ScottoFly Handwire DIY Kit

Submitted by Joe_Scotto t3_y96ezl in MechanicalKeyboards

I want to start this off by saying that regardless of the outcome of selling these kits, my projects and handwired boards will always remain free to download and build yourself. I started this project with no intention of selling any of the parts but after a lot of messages from people without 3D printers or just inquiring about easy-to-purchase kits I put some thought into it.

The first one I would like to do is the ScottoFly. The kit itself would include everything you need to build the board including switches. The controller would be pre-flashed along with pre-bent copper wires for the rows and columns.

The biggest expense by far is the parts along with Etsy fees. The second one is that the case and plate take about 20 hours to print. I thought about Shopify but that’s borderline more expensive and I’m already well-established on Etsy.

The base kit would include the following and be priced at $119 with free shipping:

  • Black Case with White Plate
  • Hardware
  • Diodes
  • Milky Yellow Switches
  • Pro Micro (Pre-Flashed)
  • Wire
  • Row/Column Wires (Pre-Bent)
  • Heat Shrink Tubing

There would also be 3 additional options:

  1. With Keycaps ($139) - Includes yellow DSA keycaps
  2. Custom Color ($149) - Allows you to choose a custom plate and case color
  3. Fully Custom ($169) - Custom case, plate, and switch color.

I want to be very transparent that the prices I'm stating here are about as low as I would be willing to sell the kits for. My profit per board is roughly $50 before factoring in printing, labor, packaging, and shipping. My initial goal was to get the entry kit down to $99 but it's not really possible without ordering the parts from China and having to wait a while. If I sell enough though, that would be the eventual move to get the cost down.

I'm posting here to see if this is something the community would be interested in or if I'm wasting time and effort on this. The kit itself is designed to be as beginner friendly as possible, there will be an easy-to-follow build tutorial along with keymap documentation, tips, and other info included in the box. My eventual goal is to make this a great gift for keyboard lovers or even just a parent and child project.

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The original ScottoFly Keyboard - The kit will include a black case with white plate.

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Comments

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pabloescobyte t1_it3uedf wrote

I love your work and though I unfortunately don't have the time to hand build a keyboard these days, I was going to ask if you'd considered something like Wordpress + WooCommerce and using PayPal to process your orders.

Etsy and Shopify fees are horrendous as a small independent vendor. That plus having to consider shipping and packaging costs on top of your other administrative stuff adds up real fast.

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Joe_Scotto OP t1_it3v5rc wrote

Replying to pabloescobyte (#156,457)

I’ll have to look into that. The fees for this on Etsy are only about $11. A big reason I stick with that platform though is that I don’t have to pay for marketing/ads, the platform kinda does it for me.

The shipping part does suck though, I have to basically just factor that out of any profit because without their “free shipping guarantee” you get placed worse in search.

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its_james_t t1_it4njcr wrote

Have you considered making a hotswap one too? Could be an interesting challenge

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Chequedropz t1_it6yzpg wrote

I would definitely be interested. I've never soldered anything before and something like this seems like a fun way to get started with it.

Price seems very reasonable considering what's all being included

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