geekhack
geekhack Marketplace => Group Buys and Preorders => Topic started by: oneproduct on Fri, 02 March 2012, 20:43:20
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Got a price quote today, check out post #230 here: http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?28132-VIDEO-and-PICS-Aluminum-poker-cases&p=547909&viewfull=1#post547909
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EDIT: added pictures over here http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?28132-Interest-check-Poker-aluminum-or-stainless-steel-cases&p=540275&viewfull=1#post540275
It weighs 1 pound, 14 ounces without the keyboard inside it.
[video=youtube;CNSjdYfjhbk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNSjdYfjhbk[/video][video=youtube;47p43RY9rNc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47p43RY9rNc[/video]
Steel is no longer an option unfortunately.
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This is a follow up to this thread: http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?27565-feedback-Poker-metal-case-construction
It would probably be a good idea to read through that quick to get an idea of what this is about if you don't already know.
I do not have an actual prototype to show you as I can't pay to just make one then pay to make X more later without having to pay setup fees twice. What they do instead is they have something called a plotter which basically makes a 3D imitation of it in paper to make sure that everything fits alright and if that paper prototype is okay then I tell them how many I want and they'll put it into production. They'll be making this paper prototype sometime next week and assuming it's alright, they give me some price quotes.
I'm not sure exactly what the price is yet, but since I won't have an actual prototype to show I imagine nobody would want to pay up front, so I'm going to be paying for it all myself and then worrying about selling them once they are made. Because of this, I don't want to buy too many, so I mostly just need to figure out a ballpark for how many people are interested. The more orders there are, the cheaper things will be of course.
If you are interested in one of these, please POST here (don't PM me) saying how many you would want, whether you want it in aluminum or stainless steel, and maybe something like the highest price you would actually be interested in following through with the order is.
So for example, if you were interested in one in aluminum but only if it was less than $100, then just post:
1x aluminum
$100 max
So if you posted that and then the actual price came out to be $115, I wouldn't count your interest when figuring out how many I want to buy. I honestly don't know what the cost is going to be though, I'm thinking anywhere between $50 and $125. The materials are cheap, but it's basically the labor we are paying for. If they are much higher or much lower than what I expected or if there is anything significantly odd with how the case will turn out, then I'll come back and post some info again before I make any decisions. I won't use your highest price to try to con the most money out of you possible. I pretty much plan to just charge what the actual cost comes out to.
The metal will be 3/16" thick. Note that if you want it in stainless steel that it will be much heavier than aluminum (which may or may not be a good thing based on your personal opinion). This is the basic blueprints which I gave to them where the plan was to have the PCB rest almost directly against the bottom of the metal case instead of having the PCB sit on a few cylinders that accept the screws like the normal case does. This would reduce PCB flex that some people complain about with the poker. To do this though, several insets would have to have been cut into the metal itself which apparently wouldn't be that easy with what they have available (not a CNC machine), but what the person I had talked with came up with instead is that there would be a layer of plastic between the PCB and the bottom of the case where these insets would be cut in and holes for the screws tapped. So it would be PCB on top of some plastic on top of the metal case.
The walls of the case would come up to the bottom lip of the keycaps themselves (for those who didn't like the exposed sides of the case that Vortex was showing off). There will NOT be a hole cut out to access the DIP switches. The reason for this is that most people only need to set the dip switches once and then will never touch them again so it's nicer and easier to just have a smooth metal bottom. I don't think there's much else to say, the case is basically just a metal box without a top, but if you have any questions feel free to ask them. It may also be good to read up on the original thread.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]42490[/ATTACH]
This is the company that will be making it just in case anybody is curious: http://www.albertdavidson.com/english.html
My friend is the son of the guy who owns and runs the company.
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1x aluminum
$75-100
1x stainless steel
100-125
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1x aluminum
$75-100
1x stainless steel
100-125
Same thing
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1x aluminum
$75-100
1x stainless steel
100-125
Ah, whoops. Maybe I need to add something in my instructions. Did you mean you would be interested in one of each, or just one or the other?
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one of each
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1x aluminum
$75-100
1x stainless steel
100-125
It would push me to buy a poker; in4 what they said.
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Oh, by the way demik, how thick are the walls of imsto's case?
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no idea, i haven't gotten my hands on a caliper and my tools are at work
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I am interested, but I am having trouble conceptualizing what this will look like?!?
Anyways I guess I would be interested in a steel one 75-100 hopefully lower lol
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I am interested in an aluminum one. Would be great if it was under $80
I have a question though. What are you going to do with the seems? It looks like the sides will be bent up. Will they be welded? It seems like it will be hard to get them perfect if the plan is just to bend them and not join the edges.
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I have a question though. What are you going to do with the seems? It looks like the sides will be bent up. Will they be welded? It seems like it will be hard to get them perfect if the plan is just to bend them and not join the edges.
^ This. Also will it be anodized and what about the choice of colors? Please forgive me if it was already mentioned in the OP but I didn't see it. And you mentioned layers of plastic between PCB and the case, what kind of plastic and will it reduce flex. Sorry so many questions. lol
Anyway, I'd be interested in an aluminum one, $100 max.
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^ This. Also will it be anodized and what about the choice of colors? Please forgive me if it was already mentioned in the OP but I didn't see it. And you mentioned layers of plastic between PCB and the case, what kind of plastic and will it reduce flex. Sorry so many questions. lol
Anyway, I'm interested in an aluminum one, $100 max.
I asked before reaper about the anodizing and the answer was no that place doesn't do it.
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Yes, the corners will be folded up, welded together and then "polished" (think of maybe like sanding it smooth, but for metal?) which will make it look smooth, as if it were one continuous piece of metal.
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Ok great. That sounds good. I'm hoping the price is affordable. I know the labor isn't cheap.
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Could you post the 3d drawing (snapshots)? What colors do you have in mind?
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I asked before reaper about the anodizing and the answer was no that place doesn't do it.
Ok, thanks for clearing that up. =)
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no love for the race =(
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1x aluminum
$75-100
1x stainless steel
100-125
Sent from a phone...
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Ok, thanks for clearing that up. =)
Hopefully the OP will clarify. BUt last I heard it was just silver or natural metal.
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you can always just find a place that will do it for you
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Could you post the 3d drawing (snapshots)? What colors do you have in mind?
I don't have anything yet, but maybe I can try to get some from them in the next few days. They'll be off for the weekend.
There won't be any coloring, it will just be the color of the metal itself. So silver. :)
1x aluminum
$75-100
1x stainless steel
100-125
lol, seems like demik set a standard that nobody is willing to break. Aluminum is actually more expensive than steel, so it should be more like the opposite way around too heh.
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you can always just find a place that will do it for you
Very true.
I don't have anything yet, but maybe I can try to get some from them in the next few days. They'll be off for the weekend.
There won't be any coloring, it will just be the color of the metal itself. So silver. :)
lol, seems like demik set a standard that nobody is willing to break. Aluminum is actually more expensive than steel, so it should be more like the opposite way around too heh.
Ok hows this. As cheap as possible. I will probably go with whatever is cheaper. I really need to see one though before I lay down cash.
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I will say this about the coloring: If you use an automotive paint/primer that is meant for rims then it should both stick appropriately and look rather nice. It comes in a spray-can most of the time and is fairly easy to apply if you take the time and do 3-5 coats.
Also, I really hope this happens. I have been wanting a poker for awhile and if I get an aluminium or steel case for one I will for sure buy one in April.
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going to give a try with my spray gun + compressor
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Ok hows this. As cheap as possible. I will probably go with whatever is cheaper. I really need to see one though before I lay down cash.
Right, people aren't willing to put down any cash up front which is why I was trying to go for this route. I can't show one unless I pay setup costs, but then if I did that I'd have to pay setup costs again when I actual get orders and that would just make them more expensive. Think of SP's price brackets in our group buys: buying 100 keys two times is much more expensive than buying 200 keys in one shot because of setup fees.
So I need to know about how many people are interested and about how much they are willing to pay at most because I'm going to be putting down several thousand dollars of my own money to pay for them up front and then worry about selling them. Obviously if the quality is not good I know I wouldn't be able to sell any so I wouldn't buy any, so that won't be a problem. Assuming it is good though I need to know how many I can safely order without ending up with a bunch of leftover metal cases.
I'll try to get some extra pictures and information as they become available though.
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Right, people aren't willing to put down any cash up front which is why I was trying to go for this route. I can't show one unless I pay setup costs, but then if I did that I'd have to pay setup costs again when I actual get orders and that would just make them more expensive. Think of SP's price brackets in our group buys: buying 100 keys two times is much more expensive than buying 200 keys in one shot because of setup fees.
So I need to know about how many people are interested and about how much they are willing to pay at most because I'm going to be putting down several thousand dollars of my own money to pay for them up front and then worry about selling them. Obviously if the quality is not good I know I wouldn't be able to sell any so I wouldn't buy any, so that won't be a problem. Assuming it is good though I need to know how many I can safely order without ending up with a bunch of leftover metal cases.
I'll try to get some extra pictures and information as they become available though.
Sorry if I came off rude. This is totally cool what you are doing and I understand you are taking a big risk here. There is a pretty large demand for these so if they turn out good I think you will do ok.
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no idea, i haven't gotten my hands on a caliper and my tools are at work
An estimate with a ruler would be fine. And also perhaps some personal comments as to if you think 3/16" would be too thick or such after you do. I don't have the privilege of judging first hand. :)
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I'd be keen for 1 of each, not too phased on price but less than $100 would be good. Powdercoating may be a better option than paint too for people that want to get them coloured, it's also cheap to have done.
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I'd be keen for 1 of each, not too phased on price but less than $100 would be good. Powdercoating may be a better option than paint too for people that want to get them coloured, it's also cheap to have done.
I'll be charging pretty much what the actual cost ends up being. I don't expect it could be much higher than $100 but it could be much lower for all I know. Still, it's good to see that people are willing to pay a little towards the higher end of my guesstimate spectrum in case costs do end up landing there. I've only talked to the production planner so far. There's a separate guy who does estimates, but I'll see if I can get a ballpark figure earlier.
