Punched plates

[yoippari]

Spoke with a metal fabrication shop today and asked about making a plate. They don't have a laser cutter but could do hole punching. Anyone done this before?

He said a custom punch (cherry switch with the side cutouts) would be about $300 and wholesale is 2.5¢ per punch. So on a group buy scale this might be possible but... That depends on whether a hole punched plate would be viable.

[Joey Quinn]

Punched plates should work.

After you cut out the plates and clean up the edges will this be cheaper than a GB for laser or water jet cut plates?

[yoippari]

Just the work including the initial cost of the tool would run about $16-$18 per plate after 20 plates for 40-104 key. Using the excel equivalent of napkin math it looks like you can get 24 JD40 plates out of a 2ftx4ft sheet. At $100/sheet that gives a material cost of $4.16 and a punching cost of $13.5 (not including screw holes and cutting individual plates out) per plate. So price per switch layer plate of $17.66+. Bottom layer, assuming sandwich case, would be a bit more than the material cost I'm guessing.

Like I said. Napkin math. Doesn't include any cleanup or cutting the plates from each other. But I'm guessing $30ish for the pair. Compare at $80 for a top and bottom that includes standoffs.

[yoippari]

Little bit more math. Same lack of complete cost info but a 99 switch hole Phantom is $36+. Gets 12 plates per 2'x4' sheet.

[Joey Quinn]

In the end it'll probably be about the same, it really depends on how much it costs to deburr/ remove the sharp edge left after a punch.

I ordered 3 42% SS sandwich cases for a custom my friend and I were making and they cost $50 each, if I expand that to 24 cases it ends up being $39 each (done through big blue saw). The only way I could see a 40% sandwich case costing $80 is if you only order 1, are getting some special finish (anod, powdercoat), or are using a different material (cf, brass, copper).

Does your cost factor in the custom die needed for the stabilizer holes?

[yoippari]

The $80 was just 1upkeyboard's jd40 sandwich case price. This is without any stabilizers. That would definitely add to the cost. Probably a couple hundred for the punch to do the side holes without the bar length so stuff like Plank, Preonic, my own little split preonic type thing I'm planning, and the 7bit Phantom where it is just key holes with 1u-1.5u keys. I'm thinking I'm going to ask if he has a 14mm square punch that would work for a prototype and see what additional costs are involved in cutting and cleaning.