Akeyrra84 Project Page
Our first project into the Mechanical Keyboard world
The 4 Must Haves
We are inspired by the simplicity of hand-wired build keyboard.
And we followed The QMK Hand Wiring Guide (Button below) at the beginning of our journey.
We identified 4 things we must have to build a keyboard:
The Concept behind Akeyrra84
Produce an inexpensive mechanical keyboard quickly.
We immediately proceed to acquire these resources
Layout Plate
As gamers, we figured the more keys in the keyboard the better. So we decided our layout plate will be the 84-keys Keycool84 layout.
Check out the Keyboard Layout Editor (KLE) at http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/
Using the layout data, we are able to create a plate design using these 2 wonderful websites:
https://kbplate.ai03.com/
http://builder.swillkb.com/
Then we send the design to the manufacturer, and we get this:
Key Switches
What kind of switch should we get?
I'm sure there are many choices out there, but we settled with the inexpensive and easily purchasable ones.
Gateron KS-9 Series
(aka, Gateron Milky).
Micro Controller
Initially wanted to use the Teensy development board, because it has more (25) I/O pins. But it costs more and not as available as the Pro Micro (and clones).
The problem with Pro Micro is it only has 18 pins, which is not enough for our board (16+6=22) configuration...
But with the insight from the GOLEM Keyboard Project, we modify the Pro Micro to have 2 extra pins.
https://golem.hu/guide/pro-micro-upgrade/
And this is how we wire our keyboard to use 20 pins.
Diodes and Wires
The recommended diodes are the 1N4148. They are inexpensive and widely available.
And we used the "Lengths of wire with stripped segments" method to connect our switches
The wiring diagram:
The construction
When we have all the components and tools, we start building.
Here are some pics.
The Extras...
Obviously, you will need more than the 4 components to complete an esthetically pleasing keyboard.
Keycaps
OEM profile Carbon keycaps
(We have other choices at our shop page.)
Stabilizers
PCB mount Stabilizers
(Have to make some adjustment to fit it on the back of the plate)
Case
Home-made Wooden Case
(We contracted a proper carpenter to do our future wooden cases.)
LED backlight
5V LED strips
(Just connect the LED strips to the Pro Micro Vcc and Gnd, and voilà Light!)
Special thanks to the QMK community for writing the firmware which make this project possible.
Be sure to check out the QMK website, and the Github repo:
Akeyrra84 layers map (Base & Function):
If you buy our kit with the controller, we can pre-flash the firmware with this mapping for you.
Help support our continue development
Consider buying the Akeyrra84 kit from us:
A complete build guide will come soon.
(If we have any interested buyers)
