[H] Building my own keyboard at school.

[Tokiloki]

Dear Geekhack community,

since I am studying at a technical college in Germany and we have hands on training about 5 weeks long , we can decide to do projects at the end of our training if we want.

I asked my teacher if I could build my own mechanical keyboard and he agreed to that.

But the thing is I have not much idea of building my own keyboard , thus I wanted to ask you could give me some adviced and where I could buy the parts for my mechanical keyboard.

I'd like to build my own TKL mechanical keyboard with 87/88 keys . As I found out each switch costs about $0.65 , is that right? So the question here is 88*0.65= 57,2 $ which is just for the switches only . So one of my main reason would be building an own keyboard should be cheaper than buying from some company , but as far as I know you can get some decent keyboards for that price from CM storm-
So is it possible to have a more convenient keyboard?

And what are the remaining parts of the keyboard I need.

And I'd like to hear an honest statement , if it would be possible for me to build my own keyboard or should I leave it for the keyboard pros.


I really thank you for reading this.

Tokiloki

[JPG]

You don't build you own keyboard to save money. You build you own keyboard to make something not available and/or for the fun of it.

You could find some used cherry switches for cheaper (down to .20$ each) and save some money there, but you will still need a case/plate, controller and some wire and diodes, stabilizers and keycaps and cable. Wire, stabs, cable, diodes and even keycaps can be found for relatively cheap, controller will probably be around 15$ but case/plate can be troublesome to find/build to a certain extent. All depends on what you want.

[snoopy]

You could try to get a cheap g80 on ebay and harvest switches from it.

[Dgsbllx]

I don't think the main reason to build your own keyboard should be that it will be cheaper than from a company. Most often this isn't the case anyway, and building your own is more about the customization etc.

[hoggy]

You might be able to cut costs by not using a pcb.  You'll need a metal plate if you go down this route.  Check this out http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=20898.0.

For the money required for parts - you're looking at close if not more than the cost of buying something new...

Another alternative would be to take an old keyboard and customise it.  Perhaps you could create something a bit more ergonomic? 

Mechanicalkeyboards.com has pcbs and other parts - take a look at the pcb for an ergodox http://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=537

[rowdy]

As mentioned above, it is likely to cost you more to build one yourself.  This is because the major keyboard manufacturers buy millions of switches (and other parts) at once, and get a substantial discount, whereas you are buying just a few switches.

It also depends on whether you just want to buy parts and assemble them yourself, or whether you want to get raw materials and make your own plate, make your own PCB, make your own case and so on.

[T0ken]

It would help to know your curriculum, do you have any background in electronics? Are you going to machine the case yourself? Designing your own PCB and firmware would be a good project; or designing and machining a plate and case, even better if you do all of the above. A PCB prototype this size will be very expensive though, probably around 150 Euros or more. You could also wire the switch matrix without a PCB and use a teensy; but you should confirm with your instructor if that is an acceptable project.

[Hellmark]

Making your own will rarely be cheaper than buying. Reason is, all the parts that you won't be able to make, someone can get for much cheaper than you can, because they're buying in quantities much much higher than you. If you're buying 90 switches, why should someone cut you as big of a price break as someone who is buying 100,000 switches?

[metalliqaz]

Dear Geekhack community,

since I am studying at a technical college in Germany and we have hands on training about 5 weeks long , we can decide to do projects at the end of our training if we want.

I asked my teacher if I could build my own mechanical keyboard and he agreed to that.

But the thing is I have not much idea of building my own keyboard , thus I wanted to ask you could give me some adviced and where I could buy the parts for my mechanical keyboard.

Isn't this what you're going to school to learn? hehehe

I'd like to build my own TKL mechanical keyboard with 87/88 keys . As I found out each switch costs about $0.65 , is that right? So the question here is 88*0.65= 57,2 $ which is just for the switches only . So one of my main reason would be building an own keyboard should be cheaper than buying from some company , but as far as I know you can get some decent keyboards for that price from CM storm-
So is it possible to have a more convenient keyboard?

You cannot beat the prices of a mass production product with DIY.  Economy of scale.  Make lots of them and you can do it cheaply.  Make only one, and it is expensive.

