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Author Topic: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)  (Read 4295 times)

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Offline FrostyToast

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[IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« on: Thu, 31 July 2014, 20:26:10 »
Matt3o has recently got himself a CNC router and is experimenting with making wood keycaps.
This piqued my attention a) because wood is baller, and b) because I wanted to see if he could make a fatty spacebar
Assuming the cost of making a CAD file for the spacebar is <$100 I will pay for the getting the file made.

So what I am asking you guys is if you could have a 1.25u x 6.25u spacebar, what profile would you want it to be made for?
I don't have a quote for what the price of these would be, but Matt3o estimates a cost of $5-15 for a 1x1 key, so you can make guesstimations.

Another thing I must ask: How much breathing space do you want cut out at the front of the spacebar? With the extra .25 stretching out, there will be case compatibility issues at the front and having a piece of the bottom area at the front will help reduce that.
In order to maintain quality and structure while having maximum case compatibility I need to know how much higher your cases are above your backplate to figure out what can be done.

This is about what I want the shape of the spacebar to be

"Leertaste". Licensed under Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leertaste.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Leertaste.jpg
« Last Edit: Fri, 05 September 2014, 13:51:54 by FrostyToast »
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Offline justnits

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #1 on: Fri, 01 August 2014, 11:16:28 »
i would vote for cherry profile.
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Offline bueller

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #2 on: Fri, 01 August 2014, 11:19:22 »
Cherry here as well. An ebony space bar would get my money every day of the week.
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Quote from: HoffmanMyster on Tue, 20 January 2015, 19:52:41
It's a good width!  If it's half-width it's too narrow, and full-width is too wide. 

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Offline heedpantsnow

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #3 on: Fri, 01 August 2014, 11:21:17 »
Cherry
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Offline cbot

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #4 on: Fri, 01 August 2014, 21:36:22 »
Cherry myself.
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Offline minho

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #5 on: Sun, 03 August 2014, 00:06:21 »
Cherry for me too! Only one that fits with most DCS custom sets.
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 03 August 2014, 00:25:47 »
It seems like a lot of you (all of you) really want cherry, so I will wait for a few more responses and hopefully have this made for you guys!
It will most likely take a bit before this becomes reality as Matt3o only just got his cnc router and will need to play with it more.
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 03 August 2014, 12:35:18 »
The OP has been updated with a question for case compatibility.
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Offline heedpantsnow

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 03 August 2014, 22:51:45 »
My cases are roughly level with my switch plate. Is that what you want?
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 03 August 2014, 23:53:58 »
Quote from: heedpantsnow on Sun, 03 August 2014, 22:51:45
My cases are roughly level with my switch plate. Is that what you want?

Yes, that is exactly what I need to know  :thumb:
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #10 on: Thu, 04 September 2014, 20:46:24 »
I am going to super necro this because I am still interested in making this fatty spacebar happen.
If people are actually interested I will make this happen.
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Offline taylordcraig

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #11 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 02:02:49 »
Cost is gonna be like $30?
I could swing that for an ebony space bar.
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Offline Matt3o

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 02:48:54 »
ehy what is happening here? nobody told me anything :P

just to give you some insight.

There are mainly 3 kinds of wood: common (like pine and those used in constructions), quality (like cherry), fine (like mahogany and generally woods used for musical instruments).

Leave out common/cheap woods. With quality woods the cost of the material is hardly an issue. With $10 of wood I can probably mill 20 spacebars.

The cost is in:
- setup time (human)
- machine time
- post-processing (human again, sanding and varnishing)
- end mills (the cutters, they are expensive)
- waste material (wood is unpredictable, you might have a knot or a crack and you end up wasting quite some material)

The best wood I tried so far is Cherry. Chestnut wood is also nice but a bit harder and veins are bigger (=not good for very small items). I would like to try rose, pear and olive woods as well.

If you want a fine wood like ebony or mahogany (or even finer) then the cost of material impacts on the final cost of the piece.

Lastly, if there's really interest in such a thing, having the spacebar is multiple profiles is hardly an issue. OEM/Cherry/DCS are very similar. DSA is super easy to design. Same as SA. That being said I have no clue how a 1.25 x 6.25 spacebar is :P
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #13 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 07:06:16 »
Quote from: Matt3o on Fri, 05 September 2014, 02:48:54
ehy what is happening here? nobody told me anything :P

just to give you some insight.

