I have! I’m happy with the rev. 2 version of the PCB. I’ve got it fitting nicely in an R3 Nickel MiniVan case, and also in an aftermarket wood case by u/lxkhn on reddit. Definitely keep us posted here if you get some boards and assemble them!
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Sounds good with me! I do stacking acrylic cases and wanted to check out this PCB. I’ll have to sit down and order some tonight to play around with. I might even fork and add that 6.25u spacebar layout (unless you already added it, I have not opened up the pcb project folder yet lol)
Awesome contribution to the community.
Thanks, I’m glad to be able to make the contribution!
Nice, I just saw in your profile that you run SM Keyboards. I’ve been following you on Instagram for a while and I really like the cases! It would definitely be cool to have another MiniVan case option.
6.25u space bar option would be very cool! I haven’t added that option yet, but I’d welcome a pull request to support it for sure.
I’ll see what I can do this weekend!! 
Hi! Apologies in advance for my lack of knowlege about PCBs and such. I’m curious to know if there is a “cpl” file to go along with the github files for the SteamVan. I’ve been wanting to try out this pcb but (in my limited knowlege) I think I need the gerber, bom, and cpl if I want to order a fully working pcb?
Thanks in advance for any replies and/or help.
Did you click on the Github link? It contains the Gerbers and BOM. That is all you really need. You may have to zip up the Gerbers folders, as most sites expect a Zip on upload.
There is another Minivan clone PCB out there called the Getawayvan as well. There was a group buy for it recently and I expect it will go in and out of production.
I was late to the Getawayvan - might try to pick up extras! But I don’t love the layout. Might make an exception though as I think the silk and the plate are dope af. I was also late to grab a few Ketches so I wanted to explore the SteamVan option as my “next phase” of my keyboard hobby is turning all of my hotswap minivans into soldered minivans. I also figure this could be a way for me to slowly learn about PCB “stuff.”
My only concern with only having the BOM and the Gerber is that when I go to - say - jlpcb, if I want the SMT components installed they require both a BOM and a CPL (in addition to the Gerber). Is there somewhere else that I could go that only requires the BOM and Gerber?
Thanks for the reply!
Evan was still selling Ketch PCB’s on his site, in fact I just purchased one myself
EDIT: I was wrong
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Unless I’m somehow mistaken I believe he shared in the 40s discord yesterday that they were sold out…? I could be wrong tho.
Welp his site let me buy one yesterday so I hope wasn’t. if you were able to buy one then you’re getting one. There were 2 that lingered through the weekend but were snatched up eventually.
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I had a look at the Steamvan PCB project to try to help you.
It is a Kicad project, so from Kicad you can easily generate the centroid file, a .pos format that is more or less the cpl file you are looking for.
You will have to modify the column names in order to comply to what JLCPCB accept.
As for the BOM file, had a look in it and there are some good news and some less good news 
Good news:
- All components makes reference to an LCSC part.
- Same references are used for JLCPCB for their assembly service (LCSC is a sister company).
- Most components are also listed by JLCPCB.
Less good news:
- Most components are in the ‘extended’ parts, meaning you will have to pay a fee for each. Some can be replaced by basic parts with another reference, some not.
- A few components are missing(one capacitor, and WS2812 led), but it should be possible to grab another reference that works
- The USB housing is not available at JLCPCB as it is a though hole component, but can be purchased separately at LCSC (you will have to solder it yourself)
- The MCU reference is available but not in stock, this is because of the pandemic situation, STMicroElectronics looks to be eavily affected. Expect a huge delay of several weeks, maybe months ?
The BOM file format will also have to be arranged to be fully compliant to JLCPCB naming convention.
My guess is that it should be possible to make and assemble a PCB at JLCPCB but you will have to:
- Wait a lot of time before MCU reference is back in stock.
- Take time to change some component references to find missing ones and try to have as much ‘basic’ components as possible (I can help you with that if you want).
- Order USB connector at LCSC and solder it yourself.
It is definitely possible but will take a lot of time and effort, and will probably cost you more than a fully soldered PCB from @evangs for example.
But it definitely can be a fun project to do 
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Thank you so much for taking the time to inspect all of this and write this up! I feel as though I have bitten off more than I can chew - for now - though I’ll probably use this as an excuse to dive into learning more about PCB-stuff in the future. Now to play the waiting game to get some funds and wait for more trash man goodies…
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Hey, thanks for your interest in the SteamVan! Rico did a great job reviewing the design and sharing his thoughts. For this project, I only ever had the PCBs printed, and I did the assembly myself. As a result, I don’t have a component placement file ready to go.
For my other PCB project, the CO60, I have sent it out for PCBA. I’ve only ever used Elecrow for PCB assembly, and I’ve been really happy with the results. For an example of preparing a PCB for printing and assembly at Elecrow, have a look here. I don’t think it would be too difficult to get files prepared for the SteamVan. Also, Elecrow sources components from a variety of places, so even if something’s out of stock at LCSC, they can source it elsewhere.
As Rico mentioned, having the PCBs printed and assembled will definitely cost more than buying a PCB from someone else, just because of economies of scale. You’ll probably need to order a minimum of 5 PCBs, and that will likely cost in the hundreds of dollars range. If you’re interested in trying to do the assembly yourself, the Gerbers should be all you need to get JLC to manufacture the PCBs. I got really into PCB assembly at home for a while, and it was pretty fun! Having PCBs fabricated, but not assembled, is significantly cheaper. But you have to be willing to do a fair bit of surface mount soldering.
Hope that helps. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any more questions!
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Hello @jmdaly!
Thank you for the links explaining how to order from Elecrow with PCBA service, this is very instructive!
As you said PCBA service can be very expensive, I roughly tried to estimate the price with PCBWay on my own PCB and estimated that it would probably be in the 300 to 400 range for 5 PCBs, so your hundreds estimation confirm my guess.
Made my first PCBA order at JLCBC and eagerly waiting for the results, but damn they are sooo cheap !
Of course there are the limitations explained, like having to solder the USB connector yourself, but I’m getting pretty proficient on soldering tiny things so it does not matter much for me.
Soldering 100 SMD diodes on the other side…
So yes the cheapest way is solder everything yourself, did it for my first 2 designs, and it is rather fun
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Thank you so much for this info! I appreciate it a ton as I’m looking to get into pcb design and stuff one of these days.
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Hey, that’s great that you’ve got your first PCBA order in! Definitely share the results on KeebTalk when the final boards arrive It was nerve wracking for me sending off my first PCBA order, and crossing my fingers that everything would come back ok!
JLC started offering PCBA after I’d begun my foray into PCB design, but it would certainly be an attractive option for new designs!
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Yes it is indeed kinda stressfull, haha !
We’ll see if everything is fine at the arrival, I’m supposed to have 5 fully assembled PCBs(except JST connector) by the 26th of January.
I usually post my (slow) progress at the following KT thread:
@10gu10gu10gu, if this PCBA experiment is successfull and if a few other people in this forum are interested by a StreamVan PCB I may think to order a few of them for you guys 
Of course we need those STM32 MCUs to be back in stock, and to have @jmdaly agreement.
Very cool, I’ll be sure to check out your thread!
And absolutely, if you’re interested in doing a production run of the SteamVan, I think that’s awesome and you have my full support. I don’t have a lot of time at the moment to actively support too much, but know that I’d be glad to see the design produced and used. And I’d probably be in for at least one PCB
Too bad the MCU is out of stock at LCSC. I think it’s a fairly common part, so hopefully the lead time to get it back in won’t be too long!
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I know this thread is a little dead at the moment but I’m (hopefully)shortly going to be running a custom case for the Minivan PCB, is there anyone interested in Either running this or helping me Get the order placed for some fully assembled ones? I love this project but know basically nothing about submitting PCB’s for assembly or constructing a gerber file/working in Kicad
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