My 3d printed VE.A

[MajorKoos]

I was fortunate enough to pick up an additional VE.A PCB as part of the MD GB, and I've picked up some spare plates since then.
The release of the DXF file for the ALPS plate was the final piece of the puzzle.

After much time spent learning the ropes in Autodesk Fusion 360 I came up with this:

It's held together using heat set inserts and M2 screws.  A soldering iron is used to melt the inserts into pre-made holes.
McMaster-Carr parts #s:
    94180A307    Heat-Set Inserts for Plastics M2 x 0.4 mm Thread Size, 2.9 mm
    91294A009    Black-Oxide Alloy Steel Hex Drive Flat Head Screw M2 x 0.4 mm Thread, 12 mm Long

I printed the parts out on my Ultimaker 2+.  The top is made of Protopasta CF reinforced PLA (3 perimeters, 7 top/bottom layers, 50% infill, .15mm layers, .35mm nozzle).  The bottom is made of clear Colorfabb XT (3 perimeters, solid, .4mm layers, .8mm nozzle, 110% material flow, ZERO FAN).  Getting the bottom as clear as possible is a little tricky.

[MajorKoos]

I also printed some tenting stands while I was at it.
I personally prefer having a front-to-back tilt rather than tented.
Here are the STL files : https://github.com/MajorKoos/KBDParts/tree/master/VE.A%20Parts

[alienman82]

removed.

[[Lewynlight]]

you're amazing, wow.

and goddamn, i just knew that 3Dprinting technology nowadays can be that smooth. nice job on the top case.

[Skull_Angel]

Sweet build, looks clean man!

[TD22057]

OK - that is amazing.  How many iterations on the case design and print cycle did you have to do before getting that result?   I haven't done any 3D design (and don't own a printer) but your work is making me want to try to do a design (and maybe have someone else do the printing).  I was playing w/ sketchup case designs but had no idea how to actually get them made. 

[MajorKoos]

It took me about a month to get the model to a point where I was ready to order parts and begin printing.  I could have done it quicker, but I've been exploring Fusion 360 joints and animations to do assembly drawings and videos for the model.  Fusion 360 rocks.

Each part takes several hours to print, so when designing something I normally print cross sections of the model so I can make sure all the spacing between parts is correct, etc. rather than printing a whole part each iteration.  20 min to print a corner with a screw hole in it is a lot better than 4 hours for the entire piece, especially if you may have to throw it away.  It saves a ton of time and materials and allows me to tweak the printing process until I get the results I want - a whole other topic.   The final version took about 16 hours of machine time to print all 4 pieces.

[switchnollie]

That's pretty sweet, nice job

[ArchDill]

Wow, this is great!

[anthorix]

The future is now.

[Clicker]

That looks awesome, I really like the transparent bottom part of the case. That's the nicest finish I've seen on PLA part.

Is the layout comfortable to use?

[MajorKoos]

That looks awesome, I really like the transparent bottom part of the case. That's the nicest finish I've seen on PLA part.

Is the layout comfortable to use?

The CF PLA makes a huge difference to warping so I was able to print the part directly on a heated borosilicate glass bed without needing to resort to glue stick.  A level print bed, 0.075 micron bottom layer and 10% over-extrusion to really squish down the bottom layer was the trick 
The other layers were 0.15mm to speed up the print time.  The real bonus though is that I have a STS plate and a PCB to hold it all together.

I find the layout more space efficient than the natural layout which helps to bring my mouse in closer. 
The macros down the left are an awesome addition and help balance the board for my OCD  )

[j_kobrah]

nice build, any chance you could share the STL files ?

[iliptikal]

This looks great.  I'd love to have the files too if you could share them.

[MajorKoos]

I'm a bit leary of distributing the files as the design is reverse engineered from the VE.A plate CAD file and my VE.A.
Vermillion was clear about not wanting to share his CAD files for the rest of the case.

[sony]

I understand not wanting to release the files for the board, but would you be willing to release the files for the tenting stand?

[xtrafrood]

Well done! I've only messed with Fusion for a few months now. Hopefully, I'll be able to print or cut something too. Thought I would add that releasing those files would be disrespectful and could mount to possible litigation. Totally can see how difficult it would be to buy a VE.A in the classifieds though. Who would sell their VE.A?

[MajorKoos]

I understand not wanting to release the files for the board, but would you be willing to release the files for the tenting stand?

Sure - I have no issues with that at all.
I'll stick them on GitHub and post a link here once done.

[MajorKoos]

Well done! I've only messed with Fusion for a few months now. Hopefully, I'll be able to print or cut something too. Thought I would add that releasing those files would be disrespectful and could mount to possible litigation. Totally can see how difficult it would be to buy a VE.A in the classifieds though. Who would sell their VE.A?

I'm working on a similar case for the TS65 which will be open source.

[xtrafrood]

Well done! I've only messed with Fusion for a few months now. Hopefully, I'll be able to print or cut something too. Thought I would add that releasing those files would be disrespectful and could mount to possible litigation. Totally can see how difficult it would be to buy a VE.A in the classifieds though. Who would sell their VE.A?

I'm working on a similar case for the TS65 which will be open source.

Aw, no F row. Still awesome regardless.

[MajorKoos]

Here are the STL files for the tenting stands.
https://github.com/MajorKoos/KBDParts

They're also linked in the second post.

[alienman82]

removed.

[ComandaPanda]

Agreed more Korean makers need to provide the damn plate files so people can choose their own materials.

[MajorKoos]

It took me about a month to get the model to a point where I was ready to order parts and begin printing.  I could have done it quicker, but I've been exploring Fusion 360 joints and animations to do assembly drawings and videos for the model.  Fusion 360 rocks.

Each part takes several hours to print, so when designing something I normally print cross sections of the model so I can make sure all the spacing between parts is correct, etc. rather than printing a whole part each iteration.  20 min to print a corner with a screw hole in it is a lot better than 4 hours for the entire piece, especially if you may have to throw it away.  It saves a ton of time and materials and allows me to tweak the printing process until I get the results I want - a whole other topic.   The final version took about 16 hours of machine time to print all 4 pieces.

just curious, did you make the plate file in CAD or just use a real Set?  It wouldn't be hard to modify the alps file he gave out for mx, but there are no real standards for pcb mount stabs on plates it seems, so I was just curious.

I will be replicating some plates soon since Korean makers got their heads up their asses.

I used that set of MX plates I bought off you a while back.
I modified the CAD files for an ANSI plate (seen in the render), but haven't actually tested it at all so I have no idea if it is aligned correctly.

[alienman82]

removed.