There are mainly 3 kinds of wood: common (like pine and those used in constructions), quality (like cherry), fine (like mahogany and generally woods used for musical instruments).

Leave out common/cheap woods. With quality woods the cost of the material is hardly an issue. With $10 of wood I can probably mill 20 spacebars.


The cost is in:
- setup time (human)
- machine time
- post-processing (human again, sanding and varnishing)
- end mills (the cutters, they are expensive)
- waste material (wood is unpredictable, you might have a knot or a crack and you end up wasting quite some material)

The best wood I tried so far is Cherry. Chestnut wood is also nice but a bit harder and veins are bigger (=not good for very small items). I would like to try rose, pear and olive woods as well.

If you want a fine wood like ebony or mahogany (or even finer) then the cost of material impacts on the final cost of the piece.

Lastly, if there's really interest in such a thing, having the spacebar is multiple profiles is hardly an issue. OEM/Cherry/DCS are very similar. DSA is super easy to design. Same as SA. That being said I have no clue how a 1.25 x 6.25 spacebar is :P

I thought I made a post on your thread asking about the possibility of having a model for a fatty spacebar made... maybe I am crazy

EDIT: Not crazy, but I definitely could have handled things better

Quote from: FrostyToast on Thu, 31 July 2014, 20:18:06
Quote from: Matt3o on Thu, 31 July 2014, 16:57:36
Quote from: FrostyToast on Thu, 31 July 2014, 14:02:56
Would you be able to model a fatty spacebar? I have never seen one of those for MX (i.e. 1.25u x 6.25u)
I might be willing to pay for the labor of making the CAD file if it's reasonable.

yeah, no problem, actually bigger keys are easier to do. What profile would that be?

I want to see what other people want. Whichever profile is the most popular is what I'll get you to do. I guess I could start an IC thread.
« Last Edit: Fri, 05 September 2014, 07:10:24 by FrostyToast »
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Offline Matt3o

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #14 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 07:58:24 »
not arguing. I like your initiative.
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Offline bueller

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #15 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 08:13:59 »
You should consider trying to get someone to loan you some g80-5000 space bars, they're impossible to replace as GMK don't have the molds. Would definitely buy a pair so I can snag one cheap off eBay that's missing a space.
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Quote from: HoffmanMyster on Tue, 20 January 2015, 19:52:41
It's a good width!  If it's half-width it's too narrow, and full-width is too wide. 

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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #16 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 08:37:53 »
I am on my mobile so I can't really get a picture.
If you're confused as to what I mean by a 1.25x6.25 spacebar I am just referring to having a fatty spacebar like you would see on old Microsoft keyboards which extend a fair bit downward.
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Offline ApocalypseMaow

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #17 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 09:20:19 »
Count me in!
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Offline Heliosphere

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #18 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 12:24:29 »
I'm also curious how this unusually sized space bar will work. Does it have an extended front lip?
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #19 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 13:47:19 »
Quote from: Heliosphere on Fri, 05 September 2014, 12:24:29
I'm also curious how this unusually sized space bar will work. Does it have an extended front lip?

Yes, so assuming that the spacebar has enough clearance at the front to avoid the height of your case, this spacebar should work on anything that can fit a 6.25x.

NOTE: This isn't for sure going to be an extra .25 units down. That may prove to be too much for stability.
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #20 on: Fri, 05 September 2014, 13:52:57 »
OP updated with a picture of the idea I have in mind.
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Offline kitsun8

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #21 on: Tue, 16 September 2014, 06:25:46 »
a DSA fat spacebar sounds really cool I think I'd wanna try that out and see how it would feel.
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Offline ControlledBurn

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #22 on: Tue, 16 September 2014, 16:57:12 »
While I'm unsure about the fat portion, I'm definitely interested in a Filco profile (Can't seem to find the proper name for the keycap family they use)
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Offline Matt3o

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Re: [IC] 1.25 x 6.25 wood spacebar (what profile?)
« Reply #23 on: Tue, 16 September 2014, 17:11:56 »
Quote from: ControlledBurn on Tue, 16 September 2014, 16:57:12
While I'm unsure about the fat portion, I'm definitely interested in a Filco profile (Can't seem to find the proper name for the keycap family they use)

they usually call them OEM
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