people who have had plates made, how did it go?

[adventurepoop]

I'm thinking of having a plate made for a custom 40% I want, but am worried about costs and quality of a one off. What would be the cheapest way to have this done? What can I expect quality wise??

[jdcarpe]

I'm thinking of having a plate made for a custom 40% I want, but am worried about costs and quality of a one off. What would be the cheapest way to have this done? What can I expect quality wise??

You can have your design cut by pololu.com, but it will probably be around $80-100 or so for a one-off.  They can do 0.060" stainless if you request it.

[adventurepoop]

Oh boy that's way too much. Is it within reason to look for something around 30-40$?

[Melvang]

Oh boy that's way too much. Is it within reason to look for something around 30-40$?

Typically that will be less than what most shops would charge for a setup fee.  Custom anything is not cheap.

[jdcarpe]

Oh boy that's way too much. Is it within reason to look for something around 30-40$?

Typically that will be less than what most shops would charge for a setup fee.  Custom anything is not cheap.

If you can even find anyone who will talk to you about a one-off.... Most shops won't even bother.

[agodinhost]

Oh boy that's way too much. Is it within reason to look for something around 30-40$?

Typically that will be less than what most shops would charge for a setup fee.  Custom anything is not cheap.

If you can even find anyone who will talk to you about a one-off.... Most shops won't even bother.

true, they don't like small runs at all.

[technomancy]

Oh boy that's way too much. Is it within reason to look for something around 30-40$?

How dead set are you on using metal? Acrylic is dramatically cheaper, and wood cheaper still. A 40% is so much smaller that the stresses on the board are dramatically lower; there is virtually no flex in the board even with wood.

I paid around $33 for the laser-cut acrylic case for my own 40%: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=54759.0

I've made a few wooden ones for friends and ended up paying about $25.

[technomancy]

How dead set are you on using metal? Acrylic is dramatically cheaper, and wood cheaper still. A 40% is so much smaller that the stresses on the board are dramatically lower; there is virtually no flex in the board even with wood.

I should clarify that the plate alone is probably not strong enough, but when three layers of 3mm wood are combined like the pic below, it's plenty sturdy.

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/technomancy/14022813742

-Phil

[exitfire401]

I had one made from 16 ga. 6061 aluminum and anodized. Cost me about $175 total, and it came out great!

[Pacifist]

I had one made from 16 ga. 6061 aluminum and anodized. Cost me about $175 total, and it came out great!

it better for that price. Was it for your race?

[Kakkun]

I'm trying to get a plate made as well. Is a tolerance of 0.05mm really required for the holes where the cherry switches will go? Would 0.2mm be good enough?

[jdcarpe]

I'm trying to get a plate made as well. Is a tolerance of 0.05mm really required for the holes where the cherry switches will go? Would 0.2mm be good enough?

You can always try it and see. The bad thing with tests like that is that you may simply waste your money. I've done that quite a bit.

With looser tolerances, you might want to do without the openings for the switch tabs on the site of the switch holes. It would reduce the precision required for getting tight angles. PM me if you need help with a drawing or anything.

[Kakkun]

I'm trying to get a plate made as well. Is a tolerance of 0.05mm really required for the holes where the cherry switches will go? Would 0.2mm be good enough?

You can always try it and see. The bad thing with tests like that is that you may simply waste your money. I've done that quite a bit.

With looser tolerances, you might want to do without the openings for the switch tabs on the site of the switch holes. It would reduce the precision required for getting tight angles. PM me if you need help with a drawing or anything.

Thanks. A test run isn't really feasible since it's a custom one off. I'd like to have notches for opening switches if possible.

[adventurepoop]

How dead set are you on using metal? Acrylic is dramatically cheaper, and wood cheaper still. A 40% is so much smaller that the stresses on the board are dramatically lower; there is virtually no flex in the board even with wood.

I should clarify that the plate alone is probably not strong enough, but when three layers of 3mm wood are combined like the pic below, it's plenty sturdy.

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/technomancy/14022813742

-Phil

I never thought of acrylic, that would actually be perfect. Does anyone know around how much that would cost??

