Author Topic: NOW OPEN SOURCE!!! swill's plate building tool [builder.swillkb.com]  (Read 3047193 times)

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Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #400 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 10:25:45 »
So I've been going back and forth with Simon over at bigbluesaw to make sure we can make this happen.  I sent him the data sheet on cherry switches (with tolerances allowed) and I'm also going to send a few spare plate mount switches his way so they can do a test fit before they cut out an entire plate and adjust accordingly.  He's definitely going way out of his way to help me out.
Ya. I have also been in touch with him as well.  I think he sees value in catering to our needs here at GH, which is pretty awesome. If we can get the details sorted out so we can confidently use their services and know what settings and such to build our cads with, they will be a great resource for us.

Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #401 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 10:30:53 »
awesome this is going in a good direction.  I'm just waiting on my order from mechanicalkeyboards.com and then I'll send over a few spare switches (ordered 100 only need 66)

Offline bueller

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #402 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 10:31:25 »
So I've been going back and forth with Simon over at bigbluesaw to make sure we can make this happen.  I sent him the data sheet on cherry switches (with tolerances allowed) and I'm also going to send a few spare plate mount switches his way so they can do a test fit before they cut out an entire plate and adjust accordingly.  He's definitely going way out of his way to help me out.

That's great! Sounds like they could be a valuable resource in the future :)
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 BigBlueSaw

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #403 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 11:39:44 »
I'd be careful about that.  I just had big blue saw cut a case for my keyboard out of acrylic (3mm top, .75" mid, 3mm bottom) and it came out pretty far off which I assume is because of kerf issues.  It's like they cut the inside cutout on the outside of my line so the opening for the keyboard top plate was much larger than I expected.  I also tried to use .75" acrylic for the center layer and it varied in thickness across a 6" span from 3/4" to 3/4+3/32 which is insane.  It turned into a big waste of money. 

Did you ever contact us about this?

Offline bueller

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #404 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 11:41:53 »
I'd be careful about that.  I just had big blue saw cut a case for my keyboard out of acrylic (3mm top, .75" mid, 3mm bottom) and it came out pretty far off which I assume is because of kerf issues.  It's like they cut the inside cutout on the outside of my line so the opening for the keyboard top plate was much larger than I expected.  I also tried to use .75" acrylic for the center layer and it varied in thickness across a 6" span from 3/4" to 3/4+3/32 which is insane.  It turned into a big waste of money. 

Did you ever contact us about this?

Welcome to GH!
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 BigBlueSaw

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #405 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 11:42:11 »
That's great! Sounds like they could be a valuable resource in the future :)

Feel free to post any questions!

Offline BigBlueSaw

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #406 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 11:45:29 »
Maybe mention to him that my tool will automatically account for kerf if we know how big it is. He may not be used to that.

One tricky part is that the kerf on the waterjet varies as the nozzle wears away. That's why it's best to let us compensate for kerf and do test fittings.

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #407 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 12:20:07 »
Maybe mention to him that my tool will automatically account for kerf if we know how big it is. He may not be used to that.

One tricky part is that the kerf on the waterjet varies as the nozzle wears away. That's why it's best to let us compensate for kerf and do test fittings.

Welcome to GeekHack.  :)

Thank you for jumping in and joining the conversation, your input is going to be VERY valuable around here.  Good point about the nozzle wear, I had not thought of that. 

Offline Dihedral

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #408 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 12:34:45 »
Add that to the list of 'moments when you wish you were in the US' on GH.

Offline MOZ

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #409 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 14:16:44 »
Nice to see BigBlueSaw here. Perhaps you want to register as a vendor and work more closely with this fantastic community.

Offline Melvang

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #410 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 14:40:33 »
In the future, (provided PCB and other hardware work out, is there a chance of being able to adapt this tool to make F type plates?
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Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #411 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 17:26:01 »
In the future, (provided PCB and other hardware work out, is there a chance of being able to adapt this tool to make F type plates?

How are F type plates different?  Can you link and image or something so I can see what would be involved in supporting it?

Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #412 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 22:19:55 »
Now if I could only find a way to get keycaps like this made...

http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/2babf7aa43f2738e65fd00fdbc84e609

Offline neverused

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #413 on: Wed, 04 February 2015, 23:32:12 »
Now if I could only find a way to get keycaps like this made...

http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/2babf7aa43f2738e65fd00fdbc84e609
You could try WASD keyboards, they have a template that your can download and design your keycaps in Adobe Illustrator I think...

Offline BigBlueSaw

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #414 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 07:38:20 »
Add that to the list of 'moments when you wish you were in the US' on GH.

Just e-mail me at the address on the website if  you need international shipping.

Offline BigBlueSaw

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #415 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 07:42:14 »
Perhaps you want to register as a vendor
How do I do that?

Offline azhdar

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #416 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 07:46:17 »
Perhaps you want to register as a vendor
How do I do that?
According to this thread : https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=67376.0
you need to contact admins about it.
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Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #417 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 08:47:00 »
Now if I could only find a way to get keycaps like this made...

http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/2babf7aa43f2738e65fd00fdbc84e609
You could try WASD keyboards, they have a template that your can download and design your keycaps in Adobe Illustrator I think...

I've looked there but I'm not a fan of any of the color options they have.

Offline Dihedral

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #418 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 10:01:20 »
Hey BigBlueSaw, what are your shipping costs to the UK? I can't find them online.

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #419 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 14:48:36 »
Add that to the list of 'moments when you wish you were in the US' on GH.

Just e-mail me at the address on the website if  you need international shipping.

Hey BigBlueSaw, what are your shipping costs to the UK? I can't find them online.
Email him as per his instructions and he will get you those detail. :)

Offline hwood34

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #420 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 15:03:56 »


What's this problem I've been having? Here's the layout
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Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #421 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 15:19:57 »
Show Image


What's this problem I've been having? Here's the layout

You have to paste the RAW DATA from the layout editor.  For yours it would be this.

["~\n`","!\n1","@\n2","#\n3","$\n4","%\n5","^\n6","&\n7","*\n8","(\n9",")\n0","_\n-","+\n=",{w:2},"Backspace"],
[{w:1.5},"Tab","Q","W","E","R","T","Y","U","I","O","P","{\n[","}\n]",{w:1.5},"|\n\\"],
[{w:1.75},"Caps Lock","A","S","D","F","G","H","J","K","L",":\n;","\"\n'",{w:2.25},"Enter"],
[{w:2.25},"Shift","Z","X","C","V","B","N","M","<\n,",">\n.","?\n/",{w:2.75},"Shift"],
[{w:1.25},"Ctrl",{w:1.25},"Win",{w:1.25},"Alt",{w:6.25},"",{w:1.25},"Alt",{w:1.25},"Win",{w:1.25},"Menu",{w:1.25},"Ctrl"]

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #422 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 15:38:06 »
Show Image


What's this problem I've been having? Here's the layout

Geez dude, read the instructions...  :P  Haha, I am totally joking and just messing with you.  Yes, like phishy said, you need to paste in the Raw Data for your layout.  You can then modify the raw data if you need to.  Click the "?" next to that field to get more details of what types of things you can change by modifying the raw data in my tool...  Let me know if you have questions.  I am not actually an ass and will do my best to answer any questions.  :)

Offline hwood34

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #423 on: Thu, 05 February 2015, 16:49:02 »
Show Image


What's this problem I've been having? Here's the layout

Geez dude, read the instructions...  :P  Haha, I am totally joking and just messing with you.  Yes, like phishy said, you need to paste in the Raw Data for your layout.  You can then modify the raw data if you need to.  Click the "?" next to that field to get more details of what types of things you can change by modifying the raw data in my tool...  Let me know if you have questions.  I am not actually an ass and will do my best to answer any questions.  :)

Show Image


What's this problem I've been having? Here's the layout

You have to paste the RAW DATA from the layout editor.  For yours it would be this.

