Dimensions of placement and size of stabilizer holes

[blondie]

Does anyone know where the stabilizer holes are placed relative to the center of the key switch? Also, what is their size? I understand there are two main types of stabilizers, but I can't find any documentation on any of their placement or size.

[Findecanor]

Most new DIY keyboard kits these days use PCB-mounted stabilisers, following Cherry's patterns.
Some are mounted to the PCB with screws, others just with clips.
The downside is that if you have a plate, the holes around the stabilisers need to be quite large.

Then there are stabilisers that mount to the plate instead: Cherry-style and Costar-style.
With Cherry's stabilisers (PCB or plate-mount) each stabiliser stem has a Cherry MX stem that is captive to the stabilisers, so you can pull and seat keycaps on them just like on switches.
With the Costar-style, you have to fiddle with the stabiliser wire each time you pull or seat a keycap.
You can see all types (and more) here: https://deskthority.net/wiki/Stabiliser under Cherry MX and Costar.

Cherry's older datasheets used to include hole patterns for stabilisers, both for PCB and plates.
A search for "keymodule MX" gave this: https://docs.rs-online.com/19cd/0900766b813d1126.pdf
The patterns are on page 2.

[MIGHTY CHICKEN]

Does anyone know where the stabilizer holes are placed relative to the center of the key switch? Also, what is their size? I understand there are two main types of stabilizers, but I can't find any documentation on any of their placement or size.

You can make a KLE using keyboard layouteditor than input into Ai03's plate generator to create an accurate plate with accurate holes

[blondie]

I figured someone would suggest KLE. I don't like it for a couple of reasons. First, no matter what I tried, I can't log into GitHub and have KLE recognize it so that I can save anything that I create there. It just hangs at "Signing in..." I've tried different web browsers to no avail.

Secondly, I see that it is completely unmaintained. There are some passionate developers who would love to continue this project, but the original author has kept the license proprietary and has basically left the scene.

So what I'm doing instead is modelling my keyboard in FreeCAD. It works well. If I get really ambitious (don't hold your breath), I might even try to make a workbench.

The PDF from Findecanor's second link seems to have the proper dimensions that I need, thanks. I'm not certain about the spacing for a 6.25u spacebar, but I guess I can figure it out based on one that I have.

[Leslieann]

On the KLE use the permalink button, then save the link.

If you're using freecad, check Thingiverse or grabcad and import someone else's files, just beware not all cad files are created equal, or working, or even valid, but comparing a few that are known to at least work should get you there. If you don't trust this, why trust a random person on a chat board as well, get a digital caliper and start measuring, harsh, but that's how it goes with free information.

[Findecanor]

I'm not certain about the spacing for a 6.25u spacebar, but I guess I can figure it out based on one that I have.

Standard space bars have each stabiliser stem's middle 1/2 unit from the end.  This rule applies to 6u, 6.25u, 7u and 8u.

So, for a standard 6.25u space bar, the distance between the middle points of the stabiliser stems is 6.25 - 2*½ = 5.25u, or 100.0 mm.

[blondie]

I'm not certain about the spacing for a 6.25u spacebar, but I guess I can figure it out based on one that I have.

Standard space bars have each stabiliser stem's middle 1/2 unit from the end.  This rule applies to 6u, 6.25u, 7u and 8u.

So, for a standard 6.25u space bar, the distance between the middle points of the stabiliser stems is 6.25 - 2*½ = 5.25u, or 100.0 mm.

Thanks a lot, this is exactly what I needed.