🗒️ Lily58 Pro Build Guide WIP (work in progress)
Lily58 Pro Build Guide by kriscables.
Start with the one half of the Lily58 Pro PCB and only after completing all the steps below proceed to the another half. On this guide i started with the left half. Lily58 Pro PCB is reversible therefore you can choose any side to solder the diodes. Once you solder the diodes on PCB – that side becomes automatically the bottom side of your PCB.
⚠️ Recommended soldering iron temperature when soldering any component is 240 Celsius (464 Fahrenheit). Soldering heat sensible components, like controllers, diodes etc, will reduce their working lifetime.⚠️
Please read the whole guide before starting the build – this might help avoid possible mistakes beforehand.
Please respect the order precedence of this guide as it helps identify mistakes and excludes possible errors on early stages out of the equation. Many highlights in this guide contain useful links, hover with the mouse over them and click.
➟ Intro
➟ Lily58 Pro Parts List
➟ ⚠️Warnings
1 Flash the Pro Micro Controller with QMK firmware
2 SOLDER THE DIODES
3 SOLDER HOTSWAP SWITCH SOCKETS
4 BRIDGE THE FOUR JUMPERS
5 CONTROLLER’S HOTSWAP SOCKETS
6 SOLDER THE CONTROLLER
7 🚨 PCB TEST
8 SOLDER TRRS/RESET
9 SOLDER OLED SCREEN HOTSWAP SOCKET
10 🚨 FINAL TEST OF THE PCB
11 Proceed to the right PCB half
12 SCREW IN THE STANDOFFS
13 MOUNT THE PLATES
Done!
➟ BONUS GUIDES
Lily58 Pro parts list used in this Build Guide
| Part Name | Quantity | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Lily58 Pro PCB | 1 set | PCBs are reversible on kriscables.com This means you can choose any of them for left/right when starting the build |
| SMD Diodes | 58 | SMD only (through hole diodes are not supported) |
| Kailh Hotswap Sockets | 58 | MX or Choc sockets are supported |
| TRRS jack | 2 | |
| Tactile reset switch | 2 | You can alternatively: Bridge 2x the GND + RST pins on pro micro or define in QMK keymap QK_BOOT to put the keyboard into bootloader mode for flashing |
| Low Profile or High Profile Case | went low profile case in this guide | |
| Mounting hardware | for acrylic low profile case i use: 4x 12mm standoffs + 10x 6mm standoffs and 28x 5mm screws | |
| USB-C Pro Micro Controllers | 2 | Also can be used: Pro Micro (micro usb), Elite-C, Nice!Nano etc |
| Controller Low Profile Sockets | 2 sets | Optional, but strongly recommended to have them to hotswap easily any time |
| Mill Max Socket Pins | 2 sets | Needed for controllers hotswap. In 2 sets come 24 + 24 Pins enough for 2 controllers |
| OLED Display Module 0.91″ 128×32 | 2 | Optional, but it’s always fun to put a bongo cat for example later on the screen, to check the wpm or show current layer etc |
| OLED Hotswap Socket | 2 | if the controller will be hotswap, this makes total sense to have |
| Switches | 58 | |
| Keycaps | 58 | |
| TRRS cable | 1 | |
| USB-C cable | 1 | or Micro USB cable (depending on the chosen controller) |
⚠️ Warnings
- Don’t connect or disconnect the TRRS cable when one side of your split keyboard is powered. It may short out and fry the microcontroller. Always disconnect the USB cable first.
- Be gentle with microcontrollers‘ USB ports. They are easy to break.
- Before inserting the switches into the PCB’s hotswap sockets make sure the switch’s legs aren’t bend. The insertion should go smoothly with very little resistance. If it is not – don’t force it to get in, check what’s wrong and adjust the insertion.
- Don’t overtighten the screws when assembling the acrylic plates as they might crack.
- Recommended Soldering Iron Temperature when soldering any component is 240 Celsius (464 Fahrenheit). Special attention on the controllers (nice!nano) as they are heat sensible and fragile.
1) FLASH PRO MICRO CONTROLLER WITH QMK FIRMWARE
💡 You can (and i strongly suggest) to flash the controllers before soldering them, excluding the hard work to desolder it in case you brick it while attempting to flash in some wrong way.
Flash the controllers (Pro Micro, Elite-C etc) using QMK Toolbox or QMK MSYS.
To enter the bootloader on Pro Micro for flashing it, reset the controller using tweezers by bridging the GND and RST pins 2x times.
🗒️ I normally flash the default Lily58 Pro layout. It can be found on QMK repo. And down the way make my own changes to it for my use case.
2) SOLDER THE DIODES
💡 Lily58 Pro PCB is reversible therefore you can choose any side to solder the diodes. Once you solder the diodes on PCB – that side becomes automatically the bottom side of your PCB. Please, always confirm before soldering a component on which side of the PCB it goes.
