Author Topic: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...  (Read 4442 times)

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Offline hKing

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Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 10:35:45 »
Hey there,
last week, I bought an aluminum case from TaoBao via an agent. Yesterday, they received the stuff and posted me some pictures.

So it seems that the case has some scrachtes, especially on the sides. I am not sure whether those will be visible if the case is assembled or not. Personally, I am very picky when it comes to scratches, dents or marks. I really can't stand them. On the other hand, this it not an super expensive case, it's like 95 USD.

As of now, I have to following options:

1. Return the case.
2. Let them ship the case to me. I'll let a local company re-anodize it.
3. Let them ship the case to me. I'll let a local company powder-coat it.

As you can see from the pictures, the case is anodized in silver. This is not my favorite color, I prefer something like titanium grey (wasn't available). So I had the paint-job already in mind when I ordered the case.

My question is:

Is it possible to "remove" those tiny scratches with some proper coating or anodizing?

124970-0



124972-1

Thanks in advance for your input!

Offline XMIT

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 10:41:42 »
I can barely see the scratches you're talking about.

I would either keep it, or learn to make your own, or both!

Offline hKing

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #2 on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 10:45:59 »
Thank you, but that doesn't cover my question:

Is it possible to re-anodize / powder-coat an already anodized case?

:thumb:

Offline mashby

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 10:47:48 »
Thank you, but that doesn't cover my question:

Is it possible to re-anodize / powder-coat an already anodized case?

:thumb:

Every aluminum case I've ever ordered has had a minor imperfection here, or there. I think the case looks very good and doesn't require re-anodizing.

That being said, you can re-anodize an aluminum case if it bothers you that much.

Offline Homenubbie

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 10:54:14 »
Got a link?

Offline Bromono

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 11:31:59 »
Yes you can. Depending on what you want, it can be pricy.

Offline OfTheWild

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #6 on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 13:30:09 »
You can strip anodizing off with max strength oven off.
You can powdercoat over anything you want, anodizing is a little more picky but you can anodize over top of anything lighter in color, yes.

-Dana

Offline bazh

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #7 on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 14:22:38 »
Apart from some minor scratches shown, I consider the case normal since aluminium case tend to have imperfection all the time. Plus you don't pay Apple money either, so it is quite acceptable to me.


I say you can go either 1 or 2, but never 3. Powder coating is just the worst thing one can do to aluminium stuff IMO. What's the point with aluminium when you ruin it with coating then? I never understand.
HHKB Pro2 white

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Offline keshley

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #8 on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 15:47:29 »
If you want a satin look, can always strip with oven cleaner (as mentioned earlier) and bead blast it. That would likely cover the imperfections you noted, unless they're deep.

Then you can anodize after the bead blast in the color of your choice.
  
HHKB Pro 2       Pok3r

Offline Leslieann

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #9 on: Tue, 19 January 2016, 16:01:49 »
A cheap aluminum case like that, you will never get perfect, as mentioned. Frankly, from what I've seen, that's actually one of the better ones. Getting silver is why it's decent, you can't see half the imperfections. If you planned on painting it, why worry about it.

Yes, you can strip the anodizing yourself, Easy Off Oven cleaner will do it. So will some sand paper or files, which was how I did my Vortex. The bonus of this is you get a smooth finish instead of the rough sandblasted finish, which was done to hide the imperfections. I don't recommend using a straight edge to verify how square the case is, you might be shocked at what you find.

If you strip it yourself, and then decide to get it anodized, make sure the anodizer strips it again, if you missed any, it will ruin your finish. At which point you will probably have the choice to pay double to have it redone or live with it.


Many of these cheap cases are made by (I suspect) the same company making Vortex cases. They have a small sand cast they use, then use an air cooled CNC mill to finish it. The molds are very tight, this saves them milling time, however, it also means if anything shifts, then that section might not even get touched by the cleanup milling operation. The sand blasted finish hides the fact that the mill never grazed that area. My Vortex had a huge section in back that was not touched as it was very low compared to the rest (1/4mm or so), a smaller area on front was also low. I had to grind out quite a bit on those faces to square things up, and then had to grind the upper plate to match.
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Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #10 on: Wed, 20 January 2016, 09:22:23 »
NO,  do not attempt to sand that.. it'll just look worse..

Those machining marks are there because that guy is trying to reduce machining time.  Therefore he's running the blade at a speed such that each pass is taking off Lots of material, leading to the more apparent "machining marks"..

However,  at least those marks look "Even" right now..    there's no way you'll get an even finish when you "sand it by hand..

Trust me, if you're off by even 0.05 mm , it'll look ****ty and patchy..

Offline XMIT

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 20 January 2016, 11:17:03 »
FWIW, I've purchased a known-defective Vortex case to try to learn more about how they are made and see about making my own. mechanicalkeyboards.com has a couple, just a couple, in stock for a discount. Send their support guy an e-mail to see what he can do for you.

Offline hKing

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 20 January 2016, 13:57:21 »
Thanks again guys!
I'll let them ship the case to me. Then I'll have a look at the scrachtes, especially when the case is assembled. If it annoys me, I'll post some pictures and maybe we can discuss what to do! :)

Offline Leslieann

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #13 on: Wed, 20 January 2016, 22:56:12 »
NO,  do not attempt to sand that.. it'll just look worse..

Those machining marks are there because that guy is trying to reduce machining time.  Therefore he's running the blade at a speed such that each pass is taking off Lots of material, leading to the more apparent "machining marks"..

However,  at least those marks look "Even" right now..    there's no way you'll get an even finish when you "sand it by hand..

Trust me, if you're off by even 0.05 mm , it'll look ****ty and patchy..
I disagree.
It's not hard to do, however you have to do the entire case.
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Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #14 on: Thu, 21 January 2016, 09:22:42 »
NO,  do not attempt to sand that.. it'll just look worse..

