Don't Touch me, I'm STERILE

What do you do when you keep breaking pcbs you bought to make keyboards or buying cases and plates that don't go together? Buy more parts and build more keyboards! Essentially that's really why I made this keyboard. I had bought the PCB from KPrepublic for their XD87 PCB because I was gifted a nice all aluminum tex case for the holiday season. However... I wasn't too familiar with TKL layouts and it turned out that the space between the F-row of keys and the rows below it was shorter than it is for a phantom PCB or other TKLs that would fit in that tex case! WELP my bad! After some mulling it over i decided to buy the rest of the kit seperately from them, this included the plate and white case. The name of the board comes after a co-worker brought up the jukebox color scheme reminded him a lot of surgeon simulator and after that I couldn't think otherwise!

PCB Breakdown: 

  • MCU: Atmega 32u4
  • Firmware: QMK
  • Format: 87%/TKL
  • Connection: Mini USB or internal 5 pin JST connection
  • Switch Compatibility: MX Plate & PCB, Alps (The pcb supports alps but their plate is mx only)
  • Backlighting: per switch led footprints
  • Underlighting: Addressable RGB Leds
  • Audio: N/A

The PCB itself is not bad, it has a rather standard set of options and covers its basis well. The controller is the tried and true 32u4, so numerous firmwares should work with it. A nice thing is they provide you an option of soldering on a mini-usb connecion or using an included daughtercard to connect to the JST connector on the bottom side of the board. The kit comes with the needed parts, if you want the LEDs for underlighting or the mini usb (make sure you have a case that supports where the connector is located) you just have to do the soldering yourself. 

Switches:

  • Kaihua Speed Copper
  • Tactile
  • Travel: 3.4mm
  • Activation Force: 50g
  • Bottom out Force: 60g

These switches are for the lightest of hands and the gentlest of typers or just people that want key actuation very fast! These are good standard switches with a very light tactile bump more felt on the release than downpress. The only downside is they are very prone to accidental triggering from bumping into keys. Otherwise I think they're decent.

Keycaps:

  • Material: ABS
  • Profile: Cubic

Tai Hao makes some solid affordable keycaps. The only down side I've seen in my history of using them is their double shot legends can be a little off here and there but otherwise they're of solid thickness and good quality imo.

Case and Plate:

  • Case Material: Plastic (Abs?)
  • Feet/Stands: Kick out feet with rubber covers on the ends
  • Plate Material: Stainless Steel

The case is pretty solid, I'd say it's comprable to a case for a commercial mechanical keyboard. The rubber feet are a nice addition and the stainless steel plate gives the keyboard an overall solid feel.


Bom and Cost:

QtyPartPriceLink
 1XD87 Kit (#2) $68.00Store Page
 1TLK Set of Jukebox Cubic Switches $25.00Store Page
 1Stabilzer set for 6.25u layout $10.00 
 9Pack of 10 Speed Copper Switches $25.00Novelkeys Store Page 
    

 Total Approximate Cost: $125