Spare parts for DIY KB

[philpirj]

Hi!
I've been taken by the idea of making my own keyboard with all goodness I cannot find in other keyboards out of the box. Got inspired by BlueCube topic http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/my-d ... t2534.html

Trying to keep BOM below $130 and have some questions to achieve that.

Any ideas where MX switches can be bought in <1000k quantities at relatively low prices other than group buys? Interested in plate mount ones with diode built-in.

Any source of not expensive keycaps? Buying stock blank caps for $40 seems an insanity to me.
Specifically of 1.5x size? What i have found are DCS Row 3 'Tab keys' ($1.25 at wasd)

Another point is a trackpoint. I have found this on KBC fans and DIY chinese forum:

My findings so far on this is TSW joysticks from C&K components (worth $5). It doesn't support the force detection, but has a jog wheel.

For a controller (since teensy is not so cheap) i have found a very similar one, from STM http://www.st.com/internet/evalboard/product/250636.jsp (~$8 on farnell). Any idea is there a software to make it work with keyboards? later on, the chip can be put on the PCB, and total cost of controller will go down from $20 for teensy to ~$5.

I'm going to make a BlueCube/ErgoDox similar design, any experience on multiplexers to connect teensy to second half of keyboard? or it doesn't make much sense and halves should be wired with 10-16 wires? Any good cable/jack for thet purpose? I've found RJ-48/50 (10p10c), but it's far from being cheap and widely spread. Not much cables also, and they don't look so attractive.

[7bit]

Cherry MX switches are sold in the CheryMX group buy.

[uberben]

I haven't started programming mine yet, but I'm planning on adding one of these to my keyboard as a mouse with integrated click: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10835 (I made my own breakout boards through OSHPark for about $1 per board and got the joysticks free as a sample, just had to pay duty).

Right now I'm focussing on getting my keyboard controller to work with my keyboard, but once I have that I will start coding the mouse.

[CeeSA]

buy used keycaps here in the marketplace to save money.

[7bit]

BTW, where did you find that scroll wheel?

[tlt]

I haven't started programming mine yet, but I'm planning on adding one of these to my keyboard as a mouse with integrated click: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10835 (I made my own breakout boards through OSHPark for about $1 per board and got the joysticks free as a sample, just had to pay duty).

Right now I'm focussing on getting my keyboard controller to work with my keyboard, but once I have that I will start coding the mouse.

Does the joystick work like a trackpoint so that you just need to put pressure in a direction to activate it or do you need to change the angel of the stick?

[uberben]

Does the joystick work like a trackpoint so that you just need to put pressure in a direction to activate it or do you need to change the angel of the stick?

Functionally, it is more like a PSP joystick where it slides sideways, but the amount of travel is pretty small so it sort of feels like a track point with less resistance. It uses a 2D hall effect sensor as opposed to the cheap variable resistor sliders in PSP joysticks, so the accuracy is supposed to be pretty high. I'm hoping to have at least something basic coded up the by the end of the year, so we can see then how it performs.

[Hubbert]

I got my MX switches from www.digikey.com. Very reasonable shipping.

[7bit]

I got my MX switches from http://www.digikey.com. Very reasonable shipping.

More expensive than CherryMX!

[philpirj]

BTW, where did you find that scroll wheel?

http://www.likeyboard.com/forum.php?mod ... a=page%3D1
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[clickclack123]

Hi!
Another point is a trackpoint. I have found this on KBC fans and DIY chinese forum:

My findings so far on this is TSW joysticks from C&K components (worth $5). It doesn't support the force detection, but has a jog wheel.

For a controller (since teensy is not so cheap) i have found a very similar one, from STM http://www.st.com/internet/evalboard/product/250636.jsp (~$8 on farnell). Any idea is there a software to make it work with keyboards? later on, the chip can be put on the PCB, and total cost of controller will go down from $20 for teensy to ~$5.

I'm going to make a BlueCube/ErgoDox similar design, any experience on multiplexers to connect teensy to second half of keyboard? or it doesn't make much sense and halves should be wired with 10-16 wires? Any good cable/jack for thet purpose? I've found RJ-48/50 (10p10c), but it's far from being cheap and widely spread. Not much cables also, and they don't look so attractive.

You should look into the cheap ATMega32u4 Arduino Pro Micro clones that are super cheap on ebay (this one is US$4.79 delivered!

It's the same processor as the Teensy, I'm told that you can load the exact same hex file onto it as the teensy. The pinout is obviously slightly different to the Teensy though.

I am super-interested in the jog wheel on that joystick though, are there any that don't include the joystick? My dream keyboard is an ergodox with lowered thumbs, jog wheels and possibly an optical trackball.