["~\n`","!\n1","@\n2","#\n3","$\n4","%\n5","^\n6","&\n7","*\n8","(\n9",")\n0","_\n-","+\n=",{w:2},"Backspace"],
[{w:1.5},"Tab","Q","W","E","R","T","Y","U","I","O","P","{\n[","}\n]",{w:1.5},"|\n\\"],
[{w:1.75},"Caps Lock","A","S","D","F","G","H","J","K","L",":\n;","\"\n'",{w:2.25},"Enter"],
[{w:2.25},"Shift","Z","X","C","V","B","N","M","<\n,",">\n.","?\n/",{w:2.75},"Shift"],
[{w:1.25},"Ctrl",{w:1.25},"Win",{w:1.25},"Alt",{w:6.25},"",{w:1.25},"Alt",{w:1.25},"Win",{w:1.25},"Menu",{w:1.25},"Ctrl"]

Aha, thanks!
IV KWK Info Thread & KBK Info Thread IV (out of date)

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Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #424 on: Fri, 06 February 2015, 20:17:49 »
Got my switches today.  Gonna get a few sent out to bigbluesaw tomorrow and hopefully I can order these plates next week.  too excited.

Offline hwood34

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #425 on: Mon, 09 February 2015, 22:17:49 »
So I got this email back from big blue saw regarding a quote using this:
"Hi Harwood,

The keyboard plate building tool should have vector export soon; let's wait for that. It makes it much easier to give a quote/make the part."

I quickly searched through the thread and couldn't find anything about this, is that in progress now?
IV KWK Info Thread & KBK Info Thread IV (out of date)

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Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #426 on: Mon, 09 February 2015, 22:26:42 »
I believe swill and bigbluesaw have been having conversations behind the scenes.  Curious to see what comes out of this collaboration.  ^_^

Offline Melvang

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #427 on: Mon, 09 February 2015, 23:09:12 »
I believe swill and bigbluesaw have been having conversations behind the scenes.  Curious to see what comes out of this collaboration.  ^_^

Now this is now hype I can get on board with.
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Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #428 on: Mon, 09 February 2015, 23:27:09 »
So I got this email back from big blue saw regarding a quote using this:
"Hi Harwood,

The keyboard plate building tool should have vector export soon; let's wait for that. It makes it much easier to give a quote/make the part."

I quickly searched through the thread and couldn't find anything about this, is that in progress now?

Yes, I am working on this.  I should be able to support the DXF format as long as you don't use rounded corners on the plate.  Currently there is a bug in the DXF export lib which draws two of the 4 rounded corners correctly and two as circle cutouts in the corner of the plate.  I am doing some testing with the nightly builds of the cad core to see if I can get this working.  Hopefully I will have this out soon.  There are complications with the fact that I am not using a GUI as well, so I have to patch the DXF library just to be able to use it.  In short, I am working on it...  :)

For now, if you create a layout without rounded corners in my builder and then open it in FreeCAD and export as DXF it will work.

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #429 on: Mon, 09 February 2015, 23:43:14 »
I believe swill and bigbluesaw have been having conversations behind the scenes.  Curious to see what comes out of this collaboration.  ^_^

Now this is now hype I can get on board with.

:)  Yes, bigbluesaw and I have been exchanging emails to try to simplify the process for everyone from design to finished product.  We have been focusing mainly on finding ways for us to have predictable and repeatable results that are within our tolerances.  The main complication with this is the nozzle wear in the waterjet process.  The same design could produce different results because the kerf size will be different depending on the nozzle wear. 

At this point we have not come up with a definitive solution, but he is able to make parts to fit if he has the mating piece.  I may just have to stock him with both MX and Alps switches and some stabilizers that he can use for reference.

The laser cutting process is more predictable, but that process is only available for acrylic in this case.

We are working to try to make sure that people using the tool and their services will get the expected results without having to break their brains over it.  :)

Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #430 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 06:46:19 »
I believe swill and bigbluesaw have been having conversations behind the scenes.  Curious to see what comes out of this collaboration.  ^_^

Now this is now hype I can get on board with.

