geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: tDr1v3r on Tue, 05 May 2015, 15:14:21
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After some struggling with my beloved BlackWidow TE (the modifier row kills me, apart from that the keyboard is awesome) I've decided to build my own board from the ground up. The choise is made, the base will be a ANSI TKL Phantom PCB and the switches will be plate mounted Gateron Browns.
But the case is a different question... the existing, "widely" available alu cases from Vortex and TEX are pretty expensive, so I thought I will build one myself -after all, a CNC producer lives from me like ~1km... it would be defenately cheaper than the manufactured ones. And looking to the open source ones the TEK-80 could be an alternative with little modifications (like addig the missing buttons to the modifier row) but that's... not too custom for me. So I thought I would try to make a frameless case, something similiar to the Vortex low-profile case ot the 60% TEX.
I think they look quite decent, though I don't understand why nobody made a case like those for tenkeyless boards.
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Honestly, if you're going to make a board, the Phantom is a poor choice.
The teensy is terrible because it has the worst name for it. The controller is relatively monstrous while being able to do very little in exchange.
This makes it awkward to design cases as you need the clearance for it.
If you want a nice TKL board then a PCB from GON or Winkeyless is a much better choice. Both of those PCBs can do much more and don't have massive controllers.
The PCBs are also probably of higher quality to be honest.
The reason why people don't make TKL cases much is because the form factor has many different variations.
While the 60% style is very much standardized with standard mounting holes and dimensions as well as usb placement, rarely do you see two TKL boards which share those specifications.
Also, if you ask why no one has made a case like the low profile TEX in the TKL form factor, it's because those boards are not standoff mounted.
For a low profile case to work you either have to have something standoff mounted or a plate specifically meant to become a part of the case.
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Leaving the PCB and instead handwire every switch to the controller? That should prevent the mounting issues because I can design a plate that has holes for the screws. Or use a PCB and design a plate with a bezel that has screwholes... but I don't like that, though GON made some great builds with this method.
Everything can change in this state, the only thing I ordered is the Gateron Brown switches. I'm thinking about a 60% build as an alternative, but I'm not sure I could get used to that layout. But that could be slightly easier and cheaper to do, at least.
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Don't go for hand wiring. It would just add bulk and a PCB would be more than worth it.
If you can get a cnc case then you can have it milled so that the top doesn't reveal the screws. Instead the screw would go in from the bottom and screw into threads on the bottom of the top case. This is how most cases are designed, but I don't think a low profile case like this has ever been done.