Custom plate dimensions - Help

Learning and discussion Custom keyboards
1

Hello, I am new to the custom keyboard community.

A week ago, I decided to make my own keyboard from raw materials (custom plate, hand wiring, etc).

So, I designed the front aluminium plate on Illustrator based on the model Preonic GRID from https://www.laserboost.com/plates-preonic

Since I modified it to fit my needs, I am concerned about a few things. My questions are:

  • Are the dimensions are correct for Cherry MX switches? (14mm switches holes, 5mm spacing, etc).

  • Are the 6 crew holes well positioned? Since I will not use a pre-made PCB, I am affraid that screws in the middle of the layout (like on the Preonic GRID) would make the hand wiring more difficult. I would like the bezels to be similar to this https://i.imgur.com/4MkIqGM.jpg

  • Are the screw holes the right size? Which screws should I be using (I would like the srews to go though the 3 plates - front plate, wood, back plate). If you got a better solution, tell me.

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I am looking forward getting help on it. Thank you.

2

If you based your measurements off the laserboost designs, it should be good to go since I believe those have been verified :+1:

3

Caveat: I’m no expert so it would be helpful if someone more experienced could verify my thoughts.

If you’re planning on using a 2U spacebar, you should add in stabilizer holes (similar to the preonic MIT plate that’s listed next to the GRID)

As for the screw hole positioning, I imagine not having anything in the middle of the board will cause some flex while you’re typing unless you’re planning on using a thick plate. As long as you keep them at the switch corners instead of directly between switches there shouldn’t be any issue with hand wiring, e.g. https://i.imgur.com/9TRrnmh.jpg

4

Thank you both for helping.

I already sent the plate to laserboost and they are being printed now.

Thus, I haven’t thought about the flex when typing - and the stabilizer holes. The plates are 1.5mm thick. If it happens, I will simply add a something in the center of the keyboard bewteen the 2 plates. For the stabilizer, I’m thinking about building it myself from old keyboard parts.

Thank you again.