geekhack
geekhack Projects => Making Stuff Together! => Topic started by: dustpuppy on Sat, 25 February 2017, 22:37:05
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I want to build super-sturdy and heavy Atreus, and I want to use a 3mm switch plate. A few people on Reddit have indicated that the switches wouldn't click-in, however my understanding is that they will be held down by the PCB. The wooden plates for the Atreus are 3mm and it seems to work OK. Any concerns with going ahead with this approach ? My main wish is for the keyboard to be sturdy and have a solid feeling.
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That's for wood and acrylic, for most all metals, I would recommend 1.5mm or 1.6mm plates.
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If you're using Cherry MX switches, or the clones, they have clips in the housing that fit 1.5mm thick plates. So if you're set on using a 3mm plate then you'd better check that the switches will fit and work properly in a plate that thick. They obviously won't click into place, but the clips may intrude inwards too much and interfere with the switch.
For any other switch type, I have no idea.
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Use some small plastic washers between the PCB and plate where the screw holes are, that will keep the plate from dropping once it's all put together.
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Thanks, in the end I decided to go ahead with a 1.5mm plate since everyone was strongly recommending it.
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If you want more weight put it in the case.
For a metal plate just get 1.5mm. (don't do 1.6)
The reason to go thicker on non-metal materials is for stiffness. However, it usually requires some other method to then hold the switches in place, such as gluing or at least a PCB.
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I think you'll find 1.5mm stainless is plenty rigid and plenty heavy. Probably cheaper too. Your switches don't HAVE to click in, but it's subjectively better when they do.