Phantom Custom Keyboard Group Buy (CLOSED)

[Jmneuv]

Diodes sit in the bottom part of the switch, so yes you can open them without desoldering.
LEDs on the other hand block the top casing.

[bpiphany]

Switches with LEDs in them cannot be opened without removing the LED first. The diodes only hang onto the bottom part of the casing.

[fruktstund]

Switches with LEDs in them cannot be opened without removing the LED first. The diodes only hang onto the bottom part of the casing.

Depends on how dangerous you want to be.

[Acanthophis]

Did you cut off the plastic bits around the LED?

[Jmneuv]

oO hehe, desoldering is really easy, especially on switches

[fruktstund]

Hi people, and welcome to what's called a necrobump!

After almost 9 months with my Phantom I'm getting the urge to build another, even better, one. I've come to realize my preferences layout wise, and I also happened to realize the bottom row of the 7bit layout is really close to what I want, except for one thing, namely the spacebar; I'd want one that's 2.5 units wide. The bottom row I'm going after is exactly the same as on the JIS Realforces, and the spacebar is the only difference really.
I've checked the images available of the PCB and the 7bit layout, and it seems the closest one is a bit off to the right. I'm thinking of a few different options here:
1. Cut a new switch hole myself - is this a good idea?
2. Mod the original files and have my very own PCB printed - this will be super expensive, won't it?
3. Bug bpiphany or someone else about making a second version of the Phantom PCB, since I definitely could afford waiting that long - would this be likely to ever happen?
4. Invest time in learning those fancy PCB making applications and make my own PCB and be more happy with the end result - am I crazy?

What would you people say?

Oh, and speaking of necrobumps: Acanthopis, yup, that's exactly what I did. (Never too late!)

[Acanthophis]

Well, thanks for the response

What about just wiring instead of a PCB?

[Findecanor]

1. Cut a new switch hole myself - is this a good idea?

On the Phantom PCB, there is a Space Bar switch position just right to the centre of where the 2.5u Space Bar would be. I think it would be much easier for you to mod the keycap instead of the PCB: Cut away the stem and glue in a new one.

I and another guy drilled new switch holes in our ErgoDox PCBs to gain additional thumbkeys. The big problem we found was to avoid shorting the ground plane. The methods we came up with was to either paint laquer over the exposed ground traces or solder the switch to thin wires and put insulation on these before inserting the switch. I had initially tried to grind away ground-plane metal from around the holes using a Dremel tool, but that was too difficult for me. A drill press is almost essential, also.

Modifying an aluminium plate by hand to get new switch positions is possible. Steel is too hard. You will only need top and bottom or left edges touching the switch - that is where the snaps on the switch bottoms are. If you drill the PCB, then you will need those snaps because the PCB will not hold the switch.
When I built my Phantom, I modified my plate a bit. Having a second plate was a great help when cutting and filing: I first used it as a spraypainting template to get red markings where to cut, and then I used it to compare with when filing the fine bits to get the holes exactly right. The stabiliser holes were the most difficult, and unfortunately I fouled it up, so my Space Bar is a bit loose...

3. Bug bpiphany or someone else about making a second version of the Phantom PCB, since I definitely could afford waiting that long - would this be likely to ever happen?

This would of course be the best solution.

By the way, when you tell him, please also convince him to establish some official location to download his PCB designs from, so that someone who wants to make a new run of PCBs can get the latest version.
There are a few bugs in the ErgoDox PCB designs used by Massdrop's first run (which I bought) ... and these bugs are still present in their second, third and fourth run and in the run by MechanicalKeyboards.com ...

By the way, for me, I think that the Space Bar on the JIS layout is too far to the left, My Space Bars get their shiny spots under N and M.

[fruktstund]

Acanthopis: that would work, but a PCB just makes everything feel a bit more rigid, and it looks a lot better too, so I'm not too sure.

Findecanor: I thought modifying the PCB would be hard and you make it sound a lot harder than I'd thought, so maybe I'll just skip that. Modding the keycap sounds like the easiest way to make it work with the current PCB, I guess.
As for the plate, I was thinking of having a new one designed and cut, since I believe I can get a good price on this through a friend of mine. I think I saw your modified plate once (with a 87 key Realforce layout, wasn't it?), and in my case I think a mod like this wouldn't be impossible. Though, I have a feeling I'd probably mess up something and get loose keys because of that (since I'm really a "tummen mitt i handen" kind of guy), so we'll have to see.

For now, I feel bugging bpiphany might just be the best and least time-consuming option, so maybe I'll just do that. Since he might be a busy man, who knows what the results might be though? I'm still considering making my own PCB, since it sounds like it might be a fun and worthwile, although quite time-consuming and lengthy, project. Guess I'll bug him with that instead if I choose to go down that dark path. :>

The Phantom PCB files should be available from the organizer of the second PCB group buy (whomever that was - I haven't really been active on the input forums as of late), but the best of course would be if they would be available from Deskthority's wiki (or bpiphany's Github).

The JIS space bar is just perfectly positioned for me personally, but I've always mostly hit my space bar with my left thumb, so I guess that makes sense. If you're using the right thumb more it's probably a little too far to the left, as you say!