blue alps board pcb, plate, case CAD files?

[korrelate]

All right, I'm having a hard time finding a board to put some SKCM blue alsp switches in and i'm thinking about following a thred i ran across on here and buildingg it out myself (pcb express, 3d printing, etc).

Anyone know where I can get the designs for the pcb, plate, and/or case?


Cheers,

K

[lkong]

FYI king saver can be used with alps.
Ergodox could work with alps with small tweaks.
For the least effort go with king saver.

[korrelate]

Thanks for the feedback. Ergodox is interesting but I just can't bring myself to retrain myself no matter how easy it may be. I've heard about the KingSaver (because of CptBadAss' video... that's pretty much why I'm into alps right now: his kingsaver sounds like the bees knees to my ears).

Also... I'm pretty happy with my TrikX so I'm not in any huge hurry so I'm going to take my time and pass on KingSaver only because I don't want to be tied to a Wang725 layout for the keycaps. Thanks for the thoughts, though! Seriously, I appreciate them!


Cheers,

K

[jacobolus]

What’s TrikX?

Anyway, as a way of solving your problem, I suggest just sending the blue Alps switches to me. Then you won’t need to worry about them.

More seriously, what kind of goals do you have for your project? Do you have any particular layout / keycaps / materials in mind?

If you’re looking for a somewhat conventional layout, the easiest thing to do for if you want to just make one single board is scavenge a plate from an existing keyboard (optionally cutting it down to the size you want), and then hand-wire a matrix on the back, and use a Teensy 2.0 for the controller. Then you don’t need to worry about designing a PCB. You can then design a case (layered laser-cut acrylic, CNC'd wood/acrylic/metal, 3d-print, whatever) to fit whatever shape you have.

Alternately, if you have a more unusual design in mind, you could try to get some water jet shop to cut you a custom steel plate. For Alps switches the plate needs 12.8 x 15.5 mm rectangular holes.

[dorkvader]

What’s TrikX?

PCB made by Team Redline in Korea.

[korrelate]

You know jacobulus? I think you just talked me into the matrix solution.

the caps I'd love for this thing are cherry font alps mount though: white on black and now i'm thinking about doing this thing in CNCd ebony.

anybody have any thoughts on what makes the best metal for a plate? i.e. why does it seem that the metal in a chicony sounds like complete ****?

cheers,

K

[jacobolus]

the caps I'd love for this thing are cherry font alps mount though: white on black

Good luck with that.

and now i'm thinking about doing this thing in CNCd ebony.

Sounds like a few hundred bucks at least to get someone to do that for you.

Speaking of ebony:

anybody have any thoughts on what makes the best metal for a plate? i.e. why does it seem that the metal in a chicony sounds like complete ****?

The problem in Chicony keyboards is the very flimsy case and the very flimsy keycaps, not the plate. I’d just use steel. With the ebony case idea, you’re clearly not worried about weight.