Wait till he hears about hotswap

But still I agree with you

well you can easily make a keyboard without soldering, as long as you have a hotswap pcb, but making one from scratch is quite the challenge

the challenge is finding components with leads appropriate for wire wrapping. and wrapping wire... and a wrapping tool. but if you manage all three its doable. soldering is really no big deal when your get appropriate tools. if youve just got a wood burning iron and windex for flux, things can get goofy

@@homelessrobot only the wire wrapping tool is scarce. But it is also completely "improvise-able".

Been thinking the same. Bread or Perf boards that allow for "prototyping" changes and fine tuning/ tweaking / changing

Did you end up taking any steps in this direction? Prototyping a split? I was thinking in similar direction but dont have a 3D printer. So was thinking of Cardboard based prototyping.

@@AX-fx7ng I'm doing the same, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I got some hot swap sockets and mounted them onto some cardboard, although the switches are on the same side as the electronics so it's a bit messy

@@samuelwaller4924 Can you share what that looks like? Maybe we can DM via reddit or something? I might also try to do similar.

Newer versions in my other videos are using gateron switches but i replaced the clips with a more open designs if you like to solder and used wire wrapping when not soldering

yes I can totally see that happening but my macropads stayed without much issue the same even with a lot of use, but I'm working on more reliable versions like with the 60% build I did. Its just really nice to use for prototyping and when you are happy with the result you can even solder these together for more rigidity

Juste received my switches, coming back to find the link and print this badboy

thanks a lot, yes im still moving all the things over from the blog to github the macropad is now also on there im currently exploring magnetic bottom plate mounting but its still in its early days

@@JanLunge Magnetic Bottom plate mounting - Curious as I am thinking for it as well (Magnetic, Velcro ..etc) - Any updates on that? Did not see anything in your videos yet?

My w100 is using a magnetic bottom plate but that board was a bit big to have it mounted with magnets, could have used a few more.

@@JanLunge Interesting. Is this build visible online? Does that plate then adhere the switches to it using Magnetic force? Or are you using the magnetic only to shut it from bottom?

Yes its the full size keyboard video ukposts.info/have/v-deo/mXKVd2uvkZCBtI0.html only the bottom plate is clicked in with magnets the switches are still using the usual method

When you say "assorted friction fitting methods" - which ways are these? I am super new too :)

I would say 80% are keeping up without any maintenance but 20% need to be adjusted after some time and use (like a few weeks) but 10% make a lot of trouble and might need to be replaced with a new printed socket as they break constantly (every few days because print tolerances) after switching out the faulty ones they work for years on normal desk use (not travel tested)

"Cardboard Prototype design" - that's ingenious.

i can imagine any wire with a similar diameter would work even slight difference should be fine but the stiffness is really important for the handwiring part. I guess 24-gauge is equivalent to what i use www.amazon.com/dp/B00LHOJLT4

@@JanLunge followed pretty much everything the the video, flashed my pro micro, doesn't work, I hit the keys, nothing happens.

@@majinkeyboards ok 3 step debug plan: 1. check if the firmware and microcontroller is fine by connecting any of the column pins with any of the row pins if keys get pressed this thing is fine continue , 2. connect a the wire behind the diode(the side that connects to the switch ) of one of the hotswap plates with the bent wire piece on the other side if this doesn't work the connection between the row and column wires to the hotswap plate is unreliable (try bending the wire so the wires actually touch) if it worked continue 3. the connection between hotswap plate and switch is not working or the switch is broken. this is how I check errors on my builds but it seems to be a microcontroller issue if none of the keys work.

@@JanLunge thanks so much, I will try now. I will also try reinstalling QMK and check if I missed any steps in that.

solved after debugging. You were right. Wires were not contacting. Thank you sir

I actually just did a video about a keyboard build with wire wrapping, though through unrelated issues the build got more complex. Also so far i would say this wiring method has a 10% error rate long term most if the switches will function correctly even after a year but on some tweaking is required to fix them again

@@JanLunge I have a lot of catching up to do on your videos, literally just found your channel 😁

Qmk is changed this to not be required as they now count the assigned switches in the matrix, now it is not optional anymore but got completely removed. But as far as I tested the firmware would still get compiled even with this error being shown in the comandline

@@JanLunge Great, thanks for the information! Yes, the file was still compiled the error messages just concerned me. Thanks again for your great work.

yes definitely, it might make sense to add some more wire management as you would use pins from the other side of the microcontroller as well

Thanks, im currenlty using fusion 360

no for that i would require you to use the exact pins i used and also send my version as a pullrequest into qmk and get that merged before it would work which i have not planned yet. in my opinion that workflow is too slow and also in prototyping things change. But if you want this just for it to be easier to change the keymap im currenlty porting the board with vial support so you can change the keys on the fly with the nice gui tool they provide

no the qmk configurator will not work, but im working on a version with vial support so you would only need to flash it once and can then change the keymap with the gui application

You might like this build i did of the same wiring with an added rotary encoder ukposts.info/have/v-deo/h3OoqXqNao16zIE.html

Yes my w60 is built with those ukposts.info/have/v-deo/hGBld3iBq5umqXk.html

@@JanLunge Thank you! And what AWG wires are you using? I tried 22AWG but it seems that I need 24 or 26. I broke some pins from my switches with 22AWG.

