1
3
2 4
(^1) TESTTHEPCB
Assolderingis hardtoreverse,alwaystestyour
PCBfirst.Plugit intoyourPCusinga USBcable,
thenshorteachswitchbytouchingthetwo
switchpadswitha pairoftweezerstoseeif the
switchactivates.Usinga programsuchas
SwitchHitterwillletyoualsoseeif thekeys
thatdon’tprintanything,suchastheShiftkeys,
arealsoworkingproperly.It happensrarely,
butit paystobecareful.ThesuoPCBbyTX
Keyboardswasmychoiceforthisbuild.It
supportsin-switchandunderglowLEDs,and
iscompatiblewiththeHJ75kit.
(^2) FITTHESTABILISERS
Next,youneedtoattachthestabiliserstothe
PCBforallofthekeysthatneedthem.Ona UK
ISObuildwithouta numpad,that’susuallytwo
2Ustabilisersforbackspaceandenter,andone
6.25Ustabiliserforthespacebar,butdouble
checkthelayoutyouwanttobuildtobesure.
Pushyourstabilisersintotherightmounting
holesontheboardandscrewthemtothePCB
throughthebottomwiththeprovidedscrews.
(^3) MOUNTSWITCHESON
THEPLATEANDPCB
Thenextstepis gettingalloftheswitchesinto
theswitchplateandpushedintothePCB.
Someplatesaretightduetothefinemachining
tolerances,sodon’tbeafraidtoapplya fair
amountofpressure,tomakesureyourswitchis
securelyplanted.Makesurethemetallegson
eachswitcharestraightbeforeyoupushthem,
tominimisethechanceofbendingthem.
Startwiththecornerswitchesanda fewin
themiddle,toensuretheplateandPCBare
alignedandnicelyanchored.Thisshouldmean
therestoftheswitchesslideintoplaceeasily,
reducingthechanceofanypinchpoints.You
canchoosetosolderthoseinitialswitches,if
you’recomfortablethey’reperfectlyinposition.
Somethingtolookoutforwhenfittingthe
switchesis thatmountingpointsmaybe
ambiguousonplatesorPCBsthatsupport
differentlayouts.Insuchsituations,thetrickis
tofittherequiredkeycapsontotheoffending
switchanditsneighbours,andusethoseasa
guideonwhereexactlytoaffixtheswitch.This
scenariois especiallycommononthebottom
rowwhereit’smostcommonforpeopleto
tinkerwiththespacebarsizeandkeylayout.
Whenyouhaveallofyourswitchesinplace
andyou’rehappythatthey’resnuglyinplace,
liftupthewholeassemblyandeyeballthat
everythingis linedupperfectly,andthatallof
theswitchlegsarethroughtheirholesandthat
noneofthemis bent.Makingsureswitchesare
flushtotheplateandagainstthePCBis the
mostimportantjobwhenbuildingyourboard.
ForthisbuildI chosetheTXKeyboardsHJ75
caseandswitchplatekit,whichis a 75percent
sizelayoutandincludesthealuminiumtop,
andseveralclearacrylicplates.I alsousedC3
TangerinelinearswitcheslubedwithKrytox
205 Grade0 grease.
(^4) SOLDERING
The next step is to solder all of the switches to
the PCB. There are just two pins per switch so
there’s very little to be done other than work
your way across the board, taking your time
KEYBOARD
HOWTOBUILDYOUR
{
[
FEATURE / CUSTOMISATION