:)  Yes, bigbluesaw and I have been exchanging emails to try to simplify the process for everyone from design to finished product.  We have been focusing mainly on finding ways for us to have predictable and repeatable results that are within our tolerances.  The main complication with this is the nozzle wear in the waterjet process.  The same design could produce different results because the kerf size will be different depending on the nozzle wear. 

At this point we have not come up with a definitive solution, but he is able to make parts to fit if he has the mating piece.  I may just have to stock him with both MX and Alps switches and some stabilizers that he can use for reference.

The laser cutting process is more predictable, but that process is only available for acrylic in this case.

We are working to try to make sure that people using the tool and their services will get the expected results without having to break their brains over it.  :)

I'm heading to the post office today to send out 5-10 MX switches to him.  Hopefully this well help in the whole process.  I didn't even think about stabilizers though.  Have yet to order any for my own build so maybe I'll grab a few extra and get those over aswell.

Offline Dihedral

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #431 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 09:45:03 »
I believe swill and bigbluesaw have been having conversations behind the scenes.  Curious to see what comes out of this collaboration.  ^_^

Now this is now hype I can get on board with.

:)  Yes, bigbluesaw and I have been exchanging emails to try to simplify the process for everyone from design to finished product.  We have been focusing mainly on finding ways for us to have predictable and repeatable results that are within our tolerances.  The main complication with this is the nozzle wear in the waterjet process.  The same design could produce different results because the kerf size will be different depending on the nozzle wear. 

At this point we have not come up with a definitive solution, but he is able to make parts to fit if he has the mating piece.  I may just have to stock him with both MX and Alps switches and some stabilizers that he can use for reference.

The laser cutting process is more predictable, but that process is only available for acrylic in this case.

We are working to try to make sure that people using the tool and their services will get the expected results without having to break their brains over it.  :)

I'm heading to the post office today to send out 5-10 MX switches to him.  Hopefully this well help in the whole process.  I didn't even think about stabilizers though.  Have yet to order any for my own build so maybe I'll grab a few extra and get those over aswell.

really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. What hole style are you using.

Offline possumgumbo

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #432 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 10:01:53 »
Just wanted to let everyone know that the CAD files produced from the tool make perfectly viable plates on my friend's Solidoodle V3 3D Printer.
Here are some shots of the prototype:

http://imgur.com/24kdziP
http://imgur.com/Hw6nAQe

We added posts for stability on the underside.

Your tool is amazing!



Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #433 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 10:08:55 »
I believe swill and bigbluesaw have been having conversations behind the scenes.  Curious to see what comes out of this collaboration.  ^_^

Now this is now hype I can get on board with.

:)  Yes, bigbluesaw and I have been exchanging emails to try to simplify the process for everyone from design to finished product.  We have been focusing mainly on finding ways for us to have predictable and repeatable results that are within our tolerances.  The main complication with this is the nozzle wear in the waterjet process.  The same design could produce different results because the kerf size will be different depending on the nozzle wear. 

At this point we have not come up with a definitive solution, but he is able to make parts to fit if he has the mating piece.  I may just have to stock him with both MX and Alps switches and some stabilizers that he can use for reference.

The laser cutting process is more predictable, but that process is only available for acrylic in this case.

We are working to try to make sure that people using the tool and their services will get the expected results without having to break their brains over it.  :)

I'm heading to the post office today to send out 5-10 MX switches to him.  Hopefully this well help in the whole process.  I didn't even think about stabilizers though.  Have yet to order any for my own build so maybe I'll grab a few extra and get those over aswell.

really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. What hole style are you using.


Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #434 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 10:55:44 »
Just wanted to let everyone know that the CAD files produced from the tool make perfectly viable plates on my friend's Solidoodle V3 3D Printer.
Here are some shots of the prototype:

http://imgur.com/24kdziP
http://imgur.com/Hw6nAQe

We added posts for stability on the underside.

Your tool is amazing!

Ok, thats ****ing awesome.  Well done dude.  Thanks for sharing back your experience.  This is really cool to see.  :)  Love that people are already trying 3d printing of this stuff.  :)  Did you use the STP file?