In general though, if anybody is phased by the ~$100 that other people are putting out there don't be shy. If you're only in for one if it's like $50ish then just say so, and if it isn't I just won't get that extra one for you if it ends up being much more.
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1x aluminum
1x stainless steel
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1x aluminum
1x stainless steel
Ditto.
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In for 1 stainless. Pretty much anything under $150 and I'm good.
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i don't really buy this design as-is, but the way to do this is to order a few prototypes at a time until you have a design that both works and that they can manufacture. you amortize this development cost by charging more for each finished unit than is charged by the manufacturer #business101
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i don't really buy this design as-is, but the way to do this is to order a few prototypes at a time until you have a design that both works and that they can manufacture. you amortize this development cost by charging more for each finished unit than is charged by the manufacturer #business101
Cool start showing the prototypes you have made. Or is it that you haven't done anything like that and are just trying to bring down the person actually doing something about their ideas.
When you get to business 201 you'll learn "Talk is cheap. Do something!" is another basic rule of life.
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Actually I have a better idea. You fund the multiple prototypes and oneproduct gets them made up. Then when you have the final idea see how much your amortising of multiple set up costs works over multiple prototype as far as the final version and if work out over $100 you subsidise the process to produce a version at the $100 that the market research shows so far the buyer will bear. Hows that for business risk basics?
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i don't really buy this design as-is, but the way to do this is to order a few prototypes at a time until you have a design that both works and that they can manufacture. you amortize this development cost by charging more for each finished unit than is charged by the manufacturer #business101
Yea, I had thought about that, but a few things that kind of sway me away:
1. The setup fee represents a substantial part of the process, so iterating through prototypes that have to actually be manufactured isn't so great. My friend said that at around 60 cases the cost increase becomes about linear, so that is somewhat indicative of the impact of setup fees. I don't expect to have more than around 30 orders.
2. I wanted to keep the cost as low as possible because I don't really want to end up near the... $170 (?) that imsto's cases went for.
3. Even if there are some minor problems with the design people will still probably like it anyways just because it's a metal case and we ooh and aah over that kind of thing. In general we're pretty much just talking about a metal box here so there's not all that much that can really go wrong/be different though.
4. The fact that the shop is letting me do this is kind of like a favor to me. Normally they don't deal with such small orders, so I don't want to cause too much of a fuss, though of course I want to make sure that the case comes out as good as it can be.
Still though, it's basically fitting into the original design that we wanted, where there would be insets cut into the bottom. And just like how you wanted washers along the bottom, there is instead now a whole sheet of plastic on top of the base of the case that the PCB will sit on and that it will be screwed into.
I do definitely wish that I could have a prototype to show off and really make sure that everything was perfect, but I'll have to settle for the plotter's imitation. Since I'm not asking for people's money in advance, if something goes bad I'm the only one who loses money as people could just decide not to buy the final product once it's ready.
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In for one, whichever is cheaper.
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In for one, whichever is cheaper.
In general they will be very similar in price, probably within $5 of each other with steel being the cheaper one. The cost will be mostly from labor, not materials. It's better to just pick the one that you think you would prefer. Aluminum is lighter weight and lighter color while steel is heavier, and some people like that extra weight as a sign of solidity.
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I'd probably get one if they were cheap..
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1x Aluminum
1x Stainless Steel
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Imsto's were 140, not 170.
They only were 170 due to EMS shipping
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Imsto's were 140, not 170.
They only were 170 due to EMS shipping
Ah, thanks. I'm still aiming for less than that though. A bunch of people aren't posting any sorts of numbers so I think I'm going to start to assume that anything over $100 and it's kind of a no-go. But again, that's kind of the upper bound that I am guessing on price, so it shouldn't be any worse than that but it could be a lot better. But I guess I'll just wait to get an estimate instead of making too many presumptions about costs.
Assuming that all will go well, it might also be good to consider if anybody in the US would want to handle distribution instead of me sending it out to each person individually since I'm in Canada. Could cut back on shipping costs nicely.
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Find out how much a prototype costs and I'd like to fund one so ppl will feel safer buying one
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I'd be in for one aluminum if it's around $100. If I can get two for around that price then I'd take two.
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Find out how much a prototype costs and I'd like to fund one so ppl will feel safer buying one
I don't think that it's going to be reasonable enough to consider, but I'll ask some questions on Monday or Tuesday.
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I'd be willing to help out in shipping. I'm located in California.If that's something your serious about let me know.
And Demik that's pretty awesome of you.
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I'd be willing to help out in shipping. I'm located in California.If that's something your serious about let me know.
And Demik that's pretty awesome of you.
I'm in Eastern Canada, so you're pretty much on the other side of North America from me. Should probably find someone else either closer to me or more central within the US, but thanks for the offer. On the bright side, since these will be made in Canada, NAFTA should keep them duty free at the border!
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I'm in Eastern Canada, so you're pretty much on the other side of North America from me. Should probably find someone else either closer to me or more central within the US, but thanks for the offer. On the bright side, since these will be made in Canada, NAFTA should keep them duty free at the border!
Yah I guess that wouldn't make sense. We need someone in kansas!!! ;)
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1x Stainless Steel
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no love for the race =(
Really not a fan of the race because it doesn't really need that function row and I hate the right column with pg up/down, home and end. I think that the poker and HHKB do the small layout with Fn layer better. I might buy a pure in the future though, but those will be available for purchase with a metal case already. Maybe if we're lucky its PCB will have the same physical arrangements because all they did was move around the function layer and add a screw in the middle of the PCB. If that's the case, you could use this same metal case for that by just tapping another screw hole. We'll have to get somebody to put up some pictures once they get it.
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Yea, I had thought about that, but a few things that kind of sway me away:
1. The setup fee represents a substantial part of the process, so iterating through prototypes that have to actually be manufactured isn't so great. My friend said that at around 60 cases the cost increase becomes about linear, so that is somewhat indicative of the impact of setup fees. I don't expect to have more than around 30 orders.
2. I wanted to keep the cost as low as possible because I don't really want to end up near the... $170 (?) that imsto's cases went for.
3. Even if there are some minor problems with the design people will still probably like it anyways just because it's a metal case and we ooh and aah over that kind of thing. In general we're pretty much just talking about a metal box here so there's not all that much that can really go wrong/be different though.
4. The fact that the shop is letting me do this is kind of like a favor to me. Normally they don't deal with such small orders, so I don't want to cause too much of a fuss, though of course I want to make sure that the case comes out as good as it can be.
Still though, it's basically fitting into the original design that we wanted, where there would be insets cut into the bottom. And just like how you wanted washers along the bottom, there is instead now a whole sheet of plastic on top of the base of the case that the PCB will sit on and that it will be screwed into.
I do definitely wish that I could have a prototype to show off and really make sure that everything was perfect, but I'll have to settle for the plotter's imitation. Since I'm not asking for people's money in advance, if something goes bad I'm the only one who loses money as people could just decide not to buy the final product once it's ready.
i'm 100% willing to help out with prototyping. i've been wanting to get something like this done anyway. i can also help out with US distribution. PM me, demik and lightsout if this sounds good to you.
ps, these are pretty reasonably concerns. we'd like to know the costs involved though so we can get things as perfect as reasonably possible before a large run is made.
pps, one reason to get this right is that it will work with a large number of keyboard designs -- the upcoming dox, the pure, and the poker; i think there will be a fair amount of demand for this (i want at least a few for one)
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Yah I'm down for whatever. Just figured I'd offer to help but I'm out here on the west.
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i'm 100% willing to help out with prototyping. i've been wanting to get something like this done anyway. i can also help out with US distribution. PM me, demik and lightsout if this sounds good to you.
ps, these are pretty reasonably concerns. we'd like to know the costs involved though so we can get things as perfect as reasonably possible before a large run is made.
pps, one reason to get this right is that it will work with a large number of keyboard designs -- the upcoming dox, the pure, and the poker; i think there will be a fair amount of demand for this (i want at least a few for one)
I sent out an email to my point of contact but he'll be out of the office until Monday of course. I asked to see if he could try to get me a ballpark figure for costs; estimates are done by another person. I'll be meeting with him again this Friday I believe.
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sounds good.
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I'm interested in an aluminum Poker case.
1x aluminum
$100 max
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Interested in either material. Under 100 sounds right (for whats basically a metal rectangle) Somebody mentioned powdercoating as a possible finish. This would be amazing.
Sent from my LT15a using Tapatalk
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I'd be very interested in an aluminium one for <$100
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1x aluminum
$100 max
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Titanium Filco case.
BroHoof.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]42619[/ATTACH]
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1x aluminum
$75-100
got a choice in a colour? Red / Black a possibility or is it just Silver Alu
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Just the natural color of the metal you choose. Some people have been discussing some ways of coloring it on your own though, so might be of interest to flip through the thread to see.
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I'd be keen for 1 of each, not too phased on price but less than $100 would be good. Powdercoating may be a better option than paint too for people that want to get them coloured, it's also cheap to have done.
anodizing is also very cheap.
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In for one if either can go below $75.
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In for either sub $100 would be nice. Prefer aluminum, but steel would be fine.
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In for one if either can go below $75.
What's up with your SP grab bag key caps? Should you even be allowed to make purchases before you have finished actually getting those keys out to the people who have requested them?
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I would love one if it's sub $70.
Preferably aluminum.
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anodizing is also very cheap.
But what about the plastic insert? Will it be removable?
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i would highly prefer anodized versions. it would be great if we could pick between 2 colors.
willing to pay $100 for the alum or $100 stainless steal
(whichever one is lower; but would prefer alum)
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But what about the plastic insert? Will it be removable?
