If you follow the tutorial, your model should be built now. After the model is built, you must go to 3D printing. You can also choose a CNC milling machine to make your own unique aluminum keyboard.
3D Printing
When it comes to 3D printing, many friends may not have used it, but they must have heard of it, because 3D printing technology has been widely used in various industries over the years. With the continuous advancement of technology, resin and other printing materials can be printed from the beginning Materials, up to now, precious materials such as metal and nylon can be printed, and the technology is becoming more and more mature and reliable.
If we make keyboards with 3D printing technology, the mainstream applications are divided into two categories:
FDM: Fused deposition rapid prototyping, the main materials are ABS and PLA. To put it bluntly, it is stacking. The resulting model is not refined enough, the tolerance is relatively large, and more post-processing is required, but the rigidity of the printed model will be better. Compared with the printing speed of a light-curing 3D printer, the model of the same volume will be longer.
SLA: Light curing technology, if you want to make a keyboard or a figure, this is strongly recommended, because the printed product has a relatively high precision, which can reach ±0.1mm, but the rigidity of the model can only be said to be good, if you choose nylon or For metal printing materials, the cost will be relatively high, so it is recommended to use ordinary resin, in short, just choose the cheap material.
If you focus on the key ring, if you don’t like the roughness of the acrylic stack, and you don’t have enough money to buy an aluminum one, then 3D printing technology is definitely the best choice after you model your own keyboard. Why do you say that?
1. It is very cheap, and the pricing method is based on the weight of the material in grams. Generally, the material density of ordinary resin is 1.3g/cubic centimeter.
2. The printing accuracy is not bad, the printed model has been simply polished, and it looks very moist. Compared with acrylic stacking, the 3D printed keyboard has higher playability.
3. In the later surface treatment, you can choose to fill the soil and spray paint, which is also very playable.
4. Screws are easier to handle. You can fix the through-hole nuts into the reserved holes by hot-melting, and then fix them with screws. Of course, you can also use glue to stick them, but the effect I tried is not very good, not very firm.
Shortcoming:
1. Relatively brittle, small parts often break.
2. Different materials have thermal deformation temperature, that is, if it reaches that temperature, the model will have the risk of deformation.
3. The material will turn yellow after a long time, so it is still recommended to spray paint.
4. It is said that thermal expansion and contraction will also cause deformation.
5. Not suitable for dyeing, the effect is not uniform after dyeing, it is said that it is caused by the uneven stress points in the structure.
But all in all, 3D printing is still a relatively cost-effective method of making customized keyboards, and it is worth trying.
About 3D Printing Tolerances
The assembly clearance, because the situation of different 3D printers is different, so you need to communicate with the processing party in detail. At present, the tolerance of the more reliable point should be 0.3mm, of course, it can also be 0.2mm. It is recommended that you choose a relatively large factory , and try more.
3D printing screw hole treatment
Because the 3D printed model is too brittle to tap, that is, to make threaded holes, so through-hole studs are used to replace the threaded holes that should be on the model. In fact, the specific method is also very simple. Buy through-hole nuts. Then you know the outer dimensions of the stud, and then the diameter of the hole you leave for it during modeling should be about 0.2mm larger than the diameter of the stud, so that the stud will be tight after it is embedded in the hole. The grip is strong enough.
CNC Milling
CNC is CNC milling machine technology, so it should be possible to explain it? Thanks to the power of digital technology, the proofing of metal products is so popular, and the possibility of good products in more industries is greatly improved. With CNC, it can be said that everyone can make products.
Although many people feel that CNC keyboards are still expensive, if you only process one, the money you invest is unimaginable without CNC.
Different from the stacking method of 3D printing, CNC mainly forms the keyboard shell we want by “subtracting” the metal material through the cutter head, so because of the existence of the cutter head, there are actually some models The position of the inner corner cannot make a real right angle. The smallest cutter head may be 1mm in diameter, right? If I’m not wrong, the inner corner of your keyboard case will always be 0.5mm. Of course, it may still look like a right angle visually, and the impact will not be great. Except for this, there are not many points to pay attention to in CNC machining technology, because its accuracy can reach ±0.01mm, so basically except for the problem that your model does not meet the above-mentioned cutter head diameter, then the model you design can be perfectly used CNC technology implementation, CNC assembly clearance, if you do anodic surface treatment, leave 0.1mm for perfect assembly, it should be noted that if your keyboard model is too complicated, the processing cost may rise linearly, because the cutter head There are also differences in size, and the subtleties must be more labor-intensive.
Surface treatment:
Common keyboards are anodized and sprayed, each has its own advantages, depending on the preferences of the judges, if you do spraying, you need to communicate with the factory about the assembly clearance, then after CNC, there will still be knives on the surface of the aluminum shell It needs to be polished, and then the fineness of the anode depends on sandblasting, and the copper surface treatment can be polished and passivation, or electroplating, or PVD, but it should be noted that copper is still easy to oxidize in the air, so if You are a copper counterweight, at least you need to do a surface passivation treatment, the passivation potion is sold everywhere in a certain treasure, buy it and do it yourself, it is very simple.