Offline Dihedral

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #435 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 12:51:43 »
Just wanted to let everyone know that the CAD files produced from the tool make perfectly viable plates on my friend's Solidoodle V3 3D Printer.
Here are some shots of the prototype:

http://imgur.com/24kdziP
http://imgur.com/Hw6nAQe

We added posts for stability on the underside.

Your tool is amazing!

Ok, thats ****ing awesome.  Well done dude.  Thanks for sharing back your experience.  This is really cool to see.  :)  Love that people are already trying 3d printing of this stuff.  :)  Did you use the STP file?

HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH!

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #436 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 12:56:55 »
I believe swill and bigbluesaw have been having conversations behind the scenes.  Curious to see what comes out of this collaboration.  ^_^

Now this is now hype I can get on board with.

:)  Yes, bigbluesaw and I have been exchanging emails to try to simplify the process for everyone from design to finished product.  We have been focusing mainly on finding ways for us to have predictable and repeatable results that are within our tolerances.  The main complication with this is the nozzle wear in the waterjet process.  The same design could produce different results because the kerf size will be different depending on the nozzle wear. 

At this point we have not come up with a definitive solution, but he is able to make parts to fit if he has the mating piece.  I may just have to stock him with both MX and Alps switches and some stabilizers that he can use for reference.

The laser cutting process is more predictable, but that process is only available for acrylic in this case.

We are working to try to make sure that people using the tool and their services will get the expected results without having to break their brains over it.  :)

I'm heading to the post office today to send out 5-10 MX switches to him.  Hopefully this well help in the whole process.  I didn't even think about stabilizers though.  Have yet to order any for my own build so maybe I'll grab a few extra and get those over aswell.
Are you having him ship back the switches after?  I am going to desolder some alps switches from one of my boards and send them to him as well as some different stabilizers for him to keep so he can verify mating on all subsequent orders from us. If he is sending back your switches, I will also send him some MX switches.

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #437 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 13:00:08 »
Just wanted to let everyone know that the CAD files produced from the tool make perfectly viable plates on my friend's Solidoodle V3 3D Printer.
Here are some shots of the prototype:

http://imgur.com/24kdziP
http://imgur.com/Hw6nAQe

We added posts for stability on the underside.

Your tool is amazing!
Just out of curiosity. What would you estimate the cost of that prototype was?  I don't know why, but I am obsessed with bringing down the cost of prototyping. That was one of the main motivations of my 'minimal case'. It probably stems from my big imagination and small amount of disposable income I can justify for this hobby.

Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #438 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 13:03:59 »
I believe swill and bigbluesaw have been having conversations behind the scenes.  Curious to see what comes out of this collaboration.  ^_^

Now this is now hype I can get on board with.

:)  Yes, bigbluesaw and I have been exchanging emails to try to simplify the process for everyone from design to finished product.  We have been focusing mainly on finding ways for us to have predictable and repeatable results that are within our tolerances.  The main complication with this is the nozzle wear in the waterjet process.  The same design could produce different results because the kerf size will be different depending on the nozzle wear. 

At this point we have not come up with a definitive solution, but he is able to make parts to fit if he has the mating piece.  I may just have to stock him with both MX and Alps switches and some stabilizers that he can use for reference.

The laser cutting process is more predictable, but that process is only available for acrylic in this case.

We are working to try to make sure that people using the tool and their services will get the expected results without having to break their brains over it.  :)

I'm heading to the post office today to send out 5-10 MX switches to him.  Hopefully this well help in the whole process.  I didn't even think about stabilizers though.  Have yet to order any for my own build so maybe I'll grab a few extra and get those over aswell.
Are you having him ship back the switches after?  I am going to desolder some alps switches from one of my boards and send them to him as well as some different stabilizers for him to keep so he can verify mating on all subsequent orders from us. If he is sending back your switches, I will also send him some MX switches.

No I'm going to let him keep them.  I'm sending 10 switches, which is like 4 bucks worth.  This way he has plenty around to spot check the cuts for everyone going forward.  Do you know when you plan on sending some stabilizers?  If not before I place an order for my plate, maybe I'll just buy a few extra and send them out to him.

