5 way nav switch in handwired case?
Hi there, I was wondering what size hole you need for a 5 way nav switch. For hand soldering that is. NOT for a pcb. It doesn’t seem to have a lip, and the official docs have it at 10*10mm, but that would just fall through. Do I have to have individual holes for the contacts? Is it even possible to use outside of a pcb? Anyone have any ideas? Thanks for the help.
This is an adapter that allows an inexpensive 5-way nav switch to be easily placed into a Cherry MX-compatible switch plate for handwired mechanical keyboard builds. The switch will sit snugly in the adapter, but you can dab a tiny bit of superglue on each side before inserting the switch to max out the permanency. The adapter works best in switchplates of normal thickness, but for thicker plates and chunkier ergo cases like the Dactyl Manuform you can file the sides down just a tiny bit and then hot glue it into the case just as you would with the rest of the switches on those builds. Solder your one wire and five diodes to the switch legs BEFORE you push the switch into the adapter! It's much, much easier that way. The switch itself can be found on Adafruit https://www.adafruit.com/product/504 and elsewhere by searching for "10x10mm 5-way switch". Hope this is helpful to other handwired mech keyboard builders out there! -scablands/hellmoneywarriors **February 7, 2020 - Added images describing actual wiring and necessary QMK code. If you are making a board other than a Dactyl Manuform 5x6, you will essentially be creating one additional column in your matrix that's wired to the common leg and then adding one of the five other legs to five separate, existing rows with diodes attached (just like a regular switch in the matrix). Actual QMK files can be found at this link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1mR2BYAqNLmd9IDoWdHNdtFSEs_XDRAhX I also designed and added an SA profile top for the switch.
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