Group Build prototyping phase

[matt3o]

And this is "Bianca"

[scottc]

Wooooooow... I want!

[Findecanor]

6mm top frame is almost as tall as the case sides. It works, simply not my cup of tea. I'll post some pictures of the numpad with both frames

Please do. Wouldn't the gaps under the keycaps be quite ugly with only 4 mm where as there would be no gaps with 6 mm?

[matt3o]

I don't mind seeing some switches

[rockin_munki]

That white board looks gorgeous, I take it you just used some standard gloss spray on the aluminium? I'm thinking of frosting the outside of the acrylic and mounting some rgb LEDs on the inside. Hoping that wouldn't be too hard to add to the teensy program.

[pyrelink]

Damn, that Acrylic case looks really really nice.

I am starting to feel a little conflicted with all of these different options we have here. I originally came into this thread, with the idea that I would buy just a plate and a PCB, and build my own case out of wood. Well now after seeing all this stuff, and what has finally come to fruition, its actually hard to choose. I still want to build myself my wood case design, regardless of how the Robot-65 case turns out. I love the layout of the Robot-65, but at the same time am finding the Acrylic case more and more attractive. The numpad also looks great, and would go perfectly with any of the keyboards. The Poker compatible keyboard would technically be the "easiest" keyboard to build a wooden case for, but in general it feels weird to buy 2 keyboards with almost the same layouts (one with a standard spacebar), without the case for one of them.

I don't know. I just want them all!

And to add some substance to this boring and self centered post:

Pasph: Like Matt3o already said, veneer wouldn't really work on a surface that small. The sides of the case, would probably as small as I would ever want to try and veneer. If you have ever tried to cut pieces of veneer, it is a very flimsy material. Cutting it parallel to the grain, it would be very hard to keep the veneer intact in order to glue it the the top of the case. Even cutting it perpendicular to the grain would make for a really thin and flimsy piece. Veneer on the sides, would just barley be possible, but not only would it look slightly odd, what with the top not having any veneer and all that. It would also be uneven on the sides compared to the surface.

Oh and just my thoughts on the wooden case. I would have to say that for a laser cut plywood case, it really doesn't look half bad. The results you have already gotten are not bad themselves. If you haven't done so already, could you instead (at least a section of the case, if not the whole thing) use a polyurethane finish of some kind on the numpad? That would be one of the easiest finishes for everyone to do at home, and will probably look pretty nice by itself. Otherwise the wood stain you have going currently looks nice. Again, wood always looks better in larger surfaces, so you loose some of the nice stained, grain in the wood, but even so.

This post turned into a rant and I have been writing sentences here, every little while for the past couple of hours, while working on other stuff. So take it or leave it, I have no clue what I have written. Hopefully its not too offensive

[matt3o]

I see nothing offensive here

At this point I believe I'm willing to set up a sort of repository with all CAD files and my findings so everyone can download/customize/correct.

[pyrelink]

That would be great. If you don't mind me asking, which is turning out to be your favorite of the keyboards? Layout, case, and all that combined.

[matt3o]

wood case is the best because it's easy to work. Just glue, sand paper. If you made a mistake in the prototyping phase you can easily fix it.

the best looking is probably the acrylic. If done in polycarbonate it would look even better I think.

[aaron]

I want a wooden Bianca <3

[DanielT]

I have a question, how much clearance is needed for a hand wired board ? The plate is somewhere around 1.5mm, how thick should be the other layers between switch plate and bottom plate ?

[matt3o]

I have a question, how much clearance is needed for a hand wired board ? The plate is somewhere around 1.5mm, how thick should be the other layers between switch plate and bottom plate ?

I usually keep it in the 9mm range. I made it 8mm once and it was really (really) fit. please read below

[DanielT]

9mm was also what I was thinking of. Thanks

[Broadmonkey]

I have a total of 7,2mm between my top and bottom plate, and that is enough to fit a teensy inside aswell. It's just a matter of packing it nicely

[matt3o]

sorry. My bad. The case was 6.5mm, it still works but you have to cut the switch pins a bit. So I wouldn't go that far.

8mm is fair enough.

[Broadmonkey]

yes, I would go with 8mm if it's for a group buy, where not everyone might be as good at "packing" the wires inside and solder it flat.
But 7mm should be doable with a Teensy inside. 6 mm if we could get a Teensy without the mini USB port.

[Muirium]

Are these figures for PCB or hand wired switches, by the way?

