my keyboard choppin' benediction thread

[PRISONER 24601]

I'm gonna be buying some tools right after XMAS so I can start srsly modding again. What do you recommend that I pick up?

I Have:

• Screwdrivers
• Hex Keys
• PLCC Extractor
• Exectric Drill
• Tons of solder
• Multimeter
• Rubbling Alcohol
• Various old electrical stuff from the 50's (grandpa was an electrician)
• Heathkit Oscilliscope (1960-something) (Don't really know how it works)
• Signal Tracer? (1960-something)
• Variuos HAM radio equipment from the 60's and 70's
• Duck Tape
• Electrical Tape, et cetera.

I Need:

• Soldering Iron (which kind?)
• Solder (which kind?)
• one of those Solder suckers that I saw on some thread
• Dremel tool (3+ speed at least. Wish I had my old one, it had the extension cable and errthing) with lots and lots of bits, cutting wheels.
• Keycap puller
• WHAT ELSE??

I also need:

• To learn how to electronic works and make cool stuff
• not shock self
• to measure twice and cut once. i always **** that up.
• the ins and outs of circuitboard troubleshooting / modding
• ummm probably lots of other junk

I'd like some input from you fellers on what else I might need, specific tools; recommendations on where I should get said tools, stuff like that.
Here are a few ideas I'm batting around:

1. Get an AT101W, do the obligatory AEK/AEKII swap (for practice)

a few of my long-term goals include:

Taking this thingy and swapping the GODAWFUL MY switches with some MX switches that make me scream hosanna to the lord christ almighty (if that's even possible). I'm thinkin:
Browns for the alphabet
Blues for punctuation
Greens for modifiers, spacebar, enter, backspace, etc.
Blacks for numpad/arrows/F-keys, etc.

Also gonna RIT dye the ****er every color in the crayola box. not even kidding. it will be absolutely fabulous.

also, doing something with these:


Not sure which one... or what... But that one guy on GH (forget who it was, sry ), converted one of these to wireless and PC compatible. I wouldn't do wireless, but swapping the blacks out with another cherry switch seems reasonable. Instead of painting/dying it, I'll probably leave the enclosure /keys as-is. These wyse boards are mounted to a thickass steel plate (nearly model M thick), and every keypress feels awesomely solid, like typing on a granite block.

Honestly, I don't have the electrical knowledge to do most of this, but I'm a quick learner with technical stuff. As soon as I can figure out how to read a diagram, trace the circuits, whatever... the rest should come smooth as buttah.

Feedback would be appreciated: tips, links to guides, telling me I'm stupid/crazy, whatever.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

A piece of paper, a pen, and a postage stamp. Write to Santa.

[PRISONER 24601]

Klaus ist dott

[PRISONER 24601]

A phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range?

How would I mod a keyboard with a plasma rifle? that doesn't make any sense. It would almost certainly break the thing, not make it better. You know what? I've been to 2 SAs, a TYMND, and 6 chans and that's the stupidest thing I ever read on a computer screen.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

How dramatic.

• A sense of humor.

I have one of those too, some people just don't get it though...

[microsoft windows]

Some guys here just don't like mine.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

InSanCen...

[microsoft windows]

They should make their own social group called "Hate Microsoft Windows' posts". I bet there's enough of them out there. But would this forum be like without me anyway? I give plenty of the people here something to do.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

isn't plasma a form of matter?  Super-heated matter? So hot it is neither solid, liquid nor gas?

[ch_123]

But would this forum be like without me anyway?

Back in the halcyonian days of Chloe and Sandy?

[ch_123]

isn't plasma a form of matter?  Super-heated matter? So hot it is neither solid, liquid nor gas?

It's the fourth state of matter, they're super heated gasses. They never teach about them in schools, which is rather odd given that they make up something like 98% of the universe.

