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All the cool kids solder. Is that true?

Aug 7, 2024227 VIEWS

Fear and loathing on a PCB At a recent keyboard meetup I was talking to someone very new to the hobby and they said that they bought a board and were surprised to discover that it was not hotswap. They were really intimidated by the idea of soldering their switches into their keyboard. Turns out, for some people, whipping out a blazing hot metal stick and possibly wrecking your expensive purchase gets them jittery. All kidding aside, for the first year or so in the hobby, I purchased exclusively hotswap keyboards, avoiding soldering for a couple reasons. Firstly, I didn’t want to commit to any one switch. I liked clicky a lot early on (still do if I’m being honest) but I saw that the folks who had been in the hobby for longer moved away from clicky, and I predicted accurately that I too would do the same. Secondly, I was just coming to terms with what it cost to buy and build a keyboard, and soldering seemed like an unnecessary risk.

I can trace my initial trepidation with soldering a PCB to my red Gameboy Pocket. A few years back, I came across Gameboy modding and decided to add a red screen to my red Gameboy. It was a great idea, but in the process I killed my Gameboy. Still not sure how exactly. My stalwart Nintendo companion is still sitting patiently in a drawer waiting for me to get smarter or more skilled. That said, I’ve also successfully soldered a few pieces of electronics over the years, like my Grado SR325e headphones. The cable for the Grados was high quality but very thick and over 6 feet long. Perfect for sitting in a chair, plugged into a sound system, but not great for working on a laptop or mobile device. So after a bit of research, I replaced the standard cords with hand-braided custom cables, removable thanks to a genius set of purple 3D-printed cable adapters. Both cables and adapter are made by a friendly New Zealander named Silvian. If you’re looking to emulate this absolute game changer of a mod, I highly recommend purchasing from him, he’s super helpful.

That example aside, the stakes of soldering a couple audio cables (easy) and possibly ruining a pcb on a keyboard (also easy) seemed worlds apart. It wasn’t until I bought my dark gold Vertex Arc60 that I was granted the perfect opportunity to solder a board. The Arc60 is a really beautiful 60% keyboard (HHKB in my case) that comes in an absurdly high quality “box” filled with custom cut hardpack foam with space for the keyboard, pcbs and building materials. It even has a custom hole with a high end screwdriver. It’s strange, when you’re used to a carrying case being the standard included fare, to have this classy, somewhat useless box. (That said, it made for a nice unboxing experience, and has proven to be a safe place to keep unused PCBs and plates.) The Arc has an awesome sound signature, and is dramatically better than Vertex’s other board, the “Angle.” Perhaps most charmingly, the Arc comes with two PCB’s and a mounting system that consists of a flippable frame providing a dual-mounting system (plate and plateless) cut from the same anodized aluminum as the board itself. This aluminum “frame” flips inside the board to accommodate a hotswap pcb and aluminum plate, or a soldered pcb for plateless mounting. It’s pretty ingenious.

Teach me how to solder, teach me teach me how to solder.
Nope. Not yet. Let’s say that you want to solder a PCB. Before you get to the nuts and bolt of pseudo-permanently attaching your switches, you have an important decision to make and it’s going to impact the sound and feel of your finished board in a real big way. And that decision is… do you use a plate, or not? On a hotswap PCB, nothing is holding those precious little switches in place except for some delicate, tiny hotswap sockets on the back side of the board. In order to stabilize and hold those switches in, we use plates to secure them. Most of you know this, but I’ll say it for the new folks in the room, boards are made of many different materials, each with a different effect on the typing and auditory experience. In order of hardness, most of the materials you can choose from are the following: On a scale of Hard to soft: • Carbon Fiber • Aluminum or Brass • FR4 (the material PCBs are usually made of) • Pom (Delrin, used in standard plastics like mechanical parts) • PC (Polycarbonate) • PP (Polypropolene, is a polymer thermal plastic, found in things like Tupperware) And on a scale of Clack to Thock: • Aluminum or Brass • Carbon Fiber • FR4 • Pom • PC • PP I realize now that we could (and should) write an entire article on plates. They impact the sound and feel of a board in a big way, and it’s totally worth it to watch/listen to review videos with sound tests of each plate in the keyboard you’re looking to buy. It doesn’t account for other variables, like switches, foam, keycaps, or even the unique qualities of the board itself, but it will give you an idea of which boards sound higher or lower pitched, and depending on the board, which will give you a more comfortable typing experience, based on your preferences. I like bouncy, thocky boards most of the time, and often choose POM, Polycarbonate, or Polypropolene plates for myself. If you’ve seen my keyboards at a meetup, chances are you’ve encountered a version of my KBDFans Tiger80 Lite in one of its incarnations, the most famous of which are the self-named “Prison Tiger” and “Spy Tiger.” Prison Tiger is made of all clear components, just like prison tech. I’ve decked that Tiger80 Lite out in a clear case, clear (with glitter) Tecsee Snow Globe tactile switches and clear Arctic Keysterine keycaps from DROP.

