deskthority

With i$ back, the hype train is up to full speed!

lot_lizard wrote:

idollar wrote: How can I contribute ? Is there anything that I can do ?

Welcome back friend... I hope the break treated you well.

I have been working ... no break still.

The plates and mechanical aspects are in a really good place. We still need to fully test the FEXT plates, but the initial rough fit looks great. WCass has done some great work for us on the mini xWhatsit front. His initial designs are completed, but need to be tested and receive final updates. WCass has also agreed to modify the PCB connections to allow our new xwhatsit to slip directly onto the PCB (like the beamspring, only inverted to lie behind the backplate). If you scroll back a couple of pages, you will see the "final" SSK plates in stainless steel where I attached the original xwhatsit directly to the PCB with header pins to simulate. Attached is a picture from that series of images

I still miss how to get in the group buy

The only other changes we need to the PCB are 2/3 extra pads for an optional split spacebar, and an extra hole or how to help with tension. I would reach out directly to WCass to see where he is at with updates, and what help he needs.

I will contact him directly. All my files were made available so he should have all the required material.

Again... Welcome back to the party.

I am happy to be back.
Lets see how can I help.

idollar wrote: I still miss how to get in the group buy

The expectation is that it would commence in mid-September, and run for a month. That is pending testing. Since this is a one shot effort, we want to make sure we have a real product for everyone. The GB will be a new Marketplace thread.

lot_lizard wrote:

idollar wrote: I still miss how to get in the group buy

The expectation is that it would commence in mid-September, and run for a month. That is pending testing. Since this is a one shot effort, we want to make sure we have a real product for everyone. The GB will be a new Marketplace thread.

i am away in the last two weeks of September


Any way to pre-order ? ( full sized with split backspace and num pad + )

andrewjoy wrote: Any way to pre-order ? ( full sized with split backspace and num pad + )

Not a true pre-order, but I'm making a note to reach out to you. The GB will probably run around a month, so you should be good. The only limited commodity would be switches. If you are wanting those, and plan on being away during that time... PM me. We should have enough for around 60 boards, so not that limited, but happy to make a note that you wanted some. I will likely wait to clean, solvent soak, and dry lube the springs and barrels once the GB commences just in case Cindy pulls off another miracle (wishful thinking).

Please announce it in this thread, in case we miss the new thread. Can't wait!

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

What will be the priority for switches? I have an XT worth of switches already, but am wanting a full size. Is it based on switch demand to maximize the number of boards, or based on first-come-first-serve?

drevyek wrote: What will be the priority for switches? I have an XT worth of switches already, but am wanting a full size. Is it based on switch demand to maximize the number of boards, or based on first-come-first-serve?

I think we'll have enough switches for everyone that needs them to be honest, but the following is my current "prioritization" plan:

• Release a thread to the club members first since we have a dedicated (isolated) area. It will be a good use of that ability
• Then reach out to each of you that have been actively following individually
• Finally... We will release them to the general DT community.
• If we see that we will have a surplus of switches... I will post something on Geekhack to clear the remaining supply.

Plan on this being a series of steps taking a couple of weeks. Priority will be given to us, so no worries there.

Just to be clear, by switches, I mean the barrel/flipper paddle/flipper spring (all three) as a single "switch". You will be responsible for your own keycaps.

Got a lovely little PM from Cindy that we MIGHT have several more F122's from one of her savage friends. We won't know until early/mid September the real quantities, but it would get us very close to our original goals (potentially exceeding). Fingers crossed, and thank you for all the leg work Cindy.

Also, along with the laser cutter for the "foam", I have decided to go ahead and grab a 3d printer to produce the USB port covers and stabilizer clips myself. When I priced out prints using several vendors (good quality), I would rather just make them myself. Then I have a printer for future projects without having to deal with these ridiculous wait times and quality concerns. As with the laser engraver/cutter... I'll just absorb the difference in equipment cost to keep for personal use. If the quality of my prints doesn't meet what we would be receiving from say Shapeways, then I will just eat all of the printer costs and we'll go with the initial plan.

The printer would be available to anyone that wanted to pay shipping and resin costs (cheap). Think of it as a community printer without lead time... Goodness

savage friends

Great news!

chzel wrote:

savage friends

Great news!

hahaha... Ducking autocorrect

lot_lizard wrote: The printer would be available to anyone that wanted to pay shipping and resin costs (cheap). Think of it as a community printer without lead time... Goodness

Wow, that's an awesome bonus for this project!

lot_lizard wrote:
Also, along with the laser cutter for the "foam", I have decided to go ahead and grab a 3d printer to produce the USB port covers and stabilizer clips myself.

The old carpenter's trick of charging tools to the job and then having the tools on hand thereafter!

fohat wrote: The old carpenter's trick of charging tools to the job and then having the tools on hand thereafter!