Those machining marks are there because that guy is trying to reduce machining time.  Therefore he's running the blade at a speed such that each pass is taking off Lots of material, leading to the more apparent "machining marks"..

However,  at least those marks look "Even" right now..    there's no way you'll get an even finish when you "sand it by hand..

Trust me, if you're off by even 0.05 mm , it'll look ****ty and patchy..
I disagree.
It's not hard to do, however you have to do the entire case.

it comes down to how close you look at your work.. 

a n00ber may not see the imperfections at distance,  but anyone in the know is gonna pick it up and be like,  why you do dis'' 

hahahaha.

Offline Leslieann

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #15 on: Thu, 21 January 2016, 16:33:11 »
NO,  do not attempt to sand that.. it'll just look worse..

Those machining marks are there because that guy is trying to reduce machining time.  Therefore he's running the blade at a speed such that each pass is taking off Lots of material, leading to the more apparent "machining marks"..

However,  at least those marks look "Even" right now..    there's no way you'll get an even finish when you "sand it by hand..

Trust me, if you're off by even 0.05 mm , it'll look ****ty and patchy..
I disagree.
It's not hard to do, however you have to do the entire case.

it comes down to how close you look at your work.. 

a n00ber may not see the imperfections at distance,  but anyone in the know is gonna pick it up and be like,  why you do dis'' 

hahahaha.
Really, are you sure?
Okay, let's play a game... How far off is this case and where:
I promise there is distortion, and that it is visible in these pictures, I even guarantee you it's off by far more than your 0.05mm and that I have not doctored the images (I linked them from the original postings I did of them 2 years ago).

A. My factory Vortex case, untouched


B. My Vortex in the white (raw metal) after "squaring it up"  (ignore the stray sanding marks, I was prepping it for paint, not polish or grain)



Post paint.
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Offline tp4tissue

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #16 on: Thu, 21 January 2016, 17:09:44 »
I don't see how not being able to easily spot imperfections from blurry fotos equate to not being able to see them "in person" as I "pick it up"




Offline asgeirtj

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #17 on: Thu, 21 January 2016, 17:29:09 »
what case do you have a link sir
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Offline mashby

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #18 on: Thu, 21 January 2016, 17:34:33 »
Don't wish to derail your thread here hKing, but you should take anything tp4tissue says with a tablespoon of salt.

I love you tp4tissue, I really do, but not everyone is aware of what a delightful goofball you are and how you sometimes say things more for effect.  :-*

Offline Leslieann

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #19 on: Thu, 21 January 2016, 19:32:48 »
I don't see how not being able to easily spot imperfections from blurry fotos equate to not being able to see them "in person" as I "pick it up"
It was a trick question.

0.05mm is about a single layer of sprayed paint.
If it's a sudden step up or down, you can usually feel it more than see it, but over the course of even a few inches it becomes very difficult to spot if, not impossible. Why did I mention paint? Because painters use what are known as guide coats while block sanding to spot high and low spots using a single layer of paint, otherwise they wouldn't be able to spot such differences, especially in lighter colors/grays/raw metals (which is exactly why machinists use straight edge tools and feelers). Yes, sometimes you catch the light just right and spot it on a dark surface, but other times, especially those softer colors, it's impossible, in fact your fingers are more likely to find it than your eyes. This is why when a car builder has a "rough" car, they have it painted white, it hides everything, paint and body work for a deep black paint job can easily cost triple.


Anyhow, for those curious,
Note: This is not a dig at the Vortex or the case, it's just an example of how things are made, cheap and fast and to make a point. Very few people would notice  or care about any of this, and even less are likely to take their case and start hand filing it to make sure all the surfaces line up correctly, In my case, was trying to make the top and bottom halves line up better, my top was slightly larger than the base, and while it looked to be by design, I wanted a flush surface.

In photo A the top edge on the keyboard is "perfectly" straight from the left side until about F10 where it drops 0.8mm towards the pause key before reaching the corner. In blasted/anodized form, it was impossible to spot, I was surprised when I found it, I figured the entire thing was milled, it wasn't. As I sanded, I found evidence that it was raw, blasted casting surface. It was only when sanding it with a straight edge that it revealed itself as not being straight.
Before:
125230-0


After I squared it up, I got the whole thing pretty straight across the entire length, however the right side is still about .4mm shorter than the left. You can hold it up to light, you can look down the edges, doesn't matter, unless you have a micrometer or a very precise square, you can't see it. Blurry or not, it wouldn't show up.
125232-1


Hopefully none of this threw the thread too far off course.
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Offline mashby

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #20 on: Fri, 22 January 2016, 12:57:07 »
Good stuff Leslieann. Thank you.

Offline XMIT

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Re: Bought an aluminum case from TaoBao ...
« Reply #21 on: Fri, 22 January 2016, 19:14:46 »
You're paying for their fabrication processes: clearly a rough cast and a little bit of machining as you've noted.

I just order a Vortex case from mechanicalkeyboards.com and got it yesterday. They still have a couple of factory seconds left - shoot them an e-mail. (Thanks to itzmeluigi for the tip.) Anyway - the case was *mostly* compatible with my WASD v2 but the opening in the top of the case for the controller needed to be enlarged a little bit (about 0.8mm top and bottom). Fortunately I have access to a milling machine so this was quick work (even if the mill vise wasn't perfectly square, requiring some minor Y axis corrections ... oops.)

I'd like to start making my own cases soon. I'm spending some time to get to know this one and its shortcomings before designing my own. For starters I'd like something not quite so tall, and maybe with a rounded front edge. Also with more clearance for the Escape key - it rubs against the case in some configurations with DSA caps.