So as I work on my prototype of a new keyboard design (see
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=113130.msg3056862#msg3056862), I've run into problems in that the AEK II spacebar I'm using uses nonstandard spacing on its stabs.
Accordingly, I had to improvise. The solution I came up with was to (at least temporarily) hold the stabilizer bar in with elastics. I hooked the stabilizer bar through the elastics, passed said elastics down through the (thick acrylic) plate (the final design will have a proper metal plate) and, on the other side, held them in place with another surplus stabilizer bar.
If I keep this as a semi-permanent solution, I may lubricate the top half of the elastics a little, so the stabilizer bar can rotate more freely in it and abrade the elastic less.
I know this isn't the best of solutions, but... it does seem to work, quite stably in fact. And if the elastics snap, I can always add in another elastic.
Thoughts? Has anyone else used elastics in this manner before? Is there a better way to jury-rig a stabilizer bar in place on an Alps-style keyboard?