ErgoDOX layer 3 plate for Litster style cases with ALPS support

[insidion]

I've posted the files on jumpshare here: https://jumpshare.com/b/OzIohLQyY6vvdMyHwuTz

I know some folks were asking about this during my other deleted thread regarding ErgoDOX. I modified the file myself, printed it on a laser cutter, and tested for both right and left against a set of boards.

Pictures of finished result on one side:

[argcargv]

So the PCB is still the same? are the switches slightly angle(because you are putting alps on mx)?

[AKmalamute]

the switches will sit in the board straight, but you have to hold them that way.

 The point of a switch-plate, is to hold the switches still. So they don't rotate (or wobble).

I can't get to the posted sourcefiles for anything, but I've no doubt it could work. Any chance you could host them on dropbox or post the textual interior to pastebin, or something?

[dorkvader]

So the PCB is still the same? are the switches slightly angle(because you are putting alps on mx)?

I think the PCB is the same. ALPS legs are usually thinner, and the holes (for wider MX legs) have enough play in them that the switch should be straight.

I can't get to the posted sourcefiles for anything, but I've no doubt it could work. Any chance you could host them on dropbox or post the textual interior to pastebin, or something?

I DL'd them. re-hosting now.

edit: now hosted on GH at the end of my post

[insidion]

Thanks for re-hosting.

And yes, no modifications to the PCB and no rotation of the switches at all. The pins sit in the middle of one hole and against the edge of the other. Also the pins are very malleable, I had to check very carefully for folded pins while inserting into the plate.

[Findecanor]

The stabiliser holes are wrong.
You would also need a different top layer to make up for some of the switches being shifted.

[AKmalamute]

The stabiliser holes are wrong.

You don't think costar could be cajoled into stabilizing an ALPS switch? Granted I haven't tried, but the mechanism they rely on traditionally looks the same to my eyes, although maybe their wire would has an extra bend or something but it still seems like it would be workable.

You're right about the top lay but existing covers could be sanded just a bit ... it's only off by a tiny fraction of an inch the one time I looked closely at it ... which has been months now but ...

[dorkvader]

The stabiliser holes are wrong.

You don't think costar could be cajoled into stabilizing an ALPS switch? Granted I haven't tried, but the mechanism they rely on traditionally looks the same to my eyes, although maybe their wire would has an extra bend or something but it still seems like it would be workable.

You're right about the top lay but existing covers could be sanded just a bit ... it's only off by a tiny fraction of an inch the one time I looked closely at it ... which has been months now but ...

There exist alps keycaps with MX-shaped stems for stabilizer inserts. I assumed the OP had a few of those he was planning to use.

[jacobolus]

You don't think costar could be cajoled into stabilizing an ALPS switch?

If you buy keycaps from Signature Plastics, their Alps-mount keycaps use MX/Costar-style stabilizer mounts.

[Findecanor]

You don't think costar could be cajoled into stabilizing an ALPS switch?

That's not what I meant. I meant that the holes for the Costar stabilisers are in the wrong position to work properly with the shifted switch positions. It is as if the stabiliser holes were forgotten when making the Alps plate.

[Halbyrd]

Do these files have all the info an acrylic cutting service would need to produce a finished part (thickness, units already to scale, etc.)? I'd love to have a set of these printed, but i don't have 1.2 kilobucks to plonk down on AutoCAD just to check the file.

[AKmalamute]

Do these files have all the info an acrylic cutting service would need to produce a finished part (thickness, units already to scale, etc.)? I'd love to have a set of these printed, but i don't have 1.2 kilobucks to plonk down on AutoCAD just to check the file.

The file is a drawing, and actually there are lots of free utilities to let you see the drawing. I usually recommend IrfanView because it's so handy for almost everything. BUT I can tell you that, by design, the drawing files don't have units, and are two dimensional.

 That means you'll have to tell the cutter it's in millimeters, and what thickness / color of acrylic you want. DXF files never contain that information.

[jdcarpe]

Also, you can get free CAD software. AutoCAD student version, LibreCAD, FreeCAD, QCAD, etc...

[bcredbottle]

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[bcredbottle]

Does anyone know what thickness each layer must be? If the thickness is off, the PCB might get pressed up against the bottom layer or the plate...

[firerock]

As for the MassDrop Ergodox case (Litster's design) the thickness is:

from up to bottom: 2mm — 4mm — 5mm — 4mm — 2mm.