Home made Keypad PCB!

skrsh3r · 19 May 2014, 09:11

I know I shouldn't ask here but i have to, how much roughly would a tkl plate cost to laser cut mateo?Let's say from 1mm stainless steel, i had to ask you before i start checking workshops in my country.

matt3o · 19 May 2014, 09:18

depends on material. just 1 shot is a bit expensive. if you join a GB the price can go pretty low.

Madhias · 19 May 2014, 10:16

I bookmarked this thread, for future projects; since i'm also more the Illustrator than CAD guy.

Thanks for sharing your project!

ne0phyte · 19 May 2014, 15:35

skrsh3r wrote:I know I shouldn't ask here but i have to, how much roughly would a tkl plate cost to laser cut mateo?Let's say from 1mm stainless steel, i had to ask you before i start checking workshops in my country.

The Cherry switches are designed for a 1.5mm mount plate - they won't snap in otherwise. See here in the Cherry specs.
If the switches are supported by a PCB it might work but I'm sure sticking to 1.5mm is better.

EDIT: Well, actually they would "snap in" but there'd be 0.5mm between the little nubs and the back of the mountplate.

rklm · 19 May 2014, 17:19

From the measurements I have seen, 1mm would be fine for an ALPS tkl

skrsh3r · 19 May 2014, 20:58

Yeah i was asking about alps, and mateo i just wanted to know rough pricing since i'm not sure about my funds atm as you know or may not know

my country has been hit by massive floods and my whole garage was under water resulting insane amount of damage to my tools and i now need to buy everything :S

rklm · 19 May 2014, 23:27

I think the easiest and cheapest way to go about this mixed switch project is to 3d print the layered plate.

Here is a mock up of it that I made in Tinkercad:
https://tinkercad.com/things/gqTlDt2DEsK

rklm · 20 May 2014, 07:04

Oh, and in case I hadn't mentioned before, any of the resources I post here are completely available to you guys to use in any way you want.

If you want the original .ai files or .svgs, let me know.

Madhias · 20 May 2014, 09:33

I'm interested in the *.ai files, if you don't mind!

[EDIT] Not that i'm too lazy to draw it for myself...

rklm · 20 May 2014, 15:37

Here is the case so far: http://puu.sh/8TPuk.ai

and the PCB: http://puu.sh/8TPyl.ai

rklm · 20 May 2014, 23:44

Since I am 3d printing the plate, I figured I would play with the design a bit.

Here are three possibilities I have been playing with.

https://tinkercad.com/things/kzKZVpFFrR0

On the left is the original design, as if I had laser cut the layers. The plate is totally flat and uniform.

In the middle is almost the same thing, except I got rid of superfluous layers from the MX/Alps switches. This leaves a raised section for the m9 switches.

On the right is the same as the middle, except the raised section is angled 10 degrees. The m9 switches are angled 5 degrees(so that when you put them on an angled plate in a keyboard, you end up with stepped rows). This will leave the keycaps on those switches angled 15 degrees towards your fingers on the keypad.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Muirium · 20 May 2014, 23:57

Always shoot for crazy.

pyrelink · 21 May 2014, 05:26

While I like the 3rd design with the angle for the top 2 switches, I do have to wonder how that would feel to type on. Even with the slight angle, Those 2 switches are basically a step higher in the case. It might be a little weird having 2 switches on a higher plane then everything else.

rklm · 21 May 2014, 17:19

I was thinking about finding a way to bind them to left and right click (either in the firmware or using AHK), so it is alright with me if they are weirdy weirdy, since they are going to have a different function than the others anyway.

rklm · 21 May 2014, 20:54

I think this will be the final layout, unless you guys have suggestions.

http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/# ... 7dbc73d917

rklm · 05 Jun 2014, 21:01

Re did the case and the PCB wiring... entirely...

It is coming along quite nicely though.

Also, I think I am going to sub out the m9 switches for m8 switches.

Dubsgalore · 06 Jun 2014, 01:42

Awesome Idea! Maybe a GB?... this would be a near perfect tester

rklm · 06 Jun 2014, 07:52

Found the m8 datasheet, here is the finished PCB.

I can't find any errors, but I could be missing something.

The black lines are traces (they will be scaled up to .5 mm width)

The red lines are diodes

The green lines are jumpers

The blue border is the edge of the pcb

(Red and green lines will be erased before I print it out)

(The plate image on the right is an svg export of my 3d file, I will be adding the m8 mounts in a sec)