I want to design a custom keyboard case. How do I go about that?

[LOTA]

I'm a keyboard newbie who wants to recreate the Aperture Laboratories keyboards from Portal (2007):



The keyboard is an ANSI 104-key layout with a stepped Caps Lock key, a 6.25u Spacebar, and three indicator lights. The case is 18 inches (24.00u) left-to-right and 7.3125 inches (9.75u) front-to-back. Spacing between adjacent key groups (and case edges) is 0.50u left-to-right and 1.00u front-to-back (with additional space at the back for the logo and decorative grooves). The case has two rubber feet in the front and two flip-out feet in the back. The left and right sides are flat, the front and back sides are rounded, and there is a visible seam around all four sides where the top and bottom halves of the case meet in the middle. I want the keyboard to support full NKRO over both USB and wireless.

I've made a 3D model of the case's external shape in Blender based on the in-game model. I want to go from that to a 3D STEP-file suitable for injection-molding, but I don't know what the internals should look like or even how thick the plastic should be. In my research I've found a few different ways to build a keyboard, and I'm not sure which would be best. I feel like my preferred option out of the ones I've seen would be a hot-swappable PCB so I don't have to deal with soldering and wiring, but I haven't been able to find a pre-made ANSI 104-key PCB with the correct spacing of the keys and indicator lights and a stepped Caps Lock key and wireless and USB options, which means I would need a custom PCB as well as the custom case, presumably increasing the cost.

Does anyone here have resources on how to go about designing a case? Do I need to design the PCB before even starting on the case? Are there better options that I've overlooked? Are there other factors I need to consider that I haven't come across yet? I very much appreciate any guidance you can offer.

[udller]

you  could easily buy a white cherry g80-3000 and paint it and engrave the groves. seams like a lot cheaper and easier and a better quality experience ?

think the caps lock could be desoldered and moved to stepped if really needed maybe?

[Leslieann]

I want to go from that to a 3D STEP-file suitable for injection-molding, but I don't know what the internals should look like or even how thick the plastic should be.

For low volume, especially one off's, it's actually cheaper to have it milled out of aluminum (and even paying a pro painter) than to injection mold, injection molding is the most expensive way to manufacture a keyboard in small volume you can choose, short of wanting some something ultra exotic like titanium/magnesium or something.

You're looking at tens of thousands of dollars just to make a mold, and then cross your fingers that it actually works properly or else you get to start over again. Without any manufacturing experience, you can VERY easily drop hundreds of thousands of dollars into the molds before you have a functional version you can sell. It's only when you want tens of thousands of keyboards and can spread out the R&D costs that R&D works. Don't forget you can't sell it without the I.P. rights for Aperture which could run who knows how much, could be surprisingly cheap or surprising expensive.

That said, you can easily look up Chinese manufacturers who make a board that is similar and pay them to make any minor changes and screen print the logos onto one they already make and have it delivered for far less money as they already have working molds (it's a standard layout for the most part). Again you'd still need the rights and you have a high chance of the them just taking your money and not delivering or start selling it themselves before yours even arrive on your shore after you paid for the stencils and such they needed. This happens a LOT and there's little chance of you recovering the money.


If you only want one, do like Udller suggested.

[Findecanor]

Many people have taken a white keyboard, and put keycaps on it in that colour scheme. But I've yet to see a perfect replica case.

The Cherry G80-3000 does have the right key spacing and a stepped Caps Lock key, and the keyboard LEDs close together.
On the downside, it doesn't have N-key rollover. The space bar has the switch not in the centre, so not all keycap kits will fit --- but if you get a black keyboard, you could reuse the original space bar.
It is also a keyboard without a plate, so it is the PCB that needs to be supported inside.
Prices vary a great deal. They are not worth their price new. They used to be common and affordable on the second-hand market here in Europe.
(BTW. the G80-3000N is a completely different one.)

