The HID Liberator

[TheProfosist]

Last week I promised a small build log of a keyboard since a friend had just bought one off of me and wanted a few modifications, well here it is. Also sorry about the dim under exposed pictures I actually had really good lighting but my LCD screen somehow got set to one step brighter than it should have so I got my exposure off.

If you have any questions ask away and ill do my best to answer.

1) This is the PCB that every thing will be built off of. It is a Filco TKL v1.2 and has been taken from a older Filco which youll find out is important later.

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2) Here is the plate which is also from the salvaged Filco as without the bent edges it doesnt properly fit the case. This Filco seemed to have gotten a bunch of use so the top of the plate was sanded and painted to clean it up and better match the build.

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3) Here we have the 87 Green switches that are going to be used for this build that my friends selected. He choose them because he was looking at blues but I mentioned I may have some greens and he was willing to pay the additional upcharge.

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4) Here are the initial switches going in. It is important to only put a few in initially and spread them across the board so that you get the PCB flush on the switches and flat in relations to the plate. Doing to many in one area will pull the PCB tight in one area before its secured in another. Also if you put them all in the plate your going to run into align it with the PCB in one go. I also included some cool pics that I snapped when my friend was checking to make sure they were all soldered.

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5) I didnt happen to have any MX Grey Clicky (nor have I ever) for the spacebar and esc (esc is not standard but my preference). So I grabbed some extra clear spring I had and swapped them in. I took some close up pictures of the process because I dont think many of you have seen the inside of a switch much less taken one apart yourself. in the last picture I compare the green spring versus the clear one. The green on is the on the left with the green stem above it.

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6) Here are all of the switches soldered in. They are not the best but not bad at all, especially for my friend who had not soldered a keyboard in over a year.

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7) Now here is the part that makes this "The HID Liberator". The standard Filco TKL controller has been swapped for a HID Liberation device which makes this keyboard fully programmable. This daughter board was designed after the Phantom as a much cheaper way to bring programability to the very popular Filco TKL chassis. Earlier I mentioned that the revision of the PCB mattered as this has been designed for and tested on the 1.1 and 1.2 PCB's as the traces had to be mapped to make this work correctly. If you look closely I had to clip the corners of the controller. This is because the aluminum case has a very tight fit and wouldnt close otherwise. This is likly because it was designed off of the filco case or possibly some restriction working with metal vs plastic.

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8) Finally here is the red milled aluminum case that the internals are going to be wrapped up in. It is a original Vortex aluminum Filco case (pre color availability and actually came raw) that has been anodized in a quite stunning red. Cabinet liner has been added to the inside to tighten up the fit just that much more and to stop sounds from resonating.

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9) Finally here is the last update! The keyboard has been completed and tested. The new caps are the majority and are a red on white PBT double shot set. The silver aluminum spacebar is also new bit the F row and Alt's have been pulled from his previous board, as have the WASD 40A-R orings in red (that you cant see). The red orings are from before they were made in blue and just needed a nice cleaning before being reused.

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[TheProfosist]

placeholder I mean to do it all in the op. I accidentally hit post instead of preview. -.-

[xXxYOLOxSWAGxXx_420BlazeIt]

Wow great work. Truly amazing. Mindblown.

[JAKEBAB]

This is going to be interesting cant wait to see the finished product.

 

Edit: Wow that is so awesome u should make custom keyboards and sell them in the classified section!!!

[TheProfosist]

Wow great work. Truly amazing. Mindblown.

Please tell me that was said ironicly since I dont have anything really even posted yet...

[Nineshadow]

Damn,that's pretty smooth.

 

Offtopic :First of all,when I heard liberator I imidiatelly though "Planetside 2 Lib!",so I wanted to post a picture of it.Then,while I searched google images for "liberator"...I don't even dare to say what I found.

[dragosudeki]

I'd like to know how much it costs to make it. I don't mind if you don't want to reveal that.

[TheProfosist]

updated

[Suika]

Mind if I ask, is there an advantage to building a keyboard?

[TheProfosist]

updated again, final update coming soon!

[flibberdipper]

If I saw the final update, I like it. Otherwise, I want to see it.

[TheProfosist]

the final update is now up

[flibberdipper]

I like the MSU F-key.

[tristan1035]

Where did you get all those components? Just from old keyboards?

[calarahil]

I really like this build TheProfosist. I think the red frame really brings the board together. Only question is how do you know what F key you are pressing? I wouldn't know if I had College's on the F keys. I would if it were something simple like order of nintendo game consoles logos nes, snes, gameboy, n64, gameboy advance, etc.,

[flibberdipper]

calarahil, on 10 Mar 2014 - 7:10 PM, said:

I really like this build TheProfosist. I think the red frame really brings the board together. Only question is how do you know what F key you are pressing? I wouldn't know if I had College's on the F keys. I would if it were something simple like order of nintendo game consoles logos nes, snes, gameboy, n64, gameboy advance, etc.,

Come on, silly. They're in blocks of 4, in order from 1 to 4, 5-8, 9-12.

[TheProfosist]

I'd like to know how much it costs to make it. I don't mind if you don't want to reveal that.

Well that all depends on how you get the parts really. This is made of new, used, and salvaged parts. So its kinda hard to say but it was way cheaper than going completely new. Also I kinda already had everything...

Mind if I ask, is there an advantage to building a keyboard?

Think about it this way what are the advantages to building your own computer.

I like the MSU F-key.

Yes I got those some time ago for him from TechKeys.us but im not sure they sold so well as they havnt returned.

Where did you get all those components? Just from old keyboards?

I had all of them already but I acquired them over time for projects. All of the Filco stuff just came from a well used Filco TKL that I picked up for cheap as I knew everything was going to be replaced. The case I believe is from mechanicalkeyboards.com and the keycap set is from a group buy on Mass Drop. The switches are brand new a few different places sell them now, though greens are probably still hard to find. Also I would not want to salvage greens as you only get one per board on older boards that have blues from the spacebar.

[calarahil]

Come on, silly. They're in blocks of 4, in order from 1 to 4, 5-8, 9-12.

 

Sorry I don't follow College's that much I take it they are broken out by conference for division? Also like your gif animation.

[TheProfosist]

I really like this build TheProfosist. I think the red frame really brings the board together. Only question is how do you know what F key you are pressing? I wouldn't know if I had College's on the F keys. I would if it were something simple like order of nintendo game consoles logos nes, snes, gameboy, n64, gameboy advance, etc.,

See @tmcclelland455 's post below. Also you gave me a good idea there should be enough game boy's and DS's to fill up the F row i would think.

Come on, silly. They're in blocks of 4, in order from 1 to 4, 5-8, 9-12.

Yes, even if they didnt have any labeling it would be easy to know those.

[TheProfosist]

Sorry I don't follow College's that much I take it they are broken out by conference for division? Also like your gif animation.

No, there are larger gaps between the groups of keys.

[CtW]

WOW. I have never seen anybody do something like this before. Good job!

[CJPowell27]

That looks amazing! I don't think I would have the patience to do that 

[TheProfosist]

That looks amazing! I don't think I would have the patience to do that

It really didnt take all that long.

[CJPowell27]

Anything longer than 10 minutes of focus is too long for me, I have adhd   

[TheProfosist]

Anything longer than 10 minutes of focus is too long for me, I have adhd   

Well the you would have a issue with my PC build then as its going on 6 months now. But seriously to solder the whole board probably not much longer than that once you get good at it.