Duck Orion 88-key
I received this keyboard waayy back in April or May, just as finals was ramping up. I also wasn't sure what switches I wanted in it and eventually decided on kryox lubricated clears. After some short testing of the springs I had available, I disassembled 88 clear switches and re-assembled them lubricated with very thick krytox on the slider and high viscosity oil on the stems and springs. Each switch then had SIP sockets placed in it for solderless LED swapping. The SIP sockets are just a little too short to comfortably fit the Orion's through holes. I'll have to see about changing my source when I'm out of these.
The Specs
- Silver annodized aluminum case
- 88 Key layout, 1.25 1.25 1.25 6.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 1.25 bottom row, short right shift + 1x fn key.
- Standard QWERTY, fully programmable with LED and hardware macros
- Cherry MX Clear, 70g Korean-made springs, lubricated, SIP socket inserts for LEDs
- Cherry Stabilizers, clip-modded and lubricated
- Drawer liner for sound dampening.
Lubricating switches.
This is dull work. Granted this was my first time lubricating switches but it took me around 35 minutes to do ten at a time. I passed the time by watching The Adventures of Pete and Pete and Clarissa Explains it All. I can see why heavy builders like the switch lubing stations and I think I'm gonna need to get one.
To lubricate the switches, I split the stems and bases into one tupperware, and the switch tops (and old springs but they're not terribly important) into another. I then set up a little assembly line of ten switches at a time.
- Apply oil to the switch base.
- Apply a small amount of Krytox to the sides of the switch base that contact the slider.
- Apply oil to the spring inside, around and at the two ends, then set the spring in the base.
- Place SIP sockets.
- Apply Oil to slider stem.
- Apply a small amount of Krytox to the two sides of the slider that will touch the base.
- Place the slider on the spring and base.
- Place the top on the switch and shut it.
- Insert an LED into the SIP sockets. (Optional but useful for holding the sockets in place while soldering later.
To do the above for ten loose switches took about 35 minutes. I also think I need to be more generous with the Krytox as the amount purchased was intended to do a fullsize keyboard and I had just under half left when I finished 88 switches. Another thing that will be really helpful is getting a better quality fine tip brush for the oil. The extra brush that came with some Krytox worked well enough but it'll be easier to lubricate the inside of the stem barrel with a brush that doesn't fray after 30 minutes' use.
Assembling the PCB
SMD soldering and microcontroller flashing are all done by the factory for this board so all I needed to do was solder in the switches with LEDs. Sadly, I screwed even that up.
I actually put this keyboard together without soldering using tactile greys and brought it to KeyCon West. I was fairly certain it would be the only Orion and wanted to at least show off Duck's design and solid construction relative to the KMAC and 456GT that would be there. Sadly, in my haste to build the keyboard once my switches were finally ready, I forgot to remove and clip-mod the stabilizers. Luckily I'd only done the four corners and the Backspace, so desoldering isn't a huge undertaking. After being unable to effectively free the switches using my soldapult, I am however, shelving the project pending the delivery of my Hakko 808 desoldering gun which I have ordered in anticipation of my next projects which are all refurbishments of vintage keyboards.
Got the board desoldered. Even with the Hakko 808 doing the hard work a little bit of downward force is required while heat is applied to both LED pins to remove the switch.
If it wasn't for these stupid things I would have finished this build last week.
Once the stabilizers were modified, I resoldered the four corner switches and the backspace, which is the "FLIP key" needed to flash the firmware. After that was done I plugged the PCB in to spot check the firmware. The last thing I want to do is solder 88 switches into a keyboard with a bricked bootloader or something. The four corners all worked and the FLIP key switched it to program mode so everything looked
Because I'm a dufus, I wanted to get the modifers and other keys with multiple possible positions in first and be double sure that they were in the right place. So I started with the modifiers. Because my spatial reasoning is not what it should be in spite of two decades of video games, I determined which switch holes to use for consistent 1.25 mod spacing completely emperically.
Once the switches were in and looked
Now that the modifiers were on in the right place, it was time to solder the bulk of the switches. In order to do so, I first had to clip all the LED leads I'd neglected to clip during the switch lubrication and assembly phase.
Soldering in all the switches was nice fun work. I watched The Incredibles.
When it was done, I plugged in the PCB and tested the LEDs and switches. Some of the right modifiers and the centered caps lock needed their LED polarity swapped. Which was easy to do with nothing more than a needlenose thanks to the SIP sockets. Even after checking polarity, some LEDs and two switches didn't work. As is usual for me, this was down to missing a few solder joints. A quick trip back to the bench fixed those up and soon we were in business! Sadly, this was about 1:00am and I was due to get in a car for four hours at 3:30am and do work during that drive. So I decided to call it a night before assembling the case.
Putting it in its case
Before assembly I took some time to clean flux from the back of the PCB using a bit of rubbing alcohol.
Case assembly was all but effortless. The plate is fixed to the top, lighter, half of the case and is mounted in ten places. Then the bottom case is mounted to the top case using hex bolts. All the hardware came with the kit, as well as a few spares. I neglected to ID the fasteners themselves. I'll make an effort to do so for future builds.
The only assembly-time modification I made was to place some drawer liner in the bottom case of the Orion. The thing is so solid I'm not sure if it makes any difference. But after it dulled the resonating in my old Zenith it's become standard procedure for me. One caveat when lining Duck's customs is that you need to make sure the underlighting LEDs remain uncovered. I did this just by cutting a ring out around each one.
Once it all came together, I spent a few minutes swapping LEDs around to match the Space Cadet (Deskthority.net Round 4() with warm white on the grey alphanumerics and blue on the modifiers.
Before assembly I took some time to clean flux from the back of the PCB using a bit of rubbing alcohol.
I still haven't managed to take a photo that really captures the backlighting. This cell phone picture is as good as it gets:
This was my at home driver for several weeks until my father's keyboard died and I did a bit of shuffling. Now my brother uses it. I need to liberate it from him.
Photo Album
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/kof3wk6grzxvwqa/AAATMVg9Wd3UK6yHafjt-7A4a