Open Source Cherry/Alps Keyboard - GH65

Hi guys, long time no see you. There's a while since my last post - that's because I've been working into a few projects that I need to finish to keep my spirits up (my quadcopter for instance). I said that I need to finish a few projects? Now I do have to finish more one! I got kinda envious of my friend Gilson's printer and then I started another project (one Prusa I3). Yes, my procrastination list is still huge! Thanks to you Gilson!

One month or so ago Matt3o asked me if I could design a PCB for an Keyboard layout he had in mind at that time (picture 1). You can see more about his topic at the GeekHack forum - there are also a few awesome pictures of his keyboard there.

Picture 1, Matt3o Layout

After almost 3 weeks I came up with the 2 PCBs below:

Picture 2, complete PCB - GitHub Kicad files here

Picture 3, PCB with headers to attach the Teensy 2.0 board - Github Kicad files here

Matt3o ended up using direct wiring into his keyboard (I think he got impatient waiting for my design) and we didn't used these PCBs for real. Would be good to have a complete review before you do decide to order it into a fab house (OSH for instance).

Open Source Alps Keyboard - GH60

If you do know what ALPs Switches are you do also know that there aren't many open source projects out there for this old fella - that's why the guys at the GeekHack forum came up with the idea to build one PCB to this little prehistoric switch.

The credit goes for Michal Trybus (Komar007 @ Geekhack), I just got his rev b project files and changed the switches used on it to fit the ALPs footprint. You can get more info regarding the original GH60 project at here and if you do want to know more about the Alps version at here.

This project is still up and running, right now we are just waiting the best moment to start the beta-testing and group buy action.

GH60 ALPs PCB, Github Kicad files here.

GH60 ALPs PCB Back side

Prusa I3 XL, build log and annotations

Another RepRap blog? Ohhhh YES, more one!

My goal here is not to teach anyone - I'm new to this RepRap world and I'm still learning all this stuff - my goal here is to keep an build log for my own reference and, maybe, help someone in this endeavor. A friend of mine (Gilson) has mentioned some time ago that the Prusa I3's documentation is not so good when compared with the Prusa Mendel - there is no complete manual or book with ALL required info until this date and by what I've saw it seems he is right. So I hope that this build log helps in this documentation too.

The thing is that I'm envy of my friend Gilson's printer - actually I don't like to keep asking him to print parts to me all the time - then I decided to build my own. Right now I'm waiting for a few parts from eBay and AliExpress yet. Maybe in two or tree weeks I will get the Step motors and then I'll send my frame to the CNC shop in order to start the building phase! (after more or less 3 months buying and waiting for these parts I'm kinda bored - it's a real pain to buy stuff from China!)

Until I start this building phase take a look at what I've done so far ...

Official Ramps 1.4b BOM (just in case you need to save money doing your own): here

My Prusa I3 BOM (for those willing to build one Prusa I3): here

My part list (I didn't liked a few parts so I decided to design my own, you can see it here): here

RepRap stuff that I'm kinda dating:

HotEnd

Logged	HotEnd	Price	Notes
2013/05	J-Head, MKV	$60 USD	most used and popular, this one seems to be the latest version. Easily found on eBay.
2013/05	MG Plus	$70 USD	+shipping. MakerGear hotend, good quality by an not so reasonable price. Easily found on eBay.
2013/05	Trinity MetalMagma	$65 USD	+shipping, sold out. It supports 400C.
2013/05	E3D-v4	£39 GBP	All metal and J-Head compatible, SUPER!
2013/05	arcol.hu	€99	Expensive. All metal hotend however I never heard about this one.
2014/01	CB-Printer	€1,830	Super printer, alu made in Poland
2014/01	Bulldog Extruder	to be defined	Another alu made extruder

Extruder Related Stuff

Logged	Extruder	Description	Notes
2013/05	Metal Extruder	RepRap Metal Gear System Extruder.	AWESOME! Build instructions here.
2013/05	Metal Gears	Metal Gear System Hardware Pack for Prusa/i3.	kinda expensive but you can do contact the owner to ask him to send it using a cheaper shipping (without insurance and tracking). I've found this info into this blog.
2013/05	Ponoko Extruder		CNC acrylic parts.

Reference and Usefull Stuff

Logged	Link	Notes
2013/05	book	Getting Started with RepRap by Josef Průša, O'Reilly Sep 2013
2013/05	Prusa I3 Build Manual
2013/05	Prusa Mendel Build Manual
2013/06/23	RepRap Calculator3	by Josef Průša, a must have for all makers!
2013/05	Drive Gears	Drive-gears to be used in direct drive and some other extruders. Only required when using some kind of (like the Adrian's_Geared_Extruder).
2013/06	Mechanical Endstop	Recommended but not required. Simple pull up resistor schematics to connect your mechanical endstop. This pull up resistor is not required - The AtMega already has one internal pull up resistor that just need to be FUSE enabled.
2013/05	Optical Endstop	Recommended but not required. Why they are not using the internal pull up resistor too?
2013/07	Improved Optical Endstop	Recommended but not required. Still not using the dammed internal pull up resistor ...
2013/06/04	RepRapDiscount	Recommended but not required. RepRapDiscount Smart Controller.
2013/06/04	UltiPanel	Schematics for UltiPanel with rotary encoder.
2013/06/04	Touch TFT LCD	Graphical RepRap Touch TFT LCD (mini Pronterface style).
2013/06/04	SynchroMesh Cable	Kinda hard to find it here in Brazil.
2013/07/31	Aluminum frame Prusa i3 RED ANODIZED	Awesome Frame, 69 euros!

Please, fell free to drop a line!