I don't think it will be, but I'll let you know when I find out for sure.
i would highly prefer anodized versions. it would be great if we could pick between 2 colors.
willing to pay $100 for the alum or $100 stainless steal
(whichever one is lower; but would prefer alum)
If you want to get it colored, you have to do it on your own somewhere afterwards as they don't have the equipment to do that. Stainless steel is a bit cheaper, but it will probably be within $5 to aluminum so I'll consider you towards that.
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I'm in for a stainless steel one around $100.
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What's up with your SP grab bag key caps? Should you even be allowed to make purchases before you have finished actually getting those keys out to the people who have requested them?
Heh, it is a forum sale after all, and I warned you it was going on the back burner. You can imagine that it takes much less effort to spend money than to make money. :-)
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I would be down for steel for 100.
There aren't many steel cases around (at least not yet) :dance:
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steel for ~100, would get an aluminium if that was the only option. I just really want a metal box that I can put this keyboard in. It needs weight.
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oneproduct: can you float the idea of a rubberized sheet of some kind? some kind of durable, multiple-layer deal maybe a bit like an ESD mat, with some ability to compress to accommodate the underside of the pcb, but not so much that the pcb can flex. thickness would be maybe 1-2mm.
also, materials-wise we want something that won't build up static charge.
removable or bonded to the metal would both be fine, as long as it was precisely cut to fit.
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oneproduct: can you float the idea of a rubberized sheet of some kind? some kind of durable, multiple-layer deal maybe a bit like an ESD mat, with some ability to compress to accommodate the underside of the pcb, but not so much that the pcb can flex. thickness would be maybe 1-2mm.
also, materials-wise we want something that won't build up static charge.
removable or bonded to the metal would both be fine, as long as it was precisely cut to fit.
In place of the plastic or as an additional layer above it? It would have to be at least 4mm thick for the USB jack to be able to fit in a groove cut into the fabric if it were replacing the plastic. Have a link to an example of the type of material you mean?
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i was thinking that this would be in place of the plastic, but given what you're saying, it could be on top too.
that is, have a 2.5mm sheet of ABS with a cutout for the usb jack and other large items on the bottom of the pcb, bond that to the metal. then, layer a softer anti-stat polymer on top of the ABS with the same cutouts for the board to actually rest on.
esd mats: https://www.google.com/search?q=esd+mat&hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS473US473&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=nSNUT4HDLMGU0QHS9d3aCw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CHAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1080&bih=1835
we don't have to be particularly hardcore with this, though. a layer of rubber is basically fine. notice that imsto used what looks literally like a piece of anti-slip carpet mat cut to size with this case (although his was anodized..)
ps, presumably the guy you're going to talk to is an engineer who knows their production processes. don't forget to show this dude/tte the PCB, imsto's case, and the vortex case!
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1x aluminum 75-100$
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1x Al
$100 max
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i was thinking that this would be in place of the plastic, but given what you're saying, it could be on top too.
that is, have a 2.5mm sheet of ABS with a cutout for the usb jack and other large items on the bottom of the pcb, bond that to the metal. then, layer a softer anti-stat polymer on top of the ABS with the same cutouts for the board to actually rest on.
esd mats: https://www.google.com/search?q=esd+mat&hl=en&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS473US473&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=nSNUT4HDLMGU0QHS9d3aCw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CHAQ_AUoAQ&biw=1080&bih=1835
we don't have to be particularly hardcore with this, though. a layer of rubber is basically fine. notice that imsto used what looks literally like a piece of anti-slip carpet mat cut to size with this case (although his was anodized..)
ps, presumably the guy you're going to talk to is an engineer who knows their production processes. don't forget to show this dude/tte the PCB, imsto's case, and the vortex case!
Yup. I left my Poker with him and showed him a bunch of photos of imsto's case both with and without the keyboard sitting within it. I was going to do something similar with some cheap anti-slip rubber mat that I got from a type of home furniture store that I originally bought as a non-slip surface to put bars of soap on. I had a picture of it in the feedback thread and it looks pretty similar to what imsto had. In any case, this would be doable by the end-user by unscrewing the PCB from the plastic, putting in whatever you want after cutting out some holes and screwing it back together. I may end up doing it on this end though since that was originally part of my plan before the plastic was introduced.
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well, i'd rather have something more polished looking than carpet mat, but let's see what he thinks.
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Want so much. 1x aluminum - $100 max
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I don't think it will be, but I'll let you know when I find out for sure.
If you want to get it colored, you have to do it on your own somewhere afterwards as they don't have the equipment to do that. Stainless steel is a bit cheaper, but it will probably be within $5 to aluminum so I'll consider you towards that.
yep. if it is just $5-10 extra then i'll take the aluminium.
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well, i'd rather have something more polished looking than carpet mat, but let's see what he thinks.
You can hardly see it, if at all.
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I'd be interested in an alu case <$100.
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I'd be in for a Stainless Steel case at <= $125.00.
I think the shop that painted my Mustang has some "Laser Red" paint left over. ;-)
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I don't have a poker, but i'm in for aluminum, $125 max I guess.
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Aluminum x 1
$125 Price Limit
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in 1 for 100$max
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x1 $100ish
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Just tallied everything up and there's interest for 42 cases, which is pretty good. He said he should have something for me to look at tomorrow, so I'm going to give him a visit and take a peek.
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Just tallied everything up and there's interest for 42 cases, which is pretty good. He said he should have something for me to look at tomorrow, so I'm going to give him a visit and take a peek.
Snapping some pics?
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I'm interested in an aluminum one for around $100.
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Yes please take some sort of pic.
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I only have a cell phone to take pictures with but I'll take some shots.
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can you borrow a camera? also ask about prototyping fees etc etc etc. let's plan for a run of about 80 units?
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can you borrow a camera? also ask about prototyping fees etc etc etc. let's plan for a run of about 80 units?
Sounds great when your not the one paying up front.
Preorders?
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i volunteered to put capital into this buy if the design and production look good.
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[video=youtube;CNSjdYfjhbk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNSjdYfjhbk[/video]
Got a prototype made. This one is aluminum and the outside has been glass beaded (like sand blasting). I have a bunch of pictures as well but I'll post those a little later with some information about everything as I'm heading out for an hour right now.
The ugly bit near the USB jack will be nicer on the final one of course. Not pictured in this video is the insert that goes in the case, which they actually made out of metal rather than plastic. Will have pictures up shortly.
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That looks _fantastic_ (although I do wish they could powdercoat...). I am in for this. PM me (and demik?) if you're ok with collaborating
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Not bad. And yeah the USB hole needs to be cleaned up a bit.
How is the weight? I am definitely in for one or even two.
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f*ck.... now I want a Poker :-(
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The metal inset is where we will be screwing in the pcb right?
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I dont know about you guys, but I wish the usb hole on imstos case was a little bigger and the one on this case appears to be even smaller
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I wish it was perfectly fitted to make it more stable.
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I wish it was perfectly fitted to make it more stable.
Yea that would be ideal, but probably alot of work to have it mounted flush with the case
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I dont know about you guys, but I wish the usb hole on imstos case was a little bigger and the one on this case appears to be even smaller
The hole will actually be made bigger than it is now. With the thickness of this metal case being more than that of the plastic one, the female receptor for the USB doesn't reach out as far so I'm going to get them to make the hole to match the dimensions of the black plastic bit of the male end of the USB (slightly bigger actually so that it has some working room). This will also keep the connection a little more protected.
There were two problems with the prototype that will be fixed. First, the cutout in the metal insert for the USB jack doesn't go back far enough and second I didn't allow enough vertical wiggle room for the USB jack when measuring the height of the cutout on the back wall of the case. Because of this, in the pictures where I have the PCB in there, you may notice that the back side of the board is slightly tilted down as the USB jack could just barely get inside the hole. This will be fixed of course.
Because the metal gets marked during the bending process, I'll will be glass beading them all except if somebody specifically wants one to be left the way it is (maybe they like the rugged look).
The USB hole will be fixed so that it is rounded like the edge of the case instead of square as it is in these images, but it may have some traces of those lines from the cut left, as they must be made to do the bending part. It's possible they could try to weld the lines shut though, I'll ask about it.
For the metal insert, some guiding cuts are made along the left and right walls of the case and the insert will be placed in there and welded into position.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43272[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43273[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43274[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43275[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43276[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43277[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43278[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43279[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43282[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43283[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43284[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43285[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43286[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43287[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43288[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43289[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43290[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43291[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43292[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43293[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43294[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43295[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43296[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43297[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43298[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43299[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43300[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43301[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43302[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43303[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43304[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43305[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43306[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43307[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43308[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43309[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43310[/ATTACH]
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Also keep in mind that there may be some minor imperfections here and there as these are hand made, but as you can see it's pretty good I think.
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Nothing a little powdercoating or anodizing can't hide.
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That is an over-abundance of metal... sheesh.
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That is an over-abundance of metal... sheesh.
Feel free to make yourself one from aluminum foil.
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how much does the proto weigh?
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That is an over-abundance of metal... sheesh.
Yea. The first plan was to just have the cuts made into the metal base, but they said it would be too hard to cut into it without going all the way through. So instead there's now a metal insert. On the plus side, for those who like their keyboards to have a lot of weight, this only helps. :)
In terms of cost this won't really add anything because again, it's really the labor we are paying for, the metal is cheap. The person who does the estimates is on vacation but he'll be back next week so hopefully I'll hear about what the price will be soon.
how much does the proto weigh?
I didn't get a chance to weigh it, they didn't have a scale there and I left it there for them to work with. It wasn't obnoxiously heavy for those who are worried about that, you can see that I can move it in the air with one hand easily in the video. Aluminum overall is pretty light though, so if you're really interested in it being heavy then I'd recommend you go with steel which will be much heavier.
EDIT: density of aluminum is 2.7 g/cm^3 and steel is 7.8 g/cm^3, so it would be more than 3 times heavier. Based on my blueprints a rough estimate would then be 28.9*9.7*0.47625*2 = 267 g or 0.59 pounds for aluminum if I got that right (just did two times the middle section, one for the case and one for the insert).