Yes something like 24-26 awg should work better then, I used 24 i think but we have different units here. Also the copper wire I used was quite soft and sometimes I pre bent a tiny dent in it with tweezers to make it go in smoother.

@@JanLunge Got it, thanks for the help!

Yes by default its i think 4 or 5 keys but you can enable n-keyrollover but haven’t tested that

Yes you can set it up without diodes, with each key to a data pin and then to ground. Just like to do it like this so people can understand how bigger keyboards get built and use this firmware as a starting point as well.

@@JanLunge Cheers, I appreciate the response!

Yes you could build a full keyboard or a split keyboard this way I'm currently working on an updated version of the hotswap sockets to make them more relieable when wired together. and I just finished a 60% keyboard build without any soldering or pcb. It was a lot of effort to make it work but it is more reliable than I initially thought.

@@JanLunge Thank you for your reply. It's very expected. I was preparing this build for a while and two questions left. 1. Is there any possibility of signal problem due to contact error from no soldering? 2. In this vid you did not use diode, which means there is no 'ghost' effect prevention. Can I attach diodes here too? Please give me a lesson.

1. yes if the wire is not attached firmly there will be double pressen but incresing the tension on the wire worked for me every time 2. i did use diodes they are inside the hotswap socket, same for the new build i did you can look at the pictures of that already on the discord

​@@JanLunge I'm really sorry I thought it was the resistor whole time. I checked the project on discord and it was awesome. I can finally build my custom keyboard even if I don't know anything about soldering/pcb . Thanks for the courage!!

These are the 1N4148 Diodes - www.amazon.de/gp/product/B012ACSC1O

You can get my sneak peek version here github.com/wlard/keyboards/tree/main/w3by2%20-%20pico it's not done yet but should be useable

yes that also works and is called DIRECT_PINS then each switch is connected to a pin and ground

@@JanLunge thanks for your input!

It’s silver plated copper wire usually used for jewelry. You can also look for copper wire which would be easier to solder if you want that later on

Thanks for pointing that out, added the v1 of the sockets to github now github.com/wlard/keyboards/tree/main/hotswap_socket/v1

@@JanLunge Thanks for the response! Do you advice me to use V1 (which has securing clips) or V2 which hasn't? Does V2 even need securing clip?

I continued to use a wire wrapping method for the next builds as when printing a lot of the small clips it can get really complicated. For the 3by2 it will be fine but any bigger build would benefit from not using the clips

definetly but im still working on making them more relieable and attach to the frame so you dont pull out the hotswap plate when you want to swap a switch. so there is some optimization to do but you could use these for a full split keyboard build already

@@JanLunge how about same assembly procedure but extend the hotswap plates so they touch the plate/case then super glue it in place? Would that work?

yes i hope that exactly that will work i started prototyping a 60% keyboard last week for a proof of concept and am updating my progress on that on my discord as well as streaming the build on twitch if you want to see some things before im done with the video

Yes its just using tension to keep it in place

I 3D printed them myself, github.com/wlard/keyboards/blob/main/keycaps/choc%20-%20wKeycap.stl

@@JanLunge thanks!

Diodes are the zener diodes 1N4148 - www.amazon.de/gp/product/B012ACSC1O

@@JanLunge 1N4148 is not a Zener diode! It's general purpose, small signal, switching diode.

Swap the microcontroller to a nice!nano and use ZMK

Yeah she is really interested in everything when i start filming and yes I'm from germany

@@JanLunge Na dann, wohin des Wegs?

I have built the same one with an encoder here ukposts.info/have/v-deo/h3OoqXqNao16zIE.html maybe that helps. Basically you just need a hole for the encoder to fit in, i have files provided for that build

@@JanLunge hey... thankyou so much..great work

Works with both i designed the socket for 5pin and 3pin fits just without the plastic pins then

Literally was digging through the comments looking for the same thing, these tutorials are awesome but I wish they just had that little bit extra technical documentation. Also, the video where he added the rotary encoder also shows an updated hot swap design, I’m gonna see if I can get a better view of the diodes there and see if I can figure out what it is

I used Diodes ( 1N4148 ) from amazon www.amazon.de/gp/product/B012ACSC1O, though from what I have read about this topic others work fine as well its mostly about the footprint and the rated power and our pro micro pins are quite low on that, I will check to link them in the video description

@@JanLunge wow, thank you for the swift reply!

yes that is correct from what i heard other diodes work as well but these are the ones i tried

Here github.com/JanLunge/keyboards/tree/main/hotswap_socket/v1

Yo diría artesanal. Más accesible para gente sin experiencia soldando o diseñando circuitos. Es perfecto para crear prototipos. Hasta un niño puede hacerlo👌

I got everything needed for soldering. But when i need to swap the case when prototyping it is easier tho swap the wiring to the new case without resoldering. Current plan is that the hotswap sockets can be soldered for a permanent connection but the switches will still be hotswap

@@JanLunge aahaha I was joking. I rly can understand your intentions :). anw for next vid can you find way to make pcb become hot swap in cheapest way possible?

@@fenkum Look into Holtite or millmax sockets, you can get them in packs of 10 for cheap here in AU

The point is to have fast "changeability" for prototyping - Not solders that make things permanent/ static.