[COMPLETED] Laser Cut Prototyping mini-GB

[Muirium]

The entire increase on the cost of the whole job should be paid by we 3 men of steel, of course. If that's the way we go.

[matt3o]

I'll make what everyone's asking. So full steel for muirium and zifle, mixed for mtl. I hope the others are still interested because they are worryingly silent.

If one drops, the whole castle drops. Sorry guys, but I really spent too much time on this. Hopefully I'll soon have a CNC milling machine and I may offer cheaper on-demand solutions (no steel though).

[Zifle]

you can have the steel plate, no problem with that since we already have the bottom in the same thickness (but you want it 3mm right?).

Yes, indeed, I'd want everything, but the switch plate, in 3mm.

I do hope as well, that neither of the others jump off. Have you tried contacting them directly?

[matt3o]

I'll post the final version in a bit and contact everyone short after.

[Broadmonkey]

Oh, I guess I am one of those being silent, sorry.
I have really thought about the bottom row and have decided on a 6.25 spacebar instead of the 7u as it's just going to annoy me. Can you make the bottom row on my plate to a 1.5, 1, 1.5, 6.25, 1.5, 1.25, 1, 1, 1?

[matt3o]

I don't know exactly why... but I thought this was relevant

[matt3o]

FINAL version!

final.png (17.96 KiB) Viewed 3893 times

columns are material/thickness.
1) alu 1.5
2) steel 1.5
3) steel 3
4) alu 3
5) steel mirror finish 1.5

rows are users

Download the DWG from the first post and confirm your order!

Remember that you are the sole responsible for your design (even if I designed it for you). I can't give any guarantee that the keyboard is going to work.

[Muirium]

Understood. Thanks for all the work you've done on this Matt!

Checking mine now.

[Broadmonkey]

It must be one of the most appreciated beavers since you thought of it. I really appreciate your help and all your work, matt3o.

[Zifle]

It looks as though my switch plate is in 1.5mm alu, when I wanted 1.5mm steel D:

Or am I confusing myself for someone else? (Can't dl/view the dwg at work, and I get off in 10 mins regardless. I'll confirm my layers when I get home)

[matt3o]

It looks as though my switch plate is in 1.5mm alu, when I wanted 1.5mm steel D:

Or am I confusing myself for someone else? (Can't dl/view the dwg at work, and I get off in 10 mins regardless. I'll confirm my layers when I get home)

my bad. I'll put your plate in the steel col.

[Muirium]

Any chance of a final.pdf as well? I can't even figure out how to scroll in DraftSight (no joke) and its PDF export isn't working properly for me either. Haven't managed to get a good glimpse of my design on this big canvas yet!

[matt3o]

hint: middle click and pan, zoom with scroll wheel

[Muirium]

I have no middle click. But I did just figure out the "panning is tied to pointer location while zooming" trick. So now I'm zooming about the image like a grandma who's just figured out the tail comes out the top of the mouse…

This app is like an alternate reality!

[matt3o]

trash that damned tragic magic mouse

[Muirium]

Never!!

[Muirium]

Okay, confirming row three. We are good to launch!

There's a lot of variety on show in this GB. The laser cutters will be convinced you are a Mad Keyboard Scientist with this one, professor.

[matt3o]

I was thinking more of this:



original post updated with Muirium's confirmation.

[Muirium]

You might want to update the OP with the layout order, too. I'm listed as #2 but my layout is 3rd down from the top on the .dwg for submission.

[matt3o]

oh shit!

[mtl]

Download the DWG from the first post and confirm your order!

Row 1 looks good. Thanks, matt3o!

[matt3o]

3 OK
4 to go

[Zifle]

Yep, I can confirm that mine is as it should be (when the plate is cut in 1.5 steel, I'm assuming you already made the modification in your local file).
I'll be looking forward to getting my wallet crushed tomorrow!

[matt3o]

yes already updated. your board is 100% steel.

[Muirium]

I noticed a little tiny something. This is the top of my mezzanine layer. I added shading to make it clearer where the metal is. The line I've highlighted is a bridge to nowhere:

Screen Shot 2013-09-02 at 07.32.46 pm.png (3.57 KiB) Viewed 3809 times

The other keyboards' port holes are all on layers which are adjacent to other layers on the sheet. My mezzanine however is next to open space. Should the line be there at all? Perhaps the mezzanine should swap places with the base layer just below it on the sheet.

Would now be a good time to ask for 5 mm radius corners on the keyboard instead of the current 3 mm? (Answer: YES! It is a bad time!) Would it make the steel too thin at the corners, especially in the mezzanine? Just a thought! I can live with 3 mm. I just took a ruler to my Apple keyboard and saw that 5 mm would match.

[Broadmonkey]

I checked mine and I think it looks correct.
Initially I only wanted a switch plate and a bottom plate, but I can go with steel sides.

[matt3o]

I noticed a little tiny something. This is the top of my mezzanine layer. I added shading to make it clearer where the metal is. The line I've highlighted is a bridge to nowhere:

Screen Shot 2013-09-02 at 07.32.46 pm.png

The other keyboards' port holes are all on layers which are adjacent to other layers on the sheet. My mezzanine however is next to open space. Should the line be there at all? Perhaps the mezzanine should swap places with the base layer just below it on the sheet.

thanks for pointing that out, I'll fix that but it's not really an issue (ie: it is going to work with or without it )

Would now be a good time to ask for 5 mm radius corners on the keyboard instead of the current 3 mm? (Answer: YES! It is a bad time!) Would it make the steel too thin at the corners, especially in the mezzanine? Just a thought! I can live with 3 mm. I just took a ruler to my Apple keyboard and saw that 5 mm would match.

I'll make a try tomorrow, but I suspect 5mm is too wide.

[Muirium]

Thanks again Matt. It's a fine design in any case, I'm just challenging you again!

[Vierax]

Hopefully I'll soon have a CNC milling machine and I may offer cheaper on-demand solutions (no steel though).

Sounds nice ! 2014 will be the customised Keyboard case business year.

[matt3o]

I checked mine and I think it looks correct.
Initially I only wanted a switch plate and a bottom plate, but I can go with steel sides.

that's right, do you want me to remove the sides?