March 19, 2021
Description
INTRODUCTION:
This is a kit for converting any standard 60% tray-mount keyboard (e.g., GH60 or DZ60) into a taco bumper gasket-mount keyboard. It consists of (1) the case and (2) gasket wings, which clip onto the plate. The gasket wings are rigid enough to keep the plate anchored to the case, but flexible enough to provide a softer and more delicate typing experience than other mounting methods.
This version of the case allows for replaceable magnetic badges. I've included a few examples here (see attributions below), but you can design your own. The dimensions of the badge should be about 15mm x 15mm x 3mm. (The well for the badge is 6mm deep, but about 3mm of that depth will be taken up by the magnets.) The badge, of course, need not be limited to the well. It can protrude beyond the well. Also, magnets are not strictly necessary either. The badge can be affixed by other means as well, or even friction fit into the well.
INGREDIENTS
ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
(1) Print out the case. If your build size is sufficient (length >= 296 mm, width >= 132 mm, height >= 27 mm), then you will be able to print out the entire "CASE TOP HALF" and "CASE BOTTOM HALF" at once. For build sizes of <= 150 mm^3, I have subdivided the case into four parts: "case top left," "case top right," "case bottom left," and "case bottom right."
(2) Print out the gasket wings:
(a) "wing - upper left/upper right 2u" x 2
(b) "wing - upper center 3u" x 1
(c) "wing - bottom 2.5u" x 2
Note that the "wing - upper center 3u" is optional. (I have not tried omitting any of the corner wings.)
(3) Affix the adhesive poron (or some other gasket material) to the gasket wings, forming a "taco" bumper around the wing. Lengthwise, the bumper should extend beyond the wing by about 0.5 mm on each side. This will prevent the sides of the wing from contacting the case.
(4) Insert switches and keycaps into plate and PCB.
(5) Clip the gasket wings onto the plate (not the PCB) so that they line up with the gasket wells in the case.
(6) Once clipped into the plate, align the gasket wings with the corresponding gasket wells on the case; sandwich the wings between the top and bottom halves of the case; and screw the top and bottom halves together. The 20 mm screws are for the upper portion of the case, and the 16 mm screws are for the bottom portion of the case.
If you print out the case in four parts (i.e., "case top left," "case top right," "case bottom left", and "case bottom right"), you might, depending on the tolerances of your printer, consider gluing together only "case bottom left" and "case bottom right." That way, it will be easier to line up the screw holes on the top and bottom halves of the case.
The gasket wells are 4.5 mm high and the gasket wing height (without poron) is 1.5 mm. Thus, if you use poron of 2 mm thickness, the combination of the 1.5 mm gasket wing and 2 mm poron (folded over the wing, so the thickness is doubled) will result in a bumper of about 5.5 mm thickness. This means that the poron will compress about 0.5 mm total in the gasket wells.
Badge Attributions:
The badges are remixes of the following designs. (The Thingiverse "Remix" function appears to be broken, which is why I am listing the attributions here.)
License:
Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike
BeagleChristo
