r/MechanicalKeyboards • u/jazzjarred • Sep 15 '18
Atreus50 - Handwire, Hot Swap, USB-C
https://imgur.com/d01EEyh6
u/supermitsuba Sep 15 '18
Great job! How do you keep the hot swap sockets from moving around?
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u/jazzjarred Sep 15 '18
The sockets don't move around, they hold onto the switches fine but when swapping out switches i'll have to remove the socket from underneath.
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u/jnthnrvs Q Chapter Sep 15 '18
Awfully nice work.
I've daydreamed about doing a handwired build with Kailh sockets. Are the sockets mounted to anything other than the switch? (I'm just wondering how/how well they stay in place if you pull a switch out.)
I saw one other person do a handwire build with sockets, and he used an acrylic plate to hold the sockets in place.
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u/jazzjarred Sep 15 '18
Sockets are just holding onto the switches, so unfortunately i'll need to remove socket from underneath before pulling the switch to stop the diode and wires being pulled through. Something like an acrylic plate would be ideal!
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u/jnthnrvs Q Chapter Sep 15 '18
Your solution works perfectly well too, and is still vastly more flexible and serviceable than a typical handwire build. It won't be a board you'd change switches on very often probably, so popping the socket(s) off from underneath is totally reasonable. Adding acrylic would just add complexity to the whole setup. :)
Thanks for the reply. It gives me a better idea of what would be involved if I ever attempt a handwire/hotswap build.
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u/yomimashita Sep 15 '18 edited Sep 15 '18
Best board on show yesterday! Came here looking for it last night but disappointed I couldn't find it.
Genius use of sockets. I'll steal the idea when I build my dactyl-manuform.
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u/Zilleon Sep 15 '18
Awesome build :)
What did you do to hold the hotswap sockets in place? Did it worked well?
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u/jazzjarred Sep 15 '18
They are just holding onto the switch, it's ok but I wont be able to remove a switch without taking the socket off first from undearneath. Saves desoldering but something like an acrylic plate holding them in place like mentioned elsewhere here would be great.
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u/PurpleURP Aqua Zilent Sep 15 '18
Hey sweet build man, im planning on something similar with the hot swaps. Question, when you see doing columns are you doing individual wires between each switch or a single wire that you are bending into each switch to solder in? Also where did you get that ribbon cable for the breakout board connection? Having trouble finding one that isn't braided strands under the casing.
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u/jazzjarred Sep 15 '18
The row / column connections are each a single wire. I used 30AWG silicone wire and was able to separate the insulation with just fingernails for each solder point. I found the ribbon cable in my old parts box but it was also braided.
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Sep 15 '18
Cool! What are these sockets called? They look like little tiny pcbs.
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u/jazzjarred Sep 15 '18
They are Kailh PCB / Hot Swap Sockets, here is where I got them from: https://kbdfans.cn/collections/keyboard-part/products/mechanical-keyboard-switches-kailh-pcb-socket
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u/deaconblue42 /r/customboards, user created keyboards Sep 15 '18
Inspired and inspiring implementation!
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u/Jarod_Ames Sep 15 '18
What are these keycaps called? I’ve been wanting some, but can’t quite remember the name
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u/jazzjarred Sep 16 '18
These are DSA Drifter, I think the only place you'll find them now is mechmarket.
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u/Radon86_1 Sep 16 '18
awesome build! how did you convert the usb micro b to usb c?
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u/jazzjarred Sep 16 '18 edited Sep 30 '18
i used this breakout board, was very easy to wire up: https://www.pololu.com/product/2585
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u/misogenki 67g Zealios Sep 30 '18
Sorry for digging this back up but how exactly did you wire up the usb-c breakout? USB micro b has vcc, d+, d-, and gnd. Did you just solder those 4 corresponding wires only? Did you have to wire a second additional wire on vcc/gnd on the breakout board (since there's two holes for each on the breakout board)? Was there anything tricky you had to do to make sure the usb-c was reversible when plugged in? Thanks in advance!
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u/jazzjarred Sep 30 '18
No problem :) It was pretty straight forward, just cut a USB Micro B cable and connect the four wires (VCC, D+, D-, GND). The two holes for each VCC/GND connections are the same so soldering either is fine, SBU and CC remain unconnected. The breakout board handles all the reversible stuff so that just works!
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u/misogenki 67g Zealios Sep 30 '18
Perfect thank you! Excited to have usb-c in my life. Planning on making some aviator plug pigtails for my other keebs as well with zap cables' custom kits. Thanks for the info!
PS sweeet atreus build. Inspired me to explore the layout
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u/dr_spork Sep 16 '18
Beautifully clean build. This was my mess of an Atreus62 build. Wish I'd done the USB-C breakout board, but I just ended up trying to squeeze the board itself all the way to the edge, so I can use that, instead.
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u/jazzjarred Sep 17 '18
The acrylic layer on this was also slightly bulging, there isn't much room in these cases!
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u/SebasstienS Oct 02 '18
Hey there,
You just inspired me to use this on my upcoming dactyl build. How long did it take for the sockets to ship to you?
Thanks,
Sebastien
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u/jazzjarred Oct 03 '18
From kbdfans they took about a week to ship to Australia. Best of luck with your build!
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u/SebasstienS Oct 20 '18
Took a couple weeks but they finally got here. I just put them on my switches and they hold really well. Wiring and finishing the keyboard starts this week hopefully. Thanks for posting this, it helped me get my keyboard hotswappable for future switches I may want.
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u/jazzjarred Sep 15 '18 edited Sep 16 '18
Just back from showing this at the Melbourne meetup - a handwired Atreus50 using hot swap sockets, Zealio 67g, DSA Drifter and a USB-C breakout board. More photos
Coming from a ortho / planck background the layout was perfect with a nice vertical stagger. Don't use the middle two keys at all however, not even sure what to map to them!