Ergodox Stabilizers

[thecontinuum]

Hey GHers,
  I recently built an ergodox and have found that the thumb 2x thumb keys are fairly sticky unless I press them in the center. Because of this, I'm looking to add stabilizers. I pulled the plate mounted stabilizers out of my Filco to try the fit out but they don't "click" in. Are there any stabilizers out there that work with the massdrop ergodox case without glue/paper? If so, where can I order them?

[sakai4eva]

Don't think they exist since the acrylic is 5mm thick. I had to use a hot glue gun to fix mine

[dorkvader]

Hey GHers,
  I recently built an ergodox and have found that the thumb 2x thumb keys are fairly sticky unless I press them in the center. Because of this, I'm looking to add stabilizers. I pulled the plate mounted stabilizers out of my Filco to try the fit out but they don't "click" in. Are there any stabilizers out there that work with the massdrop ergodox case without glue/paper? If so, where can I order them?

The acrylic plate is "cut" for costar stabilizers (like the ones on your filco) , but you will need to clue them in place if you want to use them.

Another option is to get a metal plate (from a group buy, for example) and then you can use either cherry or costar stabilizers.

mechanicalkeyboards.com has ergodox PCBs that will take PCB mount stabilizers.

[jacobolus]

The easiest solution is to use the stabilizers you have (or buy some new ones) and hot-glue them into the plate. They won’t “clip” in because the acrylic plate is much too thick, but hot glue keeps them stuck down pretty well.

(You’ll notice the MX switches also don’t really clip into the plate, and are just being held by friction. The Ergodox would work a lot better if the plate were 1/16" thick instead of 1/8". Or if it used a 1.5mm thick metal plate.)

[thecontinuum]

[...] hot-glue them into the plate.

My concern here is that if the clips break, I am back to square one (worse since I can't even replace them then). I might try a bit of play dough so it sticks but is removable.

[dorkvader]

[...] hot-glue them into the plate.

My concern here is that if the clips break, I am back to square one (worse since I can't even replace them then). I might try a bit of play dough so it sticks but is removable.

I think you'd have to toss it onto a hard floor and it land at just the wrong angle for that to happen. Still even if the worst does occur, oen reason to use hot glue over (say) superglue is so that you can replace it should you need.

[tp4tissue]

nononononono


there was a thread about this a while back..


they FIT.. all you need to do is increase the width of the stabilizers,  by putting some tape on the bottom left right side

and it will stay put in the slot..   


obviously you need to line them up correctly with respect to the switch.. ..


all 4 of my thumb buttons are stabilized.. sm00th as silk..

[jacobolus]

[...] hot-glue them into the plate.

My concern here is that if the clips break, I am back to square one (worse since I can't even replace them then). I might try a bit of play dough so it sticks but is removable.

Hot glue is easy to remove with any knife, etc.

One potentially annoying thing: you might have to desolder the keyswitches and get a bit more distance between PCB and plate to replace the stabilizer clips. I don’t know, I haven’t tried to remove them ever.

[tp4tissue]

[...] hot-glue them into the plate.

My concern here is that if the clips break, I am back to square one (worse since I can't even replace them then). I might try a bit of play dough so it sticks but is removable.

Hot glue is easy to remove with any knife, etc.

One potentially annoying thing: you might have to desolder the keyswitches and get a bit more distance between PCB and plate to replace the stabilizer clips. I don’t know, I haven’t tried to remove them ever.

u can't use hot glue for this.

because if bits get between the plate and the pcb, it's pretty hard to get out..

[jacobolus]

If you hot glue it before you solder any of the switches in, it’s really easy.

[sakai4eva]

Hot glue isn't that hard to remove... I've ripped mine off occasionally just by changing keycaps

[thecontinuum]

Found the perfect thing to widen the stabilizers that little bit it needs to be snug and make it easily fixable/replaceable if necessary: saran wrap!

I took a piece, folded it a few times, cut a small strip, placed it under the stab and pushed it in. works great and no hot glue to worry about.