very tolerant of temperature. You can still break things, but it's much more resilient than other projects. I learned to solder on a $200 amplifier kit and it worked out well due to the good PCB, but was much harder than a KB because of the component density.Okay, thanks for the advice. I have another question: do you think I should get the kmac or the lightsaver? I feel like the lightsaver is a little intimidating due to all the talk of firmware and the massive amounts of customization, but I also feel that it is better looking and cheaper which could be a smart purchase. There is also a group buy going on at the moment if I am not mistaken, right? So I am actually leaning more towards that now, what do you think?
Of course, reading tutorials and thinking about it (visualization can really help you learn new things, especially ones that require finesse. It is the reason I was so good at Gymnastics when I did it) will greatly help your soldering too.
It's really personal preference. The Lightsaver V2 groupbuy has a max amount of spots though, so if you want in on that you should contact elton asap. In terms of customization it just comes down to choosing your key layout, which is pretty simple. Don't let firmware scare you off from what you want man!
Do you know the current cap for the group buy? It was originally 15 but it looks like he's accepting a lot more than just 15 now.
I pm'd him and he said it was full and he capped it at 30.I think soldering it yourself is entirely doable. Other than it being expensive, learning on a keyboard makes a lot of sense. You see, the switch pins are far enough apart that it's easy to get in there, The PCB is usually got plated through holes, and the cherry switches themselves are generally very tolerant of temperature. You can still break things, but it's much more resilient than other projects. I learned to solder on a $200 amplifier kit and it worked out well due to the good PCB, but was much harder than a KB because of the component density.Okay, thanks for the advice. I have another question: do you think I should get the kmac or the lightsaver? I feel like the lightsaver is a little intimidating due to all the talk of firmware and the massive amounts of customization, but I also feel that it is better looking and cheaper which could be a smart purchase. There is also a group buy going on at the moment if I am not mistaken, right? So I am actually leaning more towards that now, what do you think?
Of course, reading tutorials and thinking about it (visualization can really help you learn new things, especially ones that require finesse. It is the reason I was so good at Gymnastics when I did it) will greatly help your soldering too.
It's really personal preference. The Lightsaver V2 groupbuy has a max amount of spots though, so if you want in on that you should contact elton asap. In terms of customization it just comes down to choosing your key layout, which is pretty simple. Don't let firmware scare you off from what you want man!
Do you know the current cap for the group buy? It was originally 15 but it looks like he's accepting a lot more than just 15 now.