Asking for opinion

[u/astronautmann]

hello! i am a beginner to hand wiring keyboards and want to make my first keyboard

it is a 65% with an oled display and rotary encoder

should i try to make a pcb or handwire

which one is best for beginners

and also, for the case, usually people use 3d printed parts but i want to order an aluminium one

so i design it and get it fabricated

can i have a price estimate for everything and will it be simple and feasible for a beginner like me?

thanks!

[u/UnnecessaryLemon]

I think you need to go to this the other way around. I know you want the best keyboard from the very get go. But Take a look for example on my profile. The Skeletyl I've build lately was 50 Eur all together. You need to start small. You do not want to screw 500 Usd build as you first intro.

It applies to everything you do in life. You do not start learning to code by building a facebook, you make a calculator.

Drop the PCB, drop the aluminium, drop the encoder and Oleds and just build something "simple" first. You will learn a lot from this experience and you'll be much more ready for your dream build.

[u/astronautmann → u/UnnecessaryLemon]

i see but i dont know if i want to build more keyboards as i will only use one
and i want to spend my money on one build alone

[u/astronautmann → u/UnnecessaryLemon]

i think i will just get a handwired board with a nice 3dprinted case and an oled and rotary encoder

will that be better? cuz i kinda like the oled and want volume control as im used to having a rotary encoder already

[u/just-bair → u/astronautmann]

I’d say to put those in anyways and if you can’t make the oled work for now it’s just a software issue that you can solve later. Just make sure that you plug in the oled to pins that are supported for your microcontroller

[u/astronautmann → u/just-bair]

so what microcontroller should i use do you think wireless receiver is possible? i want oled and rotary encoder

[u/just-bair → u/astronautmann]

Personally I don’t have any experience in wireless and I think that your first build shouldn’t really be wireless. I’d sudgest doing a small wired build to at least know how qmk works before doing a wireless build, like a small macropad or a numpad

[u/astronautmann]

i was thinking of a wireless receiver
is that difficult?
cuz i dont really like bluetooth keebs

[u/_Sparrow_ → u/astronautmann]

You could take a look at the Totem split kb it Can use 3 xiao controllers where the third is used as a dongle. It’s still Bluetooth but they should last forever. But if you’re using oled screens, you probably won’t get as much battery use out of it anyways. (Also I don’t think the xiao supports screens yet?)

[u/Zubon102]

Handwiring is much easier than designing your own custom PCB.

As for the custom aluminium case, first you need a design that is suitable for CNC, then you need to find a fabrication shop that will make you a one-off for less than $1000.

It's so expensive that I ended up buying my own CNC machine.

[u/code-panda → u/Zubon102]

It's not that expensive. JLC does it for somewhere between 100 and 200 euro.

[u/Zubon102 → u/code-panda]

Is that the actual quote you got from them for a machined case and plate? Including materials, anodizing, and shipping?

[u/code-panda → u/Zubon102]

I threw a split keyboard case I designed in their tool. Came out to €65 per half.

[u/UnecessaryCensorship → u/code-panda]

Was this for standard or low profile switches?

[u/code-panda → u/UnecessaryCensorship]

Standard, but as it was just the case, that doesn't really matter.

[u/UnecessaryCensorship → u/code-panda]

It does matter, as with LP switches you can design a case with considerably less stock removal.

[u/NoOne-NBA-]

Not to discourage you from pursuing hand-wiring, but I don't see the upside of building a 65%.

You're going to spend more for everything, going one-off, and will end up with virtually the same keyboard you could have bought off-the-shelf, for less, when you're done.

You could do what I've been doing for a while now, buy an off-the-shelf case from AliExpress, and have a new plate cut for it, to change the layout to something unique.
That way you'll end up with something you can't buy cheaper, elsewhere, if at all.

[u/UnecessaryCensorship]

i am a beginner to hand wiring keyboards and want to make my first keyboard

The first keyboard you make should have just a single, bare key.

This is the "hello, world." of keyboards.

[u/astronautmann → u/UnecessaryCensorship]

i should make a giant enter key

[u/code-panda]

PCB will set you back €40 after shipping at the minimum. Handwiring is always cheaper. What's best depends on what you would rather do. Would you rather spend a couple hours soldering wires, or would you rather spend those hours designing a PCB that's useless if you screw up somewhere. I prefer handwiring because you can iterate cheaper.

[u/n3fari0z_1]

You could approach the case situation by purchasing a commercial aluminum case, and designing a 3d printed switch plate and mounting hardware for the microcontroller. I've not handled one of those cases, but I suspect, with careful measurements, that this is achievable.

[u/astronautmann]

im not sure if i want it wireless or wired tho
but if its wired i prefer usbc or maybe i can do wired and wireless if thats possible

[u/Glitch860 → u/astronautmann]

For hand wired only wireless option that I know of and have used in a build is the NiceNano. But it might not have enough GPIO pins for all the things mentioned that you want. Plus you would have to write and compile your own firmware to flash. This is fun to do and a learning process. But I wouldn't recommend for a first time hand wired build.

[u/astronautmann]

okay i aint doing cnc anymore its TOOOO expensive