Build #3: DZ60 in bamboo
So #3 started as an unabashed attempt to mimic this build, which is not mine, and which I think is lovely
(if you’re here, thanks for the inspiration, u/reywood):
Aside from the aesthetics, I was eager to keep pushing towards smaller board sizes, after generally positive experiences with the TADA68 and Clueboard. I haven’t been missing the numpad at all, which hasn’t been a surprise, and I haven’t really been missing the function keys either, which was a small surprise. I was also thinking it was about time to get my feet wet with QMK - it’s referenced all over the community, but for me, it was still a black box.
After tracking down the case (KBDfans) and the keyset (DSA Hana, from PMK), the next step was to decide on a board. I can’t say a huge amount of thought went into this; hey, a DZ60 will fit in that case, supports a bunch of layouts, and it does QMK, so let’s run with it. It will be fun to try flashing a board. Right. Right?
We start this build by clipping and lubing stabs. At this point, feeling a warm surge of newb confidence, I’m thinking I’ve got the stabilizer lubing dialed in. After all, in build #1 I was able to make it work post-assembly without desoldering everything, and in build #2, it worked well in the usual pre-assembly way, so what could possibly go wrong? I aggressively apply lube to all of the stabs, reassemble them, and mount them on the PCB, and with that task done, mounting and soldering switches is straightforward.
No issues observable in the keyboard tester, so I screw the PCB/plate assembly into the case, install the DSA Hana caps, and give the board a run. And initially, there are no problems.
But a few hours later, the backspace key begins to stick. After a press down, it doesn’t return to its normal position, and instead remains stuck down. It’s possible to pull it back into its normal position, which, coupled with the initial happy period before the problem’s appearance, makes me think the issue is not a purely mechanical one, but one of lube; namely, way too much inside the stabilizer stem housings. I attempted to use tweezers and a long wooden skewer to remove some of the excess lube, but this had little effect. What to do now? As I saw it, there were two options.
- Desolder the board, remove the stab, attempt a more thorough cleaning, reassemble the stab, mount it, and remount and resolder the switches.
- It’s the backspace key, so arguably we can get by without a stab. Pop the cap, destructively remove the over-lubed stab, extract the detritus, put the cap back on, and pretend nothing happened.
Remember that part in an earlier build where I referred to myself as a lazy newb? Yes, you’ve guessed correctly. Just think of it as extremely aggressive stab clipping…imagine how little noise it will make when it doesn’t exist! Please enjoy this post-build shot of the stabless life:
I was a bit worried that I was going to have to go with option #1 anyway, but as it turned out, the backspace key performance was and remains just fine, no wobble whatsoever. Perhaps at some point later on, the absence of that stab will make itself known and I’ll still have to desolder everything to install a new stab, but for now, so far so good.
This was my first experience with DSA caps, and I’m not sure what I think. Prior to trying a few different profiles, I would have guessed that I’d prefer flat, even profiles like DSA or XDA, but for this build, my experience has been the opposite. The DSA caps seem a little shallow, and something about that is throwing off my faux touch typing. Not badly, but it is noticeable. Visually, no complaints - I chose slightly different novelties to populate the board than the reference build, but it looks nice to my eye.
Finally, I started digging into the QMK tools to figure out how to flash the board to fully support the chosen layout. There was a bit of a learning curve here - it took me a while to figure out how to use qmkeyboard.cn to properly define the wiring, pins, and keymap for the DZ60; a while longer to figure out that I needed to install QMK Toolbox to do the flashing; and a little while longer after that to determine that I needed to install FLIP from www.microchip.com to get the correct Atmel drivers as a side effect; and a bit more time after that to work out how to use QMK Toolbox to flash the layout on a DZ60 R2 (with QMK Toolbox running, hold down space + ‘B’ before plugging in the keyboard - the toolbox will recognize the board if the Atmel drivers are present, and then you can load and flash the hex file you built with qmkeyboard.cn). None of this was overly painful, but it does strike me as a complicated process that could do with a bit more automation. Reserving judgment for a few more builds, though.
The bamboo case top that doubles as a hand rest is a nice visual touch, even if it is also flat, and hence tweaks my angle-loving sensibilities.
Lessons learned
- It is in fact possible to apply too much lube to a stabilizer, as I found out with the backspace key. More builds will be needed to find the happy medium.
- RShift needs to be at least 1.75u for my fingers - the 1u RShift is violating my muscle memory in a big way.
- The small leftward shift of Row 4, to accommodate the unusual key layout, is also throwing me for a bit of a loop.
- I didn’t fully internalize the fact that the bamboo case was not angled. I definitely prefer a slight angle. This is likely contributing to my initial impressions of DSA caps. With all that said, this seems like something easy enough to fix with strategic placement of adhesive rubber feet.
- I had thought that the use of a bamboo case would significantly alter the typing sounds, but at the end of the day, they weren’t wildly different from those on the previous aluminum case builds. In retrospect, this could make sense - the mechanical energy is going through the cap, switch, plate/PCB, and mounting screws before it ever reaches the case, so any sonic impact the case might have would be attenuated. Or so I hypothesize. The finished bamboo and aluminum are also both hard, sonically reflective materials. Perhaps an unfinished, softer wood might yield different behavior?
- Bamboo is substantially lighter as a case material, as expected, and the final build weight reflects that.
- After a somewhat steep learning curve, qmkeyboard.cn + QMK Toolbox (+ Flip for Atmel drivers) seems to more or less work.
- Again, 62g Zealios are just a bit too light, so it doesn’t appear that my impressions of the 62g weighting from build #2 were specific to that build.
Specifications
case: bamboo case w/ case top/wrist rest
PCB: DZ60 R2, aluminum Plate-A (2u Lshift) frame
LEDs: per-key white
switches: 62g Zealios
switch lubing: N/A
layout: R1-3 standard ANSI layout
R4 - 1x2u, 13x1u
R5 - 3x1.25u, 6.25u, 5x1u
(From the Plate-A DZ docs: R1-R3=default layout, R4=layout 7+8, R5=layout 15)
keycaps: DSA Hana
stabilizers: OEM
stabilizer mods: clipped and lubed with Permatex Dielectric Grease
case dampening: N/A
HxWxD (without caps): 0.75"x11.8"x4.25"
HxWxD (with caps): 1.55"x11.8"x4.25"
HxWxD (with case top): 1.75"x11.8"x4.25"
assembled weight: 1.17 lbs
assembled weight (including case top): 1.56 lbs