Is ALU Case Good?!

[jspark]

I haven't had an ALU case. So, I cannot say whether it is good or not. Since many people are planning to build their own custom keyboard with GH60 kits, people's demands of poker case is very high more than ever. Unfortunately, getting a poker case is not easy. Only available cases are made of ALU or any other metals. It actually look good but very expensive even more than the PCB and Switches. According to the GH60 groupbuy thread, you can build a poker layout GH 60 with $113 while ALU cases are more than $100 alone. Since I don't want to pay more than main components, I'm looking for something cheap. I guess about $20~$30 sounds good to me.

Is there any other reasons why ALU case is better regardless of esthetic reasons?

Maybe I'm wrong, but to me poker case seems very simple and primitive. I'm not talking about the special ALU cases. I'm talking about the basic plastic poker case since that is just enough to me, heh. Is it really this difficult to get a plastic poker case? I guess I can make one of wood with chisels. You can get a exotic lumber such as birdseye maple for $30 dollars depending on the quality of it.

How do you think guys?

[alaricljs]

Regarding plastic: Aside from getting a Poker itself and using the case your only other opportunity is going to be buying a Poker case on the secondary market from someone who replaced their case with an alu one.  It's more expensive to produce a small run of plastic cases than it is to produce a small run of aluminum due to the manufacturing process for plastic being geared for massive volume in order to reduce price.

As for alternatives such as wood, The_Beast has already produced a prototype with his templates...

[noisyturtle]

I have two Pures, one of which is the LE with the aluminum case and I can definitely say it adds some very noticeable stability and structure to the overall feel of the board when in use. No idea about a wood case, but it probably adds some stability as well depending on the density of the wood you use and how well it fits the board. I bet it feels different than aluminum though.

[CommunistWitchDr]

I have an aluminum pure it's nice. If you want cheap look into one of the layered acrylic cases, much cheaper.

[Leslieann]

I have an aluminum cased Filco and a plastic cased KBT Race, and honestly, both have their place.

Aluminum (I use an aluminum keyboard for my desktop where it is stationary and not prone to being moved)
Pros:
Gives a VERY solid feel, no twist or flex AT ALL. Very luxurious.
Easy to sand and repaint, have it anodized, or powder coated. I repaint mine every so often.
Doesn't get damaged easily

Cons:
Heavy! I have a glass desk and if dropped from much height, it will destroy it. The Filco/Vortex case combo is 5.5 pounds! It's heavy enough to break your foot if it falls on it.
Often lack feet to raise or lower the case
Can be insanely expensive (used MKC cases can fetch several hundred dollars)
If made crooked or poorly, not only is it not easy to fix, but may not be fixable at all. *
Often you are at the mercy of low volume suppliers
Static electricity... Some thought I was crazy about this, but I watched a 3in static spark jump from my hand to the keyboard case and illuminated the LED's. It didn't hurt the keyboard, but I have since added a wire to ground it to the USB ground just in case. I have yet to see it happen again. Not being grounded means a shock could also come back at you(!), power tools are plastic for a reason. Everything metal that works with electricity in your house is grounded for a reason, even your shower.


Plastic: (I use this on test benches, servers, etc, places where it's likely to be moved or bumped)
Pros
Lightweight
High strength to weight ratio
Wont damage anything if it falls.
Electrically insulated
Often have feet to elevate the case.
Won't break your foot or desk if it falls on them.
Cheap

Cons:
Often poorly made
Offer no structural support
Can feel cheap
Some are molded and then painted, and the paint falls of at a mere touch.

* More than few aluminum cases are made exceptionally poor. Some are cast then milled, if not milled or cast right, it can leave casting marks, some lacked feet when sold, some lacked screws, some had wrongly placed screw holes, some were milled at a slant and some had poor alignment/accuracy. Before you think it's just the cheap ones with problems, high end ones had a batch with bad anodizing, so the upper and lower didn't match.

[WhiteFireDragon]

Not many aftermarket plastic cases are made because it's not much cheaper than an aluminum one if a low quantity is made. The mold to make plastic cases are very expensive, but the actual material to make the case is cheap once you already have the mold. Cost wise, it's only beneficial to make from mold if production volume is very high. For low plastic production, perhaps 3D printing is an alternative, but these are not much cheaper than CNC from metal. With these price differences for custom plastic and custom metal case, you might as well get a metal one.

[jspark]

I got it... That is why only available options are ALU cases. I can see alu case can give more stability. And it seems like the demands of plastic case is not high enough than I thought. So, only options on my hand are to buy an ALU case or to make a wooden case by myself. If I make one, I will post it haha.

Thanks for the explanations guys.

[Leslieann]

Commercially, there are plexi cases, 3d printed cases (at least 2 coming), wood cases, and probably more.

At the D.I.Y. level, there is Lego, and who knows what else, it's only limited by your imagination. I think someone even tried concrete, done like a counter top, could be nice.

[tricheboars]

i love aluminum cases. i will have them on all my boards except my incoming gh60s. gotta figure out what i want to do with them.

[Photekq]

Commercially, there are plexi cases, 3d printed cases (at least 2 coming), wood cases, and probably more.

At the D.I.Y. level, there is Lego, and who knows what else, it's only limited by your imagination. I think someone even tried concrete, done like a counter top, could be nice.

I want to experiment with polished concrete and slate in the future. They are both very nice materials, especially slate.

[Leslieann]

If I had to redo my kitchen countertops, concrete would be it. Done well, it can look great (much nicer than people think).

The only problem is the cost of concrete dye, it's not available in small quantities, the smallest quantities are a couple hundred dollars per color. At least it was a year ago.

[Photoelectric]

Would concrete end up generating a lot of dust over time or otherwise be a dust magnet?  That's my impression of it.

[Leslieann]

Would concrete end up generating a lot of dust over time or otherwise be a dust magnet?  That's my impression of it.

You seal it with a durable gloss coat once you are finished.

[PointyFox]

http://www.gandmconcrete.com/Concrete_Countertops/Concrete_Countertops.aspx

[gameaholic]

I prefer my cases made of real carbon fiber or solid gold.  =P forgot her name but somewhere on here there is a video of a female singer with gold sparks shooting from her crotch.  someone please link

[meiosis]

Commercially, there are plexi cases, 3d printed cases (at least 2 coming), wood cases, and probably more.

At the D.I.Y. level, there is Lego, and who knows what else, it's only limited by your imagination. I think someone even tried concrete, done like a counter top, could be nice.

I think a lego case would cost more than an aluminum case at the current prices. Goddamn legos costing more and more every year =.=

[jspark]

Wow legos are that expensive? A lego case sounded tempting to me before I hear that is more expensive haha.

[oTurtlez]

Wow legos are that expensive? A lego case sounded tempting to me before I hear that is more expensive haha.

Going and ordering a boatload of legos custom to build your case would come out to about $65, but if you happen to have a bunch of sets lying around from when you were younger, it might be a viable option.

[Leslieann]

I think a lego case would cost more than an aluminum case at the current prices. Goddamn legos costing more and more every year =.=

Lego prices are insane, they were high when I was a kid, but now, forget it!
Wish I still had all the ones my brother and friends had, easily a few thousand dollars worth today.

I prefer my cases made of real carbon fiber

I considered it, but I've had a carbon fiber laptop for a few years, I'm over it.

I will say this though, at least it didn't attract as much attention as my polished magnesium laptop did at airports, I was pulled out of the security line twice with it before I got rid of it.

Going and ordering a boatload of legos custom to build your case would come out to about $65, but if you happen to have a bunch of sets lying around from when you were younger, it might be a viable option.

If you have a bunch laying around, you are better off selling them and buy a case.