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soo.. open to a US collaborator? i'm here...
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more than anything, those pictures make me really really want a nyan row.
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Yea. Once I get them all made it would be best if there was someone in either Eastern or central US for me to ship out all the US orders to because it would probably be much cheaper on shipping than if I sent out each one individually from out of the country.
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Doesn't look bad (except for the cut for the usb...that pretty ugly). Two main comments though...
1) I still think it is too thick...could get much better formability if you went with something thinner.
2) If you were to angle the pcb inside (aka have different height front and rear walls and triangular side walls) you would potentially be able to put the USB slot above the bend and get rid of that eye-sore of a cutout.
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^ This is just a prototype.
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Doesn't look bad (except for the cut for the usb...that pretty ugly). Two main comments though...
1) I still think it is too thick...could get much better formability if you went with something thinner.
2) If you were to angle the pcb inside (aka have different height front and rear walls and triangular side walls) you would potentially be able to put the USB slot above the bend and get rid of that eye-sore of a cutout.
I think that a lot of people, myself included, like it to be thick as a sign of sturdiness and because it adds weight.
If the PCB were angled then the keys would be angled along with it which would affect usability. Also, having the PCB lie flat against a metal base will keep it sturdier than the way that it is done in the Poker's normal case, which would be similar to what you are suggesting. It would be easier instead to just have the metal insert inside be thicker so that the USB jack would be higher up if we did want to get it away from the bend. That's not actually too bad of an idea, it would just make the walls have to be a little higher. But also remember that the cutout won't look so bad on the final one, this was just done quick to show off the general concept. The cutout probably won't be perfect either (unless I can get them to kind of weld the lines shut after they round off the square bit), but it's also on the back side of the case and would pretty much be hidden from sight by the USB cable anyways, though obviously I will try to make it look as good as I can.
While the Poker's original case keeps the PCB slanted, that's because the case doesn't have feet you can flip out like on other keyboards. I never use the flip out feet, and for ergonomic purposes people really shouldn't in general, so I want it to lie flat and if people want otherwise they can buy little plastic nubs which you can get from a home furniture store.
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Wow, looks sweet to me. I bought the poker just cuz I think it looks cool; not for portability or anything. Mine needs all the added weight it can get in my opinion. Really liking that rough steel look.
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Wow, looks sweet to me. I bought the poker just cuz I think it looks cool; not for portability or anything. Mine needs all the added weight it can get in my opinion. Really liking that rough steel look.
Hah, I figured someone might like the rough look. I'll have to ask everyone about exactly what they want when time comes to actually get these made.
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Bead blasted for me. Let's see how those seems look in the end, that's the deciding factor for me.
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Is the PCB not slightly angled in the stock poker case? That's all that I'm referring to.
The reason I don't like the thickness is because it gives you much larger bend radii. This can make it look a bit smoother (more rounded), but it also contributes to that usb cutout being in the bend rather than in the flat.
^ This is just a prototype.
I realize this, but if that is the way that the builder plans on making the cutout for the usb connection, then I think it looks ugly.
I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I like the idea of an unfinished stainless case, just simple with a couple of bends and plasma cuts and no welding. There would be small gaps in the corners, but that wouldn't matter because it would be clean looking. I'll model something up this weekend....for serious this time.
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Is the PCB not slightly angled in the stock poker case? That's all that I'm referring to.
Yes, it is, but that's done because the case as a whole is on a slant to simulate the fold out feet that other keyboards have which the Poker doesn't. However, I'm not a fan of the fold out feet on keyboards because they force your wrists to incline backwards which is unergonomic, so I'd rather have it flat (and you would ideally have a negative incline). It's easier to get little rubber feet from a home furniture store if you wish to incline it, plus you'll need to get some anyways unless you just want the metal case to lie against your desk.
I'll see what I can do about the cutout though to make it a bit nicer.
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probably in
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Looks sweet. Now I just need to get a poker before it's order time.
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1x aluminum
$75-100
1x stainless steel
$100-125
Exactly the same as this guy..........Please.
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Like the look of it, looking forward to hearing the weight, looks like it will add a nice amount of heft :D
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Do you think it would be better to just cut a square shape before bending along the red line and have the hole for the USB jack run smooth along the back and bottom? Or would people prefer if the bottom stayed uncut and I just get them to do their best to minimize the effect on the bottom of the case? They'll be rounding off the square bit sticking out of course, the lines for the cut will probably be more smooth and they may be able to weld shut part or all of what remains, but there may be some signs of the cut left over. I'll have to speak about that with them again.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43355[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43356[/ATTACH]
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1) i prefer the square cut (ie the usb hole is open to back and bottom)
can you get the weight data and how thick the sheet is? it almost looks overly thick (although if this is just how thick their 5052 stock is, that's fine).
2) what's going to keep the pcb from shorting out against the metal insert?
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soo.. open to a US collaborator? i'm here...
Do you know a good place to get a bunch of 2-56 screws with about 3/8" length? There's a picture of the screw with this designation among the other pictures I posted, it's the same as the Poker's screws, but I just need longer ones. The only place I can find them here (a hobby shop for model trains and other miniature things) has them for $0.50 each so for 40 cases with 5 screws each it would cost me $100 in screws. If you could get them there, I could just send the cases to you and let you repackage them with the screws before sending them out within the US. I'll try to look for somewhere else to get them here in the meantime just in case.
1) i prefer the square cut (ie the usb hole is open to back and bottom)
can you get the weight data and how thick the sheet is? it almost looks overly thick (although if this is just how thick their 5052 stock is, that's fine).
2) what's going to keep the pcb from shorting out against the metal insert?
The sheet should be 3/16" if they did what I had asked them (for reference, this is the same thickness as the back edge bevel of a Filco), and it looks pretty good to me at that thickness, but you guys are the customers so if you guys want it thinner I can do thinner. However in the end I have to use the same thickness for everyone because it's not one sheet of metal per poker case, you cut out as many as you can tetris into it.
I was going to use two layers of the same type of thing that imsto used, but if you don't like that you could change it with whatever you like after receiving it.
I'll double check on the thickness and weight next time I meet them which may be as early as Monday.
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Do you think it would be better to just cut a square shape before bending along the red line and have the hole for the USB jack run smooth along the back and bottom? Or would people prefer if the bottom stayed uncut and I just get them to do their best to minimize the effect on the bottom of the case? They'll be rounding off the square bit sticking out of course, the lines for the cut will probably be more smooth and they may be able to weld shut part or all of what remains, but there may be some signs of the cut left over. I'll have to speak about that with them again.
If they can round off the leftover tag and mask the cut then that would probably look better, otherwise go for the square cut option, also if it's going to drive labour costs up significantly to round and fill etc then just go the square option.
Thickness looks good to me, a wee bit more than the imsto case's but not so thick that it looks silly. Looking good so far overall, the bead blasted finish looks great.
We're you still looking at doing some in stainless aswell or just aluminium for now?
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I think the USB tab would look better cut off/completely rounded. Plus less likely to tear something if you are transporting it in a bag with other stuff.
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Thickness looks good to me, a wee bit more than the imsto case's but not so thick that it looks silly. Looking good so far overall, the bead blasted finish looks great.
We're you still looking at doing some in stainless aswell or just aluminium for now?
I still don't know how thick imsto's case is, I've asked a few times but nobody ever got back to me.
Still aiming to do both unless the guy who does estimates tells me that to qualify for bulk I have to use the same material for all of them.
I think the USB tab would look better cut off/completely rounded. Plus less likely to tear something if you are transporting it in a bag with other stuff.
Oh for sure it would be rounded off, not square. This prototype didn't have it rounded off because it wasn't needed for this demo case. The thing is that even after rounding it off, there may be some signs of the cut still being present, but they may be able to hide most of it. I'm not sure though so was just throwing out the idea of cutting the whole thing but wondering if having the hole touch the bottom a bit would bother people. I personally don't mind.
Do you know a good place to get a bunch of 2-56 screws with about 3/8" length? There's a picture of the screw with this designation among the other pictures I posted, it's the same as the Poker's screws, but I just need longer ones. The only place I can find them here (a hobby shop for model trains and other miniature things) has them for $0.50 each so for 40 cases with 5 screws each it would cost me $100 in screws.
I found them for $0.3425 each from a place online (http://shop.dubro.com/products/productdetail/Bolt+Sets+With+Lock+Nuts+2-56+x+1/2%22+%28QTY/PKG%3A+4+%29/part_number=174/101.0.1.1.0.0.0.0.0?s=part_number&part_number_d=ASC&part_number_c=part_number&t=1&i=all&), but the shipping cost is $24 to Canada which brings the total to around $92.50 which doesn't save me much in the long run. Shipping is only $7.50 to the US though which would bring it to $76 which is pretty good, so if somebody would want to handle distribution within the US and buy a whole bunch of these to go with it (I'd give the money of course) it would save a bit.
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Do you know a good place to get a bunch of 2-56 screws with about 3/8" length? There's a picture of the screw with this designation among the other pictures I posted, it's the same as the Poker's screws, but I just need longer ones.
Rastall Nut & Bolt in Sudbury, Ontario. Call and ask for Kirk.
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Rastall Nut & Bolt in Sudbury, Ontario. Call and ask for Kirk.
Thanks for the tip. Sent them an e-mail for now since I imagine they're closed at the moment but will call if they don't get back to me by e-mail.
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You'd be better off calling them Monday. They're not so web savvy. Not their fault, but whoever dev'd their website isn't quite up to par.
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Do you know a good place to get a bunch of 2-56 screws with about 3/8" length? There's a picture of the screw with this designation among the other pictures I posted, it's the same as the Poker's screws, but I just need longer ones. The only place I can find them here (a hobby shop for model trains and other miniature things) has them for $0.50 each so for 40 cases with 5 screws each it would cost me $100 in screws. If you could get them there, I could just send the cases to you and let you repackage them with the screws before sending them out within the US. I'll try to look for somewhere else to get them here in the meantime just in case.
agreed. i'll check mcmaster and ask around on campus. i may be able to get them cheaply from a stock room somewhere.
The sheet should be 3/16" if they did what I had asked them (for reference, this is the same thickness as the back edge bevel of a Filco), and it looks pretty good to me at that thickness, but you guys are the customers so if you guys want it thinner I can do thinner. However in the end I have to use the same thickness for everyone because it's not one sheet of metal per poker case, you cut out as many as you can tetris into it.
I was going to use two layers of the same type of thing that imsto used, but if you don't like that you could change it with whatever you like after receiving it.
I'll double check on the thickness and weight next time I meet them which may be as early as Monday.
yah i'm not hugely picky about plate thickness as long as it doesn't weight like 3lbs. most likely we should stick with however he prototyped it to avoid him needing to recalculate the bend radius material etc.
ps, i'm on the west coast, but i don't expect this to be an issue.
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I realize this, but if that is the way that the builder plans on making the cutout for the usb connection, then I think it looks ugly.
I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but I like the idea of an unfinished stainless case, just simple with a couple of bends and plasma cuts and no welding. There would be small gaps in the corners, but that wouldn't matter because it would be clean looking. I'll model something up this weekend....for serious this time.
i suspect you can get yours unfinished. the welding issue should probably be uniform though. if you can model something up and get oneproduct and us the file asap maybe he can propose it to the builder and we can discuss. he's moving forward on this asap though, so please get that going.
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just wanted to add that I am interested in an aluminum case if around $100
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I want one so much..
I doubt I'll be able to afford one though :(
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yah i'm not hugely picky about plate thickness as long as it doesn't weight like 3lbs. most likely we should stick with however he prototyped it to avoid him needing to recalculate the bend radius material etc.
Taking the drawing dimensions on the first page and a 3/16" plate thickness the case will have ~11.4 cubic inches of material (didn't include cut-outs).
For 5052 aluminum (Density = 0.097 lb/cu.in. (http://www.suppliersonline.com/Research/Property/metals/472.asp)) it will weigh roughly 1.1 lbs.
For 304 stainless it will weigh ~3.25lbs (Density = 0.285 lb/cu.in. (http://www.suppliersonline.com/Research/Property/result.asp?FamilyID=14&MetalID=1806&Chemical=1&Physical=1&Mechanical=1))
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so I want it to lie flat and if people want otherwise they can buy little plastic nubs which you can get from a home furniture store.
Thats not a good idea. At least, you should try to make two threaded holes on the bottom of the shell so that people could buy their own feet (in case you don't feel like manufacturing yourself) and just screw them there. It would end up pretty bad if for such a quality CNC'ed product you end up putting some crappy plastics nubs over there.
Also, keep in mind that once you are doing it...you better do it right ;) Keep in mind that threading a hole for a machining shop is rather easy and cheap, whereas not everybody here will have the tools to do it and would rather pay somebody for it. And, if you decide to make the threading...you could also offer some feet (from any furniture shop or whatever) and do the same beading you will do for the body, as to mach the finish on both things. The overall cost of it wouldn't be too high but the product would be better finished.
PS: it would be ideal if you could do feet as Imsto did...but that is a very different level since those feet were machined too :)
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Yea, there's no way I could make feet like imsto did. What kind of feet from furniture stores are you referring to? Pictures would be good. I don't think that I could get feet that would really match it well, especially not if they have to be made of aluminum or steel like the case is (or at least, not at a really low price). I could thread the holes on the back if people wanted to find their own though, but for my own case I wouldn't be doing that since I just want the case flat and the bottom smooth.
If I did thread holes and include something, it would probably be like this so people could adjust the height:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43402[/ATTACH]
This type of thing would be okay for back feet, but then what, if anything, should I do with the front?
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So the cases are pretty cool, but realistically how many will actually be available?
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Assuming that the unit price meets what people are willing to pay for (~$100 or less) then I can get as many made as we want. And the more people that are interested the lower the unit price will be as we get into bulk quantities. I should have a quote sometime next week.
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Taking the drawing dimensions on the first page and a 3/16" plate thickness the case will have ~11.4 cubic inches of material (didn't include cut-outs).
For 5052 aluminum (Density = 0.097 lb/cu.in. (http://www.suppliersonline.com/Research/Property/metals/472.asp)) it will weigh roughly 1.1 lbs.
For 304 stainless it will weigh ~3.25lbs (Density = 0.285 lb/cu.in. (http://www.suppliersonline.com/Research/Property/result.asp?FamilyID=14&MetalID=1806&Chemical=1&Physical=1&Mechanical=1))
Nice. Definitely sounds like we'll want these shipped to someone near oneproduct on the US side, then use flat rate for shipping. 3.25 chunk of steel might be pricey shipping otherwise...
Good that I will be able to use my keyboard for self defense, though. Crackin skulls.
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Nice. Definitely sounds like we'll want these shipped to someone near oneproduct on the US side, then use flat rate for shipping. 3.25 chunk of steel might be pricey shipping otherwise...
Good that I will be able to use my keyboard for self defense, though. Crackin skulls.
haha, that's what I was thinking too! [ATTACH=CONFIG]43434[/ATTACH]
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I found these which are pretty amazing and would only be $5 per person.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43435[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43437[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43438[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43441[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43436[/ATTACH]
The only problem is that these feet are kind of big and are flat, not angled, so I'm not sure how great it would work if we just stuck two on the back.
Otherwise we can just do something simple and cheap like the ones at the bottom of the page: http://shadaloo.eu/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=18&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=3
How tall should the feet be anyways? The case is about 4.7 mm thick and the cheap feet on the page I linked above are 6.4 mm thick.
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I have really mixed feelings about these cases. I guess everything boils down to what the final price is. The way I see it is that these are not finished products.
The cases will still need some sort of finish
-anodizing
-painting
-etc.
They have no legs ( some people may not care about this aspect )
So for me the price would need to be below $75 as it stands now because I will have to continue to put more money into the case to have what I consider a finished product. I do think this is a great starting point, but we really just need to figure out what the final price would be.
In addition why don't we get a quote from this company (http://www.electrohio.com/Finishing/AlAnodizing/AlAnodizing.htm)for anodizing
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43442[/ATTACH]
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^ I'm pretty sure they can do anodizing in Montreal...
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They have no legs ( some people may not care about this aspect )
In addition why don't we get a quote from this company (http://www.electrohio.com/Finishing/AlAnodizing/AlAnodizing.htm)for anodizing
(Attachment) 43442[/ATTACH]
Looking into options for feet and sent a quote request to that company.
Even if these were not anodized though, I think that the glass beaded surface looks pretty nice.
EDIT: I also just want to say that this is getting a bit out of hand though for what I was planning. I have a friend that I go to school with whose dad owns a metalworking company so I thought it would be cool to make some metal cases for the poker since everybody liked imsto's ones but there wasn't enough supply and they were a bit pricey. I can't match up to imsto's resources and these are even being made by hand rather than CNC.
I realize that not everyone has access to someplace to get anodizing done or to tap screw holes into the base if they want to add their own feet later, but I don't have a good supply of feet or immediate access to an anodizing place either and it would really be preferable for me to just supply the metal case and some basics like the screws that would be needed and something to break contact between the PCB and metal, and then if people want to modify on their own, they are free to after. If it's not finished enough of a product then you are not obligated to buy of course. I also can't make everybody happy, if you look through this thread a lot of people want a lot of different things.
I'm not running a business like imsto is and I don't intend to be selling these for a lot of profit, this was just my attempt to do something fun for geekhack. If somebody wants to help me find some place to get anodizing done (and preferably more than just linking me to it and having me follow up) then maybe we can consider it, but I can't really do everything myself, I have other stuff to do as well.
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Bead blasted stainless would look pretty sweet.
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Stick to your Original design. If somebody wants something extra they can find a way to do it themselves.
Everybody wants all the bells and whistles but everybody wants to pay under 100 too.
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Stick to your Original design. If somebody wants something extra they can find a way to do it themselves.
Everybody wants all the bells and whistles but everybody wants to pay under 100 too.
I agree with this can't please everyone. I think the best way is to keep the price as low as possible and let the end user add anything to it. Because if not you will just have people arguing over all of that too.
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I agree with this can't please everyone. I think the best way is to keep the price as low as possible and let the end user add anything to it. Because if not you will just have people arguing over all of that too.
Yea, I pretty much agree here as well. Though I will say, the place whiskerbox linked is only like 20mins from my house, and I'm on spring break all this week. I may head over there some time this week and ask about pricing and such.
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Keep it cheap and simple, if I want extra stuff I'll have more money left over to get it done myself.
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I am sorry I didn't mean to make this more stressful. I think your doing an amazing job. :)
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nice thread http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y146/eddie84/OCN/Mech%20keyboard%20club/KBC%20Poker/Poker%20case/DSC06748.jpg
do you ever get these?
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nice thread http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y146/eddie84/OCN/Mech%20keyboard%20club/KBC%20Poker/Poker%20case/DSC06748.jpg
do you ever get these?
Hmm? I don't have one of imsto's cases if that's what you're asking.
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I found a better place to get the screws. First place I found had them for 50 cents each at a local hobby shop. Then I checked the distributor itself to cut out the middle man and they had it for 34 cents, but then Amazon has them for 9 cents each lol http://www.amazon.com/Plated-Machine-Binding-Slotted-Length/dp/B000MN6SWE/ref=sr_1_19?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1331437317&sr=1-19
There were some industrial suppliers that I looked at but most either didn't have this 3/8" length that I was looking for or would be far much more of a hassle for being 7 cents each instead.
That will save me quite a bit on the screws, especially if somebody in the US orders all the ones that would be needed for the cases destined for there, since you can get free shipping in the US whereas I have to pay $10.
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I found a better place to get the screws. First place I found had them for 50 cents each at a local hobby shop. Then I checked the distributor itself to cut out the middle man and they had it for 34 cents, but then Amazon has them for 9 cents each lol http://www.amazon.com/Plated-Machine-Binding-Slotted-Length/dp/B000MN6SWE/ref=sr_1_19?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1331437317&sr=1-19
There were some industrial suppliers that I looked at but most either didn't have this 3/8" length that I was looking for or would be far much more of a hassle for being 7 cents each instead.
That will save me quite a bit on the screws, especially if somebody in the US orders all the ones that would be needed for the cases destined for there, since you can get free shipping in the US whereas I have to pay $10.
I have free 2 day shipping with my student account through amazon. I could do it :)
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Well, it would probably have to be the person who is also going to do US distribution of the cases, unless you also feel like doing that.
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Well, it would probably have to be the person who is also going to do US distribution of the cases, unless you also feel like doing that.
I'm down to do that; Cleveland is pretty central US. Not sure if you would want a more senior member to do it, though.
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If you run off with the cases I'll have your shipping address and I'll let the other US geekhackers with guns deal with you. ;)
Haha, in seriousness though I guess we'll see later on who'll be handling it.
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Yea, they'll have to take the cases "from my cold dead hands" lol. It's all good; if nobody else steps forward, I'm up for it, but we'll just wait and see.
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i may be able to arrange for further production to be done on US-bound cases if i end up serving as distribution point. i'm busy for the rest of the weekend but please PM me when you get the estimate, oneproduct.
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I'd be in for one aluminum if it's around $100. If I can get two for around that price then I'd take two.
Pretty much this^^, and I can't decide on either aluminum or steel. would have to see how the end up and colouring options. Anodised etc.
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There probably won't be any anodizing done so it will look like the exterior surface seen in the video. The steel one would be about 3 times heavier than the aluminum one and steel is a deeper color.
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There probably won't be any anodizing done so it will look like the exterior surface seen in the video. The steel one would be about 3 times heavier than the aluminum one and steel is a deeper color.
I got a friend that does chrome dipping if anyone wants to have a bling poker case :D
Sent from a phone...
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So can anybody tell me how thick the walls are on imsto's cases? I'm going to visit them again tomorrow and it would be something to consider. If you have any other concerns feel free to put them out there as well.
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ill get my tape measure and tell you in a minute
3/16
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Perfect, that's exactly what I was already doing then.
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I like the bead blasted finish. I was skeptical at first about how the welded edges would look, but they look pretty good. I like the broad curves too. They give it a unique look.
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If I you go with steel, we can just use magnetic feet :high5:
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this is awesome!! need worldwide shipment
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That bead blasted finish looks a whole lot better than I expected, definitely interested.
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This is probably a dumb question but how do I get a keyboard that looks similar to this? http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y146/eddie84/OCN/Mech%20keyboard%20club/KBC%20Poker/Poker%20case/DSC06748.jpg (grey case is fine)
This thread is just for the case right? So Id buy the case from you and than buy the main keyboard where exactly?
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The keyboard is a KBC Poker, you can get them from a number of places currently.
ebay (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=kbc+poker)
qtan's shop (http://www.vendio.com/stores/E-sports-Gaming-equipments/category/poker/catId=3982940)
taobao (http://search8.taobao.com/search?q=kbc+poker&commend=all&ssid=s5-e&pid=mm_14507416_2297358_8935934) has them cheap, but at the cost of convenience and a lonnnnnng time in transit. And you need to use an agent like taobaobee (http://taobaobee.com/)
I'm sure there are others.
edit: the keycaps are doubleshots, but I couldn't tell you much more than that.
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This is probably a dumb question but how do I get a keyboard that looks similar to this? http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y146/eddie84/OCN/Mech%20keyboard%20club/KBC%20Poker/Poker%20case/DSC06748.jpg (grey case is fine)
This thread is just for the case right? So Id buy the case from you and than buy the main keyboard where exactly?
that is a poker w an imsto anodized case. unfortunately, you wont be able to find something that petty
edit: too slow, damn new kb layout
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just want to confirm to folks: if i'm US distributor, i can get cases powdercoated or anodized (personally, i prefer powdercoat) before sending them out for additional cost. it looks like i'll have plenty of options. if people are interested, and oneproduct's ok with sending to the west coast, i can look into costs etc.
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I went to go give him a visit and did a few things:
1. Told him to make the USB cut out just a square.
2. Made the USB cut out bigger. You can just fit the plastic part of the male side into the hole now.
3. Told him to raise the walls 1 mm to make sure that they align with the bottom of the keycaps or a touch higher. (better a bit too high than a bit too low)
4. Cut out the rubber like material that goes between the PCB and the aluminum insert and screwed it all together to make sure it works. So now we have PCB mounted switches but a plate mounted PCB. :)
5. Confirmed that the aluminum is 5052, which is good for anodizing if you want to do it later.
6. Weighed it in at 1 pound, 14 ounces. That's with the case and metal insert but not the keyboard.
A few new things to mention:
1. After speaking with him about quotes, there will NOT be any done in steel. Apparently when you work with steel the dust that flies off contaminates other materials so they cut steel in a different location. So because of this they will all have to be aluminum. Since a lot of people said they wanted it in steel, I will ask again once I get quotes to see if they would want to switch to aluminum or just bail out.
2. Only the outside of the case will be glass beaded, the inside will retain the normal shiny surface and you would be able to see the weld marks on the inside if you removed the keyboard from the case.
3. To attach the metal insert to the case itself, there were two options. The first is you "tack" it to the case, which is just spot welding a few places. The second is that you use a metal-to-metal adhesive and glue the two pieces together, which would be done by myself rather than by them. He recommended I do it this second way and that it would be cheaper, so that is likely how it will be done.
I'll be visiting again Friday most likely and he should have a quote for me by then. I took some more pictures and videos of these little things I did and will put them up later tonight.
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just want to confirm to folks: if i'm US distributor, i can get cases powdercoated or anodized (personally, i prefer powdercoat) before sending them out for additional cost. it looks like i'll have plenty of options. if people are interested, and oneproduct's ok with sending to the west coast, i can look into costs etc.
sounds good to me.
is powder coated similar to the effect of the youtube clip? if so then it might not be needed.
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powdercoating is a painting process and gives more options for finish and color. anodizing is bonded to the surface layer of the metal and should be cheaper, but doesn't allow for things like matte finishes etc.
depending on what oneproduct's estimates come in for, it may be hard to do either at under the 100$ price point. we will see this week.
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I want gunmetal or navy blue anodized, or similar. I'm not super picky, but if I end up having a vote on color(s), that's where I'm at.
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Thanks for the updates oneproduct, sounds good.
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Bummer about no more steel, but I'm still in. thanks for the update.
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Everything is sounding good. I'm really anxious to hear the price myself.
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The keyboard is a KBC Poker, you can get them from a number of places currently.
ebay (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=kbc+poker)
qtan's shop (http://www.vendio.com/stores/E-sports-Gaming-equipments/category/poker/catId=3982940)
taobao (http://search8.taobao.com/search?q=kbc+poker&commend=all&ssid=s5-e&pid=mm_14507416_2297358_8935934) has them cheap, but at the cost of convenience and a lonnnnnng time in transit. And you need to use an agent like taobaobee (http://taobaobee.com/)
I'm sure there are others.
edit: the keycaps are doubleshots, but I couldn't tell you much more than that.
could you point me in the right direction for the keycaps not sure where you get those
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Like I said, not 100% what kind of doubleshots or where from, but there is a group buy for doubleshots right now. Several styles too. You could also try the classifieds. Make a WTB thread.
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the keycaps are cherry corp doubleshots. ascaii said he'll be doing a group buy in the coming weeks on deskthority. that might be your best chance at getting a set.
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In the video the top edge of the case has the weld marks still visible. Since you stated only the outside of the case will be finished and the weld marks on the inside of the case will still be visible does this include the top of the walls of the case?
Not a dealbreaker but I would just like to look into what I would need to do on my end to finish off the tops edges if they're not finished like the outside surface area.
Thanks!
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probably in for one, would love to see some anodizing though :)
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In the video the top edge of the case has the weld marks still visible. Since you stated only the outside of the case will be finished and the weld marks on the inside of the case will still be visible does this include the top of the walls of the case?
Not a dealbreaker but I would just like to look into what I would need to do on my end to finish off the tops edges if they're not finished like the outside surface area.
Thanks!
Yea, to keep costs as low as possible I told them to just do the outside surface since the inside isn't even visible. The weld marks on the top edges really aren't that pronounced as you can see in the pictures, but it would probably be as simple as going over it with a metal file if you wanted to try to hide it more.
I wanted to upload some more pictures and videos right now but my brother is playing DotA2 right now and it lags too much if I do, so I'll have to wait for him to finish. :P
I managed to sneak this one through between games though:
[video=youtube;47p43RY9rNc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47p43RY9rNc[/video]
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Nice. I like how no matter how disassembled your poker is, you still have that full nyanset on, lol.
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ok, so from what i've seen my plan for units i distributed (and for mine, damnit), would be to get painting/anodizing done and to get a polymer sheet laser cut for to go between the mounting plate and pcb. otherwise it looks pretty good.
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you're doing a great job OP!
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ok, so from what i've seen my plan for units i distributed (and for mine, damnit), would be to get painting/anodizing done and to get a polymer sheet laser cut for to go between the mounting plate and pcb. otherwise it looks pretty good.
Yea, I like the sound of that. If I have to get an aluminum one, I think I will want some type of finish on it. I would even be cool with shipping my case over to you after I receive it from whoever ends up distributing in the US. Just have to see how this all pans out...
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The prototype was quickly adjusted by hand to make this cut so it's not square and is much larger than it would be on the final one (you can see part of the horizontal line where the cut is planned to stop). It will just fit the black plastic bit of the male end of the USB cable plus a tiny bit of wiggle room.
[video=youtube;pFQZyD-FAdk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFQZyD-FAdk[/video]
Weighs in at 1 pound, 14 ounces without the keyboard inside
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43838[/ATTACH]
Making the USB cutout square and a bit bigger
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43839[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43846[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43844[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43845[/ATTACH]
Shots while mounted
[ATTACH=CONFIG]43840[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43841[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43842[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]43843[/ATTACH]
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Great job mate, coming along nicely, can't wait to piss off the flimsy plastic poker case :)
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i'm not crazy about the fastener setup. those screws will be harder than the retainer plate, and with the imprecise mounting system if you strip the mounting holes you are "screwed", so to speak.
also that is heavy as crap!
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i'm not crazy about the fastener setup. those screws will be harder than the retainer plate, and with the imprecise mounting system if you strip the mounting holes you are "screwed", so to speak.
also that is heavy as crap!
Any suggestions?
Yup, it weighs 30 ounces vs a Filco TKL's 35.2 ounces.
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i'm not crazy about the fastener setup. those screws will be harder than the retainer plate, and with the imprecise mounting system if you strip the mounting holes you are "screwed", so to speak.
Not really helping the problem, but I remember this was a pretty common problem back when I used to play paintball. Typically the aluminum frame of the guns were much softer than the screws and a little too much force turned into an expensive mistake. You just have to be extra careful, lol.
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re: weight, our only options are to a) have the retainer plate made in a polymer then epoxied to the aluminum, or b) thinner case. i don't like b because the outer case looks damn good, and it makes more work for this fellow helping us.
oneproduct: how much does the mounting plate weigh?
re: mounting, every other option i can think of will almost certainly be more expensive. morg may just be right. if someone does strip out the mounting hole, they will probably just have to drill out the holes and epoxy tapped nuts in themselves. (this is the other option, but creates more manufacturing steps for something that probably isn't necessary)
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Oh, I thought you were referring to the weight as a good thing, and I have a feeling that most people would. I don't really intend to try to make it weight any less but if you want to cut your own polymer to replace the insert I would have to not glue the metal insert to the metal base for your case.
how much does the mounting plate weigh?
Sorry, didn't measure the two separately, but it should contribute to somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 the weight since it's essentially the same as the case minus the walls.
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are they going to be glued or welded? imo we should distributed them separated, and let people pick up their own tube of JB weld if they want them together
or, you can have that fellow drill some fastening holes in them and the case bottom that will take screws (which would imo be the absolute best option)
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Yeah, I think the case and mounting plate should ship separate as well. 1) because a tube of JB weld is cheap to pick up and 2) if people are interested in getting a finish put on, they will need to be separated anyway.
Heh, and worse case scenario about the screws stripping, a tap and die set is only like $15 bucks if you really end up needing it.
I think the weight is a good thing, but then again, I wanted the 3 1/4 lbs steel one haha.
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Was going to glue them. My only worry about shipping things out separated is that I know there will be some people who do not want to have to take care of things like this on their own, and the same goes for finding a material to lie between the PCB and the metal insert which is why I intend to include the simple material pictured in the video which more daring people can choose to replace. What would be better would be that I would glue all of them except if I am specifically asked not to, so I'll set up some options where you can specify that when it comes time to confirm your order and pay.
Fastening the metal insert to the bottom of the case would be even better. I'll ask him about it but I have a feeling he might say that he can't tap holes into the 3/16" base without going straight through it. The equipment they have is pretty big, you could fit a car in a lot of the machines they have but I guess for tapping it's probably something smaller.
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In the demo one are you just using corrugated cardboard as the material between the PCB and the metal insert? Just wondering.
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hmm. i bet i can have a couple of holes drilled and tapped locally for US-bound units. i have access to a drill press and taps if it comes to it and i don't have to do that many.
alternatively, we can do things like gluing/final fastener machining/etc at the distribution points per request.
le sigh. once the plate design is final, one can always send the file off to a plastic place here and see how much it would cost to have it laser cut too.
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In the demo one are you just using corrugated cardboard as the material between the PCB and the metal insert? Just wondering.
This is what I'm using:
http://www.amazon.com/Grip-Shelf-Drawer-Liner-Black/dp/B000KFSOFI
http://www.organizeit.com/grip-it-shelf-and-drawer-liner-taupe.asp
It's made of PVC. From Wikipedia: "It can be made softer and more flexible by the addition of plasticizers, the most widely used being phthalates. In this form, it is used in clothing and upholstery, electrical cable insulation, inflatable products and many applications in which it replaces rubber."
If there's something else you would suggest that is easily available and cheap I'm open to suggestions, but I'm more in favor of letting people switch it out for their own stuff once they get it if they prefer something else.
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Oh, nice. I have a huge roll of that stuff in my basement. We line the inside of our kitchen cabinets with the stuff.
I was asking because as long as the holes for the screws are predrilled, I have no problem JB welding the metal insert in and cutting some of that stuff to size. If more then that would be necessarily, then yea, I would think it would be best to ship the whole thing put together.
I just think shipping it all assembled will make it more difficult to get any colors or finish put on is all.
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a-ha, now i remember why welding aluminum is a pita. it's because you can't anodize the welded joint.
POWDERCOAT AHOY
oneproduct: could you get an estimate for the casing with corners unwelded too? i'm increasingly convinced that it doesn't need to be done.
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Yea, shouldn't be that hard, but I don't know if everyone would be comfy JB welding it together on their own. I've never done that before myself but I've done pretty much the exact same thing with crazy glue on non-metal surfaces. Again, I'll provide it as an option as to whether or not you want it glued if that's how it's going to end up (if the fastening idea falls through).
a-ha, now i remember why welding aluminum is a pita. it's because you can't anodize the welded joint.
Ah, bummer. Can you still powder coat?
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Sorry I know its been brought up. How is the pcb not going to short on the bottom plate?
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A layer of PVC placed between the PCB and the metal insert that it is mounted to, it's basically like rubber. You should be able to see it in the more recent pictures and video.
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A layer of PVC placed between the PCB and the metal insert that it is mounted to, it's basically like rubber. You should be able to see it in the more recent pictures and video.
Sounds good sorry I missed it. I got some money sitting in my paypal that I am not spending as I wait for this. Looking forward to it.
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by "corners unwelded", i meant no welds to join the flaps on the bottom plate.
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a-ha, now i remember why welding aluminum is a pita. it's because you can't anodize the welded joint.
Yes you can, it will just be a slightly different colour where the welds are, which may or may not be very noticeable depending on the colour that's chosen and the size of the welds.
And yes you can still powder coat them no worries at all.
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i'm not going to pretend to understand why this is or is not possible. but i'm not crazy about discolored joints. powdercoating or no welding it is.
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could you get an estimate for the casing with corners unwelded too? i'm increasingly convinced that it doesn't need to be done.
Although it certainly doesn't need to be done for structural reasons, you'd be able so see the line where the sides meet which breaks the nice one piece construction look. Looking at the pre glass beading shots, there don't seem to be any weld marks on the outside though except for tiny ones at the corners on the top rim.
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by "corners unwelded", i meant no welds to join the flaps on the bottom plate.
This is what I was suggesting as well.
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If orders are still open, I would be interested if the price came to below $80. If it saves money, I would not need the glass beading done either.
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does the weight include the metal plating?
quite a nice weight.
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That's with the metal insert, yup.
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Any idea on the kinda timescale you're talking about before they will become available?
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Will hopefully have the estimate by Friday afternoon and then if it's something affordable (~$100 or less) I'll put up a group buy and figure out exactly how many we'll be ordering. Not sure how long it will take them to make them all but I don't imagine it would be more than a week or two for the quantities I'm expecting (~50).
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Will hopefully have the estimate by Friday afternoon and then if it's something affordable (~$100 or less) I'll put up a group buy and figure out exactly how many we'll be ordering. Not sure how long it will take them to make them all but I don't imagine it would be more than a week or two for the quantities I'm expecting (~50).
that is really fast. nice work.
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Sweet, could not be happier. Any idea on the time frame for the group buy? Spending ~$500 on a PC upgrade next week, buying a poker at the end of the month and moving in a couple more weeks so cash is going to be thin for a while.
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Was planning to make the group buy phase as short as possible, like a week or less since I already had two other threads where people who were interested chimed in.
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Alright then looks like I wont be eating next week. Count me in for one!
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I think you guys will be very happy with the price. In keeping with full disclosure and with what I promised about not trying to profit, the actual price for one case that was quoted to me is...
$64*
*That's the price before taxes and before the extra cost for me to buy screws, glue and insulating material. With those included it will probably come out to around $80 (the tax rate here is 14.5%). Shipping will of course be highly dependent on where you live since this thing is so heavy. For those in the US I will likely be sending them all off to one person to handle distribution there since it will be a lot cheaper (probably mkawa). For Canada I will send them individually on my own. For other places (Europe, Australia, etc) it may be in your interest to try to figure out if there are some of you that would like to have your order shipped together.
They didn't make a second prototype because it would be too expensive but they let me take home the first (and only) prototype now, so I took some more pictures and video so you guys can see, I'm uploading them now.
I will put up a group buy once I'm a little more certain what things will cost. Since I'm not doing this for profit I have to be careful what final figure I put up since I don't want to actually end up negative. I will probably add a dollar or two to the price so that I can at least get a case for myself for free.
I will put up a group buy thread hopefully later today or tomorrow and at that point I will only be charging the cost of the case. When it comes time to ship, you will be charged at cost for the price of shipping. I encourage YOU to look up what it costs for me to ship this thing to you so that you have an estimate of what you'll have to pay (since it might be something like $15 or more depending on where you are, my postal information is Pointe-Claire, Quebec, H9R 5L9, Canada). I will be using Canada Post unless the rates are so unreasonable that I have to consider something else. The weight will probably be around 2.5 pounds and the size will be that of a poker, plus maybe 3 inches in each dimension to account for the box and padding it will be in.
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Wonderful price point. Good Job!
Anyway, I tried the Canadian post website and I got quoted roughly $40-45 for a surface parcel to Europe/Asia/Australasia, no quotes for air parcel.