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #439 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 13:09:36 »
I believe swill and bigbluesaw have been having conversations behind the scenes.  Curious to see what comes out of this collaboration.  ^_^

Now this is now hype I can get on board with.

:)  Yes, bigbluesaw and I have been exchanging emails to try to simplify the process for everyone from design to finished product.  We have been focusing mainly on finding ways for us to have predictable and repeatable results that are within our tolerances.  The main complication with this is the nozzle wear in the waterjet process.  The same design could produce different results because the kerf size will be different depending on the nozzle wear. 

At this point we have not come up with a definitive solution, but he is able to make parts to fit if he has the mating piece.  I may just have to stock him with both MX and Alps switches and some stabilizers that he can use for reference.

The laser cutting process is more predictable, but that process is only available for acrylic in this case.

We are working to try to make sure that people using the tool and their services will get the expected results without having to break their brains over it.  :)

I'm heading to the post office today to send out 5-10 MX switches to him.  Hopefully this well help in the whole process.  I didn't even think about stabilizers though.  Have yet to order any for my own build so maybe I'll grab a few extra and get those over aswell.
Are you having him ship back the switches after?  I am going to desolder some alps switches from one of my boards and send them to him as well as some different stabilizers for him to keep so he can verify mating on all subsequent orders from us. If he is sending back your switches, I will also send him some MX switches.

No I'm going to let him keep them.  I'm sending 10 switches, which is like 4 bucks worth.  This way he has plenty around to spot check the cuts for everyone going forward.  Do you know when you plan on sending some stabilizers?  If not before I place an order for my plate, maybe I'll just buy a few extra and send them out to him.
I should be able to get them out in the next couple days. I have to find some time to desolder some switches from my alps board to give him since I don't have any loose alps switches.

I have some PCB and plate mounted cherry stabs, but I will have to take apart my QFR and steal some costar stabs from it to send him since I don't have any of them available either.

I should be able to get them out soon.

Offline Dihedral

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #440 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 13:12:43 »
On a side note, I didn't realise that 3D printing had the tolerances to be able to print plates. The more you know, I guess :)

Offline DrHubblePhD

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #441 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 13:53:08 »
Hey swill I tried using your tool, it created an accurate plate design but when I imported it into autodesk inventor it said the length was 173in long. Any fixes?

Offline MOZ

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #442 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 14:02:13 »
Hey swill I tried using your tool, it created an accurate plate design but when I imported it into autodesk inventor it said the length was 173in long. Any fixes?

When importing, choose the dimension metric as mm.

Offline DrHubblePhD

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #443 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 14:03:27 »
Hey swill I tried using your tool, it created an accurate plate design but when I imported it into autodesk inventor it said the length was 173in long. Any fixes?

When importing, choose the dimension metric as mm.

duh *facepalm*, thanks :thumb:

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #444 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 15:30:13 »
Hey swill I tried using your tool, it created an accurate plate design but when I imported it into autodesk inventor it said the length was 173in long. Any fixes?

When importing, choose the dimension metric as mm.

duh *facepalm*, thanks :thumb:

Haha.  That would have probably taken me a little while to figure out as well.  :)

Thanks Moz for the quick response to get him sorted.  :P

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #445 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 17:12:00 »
Small status update...

As you guys know, I have been back and forth with BigBlueSaw quite a bit recently.  They have been great to work with.  They have been very responsive and are genuinely interested in working with us and solving our specific problems.  I have pointed them to some MX and Alps switches as well as Costar stabilizers which they have purchased so they have units to do spot checking and validation of cutouts.  I will be sending them both Plate and PCB mounted Cherry stabilizers so they have a complete set of components as reference when working on our projects. 

I love that they are proactive and are purchasing the mating components that we rely on so they can guarantee a quality service for us.  That is above and beyond in my opinion and it really shows that they are serious about working together. 

