Lily58 Pro Build Guide
This page details the process in building the Lily58 Pro Open Source Keyboard
Last updated
This page details the process in building the Lily58 Pro Open Source Keyboard
Last updated
Get organized with all your tools you need and parts from your kit. Their are lots of tiny parts and you don't want to lose any during your build!
Be sure to check the article for a list of required and recommended tools to make sure you have everything before you get started.
Place both halfs of your keyboard in front of you, we will start with soldering the bottom components. Keep in mind the direction of the boards as you solder:
We will start with the Diodes first. The diodes are tiny surface mounted parts. You will find them in a black ribbon in your components bag. These are tiny, smaller than a grain of rice. Close up they look like this:
Soldering is considerably easier if you use tweezers to hold your diodes as you solder them. We recommend you go through your circuit boards and put a small amount of solder on one of the diode pads. Heat the solder, and push the diode into the melted solder. Once cooled, put a small amound of solder on the other side of the diode. For example:
The Lily58 Pro is compatible with both MX and Choc switch types. However, if you ordered your Keyboard from TurkeyBoards, then we only carry the low profile Choc type. They will be in ribbons similar to your diodes. Here is what the Choc sockets look like:
These sockets fit in the outline, these are towards the bottom of each key. Those you will want to solder in a very similar way as you did the diodes. Again put solder on one pad, solder the component down, then solder the other side. Make sure both sides of the sockets are soldered well so you have good contacts. If you placed everything correctly thus far it should look like this as you progress:
Flip your boards, we will install the top components next.
You will have one reset switch per board. They look like this:
Install these where you see "Reset" on the top corner of the board. Again this is a top component so opposite side of the diodes and sockets. No wrong way to insert it, just place it into the through holes, the leads should help hold it into place while you solder them.
You will have one TRRS jack per board. These look like a headphone jack.
Install these in the upper corners of your boards, you will fine a spot where they slot into, its just above where you installed the reset switches.
If you have some tape such as painters, masking, or similar tape, you can use it to hold your components in place as you flip your boards over to solder the pins into place.
Next we want to bridge the OLED connections. Even if you opted not to get OLEDs, we still recommend you solder these as its a step you will not have to do in the future should you ever modify your keyboard and want to use the OLED strip.
Carefully put a bead of solder to short the pads together while the board is facing up:
Here at TurkeyBoards we carry a veriety of headers of various hights so you can easily cusomize your board to your preference. If you opted for headers so you can easily replace your microcontoller in the future, or soldering your microcontroller in place, the process is very similar.
On the boards you will see two rows for pin headers. You will want to use the side with the box around the through holes. Conviently, this is always the right row of pins. See image below:
Here again I recommend you get out your tape. As this will hold your header in place and straight while you solder it in. Note again, the placement, as you will want to solder it into the sockets with the box around them.
Next insert your pins and install your microcontroller face down. Make sure when installing you want to keep the top two pins empty. See below image examples:
If you opted for OLED displays, we are about to install them. If you didn't solder the OLED jumpers, now is the time to go back and fix that. Remember, the jumpers should only be solders on the TOP side of the board. This puts them directly under the microcontroller.
Solder to header and install your OLEDs.
Now we want to install our top and bottom plates. This protects your components and main board. For this we simply install them with the included screws and brass standoffs. These are 6 headed torx so you will need a small torx screwdriver. Just hand tighten these.
Install your switches by pushing them into their sockets. Keep in mind its a tight fit so it will take a little pressure to push them in, but make sure they are fully seated and be careful not to bend any pins.
Keycaps simply insert into each switch.
Congratulations! You built your keyboard! Now lets get it connected so you can configure and start using it. Head over to our to start using your new ergo split keyboard.