[PRISONER 24601]

actually webwit, i found your post quite humorous. I was attempting humor as well by pretending that I had taken your post seriously. See, internet jokes are like onions...

[itlnstln]

Back in the halcyonian days of Chloe and Sandy?

Ah, the memories...

[lowpoly]

Taking this thingy and swapping the GODAWFUL MY switches with some MX switches.

Not possible.

[erricrice]

Off-topic thread is off-topic.


Anyway, as far as learning electrical stuff, go to your local library, there are TONS of book on electricity and circuits and stuff like that.  I went once looking for just a basics of electricity book and there were at least 10 titles JUST on basics, and then came the detailed ones....

[ricercar]

Taking this thingy and swapping the GODAWFUL MY switches with some MX switches.

Not possible.

Oooh, I LOVE a challenge. As soon as my Cherry blacks come from kishy, I'll see your 'not possible' and raise....:boxing:

[lowpoly]

OK, but swapping the complete G80 internals into an identical G81 case is not allowed.

[PRISONER 24601]

Mucho danke to webwit, ripster, erricrice, lowpoly, and the rest for giving me some much needed pointers. Since I've got nearly a month holiday going, I'm gonna flex my newfound hobby muscles and see if I can get ONE of these projects done without breaking the keyboard completely (that was meant with cander, I probably will break something)

I'm really leaning towards the Wyse mod to start off. It will help me gain some serious soldering skills- and I need to lvl those up bad.

Regarding webwit, you're seriously one of the best posters on GH, didn't mean to offend you dude... I'll try to tone down my stupid/condescending/cheesy jokes when you're around, really. I'll step lightly, because you seem like the kind of person who has very powerful friends. You strike me as the Giovanni di Medicii of geekhack for some reason D:

Well, gotta stop this post. My Space Saver just came to the door! Happy day!

[keyb_gr]

That was the first (and hopefully last) time I've ever seen the spontaneous combustion of a keyboard.

[ricercar]

Ripster, we need the story behind that pic. You can't go home until you talk.

[InSanCen]

InSanCen...

You rang?

Ripster, we need the story behind that pic. You can't go home until you talk.

Morbid fascination... I don't want to know, but I do need to know.

I would suggest a GOOD gas iron (Iroda is the first name that springs to mind), just make sure to use decent butane in them, the cheap stuff isn't well enough purified, and will killl an iron eventually.
Silver solder is also great, easier to use. In conjunction with flux, soldering is a breeze. Avoid most Lead-Free junk, it's bloody awful to solder with. When they announced the demise of leaded solder, I bought a drum, yes, a drum, of it to last me until I shake so bad I can't solder. I wil then leave it to my children as a legacy of what we used to have before the "Politically Correct" and "Green" zealot's ruined everyones fun. Yes, lead-free is really that bad.
Start on the Wyse boards, as mentioned they should be easier. Learn a proper soldering technique too, or you will end up with "bird ****" joints.

[ricercar]

"The soot was everywhere, in every room, every cabinet."

Geez, I just had a flashback to my own 'I was outside when it started' moment. Soot WAS everywhere.

[leos]

just buy a 3d printer (Rapid-Prototyping) to make new keycaps or perhaps a hole new keyboard case :bump2:


http://www.desktopfactory.com/

or build one :hail: -----THATS TRULLY GEEKHACK------


link

[ch_123]

Only $5,000? I remember hearing that they were in the $30,000+ region...

[PRISONER 24601]

Not possible.

Aploogies for the noobish question, but why? I know the switches won't drop directly onto the PCB, but is the controller usable in any way? It's an AT/XT controller, if that matters.

Oh yeah that reminds me. Back to the original topic.

The best tool for doing keyboard mods is a ABBY NORMAL brain.
[IG]http://geekhack.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=6329&stc=1&d=1260572485[/IMG]

If that's some kind of keyboard jargon for "abnormal" then done and done.

That was the first (and hopefully last) time I've ever seen the spontaneous combustion of a keyboard.