We have also been discussing pricing quite a bit and we are trying to find ways to reduce costs wherever we can.  I have shared my back-of-the-napkin calculations for the cost of the different switch cutouts [1], and he agrees that it seems pretty acurate as a relative cost of the different cutouts.  It is good to get some validation on those assumptions.  He suggested that we could potentially save some cost by linking the switches together (not stopping cutting and moving from one switch cutout to the next while continuing to cut).  This will reduce the machining time because, as he says, "having the cutting head shut off, traverse to the next hole, switch back on to pierce the hole, then move to the cutting edge all takes time".  I commented that we may be able to do that between switches on the same row, but I was concerned that we may lose some structure and rigidity if we did that.  I think it also depends a bit on the material.  He agreed that it is probably not realistic for a whole row.  We will have to run some tests to see how many switches in a row we can link and not compromise structure.  We still do not know what the cost savings will be, but we do expect to be able save on costs by doing this.

I think thats pretty much it.  It has been great working with them, very proactive and engaged.  Good news for everyone...  :)

On my side.  I am still working on getting the DXF format supported.  I have run into a couple bugs in the core software.  I am continuing to patch and develop workarounds for the problems, so hopefully I will have some good news on that soon...  (back at it...)

[1]

Offline byker

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #446 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 17:19:28 »
Wow, great to hear swill! It is good news that BigBlueSaw is happy to work with you in making a more efficient process. It will hopefully turn out great if we can create a positive relationship with them, and hopefully have them as a go-to shop for plates!

Offline phishy

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #447 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 18:00:54 »
Small status update...

As you guys know, I have been back and forth with BigBlueSaw quite a bit recently.  They have been great to work with.  They have been very responsive and are genuinely interested in working with us and solving our specific problems.  I have pointed them to some MX and Alps switches as well as Costar stabilizers which they have purchased so they have units to do spot checking and validation of cutouts.  I will be sending them both Plate and PCB mounted Cherry stabilizers so they have a complete set of components as reference when working on our projects. 

I love that they are proactive and are purchasing the mating components that we rely on so they can guarantee a quality service for us.  That is above and beyond in my opinion and it really shows that they are serious about working together. 

We have also been discussing pricing quite a bit and we are trying to find ways to reduce costs wherever we can.  I have shared my back-of-the-napkin calculations for the cost of the different switch cutouts [1], and he agrees that it seems pretty acurate as a relative cost of the different cutouts.  It is good to get some validation on those assumptions.  He suggested that we could potentially save some cost by linking the switches together (not stopping cutting and moving from one switch cutout to the next while continuing to cut).  This will reduce the machining time because, as he says, "having the cutting head shut off, traverse to the next hole, switch back on to pierce the hole, then move to the cutting edge all takes time".  I commented that we may be able to do that between switches on the same row, but I was concerned that we may lose some structure and rigidity if we did that.  I think it also depends a bit on the material.  He agreed that it is probably not realistic for a whole row.  We will have to run some tests to see how many switches in a row we can link and not compromise structure.  We still do not know what the cost savings will be, but we do expect to be able save on costs by doing this.

I think thats pretty much it.  It has been great working with them, very proactive and engaged.  Good news for everyone...  :)

On my side.  I am still working on getting the DXF format supported.  I have run into a couple bugs in the core software.  I am continuing to patch and develop workarounds for the problems, so hopefully I will have some good news on that soon...  (back at it...)

[1]
(Attachment Link)

Awesome update man.  Good to hear this is all going so well.  I guess I need to get in touch with him and figure out what the plan will actually be with these plates I want cut.  Was going to place the order Friday to see how it goes.

Offline swill

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #448 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 19:38:18 »
Small status update...

As you guys know, I have been back and forth with BigBlueSaw quite a bit recently.  They have been great to work with.  They have been very responsive and are genuinely interested in working with us and solving our specific problems.  I have pointed them to some MX and Alps switches as well as Costar stabilizers which they have purchased so they have units to do spot checking and validation of cutouts.  I will be sending them both Plate and PCB mounted Cherry stabilizers so they have a complete set of components as reference when working on our projects. 

I love that they are proactive and are purchasing the mating components that we rely on so they can guarantee a quality service for us.  That is above and beyond in my opinion and it really shows that they are serious about working together. 