I'm going PCB this time, by necessity, and will shave off what I can!

[DanielT]

It was just a question on my side, I'm making plans for a handwired custom. The plate is done just needs to be shipped, and now I'm planning the acrylic case, I don't want it too bulky but at the same time I want to have enough space.

[matt3o]

hand.

for PCB it depends where you put the controller

[Muirium]

Right. I need to sketch the rough shape of case I'm looking for and seek your inout based on that, rather than getting too hypothetical. Wood is indeed looking good. Especially as I'm going wireless this time.

[Kurk]

Nice video showing the assembly of the wooden case.
How well does the inner middle wooden frame fit into the outer wooden frame? Did you leave some space between them in the CAD files to allow for some tolerance?
Also: how will the steel bottom be attached to the completed wooden assembly? With screws? Do you put thread inserts into the wood?

[Findecanor]

the best looking is probably the acrylic. If done in polycarbonate it would look even better I think.

Unfortunately, you can't laser-cut polycarbonate.

[Muirium]

Lasers, despite their reputation, can't do magic. I'd like a proper, carpenter style wooden case, ideally, made from vertical sheets of wood, with 90º joints. But who would make a little thing like that just for me?

[SL89]

Lasers, despite their reputation, can't do magic. I'd like a proper, carpenter style wooden case, ideally, made from vertical sheets of wood, with 90º joints. But who would make a little thing like that just for me?

I have actually been talking to a luthier friend of mine about making some cases out of leftover guitar scraps.

[matt3o]

the best looking is probably the acrylic. If done in polycarbonate it would look even better I think.

Unfortunately, you can't laser-cut polycarbonate.

CNC cut/milled

edit: actually I believe it can be water jet cut

[pyrelink]

So I don't want to derail the thread too much here, but since this is directly based on the Robot-65 plate and PCB anyway, I think it's fine.

First I have to warn you, these could quite possibly be the worst design sketches you have ever seen. Honestly I think it would have improved them, if I had drawn these on a napkin.



I have plenty of wood, and all the tools, but this was sort of the design I just came up with in the last 10 minutes for a solid wood case. From a design perspective (not worried about cost effective or whether it's doable by a laser/CNC machine) how would this work?

To explain it (since I myself can barley decipher those depictions) I was looking to make a "U" shaped piece of wood (with a small lip on the top to cover the top and bottom edges of the plate) with an inset groove on both pieces. So you would basically slide the plate right between both pieces. Then 2 end pieces, with a lip to cover the side edges of the plate, and a similar groove, would hold the plate intact. Then all depending on how that fits together, probably a combination of painted screws/wood glue to hold it together.

What I mentioned earlier about the 60% being easier to build the case for, is that I could make just a simple "box" for the board to sit in. Since the PCB is designed for very little space on the surrounding edges, a box wouldn't give any weird gaps between the case and the PCB.

[Muirium]

That's what I like to see! Let's convene the carpenters guild!

I want to make a 40% (or thereabouts, it must have less than 56 keys to work with my recently acquired wireless controller) with no plate, just a PCB, kitted out with short throw Cherry M84 switches. (They take MX caps.) I aim to use PCB mount Cherry stabs, or maybe none at all if I get creative, like Neophyte.

The layout will be rectangular, and my ideal case shape would be beveled, with a 45° angle around the external edges, smoothed at every intersection. Does this sound possible to you?

I need to measure up and photograph the switches and the controller. They are small enough to compell me to give this odd child a try!

[SL89]

Muirium, so you would need a 5 sided box, with juuuust enough depth to fit and mount them all inside right? would you want the keys flush with the case or higher?

[Muirium]

Yes, I'm essentially after a tray with mounting points for the PCB. I'm aiming to put the little controller, and a watch battery, on the underside. The switches are low profile compared to MX, so it may be quite easy to cover their sides. I would prefer to do that, because the switches are open topped, and the caps can serve as a shield!

[matt3o]

I have plenty of wood, and all the tools, but this was sort of the design I just came up with in the last 10 minutes for a solid wood case. From a design perspective (not worried about cost effective or whether it's doable by a laser/CNC machine) how would this work?

this can't be done straight with laser cut. You need to cut a hell lot of small pieces and glue them together, unless you can make the slit for the plate by hand (but it needs to be very precise).

Of course the U shape must be composed of 3 "puzzle piece shaped" boards of wood.

It's very creative but I would try to find an easier solution unless you really like carpentry