Bluehairedpete builds a JD40

[bluehairedpete]

I've been using my fancy new JD40 at work for the past few weeks, and it's a great keyboard. I use a Model M at home, but I just wouldn't feel right subjecting my co-workers to that kind of clack, so I was in the market for something with clears.  Initially I was going to track down a TKL because I loved the idea of extending my desk real estate..  But after seeing the Captains build log of the JD40, I was smitten.

See the link for my build log:

http://imgur.com/a/7BpA0

It was a lot of fun to put together, and very forgiving of poor craftsmanship.  Thing works like a charm, I'm swimming in a big beautiful clear empty desk, and I'm getting faster all the time at the layers.  I'm a heavy linux/vi/screen user.. so the layers get a lot of use, but it works. Sometimes it feels like playing chords on a piano for particular keys.  People that get scared away from the 40% because of the lack of number keys need to trust in their fingers to acquire new muscle memory.  I have a layer that effectively turns the keyboard into a mouse.  I have *14* macros, and another in RAM.  Plus, between this and the model M, all of my keyboard double as murder weapons. I am living the dream.   Thank you Captain, Strict, JDCarpe and Bunnylake!

[absyrd]

Nicely detailed build-log with the photos and your fn layers. Glad you are getting used to it that fast.

I dumped my jd40 when I purged all of my MX stuff, but I still regret it some days.

[bluehairedpete]

Nicely detailed build-log with the photos and your fn layers. Glad you are getting used to it that fast.

I dumped my jd40 when I purged all of my MX stuff, but I still regret it some days.

Thank you sir. Ditched your MX?  Are you one of the topre clan?

[CPTBadAss]

OH GOD. You had the same troubles with the USB plug that I did. I'm glad you got yours to work. My cable is currently plugged right into the Teensy lol. Great job and thanks for the shoutout

[suicidal_orange]

Good work, especially on the tricky USB plug.

I gave up on wires on mine so soldered the Teensy pins sticking out of the PCB and soldered diode leads to the connector, then with the connector inserted in the Teensy bent the leads and soldered them to the pins.  It's not pretty but it works!

[Tiramisuu]

nicely done.

[Tiramisuu]

nicely done.

[smknjoe]

I'm just impressed that you know who David Jones is. He's definitely someone to take advice from.

" People that get scared away from the 40% because of the lack of number keys need to trust in their fingers to acquire new muscle memory."  I don't use a numpad either. Never have.

Great log of your build! Thanks for posting it.

[jdcarpe]

Nice to meet you at Keycon! I got to see your JD40 in person, and I think you did a great job with it. Good on you for using it as your daily driver. It takes some adjustment, but one can definitely do it, if motivated. It  certainly doesn't hurt that you are using editors with keyboard shortcuts versus cursoring around with arrows.

Nice build!

P.S. I've always maintained that the JD40 in its current iteration is NOT a beginner project, due to the USB connection, mainly.

[bluehairedpete]

Thanks for the kind words everybody!

This is an awesome community. I got a sense of it from browsing the forums, and, being a Chicago native,  I got lucky with being able to make the key con ( at least for a while ).  The con was really cool.. everybody was super nice, and it was everything I ever wanted to type on..     

Nice to meet you at Keycon! I got to see your JD40 in person, and I think you did a great job with it.
Nice build!

Whoa! Thanks JD! It was really cool getting a chance to talk with you. Nice design btw!

I gotta admit, I realized as I was walking around the con, looking at other JD40's, I don't think I have the space bar set up right.




How is the stabilizer wire supposed to hook into the underside of the space bar.. does a picture of that exist?

[user 18]

Those look like costar stabilizers. You need a couple of little plastic inserts that go into the outermost mounts on the spacebar, and hook onto the ends of the wire.

These guys: http://www.wasdkeyboards.com/index.php/products/keyboard-parts/cherry-mx-keycap-stabilizer-insert-2pcs.html
(note that I've also seen them in black plastic)

What I usually do is hook them into the stabilizer wire, set them into the black inserts on the plate (make sure the longer side of the white insert is facing towards the QWERTY row of the board), and push the spacebar down onto both stabilizer inserts and the switch at the same time.

[bluehairedpete]

What I usually do is hook them into the stabilizer wire, set them into the black inserts on the plate (make sure the longer side of the white insert is facing towards the QWERTY row of the board), and push the spacebar down onto both stabilizer inserts and the switch at the same time.

That did the trick... i had actually purchased those white plugs with the wire.. but i couldn't figure out what to do with them .  I'll update the build log with those steps.    Thanks User 18! 

[strict]

Nice build log! Glad I could contribute