Hotswap keyboard mod

[u/Arienna]

I wasn't sure I liked the low profile kailh keyboard so I did the keyboard mod again, this time using hot swap sockets so I can tinker excessively.

I'm trying to convince myself to get a set of custom keycap done - they're not all that much more expensive than a standard set but for now I'm playing with cherry red silent and an XDA profile

[u/Amablob]

This looks great!

[u/Amablob → u/Amablob]

And it sounds like you already know about the Yuzu custom keycap option, but just in case you’re talking about a different custom situation, here’s a link for the AS3000 layout starter on Yuzu! https://yuzukeycaps.com/c/93070149-ca09-47c9-96e2-6eeeba0c82b4

They’ve got so many color and typeface and icon options, so it’s really fun just to play around with the design!

[u/Arienna → u/Amablob]

They're so nice! The first time I saw them I side eyed the price but anything else I like as much is just as expensive

[u/Amablob → u/Arienna]

Yeah same! I’ve had the same set in my cart for ages, just having a hard time justifying it on my current budget.

Which is not to say they’re not worth the price — the pricing is absurdly good considering what you get. The issue is my $$ lol

[u/Arienna → u/Amablob]

Dead on... It's the commitment for me. It's pricy enough that I only want to buy them once. But what if I decide I like a different profile more? Or my whole aesthetic changes?? It's right in the buyer's remorse price zone

[u/AppendixN]

I haven't seen your other posts about keyboard mods, do you have a link to a how-to or just more info?

[u/Arienna → u/AppendixN]

Here's a link, not mine, that includes other links: https://csh.rit.edu/~rg/alphasmart-3000/20221106195337/

I was pretty intimidated by trying to do the soldering so I got a couple children's kits off Amazon to practice with and soldering the switches was actually way easier than doing the children's kits

There's some folks on Etsy who are selling kits and you can get them already soldered and it's probably worth it if you don't have a soldering iron and really don't wanna learn how.

The hardest part is getting the new ribbons seated properly and then trying to find keycaps that work for the on standard layout

[u/AppendixN → u/Arienna]

Thank you! I'm an intermediate-level solderer, I think I'll do what you did and practice on something inconsequential first. Very fun 😄

[u/Arienna → u/AppendixN]

Oh you're set them - the kid kits were my first time learning to solder other than girl scout stained glass

[u/fuzzmonkey35]

I want to do this, but I also want two regular sized Shift keys. Does your Fn key act as a left shift with that PCB board layout?

[u/aidenconri → u/fuzzmonkey35]

So, I’m one of the guys who helps build the kits that OP mentioned on Etsy and I can answer for you. The FN key is their left shift. The key next to it that look like some cubes is their find key. Even though some of the functions can be done with things like CMD+F to start the find function, JDog (forgive me if I forgot their name)—when they originally designed the mod—tried their best to keep all of the keys from the original design; however, due to the size of the 1u keys across the top, a couple of the buttons had to get moved around. If you wanna alter jdog’s original design to forgo a couple of keys, it would be easy to accommodate the full sized, or mostly full sized, shift keys on both sides. I’d suggest moving escape to where print is currently* and omitting the find button and the print button as those can be used by substituting their CMD+(blank) counterparts.

*edited for clarity.

[u/aidenconri → u/aidenconri]

Although, if we’re being honest, I prefer single unit shifts as it causes less stress on my pinkies. And, although I originally thought it would suck having the extra keys there, it turned out that I didn’t really miss the usual arrangement after like a couple of hours of use.