The shape of the keyboard case in the games seems to be a simple rectangular block.
I think the easiest way to build a one-off would be from multiple layers of laser-cut acrylic glued together, and use putty, sandpaper to finish the side edges before spray-painting it white.
There are laser-cutting services everywhere, and some makerspaces that have laser cutters: they often take DXF or SVG as input.
Glue together layers to form a distinct top and a distinct bottom. The top layer could be thinner, with the grooves cut out.
The intermediary layers could have holes for threaded inserts for bolting the keyboard together.

If you get it 3D-printed, then you might need to have it printed in multiple pieces that you then glue together. Then I think you should finish it with sandpaper, putty and paint, but all over.

You can get printable decal paper from model kit shops: be sure to get the right type for your printer (laser or inkjet).

[LOTA]

For low volume, especially one off's, it's actually cheaper to have it milled out of aluminum (and even paying a pro painter) than to injection mold, injection molding is the most expensive way to manufacture a keyboard in small volume you can choose, short of wanting some something ultra exotic like titanium/magnesium or something.

I see. Do you have any recommendations for where to buy a custom aluminum case, or what kind of cost I could expect for that?

[wjrii]

For a PCB, there are not many pre-built options.  With only a brief skim of available free designs, the Voyager 104 looks promising, or there's a drop-in replacement for the aforementioned G80-3000.  I haven't vetted either, but keyboard PCBs are not the most complicated bits of electronics in the world.  It wouldn't be too hard to digitally test those or to design your own (especially if you use an external MCU).  Most PCB fabs have a minimum order of 5 pieces, but they're so cheap that this will not be the biggest expense.  You could also harvest a random full-size mech board and use the "faux" stepped caps lock keycaps that some sets come with.  These still separate caps and 'A' and have a real gap, but the gap is smaller because they have to accommodate the "normal" switch placement.

For a case, modding a Cherry board might not be a terrible idea.  If not, Blender is fine is you want to get it 3D printed, as its mesh files are very compatible with 3D printers (and of more than sufficient resolution).  I would say you could do so for a couple of hundred bucks if you pay a vendor in China, but I haven't looked deeply into 3D printed cases.  I tend to print my own somewhat crude cases (for slightly smaller boards) in multiple pieces at home.  As mentioned, injection molding is not viable for small-scale manufacturing.  For aluminum machining, you'll want to rework your model in a proper 3D CAD program that can export the STEP file.  Native .step files are not hard coded with a "resolution" (i.e. number of polygons), so they are much better for CNC machining than any mesh file that can come out of blender. 

You will need to understand your PCB before you can finish the inside of your case, but it's not an impossible task.  on your top half, you'll want to cut out (via whatever negative extrusion tool your app uses) the large openings for the keys and there little ones for the LED (factor in plastic "light pipes" if you intend to use them).  Then you'll want to do the partial cuts for the grooves and the decorative bit around the LED.  Under all that, you need a decent sized cavity that will fit your PCB and allow the USB cord to get out.  Same for the bottom half, but it will need standoffs matching the screw holes of the PCB if you do this as a simple tray mount.  The Cherry board is a "plateless," which is okay, but you will absolutely want to use 5-pin switches to ensure good alignment. Otherwise, you can use one of several tools (or your own skills) to design a plate to align and support the switches under the case top.  I might recommend tray mount for a first design, but gasket or top mount might be options if you design a plate.  My own boards are mostly fabricated at home, so I leverage the limitations of my tooling to do a "captive plate" mount where I slide the 3D printed pieces around my 3mm laser-cut plate, if not something even simpler.

Once you have your two halves designed, you can use a service like JLC3DP or Xometry to have it milled from aluminum. A one-off is not outside the budget of a dedicated enthusiast, but it is pricy.  I haven't quoted anything recently, but for a rough order of magnitude think several hundreds, possibly approaching $1000, especially once PCB, keycaps, switches, stabilizers, and supplies are factored in.

[LOTA]

Thank you for the insights!