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geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: samwisekoi on Fri, 11 March 2016, 10:24:36

Title: [Q} Costar Stabilizers in Acrylic Plates?
Post by: samwisekoi on Fri, 11 March 2016, 10:24:36

I'm not a Costar stabilizer guy (omit religious discussion here) but they might work better for the prototype GH-122.2016 Unicomp case adapter plate.  The problem is that the plate will be Acrylic, most likely 6mm/1/4" thick.  I know that plate-mount stabs have clips for metal plates, but so do switches, and they squeeze into Acrylic plates just fine.  I am having a custom plate cut, so I can make the stab slots fit tightly.  However...

Does anyone have experience with using Costar stabs in an Acrylic plate?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can provide insight!

 - Ron | samwisekoi

Title: Re: [Q} Costar Stabilizers in Acrylic Plates?
Post by: iss on Fri, 11 March 2016, 21:26:15

Are you sure you want 1/4 acrylic? That's more than the distance between the retention clips and the bottom of the switch- switches wouldn't sit on the PCB.

Title: Re: [Q} Costar Stabilizers in Acrylic Plates?
Post by: samwisekoi on Sat, 12 March 2016, 11:15:42

Quote from: iss on Fri, 11 March 2016, 21:26:15

Are you sure you want 1/4 acrylic? That's more than the distance between the retention clips and the bottom of the switch- switches wouldn't sit on the PCB.

I have an Acrylic plate/case that uses two layers of (I believe) 3mm for the plate layer. It works fine, and completely hides the lower half of the switch, allowing the PCB to snug right up to the switch. I did not measure the plates,  but I they look like standard "1/8 inch" Acrylic, which is about 0.110", if I recall correctly.  One layer would be too thick for the clips and too thin for a friction fit. Thus nominal 1/4" Acrylic for the plate.

If I use stainless, it will be 0.060" per the Cherry specs.

This question is regarding a hardwired prototype without a PCB, so as long as the leads protrude, the switches will be fine. I suspect Costar stabs will be easier to make work in Acrylic, but I haven't done it myself, and would like to hear from someone who has before I drop $80-100 on a one-off plate.

 - Ron | samwisekoi

Title: Re: [Q} Costar Stabilizers in Acrylic Plates?
Post by: nubbinator on Sat, 12 March 2016, 12:46:51

I'm not sure they would clip in all that well, but if you make the holes tight, you should be able to solvent weld/glue the two together with a little bit of acetone.

Title: Re: [Q} Costar Stabilizers in Acrylic Plates?
Post by: metalliqaz on Sun, 13 March 2016, 07:13:06

I did it on my Zeta/CompactTKL.  1.5mm acrylic. It worked fine.  6mm is too thick

Title: Re: [Q} Costar Stabilizers in Acrylic Plates?
Post by: shareandenjoy on Wed, 16 March 2016, 19:55:50

Worked fine for me with a 1/8" hardboard + 1/16" acrylic plate.  I had to clip the inserts and epoxy them in, but no issues so far.  Pics below:

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=79741.0 (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=79741.0)

Title: Re: [Q} Costar Stabilizers in Acrylic Plates?
Post by: samwisekoi on Thu, 17 March 2016, 10:51:38

Quote from: shareandenjoy on Wed, 16 March 2016, 19:55:50

Worked fine for me with a 1/8" hardboard + 1/16" acrylic plate.  I had to clip the inserts and epoxy them in, but no issues so far.  Pics below:

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=79741.0 (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=79741.0)

That looks very cool!  I did a plate design for the GH60 that also provided arrow keys.  I was limited by the PCB, so mine is not as clean as yours.

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=41464.msg829197#msg829197

Anyhow, thanks for the example of Acrylic-mounted Costar stabs.

 - Ron | samwisekoi