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Author Topic: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?  (Read 3074 times)

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Offline happylacquer

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Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 07:07:03 »
I've seen how cool LZ-S's look. Lemme get some of that sweet underlit LED action on one of my unicomp or IBM boards.

I did some googling and found this eventually on a thread not super long ago here. It works, but the lights are too sparse apart and the overall build is hacker than i would want to do on one of my own boards:



If you had a power drill and a lot of patience, is there any reason you can't fit a LED under each buckling spring like this, which I stole from lastpilot's LZ build log, but isn't his board:



I dunno if anyone has tried this kind of thing on a buckling switch. I think the LZ builds are awesome as f*** but I just can't like MX no matter what. (It's possible I could like Gaterons but haven't tried them and after coming back to BS after Topre and many MX varieties I dunno if anything else will make me happy) I also an in the horrible minority that wants stiffer springs for my buckling springs than the stock ones  :(
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Offline chyros

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #1 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 08:29:46 »
Wouldn't some kind of surface-mount LED thing be best for this? Also, do you really think it would fit an M? Its lack of bells and whistles is almost what defines the look IMO ;) .
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Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #2 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 09:20:08 »
Quote from: chyros on Sat, 18 February 2017, 08:29:46
Wouldn't some kind of surface-mount LED thing be best for this? Also, do you really think it would fit an M? Its lack of bells and whistles is almost what defines the look IMO ;) .

yea but to what surface.. ?
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Offline Tactile

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #3 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 09:32:50 »
Quote from: happylacquer on Sat, 18 February 2017, 07:07:03
...If you had a power drill and a lot of patience, is there any reason you can't fit a LED under each buckling spring...

You'd need to be very careful making sure you didn't whomp through one or more of the membrane traces. And then you'd be coming out on the bottom, which is a steel plate. So you'd need to drill oversized holes in order to insert some kind of insulator for the led leads.

160809-0
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Offline y11971alex

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #4 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 13:03:57 »
Model F XT has little holes that secure the barrels to the plate.  I wonder if those could be used as LED holes.  :P
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Offline happylacquer

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #5 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 15:59:00 »
Quote from: Tactile on Sat, 18 February 2017, 09:32:50
Quote from: happylacquer on Sat, 18 February 2017, 07:07:03
...If you had a power drill and a lot of patience, is there any reason you can't fit a LED under each buckling spring...

You'd need to be very careful making sure you didn't whomp through one or more of the membrane traces. And then you'd be coming out on the bottom, which is a steel plate. So you'd need to drill oversized holes in order to insert some kind of insulator for the led leads.

(Attachment Link)

Yeah the steel plate is gonna make this a ***** to do. I am confident I can keep from ruining a membrane trace if I'm really slow, methodical and careful about the whole thing. Man every one of these LEDs is gonna be swimming in heatshrink
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Offline happylacquer

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #6 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 15:59:30 »
Quote from: y11971alex on Sat, 18 February 2017, 13:03:57
Model F XT has little holes that secure the barrels to the plate.  I wonder if those could be used as LED holes.  :P

Ooohhhh.... I should find some picture of these.
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Offline Phenix

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #7 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 16:16:54 »
Maybe run rgb led strips over it?
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Offline happylacquer

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #8 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 16:59:46 »
Quote from: Phenix on Sat, 18 February 2017, 16:16:54
Maybe run rgb led strips over it?

The issue would be proper spacing, hmm....
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Offline Phenix

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #9 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 17:51:21 »
Somehow good ol-
' christmas lightchainscome to my mind (those with the small LEDs
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Offline happylacquer

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #10 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 19:04:38 »
Quote from: Phenix on Sat, 18 February 2017, 17:51:21
Somehow good ol-
' christmas lightchainscome to my mind (those with the small LEDs

oooh, this could work
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Offline chyros

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #11 on: Sat, 18 February 2017, 20:24:20 »
Quote from: Phenix on Sat, 18 February 2017, 17:51:21
Somehow good ol-
' christmas lightchainscome to my mind (those with the small LEDs
Were you drunk when you typed this?  :))
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Offline Phenix

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Re: Model M Full LED Mod, LZ inspired... possible?
« Reply #12 on: Sun, 19 February 2017, 04:46:09 »
Definitly not.
tough tired+using awesome touch keyboards are always helpful for good grammar+spelling
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