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this is excellent news! what kind of volume is that price for? ie, how far down can we get it if we can generate more volume?
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That was a quote for 50 cases, but when I asked if the price would change if we had more orders he said no. I think that once you hit at least a minimum amount to spread out the initial costs that the rest has basically no impact, maybe the price would go down by a dollar per case but they don't go into that much detail, they aren't as concerned about bulk orders as places like SP are.
If we reach in excess of 100 I'll ask again, but otherwise I'm going to leave it at that to avoid pestering them too much. One thing to remember is that there are hand made, not made by machine, so it's no easier to make 100 than it is to make 50. Hitting minimums is basically to make sure that it's worth their time to bother with this, but afterwards it should be pretty linear.
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ok cool.
i'm unfortunately really busy this weekend dealing with funeral arrangements for my friend; can we deal with details next week?
i'll contact the metal place asap and see if i can get a paint quote from them
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wow the price is awesome! mega props to oneproduct!!
i got quoted at 46CAD to deliver to asia. (small packet)
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I'd take one for $64
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Tempting at the new pricepoint.
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I'd take one for $64
Just to make it clear, it will probably be about $80 in the end. $64 is the price I was quoted before taxes and before having to buy the little extra things I need to assemble it. Maybe I should rename the thread...
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sweet deal... cant wait for this group buy to happen.
thanks again !
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Price sounds great.
ok cool.
i'm unfortunately really busy this weekend dealing with funeral arrangements for my friend; can we deal with details next week?
i'll contact the metal place asap and see if i can get a paint quote from them
So are you thinking about offering paint on them prior to shipping?
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Price sounds great.
So are you thinking about offering paint on them prior to shipping?
yep. there's an aluminum place nearby that the mechanical engineering department recommends. i'll contact them early next week for a quote.
oneproduct: i think you should just give the price range as something like 90-110$. after shipping, misc parts, etc. i think that's what it it will end up coming to. hopefully that range will also cover paint, but i may be way off base for that.
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I would change the thread title. Looks like shipping to canada can be done for around 15 bucks. But if your sending them all to the us (US orders) thats great.
yep. there's an aluminum place nearby that the mechanical engineering department recommends. i'll contact them early next week for a quote.
oneproduct: i think you should just give the price range as something like 90-110$. after shipping, misc parts, etc. i think that's what it it will end up coming to. hopefully that range will also cover paint, but i may be way off base for that.
Sounds good, hopefully there is the option to not get it painted.
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yah, sure. i'd like to paint as many as possible to keep the price low (and because custom powdercoat is effin beautiful), but i'm not going to paint yours if you don't want it ;)
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Yea there we go, took out the price from the thread title and they can just read about it themselves in the post. Typing on the poker right now and wow does it feel solid. It's very noticeably different than when it was in the plastic case.
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btw, how much would another prototype with the changes we've discussed be?
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yah, sure. i'd like to paint as many as possible to keep the price low (and because custom powdercoat is effin beautiful), but i'm not going to paint yours if you don't want it ;)
Yeah, maybe just start a new thread or something when you have them all from oneproduct.
I want mine painted :) I originally said I was down for case as long as it came to around $150 and it looks like that is the case, so I can certainly put the rest of that cash towards some type of finish. Can't wait til you get a quote next week.
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btw, how much would another prototype with the changes we've discussed be?
You're referring mostly to getting holes tapped into the metal insert and the metal case as a way to fasten them together? I don't think that they can do that because their machinery is too big to tap into something 3/16" thick without going straight through it. And then I think your other big point was about not welding the corners together but I would prefer to keep them welded.
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yah, sure. i'd like to paint as many as possible to keep the price low (and because custom powdercoat is effin beautiful), but i'm not going to paint yours if you don't want it ;)
Oh its powder coating huh. That sounds nice I'll have to hear the price first though.
Yea there we go, took out the price from the thread title and they can just read about it themselves in the post. Typing on the poker right now and wow does it feel solid. It's very noticeably different than when it was in the plastic case.
Thats great to hear that you definitely notice a difference.
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Also mkawa, if you want it to be super minimalist, you could pretty much just use the metal insert itself and just ignore the case lol. All the case does is offer side protection, but if you're not worried about that then the metal insert makes a fine base.
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Also mkawa, if you want it to be super minimalist, you could pretty much just use the metal insert itself and just ignore the case lol. All the case does is offer side protection, but if you're not worried about that then the metal insert makes a fine base.
That would be pretty sweet. Run your pc caseless and the keyboard. Then de-bezel your monitors. Just need a caseless mouse lol. Just a bare sensor and buttons in your hand.
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Aaahhh really nice price... Definetly want one. Hope there are some other germans that want one :-)
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Also mkawa, if you want it to be super minimalist, you could pretty much just use the metal insert itself and just ignore the case lol. All the case does is offer side protection, but if you're not worried about that then the metal insert makes a fine base.
yah i've had this thought already. i may order an extra insert from you.
anyway, i have to run, but keep me updated. i'll be reading gh and email all weekend, but may not have much time to respond.
That would be pretty sweet. Run your pc caseless
sigh, yes, i've done this.. lol
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The bowing along the back you can see is a combination of the Poker not having a screw in the middle and the fact that in absence of that screw the PCB doesn't compress the insulation I put between it and the metal insert towards the middle (you can see this when I am talking about the PVC insulation in the movie, the PCB hugs tighter to the metal insert where the screws are). You could probably fiddle with the insulating material a bit to reduce the bowing.
[video=youtube;qjjYCRJ-e20]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjjYCRJ-e20[/video]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]44461[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44462[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44463[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44464[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44465[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44466[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44467[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44468[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44469[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44470[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44471[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44472[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44473[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44474[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44475[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44476[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44477[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44478[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44479[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44480[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44481[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44482[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44483[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]44484[/ATTACH]
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Wow, those corners don't look too bad at all from above to me.
And just an fyi for those people feeling extra ballsy, a handheld circular grinder is only like $20 at wal-mart if you feel like doing any touch ups lol.
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Very interested at new pricepoint
I haven't looked through the entire thread, however by the looks of it, there's no feet?
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No, there's no feet. You'll have to come up with something of your own, but it's easy to buy rubber feet from a home furniture store for a few dollars. Unlike imsto's case and the one that swede is planning for the Filco/Phantom, this case is not being milled but is instead made by hand but that means that there was no easy way to make really nice feet like they had milled. But remember that simple glued rubber feet is how every other keyboard does it, so it wouldn't be a downgrade in any case.
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I know it's early, but would it be possible to start thinking about an angled case for a potential second batch of these? I would love something with a bit of a slant.
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Probably not going to be a second batch at all, so if you want to angle it the best way would be to get tall rubber feet, the same way that imsto's case implemented slanting.
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Maybe I should have said another round -- it doesn't have to be you organizing this. I'm still very interested in one of these but I don't like how pokers look with big rubber feet.
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Only gripe I have is the weld marks on the top of the case. Thats the area you will see every time when you look at the board.
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Only gripe I have is the weld marks on the top of the case. Thats the area you will see every time when you look at the board.
I'm still pretty confident that it would be possible to smooth it totally with a hand grinder and then gradually finer steel wool. Just takes time and elbow grease. That would have to come before any finish, though.
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I'm sure blasting it right there should help.
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You can now place your orders here! http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?28730-Taking-payments-Aluminum-poker-case
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I'm sure blasting it right there should help.
I already asked about this and it seems it's a firm no. Even if you don't have a grinder a file should work well.
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I already asked about this and it seems it's a firm no. Even if you don't have a grinder a file should work well.
Not sure why its like an extra 30 seconds of blasting. Seems incomplete without doing it.
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I'll ask about it. I think it has more to do with the fact that the inside would have the edges that are harder to get at and that the debris that is sanded off accumulates along the inside as you are doing it, which makes it more of a pain. I have my friend here right now though (playing Tekken X Street Figther!) and he said it should be doable. I'm talking to him about a few last changes, mostly this and tacking the insert rather than gluing it.
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Aluminium is soft enough to work with that any imperfections along the top edges could be cleaned up with a hand file very easily.
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Aluminium is soft enough to work with that any imperfections along the top edges could be cleaned up with a hand file very easily.
This is true, I would just personally prefer the same texture on that edge. But I'm not complaining here just throwing it out there.
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Damn once-a-month paychecks; I guess I will just have to jump on this the next time it comes around.
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Damn I could never make it getting paid once a month.
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Paychecks every Thursday FTW.
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Damn once-a-month paychecks; I guess I will just have to jump on this the next time it comes around.
want me to buy one for you and hold it till you get paid?
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Paychecks every Thursday FTW.
Woot Wednesdays lol!!
And Demik nice move!
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want me to buy one for you and hold it till you get paid?
^ you're a boss!
i like seeing good-hearted people from the LA area
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can we not tack the inserts down?
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Spoke with my friend (whose father owns the company) about this just today and I'm going to push to get that. That was the original plan and my point of contact was recommending glue but my friend recommended tacking and I agree. I'm not sure why exactly he was recommending glue because it was actually him that had suggested tacking in the first place (he actually came up with the whole metal insert idea), so I suspect he has some reason that I'm not fully aware of. At the time I had taken his recommendation because I imagined he must know best, but unless there's a real good reason I'm going to change to tacking. Also checking to see if I can get them to glass bead the top edge of the case since one or two people mentioned that, and I don't expect that will be a problem.
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well at the very least i want mine not tacked. i'll drill and tap them myself
actually i'd also like to do one with corners welded and one with corners not welded if possible
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Okay, just mention that when you send me a PM for the order to remind me. Also, if that's needed for powdercoating or whatnot and people are going to be doing that through you, make sure to let them know that they need to tell me not to have theirs tacked either.
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i like seeing good-hearted people from the LA area
Yeah, demik's a rare breed and I mean that in a good way. Not many like him in L.A. lol
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Yeah, demik's a rare breed and I mean that in a good way. Not many like him in L.A. lol
ugh, don't tell me this. i may end up in LA next year.