That picture is hard to look at. It actually made me sad.

I would suggest a GOOD gas iron (Iroda is the first name that springs to mind), just make sure to use decent butane in them, the cheap stuff isn't well enough purified, and will killl an iron eventually.
Silver solder is also great, easier to use. In conjunction with flux, soldering is a breeze. Avoid most Lead-Free junk, it's bloody awful to solder with. When they announced the demise of leaded solder, I bought a drum, yes, a drum, of it to last me until I shake so bad I can't solder. I wil then leave it to my children as a legacy of what we used to have before the "Politically Correct" and "Green" zealot's ruined everyones fun. Yes, lead-free is really that bad.
Start on the Wyse boards, as mentioned they should be easier. Learn a proper soldering technique too, or you will end up with "bird ****" joints.

Can you make any recommendations for a gas iron, maybe something in a "starter kit" so that I can save a few bucks?
I have soldered some before, but my experience is limited to wiring spd controllers, servos, etc for RC cars. I used an old electric hot iron thing, but I got pretty good at it.

There are gas soldering kits on ebay and elsewhere staring at about $59. Are these junk?

just buy a 3d printer (Rapid-Prototyping) to make new keycaps or perhaps a hole new keyboard case :bump2:
http://www.desktopfactory.com/
or build one :hail: -----THATS TRULLY GEEKHACK------
link

That's really cool. I would want a white backlight though, blue would clash with my bedroom decor.

[InSanCen]

I don't get the gas iron thing.  What's wrong with just plugging in - plus you get grounding protection with expensive circuits and something that will last a lifetime.  Check the soldering tutorial for some suggestions - Weller FTW!

I work with an anti-static setup (Common sense really, ESD really does kill stuff people). Apart from using **** butane, I have never killed a gas iron. I like the almost instant turn-on, flexibility (not tied to somewhere with an AC point) and prefer the heavier weighting of the back end of the Iron.

Don't get me wrong, Mains powered stations have their place (I have a 60W unit), but I prefer gas for the reasons above. Longer sessions will have me breaking out the AC powered station, as decent butane get's expensive for 3-4hr sessions.

[lowpoly]

Aploogies for the noobish question, but why?

The MY is a membrane switch keyboard. There is no pcb where you can solder your switches to.

The controller may be useable but that will require a fairly modern G80. The older ones have the controller on the switch pcb. And even then the connectors will be different. Getting another G80 should be easier in most cases. Maybe I'm missing something.

[PRISONER 24601]

I see. I actually forgot that there was a membrane under there. I guess that idea is off the list, for now anyway Hopefully, I can find some use for it.

Next week I'll see about picking up a decent soldering iron + some supplies for practice. There's a Weller WLC100 that seems reasonably priced. These Iroda gas irons look really impressive. Even though I don't like the idea of buying gas all the time, it might fit into my budget. Thanks for the advice + suggestions! Right after christmas, I'm getting a new dremel, too. Really looking forward to that, I haven't felt the joys of a cutting wheel since my casemodding days.

All my questions are pretty much answered. Now I'm just curious as to what exactly I should do with the Wyse boards. I suppose I'll figure that out in due time, but i'm pretty sure that everything is useless save for the switches, case, keys, and metal plate.

[lowpoly]

I'm getting a new dremel, too. Really looking forward to that, I haven't felt the joys of a cutting wheel since my casemodding days.

Do pcb cutting outside, pcbs contain Formaldehyde.

[ch_123]

Ah Formaldehyde... I didn't think it could be possible for something to smell worse than ****, but it proved otherwise.

[itlnstln]

I smell dead people.
 

[ak_nala]

Don't many/most PCBs contain glass fibers as well?

If so, a dust mask and disposable clothing covers would also be recommended during any cutting, in addition to doing it outside.

[PRISONER 24601]

my workspace is plenty ventilated. that's what the crack under the door is for.