Solder the 29x diodes on the bottom side of the PCB, making sure the direction is matching the image below.
💡 On the PCB tin one diode pad first. After that, holding gently the diode down with the tweezers – solder the corresponding diode leg. With a bit more solder than usual on the tip – solder down another diode leg and pad.
3) SOLDER HOTSWAP SWITCH SOCKETS
Solder the 29x Kailh Hotswap Sockets on the bottom side of the PCB, matching the contour of your respective MX or Choc socket.
💡 Same as the diodes, on the PCB tin one socket pad first. After that, holding gently the socket down with the tweezers – solder the corresponding side. With a bit more solder than usual on the tip – solder down the other side to the pad on PCB.
4) BRIDGE THE FOUR JUMPERS
Bridge 4 jumpers on the TOP SIDE of the PCB by soldering them 2 by 2 vertically on both PCBs, if you plan to use OLED Screens. Even if you don’t plan to use OLED Screen, i always recommend to bridge them anyway, since there is no harm having them in any case bridged.
💡 In order to have the OLED Screens enabled, before compiling/flashing the controllers, don’t forget to add the code line in the rules.mk file in your Lily’s keymap folder:
OLED_ENABLE = yes OLED_DRIVER_ENABLE = yes
5) CONTROLLER’S HOTSWAP SOCKETS
(If you don’t plan to hotswap the microcontroller skip to 6th step.)
Solder the controller’s hotswap sockets on the top side of the PCB, in the marked rectangle section.
- 5A) Insert the 24x Mill Max Pins into the sockets. Make sure they are inserted all the way down.
- 5B) Insert the controller into the pins with it’s components faced down.
- 5C) Solder the 24 pins to the controller. Jump to 7th step.
6) SOLDER THE CONTROLLER
⚠️ Recommended Soldering Iron Temperature when soldering any controller is 240 Celsius (464 Fahrenheit). Special attention on nice!nanos as they are heat sensible and fragile.
Solder the 2x 12 Pin Headers provided with your controller on the top side of the PCB in the marked rectangle section. Insert the controller into the Pins and solder it with it’s components faced down.
7) 🚨 PCB TEST
Test the PCB by checking if it registers keypresses.
Use metallic tweezers to bridge any 2 switch pins (on the bottom side of the PCB, this simulates a keypress) or insert switches into the soldered hotswap sockets on the PCB.
If it registers the shorts/keypresses you did a great job and may proceed with the build.👌🏼✅
💡 If not, check if the corresponding sockets or diodes need to be reflowed. If you inserted the switches then check if the switch legs are properly inserted into the socket and aren’t bend (very common issue).
8) SOLDER TRRS/RESET
Solder the TRRS in the marked contour on PCB and Reset tactile switch on the top side of the PCB.
9) SOLDER OLED SCREEN HOTSWAP SOCKET
Solder the OLED screen hotswap sockets on the top side of the PCB. Especially makes sense to socket your OLED Screens if you socketed your controller as before hot swapping the controller you need to hotswap the OLED Screen.
If you don’t plan to hotswap the OLED screen, nor the controller, then solder it directly to the PCB.
💡 I suggest to put an insulating tape on the Pro Micro to prevent any shorts with the OLED Display.
10) 🚨 FINAL TEST OF THE PCB
Insert the controller into the PCB (if it is hotswap) and the OLED screen into their respective sockets.
Test if OLED screen is on and keypresses are registering.
If everything works – you did a great job and may proceed to the another PCB half.✅
If not, find the issue and fix it. Don’t proceed to another half until you’ll fix it on this PCB, this way you’ll avoid repeating same mistake on the second half.
💡 Make sure the OLED is enabled in rules.mk file in QMK as suggested in step 4
11) Proceed to the right PCB half.
Repeat all the steps above on the another half.
12) SCREW IN THE STANDOFFS
Screw in the standoffs on the top side of the PCB for the OLED Cover first. On each PCB half 2x 12mm length.
For 3mm Acrylic Base and 3mm Acrylic Switch plates screw in the 5x 6mm standoffs into the the base plate.
⚠️Don’t overtighten the screws when assembling the acrylic plates as they might crack.
13) MOUNT THE PLATES
Insert a few switches into the switch plate, then insert the PCB into the switch legs.
⚠️ Please be careful when inserting the switches into the PCB. Make sure Switch Legs are not bended and are aligned with socket holes. Don’t force it to enter, otherwise you risk to end up with a broken socket/PCB pad like on the photo below. It should get in smoothly with almost no resistance.
13A) Insert all the remaining switches, making sure there are no bended legs.
13B) Screw in the base plate.
13C) Install the acrylic OLED cover.
13D) Insert the keycaps and connect the TRRS into both halves and after that USB cable to the left half.
🗒️ By default your left half is the master and the right is the slave, but you can change that in QMK later if you desire to have the USB cable connected to the right half.
Done ! 🎉🥳🥂🎇
🍭BONUS GUIDES:
