I have do some research about doing dactyl manuform, and I see people mostly solder directly diodes and copper wire to the switch. So i want to know that if i build dactyl manuform with hotswap function, will there have some problems which can kill my board? And when comparing handwired and hotswap. which is easier to do if i’m a beginner? And another question: is reset buttons neccessary for this build? (because i saw many guides are always including this component)
Kill your board? No! They’re all data pins, so there isn’t current to kill anything unless you short to the PCB or a battery somehow!
I make flexible pcbs with hotswap for dactyls (and other curved / flat keyboard production). They save oodles of time, and make troubleshooting easier too! All you need is a little hotglue on the edges to lock the pcb fully in place (I have a screw version produced too just need to get a good source of screws to include).
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1367143291/dactyl-flexible-pcbs-4-and-5-high?click_key=5d7649fe8152c918995eb10e441b6f5cf89c8d13%3A1367143291&click_sum=4fdd455d&ref=shop_home_recs_4&pro=1
Handwired builds, especially uninsulated are more prone to shorts that will cause unexpected switch behavior. PCBs even per key help minimize that risk.