Aluminum Spacebar?

[Arcanius]

Hi there, I'm wondering if there was, in fact, an article or post about an aluminum spacebar, or if I'm just crazy.
I'm going to purchase a Noppoo Choc Mini, and while contemplating key replacements, decided that I might have a CNC machinist friend of the family's make me some keys. The two most irregular keys on the board are the small Right Shift, [similar to Cherry 1800's in size, I think? (It's the size of Caps Lock)] and the small spacebar. So I think I'll first have him make me the spacebar, to rid myself of the Noppooooooo logo on the front side. However, I'm thinking that it would be heavy (DIDN'T SOMEBODY POST ABOUT ONE!?!?!) and that I might want to add an extra spring to it, like some keyboards have. (Doesn't Topre have one?)

Where would such a mounting go? How would one affix the spring to the board (the key's easy, add an extra cylinder as a guide.)?
Also, how heavy would this spring have to be to counteract the weight of the spacebar and stabilizers?

[alaricljs]

Titanium I've seen... Alu, no.

[daerid]

Aluminum wouldn't make a very good material for keys, unless it was sealed somehow. Oxidization would make your fingertips black very, very quickly.

[Arcanius]

Crap. That's not good. Well what metal WOULD work? I'm thinking stainless? That'd be heavy, but again, I'm planning on adding an extra spring, so that shouldn't be too big a problem? Titanium's expensive, and I can't afford to spend $100 for a spacebar.....

EDIT: Price of Titanium is about $20 a pound, but I wonder how easy it is to work with?
Would stainless steel be suitable for a spacebar, or would it just oxidize do to all the grime and oils off your thumbs?

[alaricljs]

Ti is a monster to work with.

If you did it in Alu you'd have to get it anodized or clear-coated... The clear coat would wear off, anodize would take ages longer.

[alaricljs]

Ripster, it's not the aluminum key... it's your fingers.  Lots of people have chemistry issues with Alu.

[noodles256]

[video=youtube;8fijggq5R6w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fijggq5R6w[/video]

[Astounding]

Ripster, it's not the aluminum key... it's your fingers.  Lots of people have chemistry issues with Alu.

 
Source?

[alaricljs]

Source?

My fingers?

This:

I known about this. Your finger tips turn black because one of your strings is unplated, aluminum wound. The black is aluminum oxide. It's not necessarily cheap.

Get some raw Alu and rub it on your hand.  Try Home Depot or Lowes hardware section.

[Arcanius]

it depends, are you planning on commissioning someone, or are you wanting to make it?  cast?  cnc/milled?

at this point, imsto is the only person selling them on the forum, they are available overseas on a number of sites.

I said I know a CNC machinist, has a big shop, and maybe I can get him to do it. I just need to find the right material, but I don't want it to bee too hard for him to work with. I'm not sure what Al he has in the shop, and am curious about Stainless Steel. What about brass? How does that deal with the fingers? I use brass wire all the time in reed-making, never seen it corrode, and I soak reeds in water... Although it does lose a bit of its shine, it doesn't seem to tarnish.

[Astounding]

I said I know a CNC machinist, has a big shop, and maybe I can get him to do it. I just need to find the right material, but I don't want it to bee too hard for him to work with. I'm not sure what Al he has in the shop, and am curious about Stainless Steel. What about brass? How does that deal with the fingers? I use brass wire all the time in reed-making, never seen it corrode, and I soak reeds in water... Although it does lose a bit of its shine, it doesn't seem to tarnish.

Lead-free brass might be interesting, but I'm sure there are better materials that it could be made out of.  Titanium sounded nice... I wonder about stainless steel.

[Arcanius]

Copper would only look godly for a short while, it would tarnish much too quickly, I think. Nickel Silver also will tarnish over time, which does kindof suck, as it looks awesome.
Brss also tanishes, it seems.
Only Noble metals are very resistant to tarnishing.... Osmium spacebar, anybody?
I'm still wondering about inox. Anybody work with it, to be able to give us some help?

Also, I know women that have allergies to nickel injewerly put clear nail polish on their jewelry before wearing to, to keep from getting rashes.... might this word on keys? Or would it just wear quickly with use.... so many questions.

[TheSoulhunter]

Some standard chrome-nickel steel like X5CrNi18-10 (aka. V2A aka. 1.4301 aka. 304) should do it!

[The Solutor]

Hi there, I'm wondering if there was, in fact, an article or post about an aluminum spacebar, or if I'm just crazy.
I'm going to purchase a Noppoo Choc Mini, and while contemplating key replacements, decided that I might have a CNC machinist friend of the family's make me some keys. The two most irregular keys on the board are the small Right Shift, [similar to Cherry 1800's in size, I think? (It's the size of Caps Lock)] and the small spacebar. So I think I'll first have him make me the spacebar, to rid myself of the Noppooooooo logo on the front side. However, I'm thinking that it would be heavy (DIDN'T SOMEBODY POST ABOUT ONE!?!?!) and that I might want to add an extra spring to it, like some keyboards have. (Doesn't Topre have one?)

Where would such a mounting go? How would one affix the spring to the board (the key's easy, add an extra cylinder as a guide.)?
Also, how heavy would this spring have to be to counteract the weight of the spacebar and stabilizers?

Likely painting a spare keyset with spray graphite (or other suited conductive paint) and chrome them is a  quicker and cheaper way. (i said chrome as process, the coating metal can vary)

[Crazy9000]

Make it out of aluminum and anodize it. Anodizing isn't too expensive, and you could get it dyed or keep them clear.