Custom Plates

[windchimes]

hey all,

i was curious about the process of getting custom plates made. i'm interested in some layouts that the pcb supports but the current plate does not. is it at all possible to be done without the original plate files? for example, is there any way i could provide an existing plate and have someone create new files from that? and next, assuming i'm able to get plate files in the first place, where would i look to get the plate actually made? thanks!

[mode]

I'm a big fan of laserboost, I've bought three plates from them and they were all flawless.

http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com is pretty useful, if you can get your layout as right as you can figure it in that, then export it to cad, then check how it measures up with a set of digital calipers.

That's how I made mine, suppress the urge to cut corners, just be patient and measure again and again. The normal space between keys is 100% standardised, you've just got to work out how many units wide your caps are, and then it's just a question of locating your clusters of keys.

Free CAD software is pretty rubbish, but I've always managed to do what I need to with QCAD, it's honestly pretty painful to use, but it's entirely doable.

[windchimes]

thanks for the info! i've got the plate files all set now but i'll look into laserboost; i heard about something in china too but nothing's really running right now...

[Lanrefni]

Laser boost is good for metal plates but if your looking to test a design and not spend massive $$ Ponoko.com is dirt cheap for laser cut acrylic,I've ordered two sets of plates from them and both orders were perfect.

[mode]

That's a fair shout, I messed up my first plate cad, would've saved some money to prototype it.

[windchimes]

will do, thanks all!