And what are the remaining parts of the keyboard I need.

To make your own keyboard from scratch, you need switches and keycaps, of course, and you need a circuit board which itself contains many electronic parts, and you need a case.  I suggest you spend a few weeks reading the Make Something Together section for an idea of what's involved.

And I'd like to hear an honest statement , if it would be possible for me to build my own keyboard or should I leave it for the keyboard pros.

I really thank you for reading this.

Tokiloki

Anything is possible.  It takes training and money.  If you are doing it for a school project, you may want to seek guidance from your adviser about what you can handle.  There are people around here that are engineering experts and there are people who have no formal training.  They achieve varying levels of success.  What do you actually want to do?  If you want a product that is as good as a store-bought keyboard, and you have no idea where to begin even with your training from school, then I'd say you're in over your head.  If you want an interesting project that will be fun to put together that doesn't have to look so perfect, then go for it.

[infiniti]

If you need switches, you can join MOZ's Group Buy for TVS-e Gold Keyboard and harvest the 105 mx blue switches.

1 KB = US$32
+ Shipping = US$15
+ Paypal fees = US$3 (assumption to bring the total to US$50)

Assuming it's US$50 total, it comes out to about US$0.48 per switch.

Order and payment deadline is October 30.

[Oobly]

Dear Geekhack community,

since I am studying at a technical college in Germany and we have hands on training about 5 weeks long , we can decide to do projects at the end of our training if we want.

I asked my teacher if I could build my own mechanical keyboard and he agreed to that.

But the thing is I have not much idea of building my own keyboard , thus I wanted to ask you could give me some adviced and where I could buy the parts for my mechanical keyboard.

I'd like to build my own TKL mechanical keyboard with 87/88 keys . As I found out each switch costs about $0.65 , is that right? So the question here is 88*0.65= 57,2 $ which is just for the switches only . So one of my main reason would be building an own keyboard should be cheaper than buying from some company , but as far as I know you can get some decent keyboards for that price from CM storm-
So is it possible to have a more convenient keyboard?

And what are the remaining parts of the keyboard I need.

And I'd like to hear an honest statement , if it would be possible for me to build my own keyboard or should I leave it for the keyboard pros.


I really thank you for reading this.

Tokiloki

What tools do you have access to and knowledge to use? If you have access to all kinds of stuff, like a CNC laser cutter, CNC router, soldering station, etc. you can do almost anything

If you just have basic tools, you're going to be a lot more limited with what you can make and it will cost more since you have to buy parts instead of making them.

The TVS Gold keyboard group buy is a good way to get MX blue switches. If you can get a plate (either from an existing board, make it yourself or have it made by a company that does laser cutting) you can wire the switches directly without a PCB, just wires, diodes (1N4148) and a controller (Teensy 2.0 is a good one). The casing can be any material (aluminium, acrylic, molded plastic, steel, etc) and there are lots of possible ways to do that.

[korrelate]

I haven't built my own board from scratch so this list may not be entirely complete, but I'm certain that the community will correct me very quickly:

1. A pcb : the phantom pcb is available at mechanicalkeyboards.com. Check the wiki page for the phantom keyboard for all of the other parts you'll need for this keyboard (diodes, leds, etc.).
2. Switches (obviously... you've already said that).
3. A controller (if your pcb does not come with one - item 1. above does not).
4. Keycaps (you can spend anywhere from nothing to hundreds of dollars for one set).

Anyway, that's at least the beginning of the answer to your question.

Cheers,

K

[Masterchief79]

Building your own is expensive, most probably not under 200€ with custom case and everything. So not much money to save there, as already said.

I'm currently building my own 60% myself, but not with brand new switches. I'm just using switches and keycaps from and old electrical typewriter which I got for 8€ on eBay. I will have my own custom 60% mechanical without having spent more than 30€. (Cherry M9 and fat doubleshots).
That's an option if you don't wanna spend so much money, and the result is more or less the same. Should work for your project, too. You still get to design a PCB, a case and the software for your baby, it's just that you get the base materials very cheap.