Conversation

Notices

1. Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 02:08:22 JST Aral Balkan

   It’s Lego keyboard making time!

   :awesome:

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 02:55:12 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     So the first step is to get the stabilisers for the larger keys onto the plastic plate. In this version (with 05002 Stabis) they come pre-lubed so don’t search for the lube in the box as per the instructions like I did. Also, the space bar stabiliser goes in the opposite way to the others (this is not mentioned).

     #KitAdam #mechanicalKeyboard

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 03:00:38 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     Next, you sandwich the poron foam layer between the hot-swappable PCB and the plate.

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 03:07:49 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     And now it’s time for… switches! So! Many! Switches!

     (These are pre-lubed S² linear switches with 3.6mm travel, 1.5mm pre-travel, 40gf operation force. Or so it says on the tube.)

     :all_the_things:

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 03:10:39 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     And this is what they sound like by themselves.

     #KitAdam #mechanicalKeyboard #switch

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 03:46:08 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     So the direction the switches are shown in the instructions is wrong. The pins have to be at the top, not the bottom (that’s where the holes are in the PCB). Double-checked it just to be sure I hadn’t done something odd.

     Tip: you can plug the PCB into your computer and check each switch works as you plug it in :)

     (Careful you don’t bend the pins when placing the switches. Make sure they go straight into the holes.)

     #KitAdam #mechanicalKeyboard #switches #lego

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 03:51:13 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     And here’s what that process looks like. I might be here a while :)

     (This is the bit they usually speed up in the build videos.)

     #KitAdam

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 04:13:33 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     Success! All switches in and working :)

     The flow I eventually fell into was to place a switch in lightly and press it to test it made contact (by seeing the key appear in the text editor) then press it in without worrying whether I got the pins in right.

     I haven’t gotten to the Lego case yet but this is currently a fully-functional keyboard. (Albeit not the most comfortable to write on.)

     Time for some dinner, me thinks. Will continue later :)

     #KitAdam #switches

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 04:37:59 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     Right, had a quick snack. Time for Lego! :)

     #KitAdam #lego #keyboard #case

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 04:40:40 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • DoeNietZoMoeilijk 🥔

     @doenietzomoeilijk First one I’m building :) My first mechanical keyboard was the one that came with my IBM-XT in the 80s ;)

   • DoeNietZoMoeilijk 🥔 (doenietzomoeilijk@mastodon.nl)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 04:40:41 JST DoeNietZoMoeilijk 🥔

     in reply to

     @aral under Linux, I tend to go with xev, which also catches modifiers.

     First mechanical, or were you already in the rabbit hole? 😀

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 05:19:06 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     The bottom half of the case is done, including the rubber gaskets. Now to pop the board in and continue building the top half.

     Building this, I’ve just realised Lego is just really coarse grain 3D-printing. Only you can also take it apart. We had 3D printers as kids y’all and we didn’t even know it! :)

     #KitAdam #lego #keyboard

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 05:27:15 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     And the board is in! 🤓👍

     #KitAdam #Lego #keyboard

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 05:56:53 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     Almost there… but first: keycaps!

     #KitAdam #lego #keyboard

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 06:57:04 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     Et, voilà!

     #KitAdam #Lego #mechanicalKeyboard

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 07:12:47 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • 𝗣𝗠𝗝 👽 [ 🙈 😅 ]

     @pmj They’re the gasket. Makes it springier when you type :)

   • 𝗣𝗠𝗝 👽 [ 🙈 😅 ] (pmj@social.pmj.rocks)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 07:12:48 JST 𝗣𝗠𝗝 👽 [ 🙈 😅 ]

     in reply to

     @aral

     what are those rubber thingys for? 🤔

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 19:15:47 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Jordan Kendrick :ubuntu:

     @jordan_kendrick It’s good. Not perfect but usable. The screen on mine takes a while to get to full brightness. Other than that it’s small, light, and works :)

   • Jordan Kendrick :ubuntu: (jordan_kendrick@fosstodon.org)'s status on Tuesday, 15-Aug-2023 19:15:49 JST Jordan Kendrick :ubuntu:

     in reply to

     @aral On an unrelated note, how do you like that StarLabs laptop?

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Aug-2023 05:51:48 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Stephen Darlington

     @sdarlington Hey Stephen, yeah, been using it all day today.

     It’s not my first mechanical keyboard but it’s the first one that’s fully programmable and goodness what a difference that makes :)

   • Stephen Darlington (sdarlington@mas.to)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Aug-2023 05:51:49 JST Stephen Darlington

     in reply to

     @aral Oh wow, that looks amazing! Does it work?

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Aug-2023 05:54:18 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Sara Joy :happy_pepper:

     @sarajw Haha, indeed. Sounds like me and using British spellings for things :)

   • Sara Joy :happy_pepper: (sarajw@front-end.social)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Aug-2023 05:54:19 JST Sara Joy :happy_pepper:

     in reply to

     @aral hah that's painfully cool. I wish I wasn't so hung up on using a UK ISO layout sometimes... Though it's a useful filter to stop me spending all the money

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Aug-2023 05:58:18 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • lalalala sombra

     @lasombra Counted :)

   • lalalala sombra (lasombra@fosstodon.org)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Aug-2023 05:58:19 JST lalalala sombra

     in reply to

     @aral Count me interested!

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Aug-2023 05:59:17 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Projjal Moitra

     @projjalm Haha :)

   • Projjal Moitra (projjalm@floss.social)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Aug-2023 05:59:18 JST Projjal Moitra

     in reply to

     @aral relieved to hear the number of people who type with their feet aren't many 😌 🤕

   • Aral Balkan (aral@mastodon.ar.al)'s status on Thursday, 17-Aug-2023 22:09:04 JST Aral Balkan

     in reply to

     • Neil Hainsworth

     @neilorangepeel Haha, love it 💕

   • Neil Hainsworth (neilorangepeel@mastodon.neilorangepeel.com)'s status on Thursday, 17-Aug-2023 22:09:48 JST Neil Hainsworth

     in reply to

     @aral mine accidentally resembles the ind.ie branding ❤️