[jdcarpe]

How dead set are you on using metal? Acrylic is dramatically cheaper, and wood cheaper still. A 40% is so much smaller that the stresses on the board are dramatically lower; there is virtually no flex in the board even with wood.

I should clarify that the plate alone is probably not strong enough, but when three layers of 3mm wood are combined like the pic below, it's plenty sturdy.

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/technomancy/14022813742

-Phil

I never thought of acrylic, that would actually be perfect. Does anyone know around how much that would cost??

You can ask for a quote here: http://www.pololu.com/product/749

[geniekid]

How dead set are you on using metal? Acrylic is dramatically cheaper, and wood cheaper still. A 40% is so much smaller that the stresses on the board are dramatically lower; there is virtually no flex in the board even with wood.

I should clarify that the plate alone is probably not strong enough, but when three layers of 3mm wood are combined like the pic below, it's plenty sturdy.

https://secure.flickr.com/photos/technomancy/14022813742

-Phil

I never thought of acrylic, that would actually be perfect. Does anyone know around how much that would cost??

I got an automated quote of ~$50 from BigBlueSaw for a 3mm acrylic phantom plate with notches.  For reference, the quote was ~$100 for the same piece in alu 6061, unfinished.

DISCLOSURE:  I've haven't ordered anything from BigBlueSaw so I can't speak to their service or quality.

[CPTBadAss]

FWIW, The acrylic plate I received for the Epsilon wasn't very sturdy. The one I have in the alixinhai case seems to be thicker but I'm a little wary of acrylic plates because of my first experience.

[geniekid]

FWIW, The acrylic plate I received for the Epsilon wasn't very sturdy. The one I have in the alixinhai case seems to be thicker but I'm a little wary of acrylic plates because of my first experience.

Have you experienced the ErgoDox acrylic plate?  The one I got from Massdrop feels very solid but I'm not sure about differences in thickness/surface area/personal sensitivity. 

[jdcarpe]

FWIW, The acrylic plate I received for the Epsilon wasn't very sturdy. The one I have in the alixinhai case seems to be thicker but I'm a little wary of acrylic plates because of my first experience.

Have you experienced the ErgoDox acrylic plate?  The one I got from Massdrop feels very solid but I'm not sure about differences in thickness/surface area/personal sensitivity. 

The ErgoDox acrylic plates were 5mm thick. The Epsilon plates we had were 1.5mm thick. There is a huge difference. Of course, you don't have to worry about stabilizers mounting to a plate with the ErgoDox.

[adventurepoop]

Isn't the ergodox pcb mounted switches? If you're making a plate for plate mount I'm pretty sure you need 1.5mm for cherry mx.

[jdcarpe]

Isn't the ergodox pcb mounted switches? If you're making a plate for plate mount I'm pretty sure you need 1.5mm for cherry mx.

The switches won't clip onto the plate like they would with a 1.5mm plate, but the 5mm acrylic will go all the way to the PCB, so they don't need to clip on.

[metalliqaz]

I had Epsilon plate made out of 1.5mm acrylic, so it was pretty cheap.

I found that a single plate by itself isn't very sturdy, and I broke it twice putting in switches and stabilizers.  However once it was together, the cracks didn't make any difference at all.  The final assembly was plenty sturdy because the connections and the pcb add lots of rigidity.  Once I started typing I found that the give of the flexible acrylic made it the best-feeling board that I have.

[adventurepoop]

I doubt this would work for me, I'm looking for something to hand solder to :/

[jdcarpe]

I doubt this would work for me, I'm looking for something to hand solder to :/

Oh yeah, well, you could always glue the switches to the plate. Hot glue works great, I hear. Otherwise, you want a metal plate.

[Melvang]

Isn't the ergodox pcb mounted switches? If you're making a plate for plate mount I'm pretty sure you need 1.5mm for cherry mx.

You can use thicker material, but you just have to glue the switches in.  There are a couple catches on the switch housing that clip to the bottom side of the plate for material within spec (.060" +-.004").  So, if you use thicker material for a plate then some alternate method of securing the switches would be highly recommended or else you will be pulling ever switch out of the plate to remove caps.