Back plate mod for Cherry G80-1295 HAU

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Hi,

The Cherry G80-1295 HAU keyboard i bought is pcb mounted cherry mx black switches.

I also just recently bought a NCR 3299-k440-v001 g81-3007 SAU/01 which is a Cherry MY board with Dye sublimated keys. I'm harvesting them for the dyes, but i also happened to notice that it has a metal backplate. Would this be able to fit on my 1295 board which also seems to be the same 101 US ansi layout ?







http://park10.wakwak.com/~jpspace/key/kaitai_g81.html



Also does anyone have a step by step guide how to do this, or what kind of level of difficulty should i expect ?

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

spotted some related threads here

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=13165

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:8509

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=6383

http://www.h6.dion.ne.jp/~tonoroom/katakoto/G80-3000%20custom/G80-3000%20custom.html

*this one's for a G80-1800
http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/review/105023


But in all those cases, they talk about transplanting G81-3000 metal back plates or custom ones into a G80-3000 casing.

But the one i'm intending is a G81-3xxx into a G80-1xxx so how good will the fit be ? Has anybody else done this before ?


It would then look roughly like this Cherry G80-1207 HPU


http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/105138


I don't know which donor board he got the backplate from, but i'll bet it wasn't originally on that G80-1207 :x


Anyway some suggestions/tips would be appreciated :x




After the plate mod, i may be doing a ghetto red mod. Judging from this picture, i just need only open up the switch, replace the spring :X


Source:http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:7486&&highlight=solder

[nanu]

It would then look roughly like this Cherry G80-1207 HPU
[іmg]http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/review/files/attach/images/42106/138/105/G80_1207HPU.JPG[/іmg]
http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/105138

Here's a tip: it might be better to rehost a kbdmania hotlinked image; to the uninitiated it's as if there's 999999 newlines in your post and/or a 99mb PNG

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

This file size is 782.75 KB i think thats is alright. their all already in jpeg.

[sixty]

Unless you have high precision laser cutting equip or a lot of free time and godly skills with a dremel, this aint happening. The plate mod I did with the g81->g80 is only to add stability to the otherwise flexing PCB. Switches remain PCB mounted of course.

The  Korean mods use custom plates that they had made with cnc laser cutting machines.

The Japanese mod uses a custom plate that is available from a Japanese online shop, its made of solid steel. Price is $140 for the plate with no keyboard.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Wow 140 o.O;

Well i know a laser cutting company nearby. They helped me cut my aluminium casing on the top to add in the water cooling radiator.

Like i saw a post that G81 boards and vice versa is not compatible with G80. But there was no mention regarding the metal backplates whether that would be compatible.

Is there a link to the Japanese custom plate site ?


Anywayz i was thinking that the G81 metal back plate seems to have all the holes drilled for the switches for 101 keys, and the led lights exactly like my G80. So if there is any adjustments to be done they will be few.

I need only mark what to cut, then send to the laser cutting company to make the adjustments.



Another thing i'm not too sure on is the switches. Pcb mounted vs plate mounted.
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=13783

So is my option to cut the plastic pin for the pcb mounted to be compatible to solder onto plate ?


Also in the starting post, is that thin plastic sheet necessary ? Is there some partitioning needed to be between the metal plate and the pcb ?

Like your mod sixty u had some rubber mesh between the plate and the pcb.

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Some Korean mod for back plate

http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/photo/photo/117801

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

That looks totally different than the G81-3007 metal back plate




Meaning the plate won't work unless i make larger boxed holes ? or not ?

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Comparing the back plate pictures vs the G81-3007.

The cherry mx switches have larger boxed shaped holes, whereas the cherry MY plate only has diagonal holes for pins. So it's not gonna be cherry mx compatible unless i also make box shaped hole as well my guess ??

So its either

1. make square shaped holes
2. or settle for your Sixty's mod where he used the G81 plate behind the pcb with some rubber mesh to partition; but it's still pcb mounted at the front.


Option 1 seems it's going to be difficult getting the cutting accurate ... I initially thought only 2-3 holes required to get it to fit into the plastic place holders. But now it seems it's escalated to having to make many square holes, and they need to be accurately cut.

Option 2: not really gonna be that much difference to me. G80-1000 casings are much better plastics than 3000 series aren't they.


So i guess the best choice is the Japanese or Korean custom made mounting plates Sixty mentioned. I wonder if they have been tested as G80-1000 compatible ? Does anybody have these links ?


And another thing, the switches originally on the G80-1295 HAU are pcb mounted. So my choices are

1. cut off the plastic pins so i can solder them onto the metal plate

2. buy cherry mx switches that are already designed for plate mounting. (but in this option, is it possible to transplant the nkro diodes from the original pcb mounted switches to these new ones that don't have the nkro diodes ?)

[Moogle Stiltzkin]

Found one but it's for 3000 and 1800 models :{







http://www.kbdmania.net/xe/661502