So I've got a bigass chunk of metal for my plate
and a wiring plan
The controller will end up going in the empty space on the left.
In order for the chunk of metal to just sit flat on the desk I'll need to cut channels in the metal with a dremel. Not too bad but I want to minimize the number of cuts I have to make. I also want to avoid having overlapping channels, which means routing the column tracebacks (from end of col to the controller) along the top and bottom edges. With 12 proper columns that means 6 wires each in top/bottom.
The issue is the outside pair of keys, namely the one far from the controller. If I want to get that key all the way back to the controller then I need to add yet another long traceback wire.
What I was thinking was to instead just connect that pin to the case, and the case to the two switches.
Is this really dumb? I think it should work. Nothing else in the circuitry should be touching the case and the case will be on a wooden desk.