1/23/2026 6 PM - Made the schematic and started pcb layout

I've been working on this project for a little bit but I am just know creating the actual project on Blueprint. I've made my schematic and assigned the footprints. I am now working on the layout and will be routing next. Here is the layout in progress...

And here is the schematic that I designed a week or two ago.

1/23/2026 9 PM - Finished the layout and routed (left side)

I finished the layout and then routed the full left side... I accidentally had my hotswap sockets on my front side and not my back side... so that was fun, had to reroute everything and move it all to the other side. Will be starting on the right side which should be easier as I just have to mirror it.

1/31/2026 - Right side

I did the layout for the right side using a mirrored template of the left side. After than I duplicated then mirrored the edge cuts layer. Next up: Routing the right side

2/1/2026 - Routing the right side

Today I routed the right side, added the mousebites to split the board and also ran my DRC. Routing the side was fairly easy although I had lots of issues with the mousebites and my edgecuts on my right side intersecting or not being connected. I had 6 errors of intersecting lines on my right side all because of one tiny issue at the bottom. Other than that everything went smoothly. Next up: Adding the mounting hole and designing the case.

2/2/2026 - Spent a long time

Today, I spent ages trying to get the SVG from Kicad to fusion. In recent versions Kicad 9 they removed the option to export as a SVG. I had to use the Kicad command line to export it based on a reddit post. Once I got the SVG exported and then imported into Fusion I then spent an hour trying to get it aligned properly to the PCB 3d model. Then I did some basic offsets to start on the case which I will be working more on tomorrow. Overall, today did not go very smoothly compared to other days. Next up: Making the full case.

2/3/2026 - Finished the case.

Today, I finished up making the case. I left a 1mm gap between the pcb and case for manufacturing and printing tolerances. After I extruded and chamfered the case, I made the bottom plate. Then I mirror both the bottom plate and the top switch plate so that they are perfectly identical.

3/20/2026 3:41 PM - BOM, Readme and ZMK

I completed my BOM and then exported as a CSV for my ReadMe. It was fairly easy to find the parts on aliexpress although I ommited the couple resistors because I already have them. I made sure to include the prices in USD and CAD with and without tax. After that I worked on the readme and got it looking pretty nice. I think it still needs some additions and polishing. And then I spent ages and I mean ages trying to figure out how to use ZMK and to get it to build properly after about a million tries I finally got everything configured and built.
This was the best thing I've seen in a couple weeks. This journal update comprises of a couple of days of work spread out through the past 2 weeks. I'll be adding the ZMK stuff in the next journal and on the Readme

3/20/2026 3:47 PM - ZMK updates

So zmk... It took me ages to figure out how to use ZMK and learning about github and local and then pushing to the web. I used the corneish-zen-v2 and then made modifications to the keymap and boards but once I finally got it built it was a huge milestone because I'm almost done my project.

4/15/2026 - Solders the diodes on and tinned all the pads.

Over the past 2 days since my PCB arrived, I've been busy working and soldering. I tinned all of the pads on PCB to get ready for soldering. I had to make my own flux because I don't own any... a little bit of cello rosin and some rubbing alcohol works amazing for anyone wondering... it does dry up a bit though. After I tinned all of the pads I started soldering all the diodes on, and oh my it was a struggle... the lines to indicate the cathodes were quite tricky to see and I've never worked with such small components but in the end I think I got pretty good at manipulating them and getting them into place. After that I printed out my plate for the switches to fit into. 14.2mm worked perfectly with the printer not being 100% accurate. And then tonight I did a test fit on the plate on the PCB with all the hotswap sockets just placed on and it all fit wonderfully first try!!!

All the diodes soldered on!

Test fit of plate & PCB once tinned (Front)

Test fit of plate & PCB once tinned (Back)
P.S. I'm loving the carbon texture 3d printer bed with the transparents black keycaps and the blue stems.

4/18/2026 - Past ~3 days update

Over the past couple of days I got a lot done and spent a lot of time working further on the firmware. I soldered all the hotswap sockets on and it's suprising how easy it becomes after 30 of them. After that I worked on the battery and stuff. So the yellow and black heatshrink is covering some custom resistors, 806K and 2M for the 806K to make it I have to combine 5 resistors that I already had. It looks pretty crazy underneath the heatshrink. After that I got the battery all soldered up and did a quick test expecting it to work perfectly... WRONG the right side wouldn't connect to the left and so I spent 6 hours trying to figure out the problem... I still don't know what the problem was because I changed so much but IT WORKS!! I can fully type on it... kind of my keymap is still pretty messed and I need to figure out which one is where. But overall it was a fairly productive past couple days. I also need to redesign my bottom case because I mounted the battery ontop to have a slimmer build. I'm not counting the hours spend on firmware because that's not the actual build part.

5/5/2026 - Finished!!

I finished the project and i've been waiting to be a little bit more free with school to do this journal. I modified the case because it was going to be too thick with the battery inside so I decided to put the battery on top next to the keys. Everything went pretty smoothly I used some heat inserts and double sided tape for the battery. Overall I like it, it looks cool but I'm not sure I really enjoy typing on it. It's not quite the right positions for the keys and it's just off so I can only get 45WPM vs my normal 110WPM. But i learnt a lot and had fun! I added some leather on the bottom so it grips a little better too