Acrylic dust cover

[killyou]

Hey all

I just made acrylic dust cover for my new Vortex Pok3r that I bought last week. I wanted something to protect the keyboard just like the old days when the covers were sold with the computers or were easily obtainable (I mostly have Amiga in mind). It's just the first try so there are a lot of stains from the glue (I need to find a better way to get the pieces together than a super glue) and I need to adjust measurements slightly but I'm happy with the effect. In the end I might end up sanding the whole thing and putting a coat of paint over it to get a smooth surface without any flaws. Let me know if you've tried something similar, maybe you have some tips for me on how can I make it better. Cheers.

[SBJ]

Hah very nice indeed.
How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

[killyou]

Hah very nice indeed.
How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

Not at all:

- 2$ for the material already cut to the sizes I wanted using laser so everything is the exact size I ordered
- 4$ for shipping
- some super glue that I already had and 10 minutes of spare time

Very cheap and easy method to get a case but needs some work in terms of aesthetics. Painting it would be easy way to fix it. I have to order batch of the acrylic as I forgot to add 2x 1.5mm to the length of the side walls to compensate for the thickness of the walls they touch.

[SBJ]

Not at all:

- 2$ for the material already cut to the sizes I wanted using laser so everything is the exact size I ordered
- 4$ for shipping
- some super glue that I already had and 10 minutes of spare time

Very cheap and easy method to get a case but needs some work in terms of aesthetics. Painting it would be easy way to fix it. I have to order batch of the acrylic as I forgot to add 2x 1.5mm to the length of the side walls to compensate for the thickness of the walls they touch.

That is a fantastic price.
As someone with dogs, I wouldn't mind something like that for my TKL board. It's friggin dusty every day and I clean it almost every day. Stupid dogs.

[killyou]

Well, your options are either spend 6$ or get rid of the dogs 

[vim_commando]

Acrylic cement like WeldOn #3 is really the way to go, the technique just takes some practice.

If you want to keep it clear you can sand and polish the clear acrylic too. No promises on how the superglue would look though

[tp4tissue]

where did you get this cut?

did you compensate for the width of the cut when you sent them the dimensions?



Well, I suppose they're responsible for that,  but it seems like they didn't compensate.


Because if your measurements were correct,   then it should fit together perfectly square

[leech]

looks better than my styrofoam cover! 

[killyou]

where did you get this cut?

did you compensate for the width of the cut when you sent them the dimensions?



Well, I suppose they're responsible for that,  but it seems like they didn't compensate.


Because if your measurements were correct,   then it should fit together perfectly square

Nope, I should get that into the consideration My fault, doesn't matter, it's cheap anyway. That was a fast trial run. I'll try to experiment with this one like sanding, painting etc to see what looks good and I'll order another set with correct measurements and make it final. Also I might break it apart to test if the glue that was proposed above doesn't leave the smudges like the super glue.

[tp4tissue]

where did you get this cut?

did you compensate for the width of the cut when you sent them the dimensions?



Well, I suppose they're responsible for that,  but it seems like they didn't compensate.


Because if your measurements were correct,   then it should fit together perfectly square

Nope, I should get that into the consideration My fault, doesn't matter, it's cheap anyway. That was a fast trial run. I'll try to experiment with this one like sanding, painting etc to see what looks good and I'll order another set with correct measurements and make it final. Also I might break it apart to test if the glue that was proposed above doesn't leave the smudges like the super glue.

Call them and ask how much the laser melts off as it cuts the acrylic.. 

different machines and configurations produce different widths of cut.


Alternatively, since your cover is pretty big,  it'd be easy and fairly rigid to do an Interlocking cut like in my keycap project case.

Picture of the case in my keycap project link below


but, for interlock, you have to know fairly precisely the laser cut width to compensate.  if you want to do it without glue.

[killyou]

I thought of the interlocking cut as a clean way of putting the parts together, plus I could get the thicker sheets to get the case even more rigid (I chose 1.5mm but they go up to 5mm or even thicker, I would need to see the manufacturers catalog) but the downside would be I'd have to create design files in format they specified so it would be a lot of work that I usually want to avoid. Well getting this right might be my project to keep me busy instead of buying another keyboard haha.

[vim_commando]

Don't mind me. I'm completely replying to the wrong thread. :facepalm:

Edit:

Well, while I'm here I might as well.

Here is a good video explaining acrylic cement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_FQqA5GVF4&t=1s

And another really in depth one on polishing acrylic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_FQqA5GVF4&t=1s

[tp4tissue]

I thought of the interlocking cut as a clean way of putting the parts together, plus I could get the thicker sheets to get the case even more rigid (I chose 1.5mm but they go up to 5mm or even thicker, I would need to see the manufacturers catalog) but the downside would be I'd have to create design files in format they specified so it would be a lot of work that I usually want to avoid. Well getting this right might be my project to keep me busy instead of buying another keyboard haha.

i used 3mm, because depending on how well their laser is tweaked,  it does not actually cut a straight channel.

So the deeper the cut, the more of a _ V _ shape it creates.  If they're not part of the process of trial and error,  cutting 5mm might not give you the best visual of the joints..

[leech]

Status update:
I have replaced all my previous keyboard covers with THE SORA COVER (thanks for checking my review ).