I came down to the hackspace last month for the screening of the Hacktivist and loved the space. I’ve been waiting for an excuse to join and work on something and I think I’ve found it: I’d like to make a keyboard (as in typing).
I’m a practical person, but I’ve never spent much time with electronics. I think the keyboard build is a fairly achievable goal because there are kits etc. but I don’t know what I don’t know.
I’d LOVE for this to be the thing that’s my first nudge into the space but I’d like a little hand holding for my first baby steps. Mostly just to look at my plan and point out holes in it or gaps of knowledge I’m going to need.
Does anyone feel confident and is willing to spare me an hour or so?
Hi there. Great to hear hat you’re thinking of joining us
Lots of our members are great with electronics (I’m not) and I think a few have done keyboard builds. I’m going to tag a few of them below. With it being Christmas, I’m not sure how available people will be, but hopefully you can find some answers.
This forum tends to move a bit more slowly than our other comms channel, which is Telegram. You’re absolutely welcome to ask on there as well: Telegram: Contact @hacmanchester
Would recommend this project for keyboards: 32 key, split keyboard with hotswap switches (you can replaced them unlike other project where they are soldered on).
What can you learn?
a lot of soldering
laser cutting acrylling
testing diodes
ordering a PCB and if you’re adventurous you can tweak the PCB files
flashing a micro-controller (KB20240 or a Pro Micro)
If you have any questions or want more details, let me know.
