geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: Me on Wed, 21 April 2021, 11:53:37
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Hello everyone, I am happy to say that I have gotten the ball rolling, and save for some unruly time delays, have smoothly been able to order all of the parts for my handwired keyboard. There is one small problem. I forgot to add screw holes into my plate that I ordered, and I am using a sandwich case. What would be a solution to this? The plate is made out of FR4 so is it possible to drill in some holes for the srews? Or is there a workaround method of not even using any screws at all? Thanks in advance about any feedback!
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The plate is made out of FR4 so is it possible to drill in some holes for the srews?
absolutely! i'd recommend you pinch, tape or some other way hold the spaced plates together when you drill your holes. easy way to line up the top plate holes with the bottom plate holes.
Or is there a workaround method of not even using any screws at all?
glue. superglue or or expoxy may work if you're doing a "stacked" case, will probably have to lightly sand the contacting surfaces to so the glue has something to bite into. if doing spaced plates, just line them up/hold them together when drilling the holes for the standoffs.
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Thanks!
(As a side note, I'm really impressed at the speed and accuracy at which you answered my question. It's been like, what, 7 minutes, yet you have answered my question perfectly. Thanks again!)
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heh, no problem.... didn't even realize it was you... "me" (....didn't pay attention to who the OP was)
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Yep!
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well, congrats on ordering plates... making progress... if i may, where'd you end up ordering them from?
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Well I looked for a while, and the cheapest option I found was this webstite called pololu. Also, my I mixed it up when I was writing the original post, but my plate is made of acetal(which I think is the same thing as POM), not FR4.
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acetal = Polyoxymethylene (POM)
what was the thickness?
are you doing stacked or spaced?
- if spaced... you'll probably need more standoffs than you'd think. POM can be a great plate material for alignment (alps) when using a pcb. but if solely using two spaced POM plates, you might have some issues (depending on thickness & number of standoffs) ...POM is a pretty soft/flexible material. not nearly as rigid as FR4.
pololu... very cool. i wouldn't have thought of them. i get voltage regulators & some other goodies from them.
... will definitely keep them in mind.
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I'm not exactly sure what stacked or spaced means, but I basically plan to make a regular sandwich case out of wood using the switchplate as the top of the case. Similar to the case used in the below video, but made out of multiple peices. A flat bottom plate, a ring-like middle layer, and then the top POM plate(I may also use some xtra wood to make a sort of railing around the plate, it looks cool in my minds-eye),
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oh yeah. and the thickness was 1/16".
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stacked... or layered, like your planning
spaced... switchplate and bottom plate spaced apart with standoffs.
like this
[attach=1]
you'll probably still need a handful of supports under the POM plate.
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Ok, I see what you mean by spaced. It looks kinda cool actually, I might try to encorporate some of that asthetic into my final product. Thanks for helping!