Disclaimer: this post features a lot of images. My soldering skills are poor.

I bought Atreus 2 months ago. And it arrived a few days ago because the person who bought it here for me arrived a few days ago. Duh.

Anyway, I had all the required things in place to begin the build and following is a short log of the process. Ask questions (if any) in the comments. Have fun!

This is how it arrived. Also had keys and other required stuff.

Initial board

First step was to smooth the surface. The kit includes sand paper which works excellent. I managed to get a nice, smooth feel:

Bottom plate’s sanded form (inner side)

Bottom plate’s sanded form (outer side)

Top plate’s sanded form

I had decided to go for the smoother finish but felt too lazy and applied to mixture from the kit. Gave very good finish:

Waxed plates - top and bottom

While the plates were drying, I started soldering diodes. I had soldered before, But not much. And my skills are really poor. Yet, I managed good enough joints and faced no problems with keys.

First 5 diodes

Soldered diodes

All diodes soldered

After completing diodes, I applied one more coat of wax on the outer surfaces of top and bottom plates and allowed it to dry. Meanwhile, I began the process of placing the microcontroller.

A-STAR microcontroller

A-STAR controller placement showing leg placement

Top of A-STAR controller - soldered

Bottom of A-STAR controller - soldered

Circuit board on switch plate

I received clear casing clicky switches. Their legs are different from the ones shown in the guide. But if you look at the circuit board, you can see that it is not necessary to place the legs in diagonal holes. The following works:

Switch legs protruding from the board

The linear keys are really good for what they stand. This is the full board with all keys placed and soldered:

All keys placed on the board

At this point, I tweeted that my keyboard is ready and posted the following photo with it. Technomancy replied saying I should invert the screws and then rubber pads will work fine.

Final board

This is what he meant:

Prepared and ready!

The board is a bliss to work with. It is small, tiny. Keys are great. And the process of making it is even more fun!

This is about the build log. I’ve been praciticing typing on this keyboard and currently type at 40wpm. I guess not bad after 3 hours of practice. I’ll post a review later - after using it long enough.

Hope you enjoyed it :)