We have also been discussing pricing quite a bit and we are trying to find ways to reduce costs wherever we can.  I have shared my back-of-the-napkin calculations for the cost of the different switch cutouts [1], and he agrees that it seems pretty acurate as a relative cost of the different cutouts.  It is good to get some validation on those assumptions.  He suggested that we could potentially save some cost by linking the switches together (not stopping cutting and moving from one switch cutout to the next while continuing to cut).  This will reduce the machining time because, as he says, "having the cutting head shut off, traverse to the next hole, switch back on to pierce the hole, then move to the cutting edge all takes time".  I commented that we may be able to do that between switches on the same row, but I was concerned that we may lose some structure and rigidity if we did that.  I think it also depends a bit on the material.  He agreed that it is probably not realistic for a whole row.  We will have to run some tests to see how many switches in a row we can link and not compromise structure.  We still do not know what the cost savings will be, but we do expect to be able save on costs by doing this.

I think thats pretty much it.  It has been great working with them, very proactive and engaged.  Good news for everyone...  :)

On my side.  I am still working on getting the DXF format supported.  I have run into a couple bugs in the core software.  I am continuing to patch and develop workarounds for the problems, so hopefully I will have some good news on that soon...  (back at it...)

[1]
(Attachment Link)

Awesome update man.  Good to hear this is all going so well.  I guess I need to get in touch with him and figure out what the plan will actually be with these plates I want cut.  Was going to place the order Friday to see how it goes.
I am confident that if he has the switches and stabs that everything will work out well.

I think the more complicated stuff like determining what machining processes we can tweak to bring down costs will happen a bit more slowly since we will have to do some testing. 

Offline Melvang

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Re: swill's plate building tool
« Reply #449 on: Tue, 10 February 2015, 21:25:50 »
Small status update...

As you guys know, I have been back and forth with BigBlueSaw quite a bit recently.  They have been great to work with.  They have been very responsive and are genuinely interested in working with us and solving our specific problems.  I have pointed them to some MX and Alps switches as well as Costar stabilizers which they have purchased so they have units to do spot checking and validation of cutouts.  I will be sending them both Plate and PCB mounted Cherry stabilizers so they have a complete set of components as reference when working on our projects. 

I love that they are proactive and are purchasing the mating components that we rely on so they can guarantee a quality service for us.  That is above and beyond in my opinion and it really shows that they are serious about working together. 

We have also been discussing pricing quite a bit and we are trying to find ways to reduce costs wherever we can.  I have shared my back-of-the-napkin calculations for the cost of the different switch cutouts [1], and he agrees that it seems pretty acurate as a relative cost of the different cutouts.  It is good to get some validation on those assumptions.  He suggested that we could potentially save some cost by linking the switches together (not stopping cutting and moving from one switch cutout to the next while continuing to cut).  This will reduce the machining time because, as he says, "having the cutting head shut off, traverse to the next hole, switch back on to pierce the hole, then move to the cutting edge all takes time".  I commented that we may be able to do that between switches on the same row, but I was concerned that we may lose some structure and rigidity if we did that.  I think it also depends a bit on the material.  He agreed that it is probably not realistic for a whole row.  We will have to run some tests to see how many switches in a row we can link and not compromise structure.  We still do not know what the cost savings will be, but we do expect to be able save on costs by doing this.

I think thats pretty much it.  It has been great working with them, very proactive and engaged.  Good news for everyone...  :)

On my side.  I am still working on getting the DXF format supported.  I have run into a couple bugs in the core software.  I am continuing to patch and develop workarounds for the problems, so hopefully I will have some good news on that soon...  (back at it...)

[1]
(Attachment Link)

Awesome update man.  Good to hear this is all going so well.  I guess I need to get in touch with him and figure out what the plan will actually be with these plates I want cut.  Was going to place the order Friday to see how it goes.
I am confident that if he has the switches and stabs that everything will work out well.

I think the more complicated stuff like determining what machining processes we can tweak to bring down costs will happen a bit more slowly since we will have to do some testing.

Scraps from the back of the shear make great test plates.
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