Mini Build Logs of my JD40, MX-Mini, and CtrlAlt60.

[DzyDzyDino]

Not sure if this is the proper sub for this, or if this is more for unique mods and builds and stuff...
I feel bad posting my crappy potatocam pics after seeing so many awesome photos here,
But I just finished putting together a JD40 with MX Whites and Greens
http://imgur.com/a/9clQc
A MX-Mini with 62g Gold springs (Courtesy of sprit's GB), lubed with Krytox GPL 104/205, and stickered MX Clears.
http://imgur.com/a/itWfJ
and a CtrlAlt60 with 65g gold springs, lubed with a thicker mix of the same, and stickered Vintage MX Blacks (harvested from a Wyse PCE)
http://imgur.com/a/1Ofpp
All with clipped lubed cherry stabs.

Huuuuuuge huge huge thanks to bunny and ctrlalt where I got all the diodes for these projects, the JD40, and the CtrlAlt60 and ridiculously huge thanks to bunny for hooking me up with that LZ-CE universal 60% plate for the CtrlAlt60 -- without it I would have been stuck going PCB Mount. And Also thanks for helping me sort out some stabilizer wires!
Also huge thanks to margo for dealing with my PMs and questions, and without whom I also would have freaked out thinking I burnt or blew up my boards. Thank you for the advice and always finding time to reply to my questions!
And thanks to Sherryton for selling me the MX-Mini kit!

I learned so much from putting these three boards together, I really really did. Each one took like a third of the time the previous did to put together. I spent a weekend and then some on the JD40, A day on the CtrlAlt60, and an afternoon on the Mx-Mini.
All the mistakes I made on the JD40 really taught me a lot and I felt worlds more confident going into the latter two.



I apologize mods if this belongs in a different place, I lurk a lot here at GH but haven't posted too often.

edit: Also, huge thanks to jdcarpe for designing the JD40 and making it a reality!

[Flyersfan1]

Wow! Great stuff  DzyDzyDino!

I can't wait to get my CTRLALT PCB.  I think I'm going to go plate-less and try out PCB mounted switches. 

[DzyDzyDino]

Yeah! The cherry boards I've had with pcb mounted switches actually have felt fine. I had a 1900 with blacks and they actually felt great, so does the DolchPac board with its blues. I just recently harvested all the browns of an 8113, but they all felt good. I don't have anything against PCB mount at all, and it makes building a board way less of a headache. If anything happens or you need to swap anything out, you don't have to take every last switch off and remove the plate.

PCB mount or not, I love it when PCBs have the extra holes in them for the PCB mount switches, even if there's a plate involved.

the CtrlAltPCB is awesome! It works with NerdyGUI perfectly. I'm gonna try ordering some SMD resistors and see if I can't get the LEDs and SMD LEDs working on it.

What are you planning on doing for a case for yours?

[jdcarpe]

Great work on the JD40! It's good to see that you're human, a beginning solderer, and you can make mistakes and recover from them. This is exactly why I said initially that the JD40 wasn't a beginner's project, but more an intermediate one. It's not impossible for a beginner, but certainly not easy, either.

Very nice build log. Thank you for sharing.

[Flyersfan1]

Yeah! The cherry boards I've had with pcb mounted switches actually have felt fine. I had a 1900 with blacks and they actually felt great, so does the DolchPac board with its blues. I just recently harvested all the browns of an 8113, but they all felt good. I don't have anything against PCB mount at all, and it makes building a board way less of a headache. If anything happens or you need to swap anything out, you don't have to take every last switch off and remove the plate.

PCB mount or not, I love it when PCBs have the extra holes in them for the PCB mount switches, even if there's a plate involved.

the CtrlAltPCB is awesome! It works with NerdyGUI perfectly. I'm gonna try ordering some SMD resistors and see if I can't get the LEDs and SMD LEDs working on it.

What are you planning on doing for a case for yours?

I have a hard anodized FMJ Case waiting for it! I think I'll go with either 62g or 65g blacks, along with A BSP Cyrillic Set from imsto's group buy.  I get warm fuzzy feelings of what the completed project will look like!    Thanks again for sharing your detailed build logs, I really enjoyed going through them. 

[DzyDzyDino]

the JD40 wasn't a beginner's project, but more an intermediate one. It's not impossible for a beginner, but certainly not easy, either.

Thank you! And yes, I did some electronics stuff back in college, but that was years and years ago, and I'm just getting into it again. It was a huge learning process, figuring out the Teensy, figuring out how to work it, the usb connectors, etc. And I pretty much messed up every single step of the way... but it was a fantastic learning process. I remember reading for the smallfry iteration of the board, they were offering two pcbs to people that got the learn to solder kit in case they messed up their board.

There was a point, when I had ripped out some pads and through holes and botched a connector that I really wished I had a spare PCB to start over... but learning how to fix those mistakes made me actually think about what was happening instead of just following directions, and that really helped a lot. After finishing the JD40 and getting the Teensy working and making a stab for it, the MX-Mini and CtrlAlt60 were a breeze .

Sorry I forgot to throw a thanks in there to you! I was just throwing the post together and it totally slipped my mind!!

Huge thanks to JDCarpe for the designing the JD40!! Great concept and an awesome board!! And although I cursed its name many times out loud while building it, thanks to it I learned a heap! Thanks!!!

[DzyDzyDino]

I have a hard anodized FMJ Case waiting for it! I think I'll go with either 62g or 65g blacks, along with A BSP Cyrillic Set from imsto's group buy.  I get warm fuzzy feelings of what the completed project will look like!    Thanks again for sharing your detailed build logs, I really enjoyed going through them. 
[/quote]

Awesome! Yeah, I definitely want to get a larger case like a Hammer or a Duck, I think I saw someone selling a Hammer recently, I think Sherryton's got a FMJ case for sale still... expensive but awesome case. I had a TEX blue aluminum one coming in from massdrop still, but I think I'm gonna flip it and go for a bigger case like one of the aforementioned ones.

I was eyeing up that BSP Cyrillic set as well from imsto's GB. If the GMK Cyan buy ends up going through though, my money will be tied up in that. If not, I was thinking of the Olivetti "Peacock" one from imsto.
I'm really loving 65g blacks right now, although 68g blacks were really nice as well! I have yet to try a whole board of 62g blacks, but 62g clears are nice

thanks so much! I'm sorry I don't have a better camera, but thanks for dealing with my potatocam!! I had a lot of fun building these!! Looking forward to seeing pictures of yours when you get it!