The battle96, a through hole iso budget keyboard.

[gipetto]

The battle96, a through hole iso budget keyboard.
After seeing the budget96 here made from pcb I was intrigued, so I decided to copy the design of the mitosis which uses pcbs that double as a plate. I haven't built anything yet, and I don't even know if my switch footprints are the wrong size or not. I want a dedicated macro row, so I included the extra f11-f24 keys. I managed to avoid the issue of an unobtainable right shift key by utilizing two iso keycap sets, so that each shift key is the 1.25u left shift size. the extra function row is simply the same f1-f12 keys. The intention is to use 3 pcbs per keyboard, one plate, one pcb and one back case( lead free for safety)
I have come across an issue with routing, as I want to have a detachable hole to provide clearance near 3 toggle switches. The toggles are a low cost alternative to the mx lock. The backlight is hardwired to a switch to save on pins and there is a hole above the teensy 2.0 to let the caps lock led see the light of day.
I will open-source the files if there's interest but i'm not sure if this design reaches the bar yet.

edit, i fixed the routing issue by removing one toggle switch. It's more or less complete. I enlarged the hole above the teensy so i can reach the bootloader button with a fingertip. I'd like someone more experienced to have a look at it, but be warned that due to the polygon errors from the cutouts, the pcb file will randomly corrupt. I think it's ok as is though.

Here are the files if anyone wishes to inspect them
https://github.com/itsnoteasy/battle96

[gipetto]

I don't know anything about stabilizers but from research the cherry stabs are 9-10 euro each and the costar plate mounts are in the region on 1 euro. should I narrow the pcb cutouts to fit the costar mounts or is it fine as is?

edit: I guess I didn't realise the keycap profiles would be mostly wrong. ah well. mods, delete thread.

[tinyenormous]

you don't have to have a problem with the key profiles. lots of sets use the r3 profile for all rows.
keep going. you can do it!

[gipetto]

heh, thanks for the encouragement. actually i gave up on the idea, opting instead for a southpaw build which is almost complete. i have another 60% build to do which happened accidentally so my hands are full for a while. 

[Blitzschnitzel]

Don't forget that the PCB house can't mill perfectly sharp 90° corners, because of the mill bit's diameter. So, your stabilizer cut-outs might become problematic.

[Tom_Kazansky]

your stabilizer cut-outs seem to be used for plate-mount stabilizers, they're mounted on the plate, not the PCB. So these cut-outs are useless.

PCB-mount stabilizer cut-outs look like these:


reference: https://cdn.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Components/Switches/MX%20Series.pdf

[gipetto]

The intention was to use plate mount stabs in a fiberglass pcb, well that is until i researched how expensive they were. I believe the design to be sound though apart from being prone to polygon errors due to so many edge cuts.

I have some jlcpcb pcbs in front of me now and the internal corners are surprisingly acute, but if needs be there could be a small circle milled at each corner.

I ran out of disposable income for the project though.

[gipetto]

I finished my uk iso southpaw today. it's a super budget build. i needed a backlight so i went tray mount and plateless. the steel for the case cost 13 euro, grinder discs and welding rods extra. i used a mag drill to mount the standoffs, forgot to make the hole for the usb port so burned it out with the welder. it feels solid to type on and i'd guess it weighs 5 kilos, i don't know why everyone hates tray mount. the pcb cost 40 euro and i have 4 spares i'll never use.

there's a few minor mistakes, should have added a usb pigtail so i hot glued it instead. misjudged the switch rotation so some numpad keys don't light. I wasn't going for a mirrored numpad, just wanted to move the enter row to the outside so i could hit it with the pinky. i wanted to use a toggle switch for the backlight but it was too deep so i used a flashlight clicky switch instead.

it uses a teensy 2.0 with a duplexed matrix. if i was to do it again i would have the teensy flush with the pcb so it could be 5mm lower.