single switch PCBs.

[Rotti]

Alright guys I am not real sure where this should actually go on these forums but I am putting it here. If it needs to be moved I understand.

I am doing a group biy for single switch PCBs with the purpose of custom layouts without the need of having a single PCB made. Here is the link to the thread.
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=57511.0

If you have any questions try and direct them on those forums as I don't frequent these a whole lot.

[webwit]

Fuck you too.

[Rotti]

Fuck you back.

[kps]

Fuck you too.

Fuck you back.

Get a room.

Anyway, I made some switch breakouts a while ago, for MX and ALPS switches, with a few goals in mind:

• easy to wire together in grids
• with pins, allow 750 mil key spacing on standard 100 mil breadboards
• allow various combinations of internal/external diodes or LEDs

More details and files here.

[Rotti]

Fuck you too.

Fuck you back.

Get a room.

Anyway, I made some switch breakouts a while ago, for MX and ALPS switches, with a few goals in mind:

• easy to wire together in grids
• with pins, allow 750 mil key spacing on standard 100 mil breadboards
• allow various combinations of internal/external diodes or LEDs

More details and files here.

Very nice. The biggest thing I wanted with this version was make them small enough to be soldered to the switch before installing into the plate.

[Grond]

So what's the advantage of this system over hand wiring?

[Rotti]

You don't have to solder to the side of a pin
You can open switches with no desoldering and no plate with the goofy switch holes
Cheaper than a one off full PCB
Support for backlighting
Support for PCB mount stabs

[kbdfr]

[…] You can open switches with no desoldering and no plate with the goofy switch holes […]

I thought that in the absence of a full PCB there must be a plate to hold the switches.

[Rotti]

[…] You can open switches with no desoldering and no plate with the goofy switch holes […]

I thought that in the absence of a full PCB there must be a plate to hold the switches.

Correct but you can still do a stem swap with the square switch holes on a stock style plate and still not have to desolder. Because the PCB is taller than the hole you can just pop out the switch, open, change stem/spring, and put back in the plate.

[matt3o]

I saw the project on GH and talked about it with mkawa. It is a very clever solution and not expensive at all, but I'm not sure if I want to build a whole keyboard with this system. hand wired is good enough and lately I started making my PCBs at home (which is very inexpensive).

I don't mean to lowball you, it's a great project and I'm happy it exists, but I have trouble finding myself using it.

[Findecanor]

[*]with pins, allow 750 mil key spacing on standard 100 mil breadboards

At last, a real reason for this kind of board's existence. It would work on perf/stripboards too, also then I suppose - something that lots of us have wished that switches were attachable to. That would make a thick keyboard, but still.

You can open switches with no desoldering and no plate with the goofy switch holes

So, instead of desoldering the single switch, you would have to desolder all the interconnects to the whole single-switch PCB (which are twice as many) and also thus making the entire row and the entire column inoperable ...

Cheaper than a one off full PCB

Would a full keyboard populated with single-switch PCBs really be cheaper than a one-off single-sided PCB that holds all switches?

Support for PCB mount stabs

But not PCB-mount switches ... You would still need a plate to make a one-switch keyboard.
The kinds of plates I have seen that support PCB-mount 2u stabs need to leave a lot of room for the stabs, thus making the parts of the plate holding the switch more narrow than usual - and pretty weak unless the plate is steel. Those thin slivers of plate have to support everything: the switch, the PCB and the stabilisers.

[Rotti]

I saw the project on GH and talked about it with mkawa. It is a very clever solution and not expensive at all, but I'm not sure if I want to build a whole keyboard with this system. hand wired is good enough and lately I started making my PCBs at home (which is very inexpensive).

I don't mean to lowball you, it's a great project and I'm happy it exists, but I have trouble finding myself using it.

Its all good matt3o. Your hand wire jobs look better than my stock keyboard. I have looked through quite a few of your tutorial threads.

But thank you for the vote on the concept at least. I would actually like to make my own PCBs (Got a couple ideas) bit I don't think the wife would like those chemicals in the house with a 1 year old and a 5 year old.

[Rotti]

[*]with pins, allow 750 mil key spacing on standard 100 mil breadboards

At last, a real reason for this kind of board's existence. It would work on perf/stripboards too, also then I suppose - something that lots of us have wished that switches were attachable to. That would make a thick keyboard, but still.

You can open switches with no desoldering and no plate with the goofy switch holes

So, instead of desoldering the single switch, you would have to desolder all the interconnects to the whole single-switch PCB (which are twice as many) and also thus making the entire row and the entire column inoperable ...

Cheaper than a one off full PCB

Would a full keyboard populated with single-switch PCBs really be cheaper than a one-off single-sided PCB that holds all switches?

Support for PCB mount stabs

But not PCB-mount switches ... You would still need a plate to make a one-switch keyboard.
The kinds of plates I have seen that support PCB-mount 2u stabs need to leave a lot of room for the stabs, thus making the parts of the plate holding the switch more narrow than usual - and pretty weak unless the plate is steel. Those thin slivers of plate have to support everything: the switch, the PCB and the stabilisers.

No need to desolder anything to swap internals. Interconnects are hook up wire soldered to a through hole. Pull the wires through an inch and stuff them back in.

Yes it is cheaper. For one you are not paying for any space between the switches. At 1000 square inch order through OshPark I was quoted about 23 cents each.

I chose not to support PCB mount switches because of finding room for everything and having through holes for interconnects.