The list of components increased the price of the Dox quite a lot. The upside is that I still have a lot of solder wire, the multi-meter, the soldering gun and some switched left.

Ergodox parts

  • Ergodox - I got this off Massdrop without switches. I'm not sure I did myself a favour there, because switches took quite a lot of time to source.
  • Switches - I got a bunch of Greens off Deskthority (search for 7bit) and a bunch of blue Gaterons off a taobao proxy.

The Gaterons decision was bad because I had to pay VAT on both the price of the switches and shipping (that's Belgium for you...). I'll get them from the EU for the next one somehow.

Tools and accessories

The list of (reusable) tools is:

  • Hot air station - ATTEN AT 858D+ (Amazon - 51.99)
  • Multi-meter - Mastech MS8268 (Amazon - 33.99) -- got this because it has diode checking
  • Helping hands - Loupe d'assistance grossissante 2.5 fois verre de 63mm sur pied (Amazon - 4.99) -- very useful for SMDs
  • Soldering mat - Draper 30309 Asbestfreie Lötmatte (AAmazon - 8.57) -- if you don't want to mess up your desk
  • Tweezers - Brueder Mannesmann M 615 Pinzetten-Satz (Amazon - 4.57)
  • Pincers - Mannesmann M10808 Elektronik-Zangensatz 8-teilig (Amazon 16.21)

Grand total: 120.32 Euro

List of accessories is:

  • Soldering paste (SMD) - Soldering Repair Solder Paste Cream Welding Paste Flux Grease Gel New OFUK (ebay 3.00)
  • Flux - 2pcs Syringe BGA SMD Soldering Paste Flux Grease RMA-223 10cc (ebay 2.50) -- didn't need this at all
  • Solder wire - Quality 60/40 Tin/lead Rosin Core Solder Wire 0.5-2mm 2% Flux Reel/Tube 10-100G (ebay 5.00) -- still have lots left
  • Solder wick - Desoldering Solder Braid Remover Wick Goot Cable Wire (ebay 1.00)
  • Syringe - (Pharmacy 2.00)

Grand total: 13.50 Euro

I'm not putting in links to items because they may be irrelevant for you and prices change all the time.

Conclusion

If you think of it, building an Ergodox is not cheap. All in all, it's about 350 Euro. Fortunately, the Ergodox itself I got it off bitcoins when the bitcoin was pretty high.

Regardless of the financials, the amount of fun I had the past week was epic. I'd start a soldering gig just for the kick and the idea of improving myself :) However, I'd lie if I'd say I got the ergodox just for the soldering part. I need a kick to start typing properly and the Dox might just be that :)

If you want to see more, go to the TOC.

HTH,