类型: IC
作者: aesigner
发布时间: 2020-01-18
13:11:17
更新时间: 2020-01-29 18:03:06
原链接:
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=104279.0
Interest Check for Custom Cut Sorbothane Sheets and
Plates
Hi everyone, Im interested in selling custom cut
Sorbothane sheets and custom plates and wanted to gauge the
interest in these services/products.
TLDR: If youre interested in custom
cut Sorbothane sheets, please fill out this form:
https://forms.gle/cBTZcfqsK6diACsR6
If youre interested in custom cut plates, perhaps in
a different material or layout, please fill out this form:
https://forms.gle/Ezf5S21AXQGU5mAM9
Sound Clips of Before/After Sorbothane Sheets
Drop CTRL with Halo Clears
Before (No Sorbothane Sheets Installed):
https://clyp.it/tgpypsa3?token=0cbd6af4a4f58f6e9f5c73dc2a4e3b32
After (Sorbothane Sheets Installed):
https://clyp.it/cggppved
KBDFans 60% Tofu with YOK Holy Pandas
Before (No Sorbothane Sheets Installed and Switches are
UNLUBED)
https://clyp.it/zi0y5ajc?token=b74c68f07aec089993c239b9c7ada8a5
After (Sorbothane Sheets Installed and Switches are LUBED
so its not an entirely accurate comparison):
https://clyp.it/jmukrto2?token=2c7ad0e34e3b5be45cb5b8833b6cfaef
How I Stumbled On This Idea
In
the process, I learned that people used foam, shelf liner,
or other dampening materials inside of their keyboards to
help improve the sound of their keyboard. I found that the
material Sorbothane was hailed by some as the ultimate
solution to helping reduce pinging and bought a few sheets.
I quickly ran into the problem of cutting the material. I
did hours of brainstorming and research and ended up 3D
printing a stencil and using an X-Acto knife to try to make
the necessary precise and accurate cuts. It got the job done
and fit but didnt produce perfectly accurate or precise
cuts. In this process, I found out about waterjet cutting
and submitted requests for quotes for numerous waterjet
cutting services and received quotes that ranged from
$200-$658.34 to cut Sorbothane sheets for a single keyboard.
Mind you, these were all quotes in which I was supplying the
Sorbothane sheets myself so the quotes were purely for the
cost of cutting the sheets. Needless to say, this was way
out of my budget which is why I opted to cut the sheets
myself.
Photos showing the process I went through to cut my own
Sorbothane sheets:
https://imgur.com/a/cQYS8f1
I learned about Wazer, a company that makes a desktop
waterjet cutting device that was able to cut various rubbers
and metals. However, this machine new is listed at $9,999
and while it is much cheaper than other industrial waterjet
cutting machines, it is still quite expensive. I received an
email today expressing that they are launching a new program
for refurbished devices for $6,499. I am unable to
independently afford this but I was hoping that I would be
able to launch a pre-order for custom cut Sorbothane sheets
and plates to help me afford this machine.
Okay, So What?
If youre like me and were seeking a solution to help
reduce the pinging/sound of your keyboard and wanted pre-cut
sheets of Sorbothane to line your keyboard with, I am
interested in purchasing a machine that would allow me to
provide this service. Please fill out this form to help me
gauge interest and decide whether or not to continue to
pursue this idea.
Additionally, if you are interested
in custom cut plates of virtually any material, waterjet
cutting is able to cut a myriad of materials that are unable
to be laser cut.
If there is enough interest, my next
step is to test/validate my idea. I am by no means the first
one to attempt waterjet cut Sorbothane sheets. I was told
that Manofinterests has attempted something similar and
encountered issues. Sorbothane is quite a gummy material
that can be difficult to cut cleanly. However, I have a few
ideas I want to implement to attempt to circumvent/resolve
these issues. Among them are to 1. Freeze the Sorbothane
sheets, and 2. Squash them between two thin plywood sheets
to prevent any flexing/deformation of the sheet while being
cut. I am not personally aware of these techniques being
attempted but if you happen to know more about this or have
tried this before, I am all ears and happy to hear about
your experience.
The company selling the waterjet
machine offers a service where they allow you to submit your
own material and design to test cut. My first step would be
to submit files to see if these techniques are effective at
cutting Sorbothane cleanly and to a degree where I feel
confident selling pre cut sheets of it. I have been able to
cut by hand Sorbothane sheets for my own keyboards and while
they fit and work, the cuts are not clean enough for me to
offer to others. Upon testing and validating these
techniques to effectively cut Sorbothane sheets, I would
then launch a pre-order/group-buy for people to purchase
either pre cut sheets of Sorbothane or custom plates. I
currently have the CAD files for my two personal builds,
KBDFans 60% Tofu and Drop CTRL Low Profile and would need to
CAD additional files for other keyboards. I currently
utilize 2-3 sheets of Sorbothane, 1-2 sheets below the PCB
(not terribly complex), and 1 sheet between the PCB and
Plate (quite complex to account for the switch and
stabilizer holes). While the best process would be to hand
measure with caliper all the dimensions, CAD, and 3D-print
or 2D print shapes to test fit, I should also be able to
have people submit scanned images of their plate and
interior of their keyboard and create CAD files from those
(provided the interior design of the keyboard is not
terribly complex). I would be able to cut custom plates with
customer provided CAD files or scanned images of plates in
their desired layout. Alternatively, I would also be happy
to borrow someone elses keyboard to make the measurements by
hand with a caliper and test and ensure the sheets fit
perfectly.
Timeline for this Project
In the scenario enough people are interested, I
anticipate the test cutting period to take about a month
(End of February), the purchase and setup of the machine to
take another month (March), and the CADing and actual
cutting of peoples Sorbothane sheets to vary depending on
the popularity of the design (April and Later). KBDFans Tofu
60% and Drop CTRL board sheets would ship first as I have
the CAD files for those boards already. Any alternate
designs would take additional time to CAD and cut which
could very easily take an additional month to a few
months.
What Kind of Pricing Should I Expect?
In short, Im still figuring this out. Depending on
the level of interest, I may be able to order materials in
bulk and receive a discount. However, custom Sorbothane
sheets will certainly cost more than MKUltras foams so if
you are budget conscious or want to support a great guy, Id
recommend you visit his site and support him
Background
A little background
on me, Im 22 years old living in the Bay Area. I just
graduated from UCSD (UC San Diego) with a double individual
major in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Product
Design. I stumbled upon the custom mechanical keyboard
community while building a desktop PC for my father. He said
he liked my current mechanical keyboard (a Logitech G610
with Cherry Red switches) and in the quest to find a
replacement keyboard, I thought to myself, why not build a
custom keyboard. I naively thought I could save a few
pennies only to later discover how expensive this hobby is.
However, I fell in love with this community and immediately
began devouring keyboard content and working on my own
builds (so far I own a KBDFans 60% Tofu w/ YOK Holy Pandas,
Drop CTRL w/ Vintage Blacks, and a Topre Realforce R2 w/ BKE
Light Domes).
How Can I Trust You?
While everyone I have met in this hobby and community
has been incredibly kind and amazing, I am well aware of
those who run unfulfilled group-buys and essentially scam
people of their hard-earned money. Theres not much I can say
and I feel that it will be my actions that will build and
earn your trust. Trust shouldn’t be given but rather earned.
What I can say is that for me personally, there is no
greater feeling in the world than building and delivering a
product to a satisfied customer. This feeling does not exist
if the customer is not excited and satisfied with their
purchase. Just the thought of delivering a ///*/*ty
product and having someone regret their purchase is a fear I
have and something I will work hard to avoid.