One of the most wonderful things about the Tiger80 Lite is that it has a handful of downfiring LED’s (none upfiring), custom printable tape mods that you can order and install, and interchangeable cases, where the tops and bottoms can be mixed and matched. Meaning that any Tiger80 Lite topcase can be paired with a transparent bottom, for tape mod viewing! With that in mind, I created “Spy Tiger” My tribute to James Bond, Jason Bourne, Hanna, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and every other great spy movie. I paired a grey topcase with the clear bottom, installed TTC Moon White silent tactile switches, for up close kills, and for keycaps, mounted the incomparably cool GMK Redacted from Omnitype. Redacted is just a glorious keycap set, that is what it says it is, while being classy, smart and funny. The light grey of the keycaps perfectly fits with the matte grey of the topcase without popping too hard, like it would on white or black. Spies work in the grey, and so does this keyboard. Underneath is the true surprise, that never fails to capture a giant smile when I turn the board over. Inside the transparent case is a black and white photo of the original 007, Sean Connery, leaning on his classic Aston Martin.

I tell you all this because when it comes to board flexibility, both iconic Tiger80 Lites in my collection give SUPER flexy, bouncy typing experiences. Both keyboards have an insane amount of flex, are very pleasant to type on, and have great sound signatures. If you’ve read my other articles, you know that my less favored boards are usually referred to as “stiff” or “typing on a rock (see GMMK Pro)” and in all of those cases, they have aluminum boards. It’s just not my cup of tea. If I am going for a stiffer setup, one I can enjoy and feel comfortable on, it’s a plateless build. The solid, clean performance of soldered switches and the absence of a board give the keycaps a decidedly thocky sound and punchy feel. They don’t feel flexible, but they do feel energetic and I really enjoy that. So… what does soldering a board look like? Initially, I built the Arc60 with the plate, using the hotwswap PCB and loved the results. After a year however, I decided it was time to solder my first keyboard. I upgraded my soldering setup to a Weller Digital Soldering Station for about $115. For the money, it seems like one of the best solutions for amateur solderers. The high performance 70W soldering iron includes a heat-resistant silicon cable that feels very stable and reliable. The digital controls are easy to read and adjust, and it even has a standby mode when I get distracted and forget to shut it off. I watched several YouTube videos for tips and tricks, purchased a “helping hands” solution from KOTTO to assist me and keep my work stable. Finally, I bought some solder. I purchased 63/37 leaded solder. If any of you are worried about the impact of using products with lead, as I tend to be, I would refer you to this quote from @crowsnutnest’s excellent keyboard soldering guide on Reddit. “The reason to use leaded solder is simple. Unless you plan on your keyboard ending up in a landfill, leaded solder is just fine. While lead is bad for the environment, it makes for much better solder joints. Because we are hobbyists who don’t mass produce electronic products, using a little bit of lead should be just fine.” Feel free to follow their guide and you should have no problems, but for the sake of this article, I’ll summarize. When you solder, it’s important to keep the iron on the back of the switch's pin, holding the solder wire up to the point where the soldering iron, the pin, and the hole meet. There, you’ll melt a small drop into the hole in the PCB. Not a lot, just enough to create thermal conductivity between everything. Now push the rest of the solder down into the hole. From one of the videos I watched I learned that the hole should be completely filled and the solder joint should be dome-shaped like the top of a circus tent. If the joint is dome shaped, you've used too much solder, and if it's “teardrop” shaped, the solder stuck to the pin but not the PCB and needs to be fixed. After soldering your switches in place, be sure to test the board by plugging it in and using VIA, VIAL or a similar tool to check your PCB and make sure the switches are working. You don’t want to finish assembling the board, installing keycaps, and THEN discover that three of your keys don’t work. It’s not a simple fix like it is with hotswap. When I soldered the Arc60, I did so using a collection of hand-lubed Holy Panda X tactiles that @hoffmanmeister sent me to test, and it seemed like a perfect switch to commit to. I was really pleased with their sound and feel, and they’ve been a great decision for a plateless build. Also, I consistently mount MT3 Serika on my Arc60, and the black and yellow of the Holy Panda X’s really jives with that keycap set. In the years since soldering my pcb, I’ve never had any issues with it, and I love occasionally swapping between the hotswap and soldered versions. It’s a really fun way to change the board up for a new look/feel/sound. Comments on soldering from my keyboard community At our recent That Windy City Meetup 2024 at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, I had a chance to ask a couple of my friends what they thought of soldering, plateless builds and the like, and was really pleased with the conversations and thoughts that came forward: Chris (“rhino” in Chicago’s Discord Mech Keeb community) says: “There's something about the act of soldering in key switches that makes me feel more connected to my builds. Maybe it's because I feel there's an intimacy about actually heating metal and literally adhering the switches to my PCB that I don't get with hotswap. Soldering is a very zen experience that just isn't there with hotswap. Especially on higher end boards, it feels almost criminal to just shove switches into your plate and PCB all in one go without taking the time to carefully ensure each pin is perfectly tinned. Most who solder commit fully to their builds, never planning to desolder them. I was once in this camp, until I got a Hakko FR-301 for a lark. While a pricey bit of equipment, it easily decreased my desoldering time by 80%+. Is it faster than hotswap? Absolutely not, but close enough that the difference feels negligible. Though I rarely desolder my builds anymore, I find myself lending out the tool to fellow enthusiasts - any excuse to connect with others in this all-too-often isolating hobby. I don't get those connections without (de)soldering. However, aside from split backspace/split right shift, the primary reason I choose to solder instead of hotswap is so I can build plateless/half plate. If you've never had the pleasure of typing on either one of these mounts, I think you're really missing out!” Ryan Aquilino (“Rocket’s Raikou”) says: “I learned how to solder in high school and I think it's a very valuable skill for anyone interested in repairing electronics, beyond keyboards. But as far as keyboards go, I think soldering is definitely better than hotswap because:

Soldering is more permanent and stable than hotswap, hotswap sockets are finnicky and very fragile.
Soldered boards sounds better than hotswap, just an opinion obviously not fact
Soldering is the classic way to build a board
Soldering is a fun activity!
Soldering allows for plate-less builds
Soldering is how you can fix any issues with PCB, bridging traces, replacing broken component, even fixing broken hotswap sockets

All that said about half of my boards are hotswap. It's infinitely more convenient, doesn't require additional equipment, and allows for trying out multiple switches on the same board easily.” It should be noted that Ryan is so old-school that he was born with a soldering iron in his hand. Something his mother has yet to forgive him for. Soldering on So here we are, a few thousand words in, and we honestly haven’t scratched the surface of one of this hobby’s oldest and most special traditions. It’s clear to me that there are real, tangible benefits to using hotswap and soldered PCBs, and that the convenience, flexibility and fun of hotswap are pretty convincing arguments, but the stability, performance and the “activity of soldering” as Ryan put it, make soldered boards that much more special I think. When it comes down to it, it’s not rocket science to build a keyboard, and even though it makes it a little more inaccessible (if you don’t have access to soldering tools) I think it adds a certain je ne sais quoi. Let me know what you think! Are you team plateless (or gasp, half plate), showing off your burn marks like battle scars, reveling in the thocky glory of your soldered PCB? Or are you a hotswap guru, switching switches on the daily, changing plates every fortnight to alter that all-important sound? It’s important that we share the things that make our boards unique and tell the stories that led us to the choices we’ve made. Meetups are great places to do just that. Huge shout out to my guy @topregod that I met at this year’s That Windy City Meetup. Super awesome dude, and it was truly wonderful to swap stories and ideas around boards that we’d like to see made, color theory, storytelling via keyboard and more. As always, please share your thoughts, and keep finding the stories in everything you do.

(Edited)

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Aug 23, 2024

Any tips for someone learning to solder from zero in 2024? What's a good kit and starting project?

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storyboardtech

490

Keyboard Club Member

Aug 23, 2024

volkishDevThat's a great question. https://novelkeys.com/collections/keyboards/products/skelett-60-keyboard-kit This lil guy looks cool as hell, and I'd grab a basic soldering iron that has good reviews off Amazon or your local hardware store. I used this one until I upgraded. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XZ31W3M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

HoffmanMyster

3234

Community

Aug 7, 2024

Fantastic write-up @storyboardtech! Completely agree with all the points you, Chris, and Ryan brought up. I love the accessibility of hotswap boards but it is definitely a different vibe to "permanently" solder a board together. Not in a gatekeepy way—it just literally is different. I soldered a couple boards for the first time in a hot minute recently and it really is therapeutic in a way. Oh and desoldering guns completely change the game. Bit of a splurge like Chris said, but the utility cannot be overstated. To anyone on the fence, pick up an iron and start tinkering! Practice on components you don't care about—you'll be surprised by how quickly you hone the skill and become comfortable with it.

HubertTheMad

163

Keyboard Club Member

Aug 7, 2024

What a great write up as always! Yup, I totally agree that the reason that I learned and currently love to solder is because it adds that "I'm proud of what I did!" aspect of building a custom keeb, and it's very enjoyable for me. I also have a hotswap board too, because, like Ryan said, sometimes you want to have that convenience factor for trying new switches and whatnot (and you may not want to mill-max a PCB/not every PCB accepts mill-max sockets). I had a lot of electrical engineering friends in college, and I had always wondered what those blue and yellow (Hakko) "machines" they had did. Turns out, I was introduced to soldering even before the keeb hobby, and I absolutely agree with you with it being a useful tool outside of our hobby as well. I'm also a proud battle scar owner due to touching the metal part of the soldering iron thinking "only the tip is hot"... oh well. Some of us learn the hard way :)