buckling spring with cherry on top

[Melvang]

If this project comes to fruition I would put Toxic on the bigfoot.

[Matt3o]

I doubt we can have all keys adapted (right shift is pretty problematic for example), but 1u should work.

[madhias]

Ah, then maybe only for novelties.

[0100010]

I wanted to thank madhias who volunteered his Model M to the cause. I received the keyboard few days ago and I'm ready to 3d print the beta 1 of the slider Crossing fingers, let me know if you spot any issue.

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Do you think that 'nub' on the bottom is sufficient to capture the top of the spring, from rest and through the buckle?

[dorkvader]

I wanted to thank madhias who volunteered his Model M to the cause. I received the keyboard few days ago and I'm ready to 3d print the beta 1 of the slider Crossing fingers, let me know if you spot any issue.

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Do you think that 'nub' on the bottom is sufficient to capture the top of the spring, from rest and through the buckle?

I think so.

If you look at a normal IBM cap it's not much bigger, and the spring is always in compression, so there's really nowhere else for it to go. We'll see once the prototypes arrive.

[Matt3o]

my spring nub/holder is actually bigger than the original one... so should work.

[Matt3o]

They arrived!

[geniekid]

WELL?!!?!?!?!?!?! 

[0100010]

It's......... beautiful!!!!

[Matt3o]

I need to make more changes... gosh this prototyping phase is expensive

[0100010]

Curious as to what is 'wrong' with them currently.

[Joey Quinn]

These look great, I need some.

[dorkvader]

I need to make more changes... gosh this prototyping phase is expensive

is there enough of a stem for the cherry cap to grip?

[Matt3o]

I need to make more changes... gosh this prototyping phase is expensive

is there enough of a stem for the cherry cap to grip?

yeah the stem works. the problem is that for some reasons the spring doesn't "click". There's very little room for error. Also 3d material is pretty rough while the slider needs to be smooth.

more testing needed.

[E TwentyNine]

yeah the stem works. the problem is that for some reasons the spring doesn't "click". There's very little room for error. Also 3d material is pretty rough while the slider needs to be smooth.

more testing needed.

Not certain what aspects of your design you're keying on, but I believe the angle of the spring mount point on the underside of the key has to a very specific angle for the buckling action to work properly.

[0100010]

yeah the stem works. the problem is that for some reasons the spring doesn't "click". There's very little room for error. Also 3d material is pretty rough while the slider needs to be smooth.

more testing needed.

Not certain what aspects of your design you're keying on, but I believe the angle of the spring mount point on the underside of the key has to a very specific angle for the buckling action to work properly.

↑ this x 100

Also the bottom 'lips' of the BS stem need to be very thin to provide clearance around the base of the spring.  As a slightly related example, sometimes with new stems from Unicomp there is some flash there which you can feel binding on the spring towards the bottom of the stroke which can be removed with a razor/exacto.

Sometimes when inserting the stem in the barrel, you have to orient the whole assembly "up" or "down" - depending on what direction the spring is 'pointing' in the barrel when it is in a vertical position.  I find for springs that rest towards the 'bottom' of the barrel, you need the orient the assembly so the spring falls towards the top of the barrel so that the stem and spring interface properly.

[dorkvader]

I think it's not the angle, but the position. The two ends of the spring are held at different locations, eccentrically loading it. For a slightly different feel, you could move it forward (toward the front of the KB) a bit and that would cause it to buckle for sure.

I agree with 0100010 about the inserting into barrels part. I actually tip the whole keyboard forward to make sure all the springs are rocked forward so I can insert the keycaps the proper way.

[Matt3o]

I believe the problem is in the spot where the springs lays. It is probably too deep (or not deep enough). That is the only measurement that I couldn't take.

[dorkvader]

I believe the problem is in the spot where the springs lays. It is probably too deep (or not deep enough). That is the only measurement that I couldn't take.

you mean how big the bump is? I will measure one now.

FWIW I do not think that to be an issue. To test this I sued a pin and something hard (a screwdriver) which poked out much further than normal. The spring still buckled.

But if the "bump" is too deep you will run into an issue if it's not for forward enough. I believe the eccentric loading of the spring causes it to buckle reliably.

[kalrand]

I'm kind of curious how this is progressing...

[fohat.digs]

I'm kind of curious how this is progressing...

Me too. It gets a lot more conversation on Deskthority.

[Matt3o]

I'm waiting for the second prototype.

[dark_samus]

Looks like just what I want.... how long do you think until these are available for 3d printing or somewhere I could buy a set?

[mattlach]

Apologies for resurrecting a very old thread, but did this effort die off, or did it just continue in a different thread somewhere?

I had considered trying to model and 3d print something like this myself, but some googling suggested it had already been done, which lead me here.

Very curious.