Exactly... I'm being called out for every former profession it seems (albeit high school/college this time)

We are just producing a lot of small parts in bulk, and it really isn't cost effective given I have interest in these machines. The idea would be to charge everyone the best possible QUALITY output I could find elsewhere shopping around (or around that), and just absorb the remainder. Ultimately we are reducing costs for Phase 2.

"Our" printer has been ordered. Again, I'm happy to make it available for general consumption of others for prototyping (or maybe even small production runs)... Just PM me. It's a good one, and our prints should turn out well.

Nice quick video explaining the product:. https://youtu.be/Xinuz_CpbbE

aaw I am jelly once more ... I wish I had the PLUS feeder as well. Did upgrade my Ultimake 2 with the plus hotend but did that too early to also get the plus upgrade for the feeder! Feeder is giving me a headache with fine nozzle sizes.

Ultimakers are awesome . The only thing that is shit is the stupid none standard filament size.

If you feel like sharing your STL files i can print em on my heavily upgraded wanhao i3 and do some testing

andrewjoy wrote: If you feel like sharing your STL files i can print em on my heavily upgraded wanhao i3 and do some testing

Love to, and appreciate the help (though I am jealous you will physically see them before I do )... I added them to our very skinny (at the moment) Model-MF GitHub tree. This is where everything will eventually end up

https://github.com/lot-lizard/Model-MF

The STL files are in a folder under the Retainer Clip branch: https://github.com/lot-lizard/Model-MF/ ... r-Clip/STL

EDIT: Even for those of you not interested in printing these yourself, GitHub has a reasonable embedded STL viewer. Just click the URL above, and click one of the STL files to view it in reasonable detail, or download and use your viewer of choice.

Excellent news... Phosphorglow has agreed to help us with the soldering of the mini-xWhatsit for testing. That was definitely one piece that was going to be a bit intimidating for me, and now we can be more confident in the end result. It will take a few weeks I am sure (he is as busy as anyone), but I am very pleased he is joining the effort.

Good to know. Phosphorglow is known for high-quality work. This project has certainly attracted many first-class talents!

Woohoo! Thanks, Phosphorglow!

Change on the laser cutter/engraver front. I am going to check out a used LaserPro Explorer with a 50 watt beam and massive deck (38"x20") that a friend turned me onto. This will enable me to cut 5 sheets on one pass, which is lovely since we are going to use somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-4 layers per board (current plan is 4... Sounds crazy, but I'll explain later). Should get a demo of the unit next week. LaserPro is a line from GCC (a very good brand), which would be on par with Epilog, Universal, and Trotec... Better than my initial plan for similar money

Try to look past Lazy Larry's sexy chest and hipster sandals, but the only site I could find with a human next to one to get scale. To clarify, this would be a different machine, though hopefully I will soon experience "Lazy Larry"-like pride:
https://larrysworkshop.wordpress.com/20 ... engravers/

Four layers of foam?! Holy guacamole, I can't wait to see this.

Techno Trousers wrote: Four layers of foam?! Holy guacamole, I can't wait to see this.

Using the term "foam" loosely... More "dampening and stabilization layers", and 1 of the 4 would be a very thin blanket under the PCB. There are vibrations on the backplate from the thin PCB I want to deaden. So less exotic than it originally was stated, but all layers would be laser cut

So I arrived back from a great break with a wonderful package from Maxx (Phosphorglow) waiting for me. It had my second 1395682 completely "Maxxed" out (bad pun), and a mini-xWhatsit that he assembled. PS... Phosphorglow's soldering/paste skills are from another planet. $hit is legend if any of you have ever tried.

This is NOT our version of the xWhatsit that he will put together for us, but is the same profile (our connector is slip-on vs direct soldered). This picture should match what is being delivered with Ellipse's offering, whom I hope everyone realizes I have extreme respect for and we are by no means competing with (we are brainchilding very different animals).

I am just adding a couple of pics so that everyone can appreciate how much WCass shrunk the profile over its predecessor. Goodness awaits us, and thanks again to WCass for your excellent work project after project. You are our "Cindy" of "making things".

Wow, that really puts it into perspective!

i$ has an $80 discount from PCBWay that he has graciously offered up to the cause. This was provided to him for all of his pictures and reviews/comments of his great work on the FSSK/FEXT project showcasing the PCB. Again... Very generous and appreciated.

lot_lizard wrote: i$ has an $80 discount from PCBWay that he has graciously offered up to the cause. This was provided to him for all of his pictures and reviews/comments of his great work on the FSSK/FEXT project showcasing the PCB. Again... Very generous and appreciated.

My pleasure

It is really great seeing all the people contributing to this project, it makes it truly special.

alh84001 wrote: It is really great seeing all the people contributing to this project, it makes it truly special.

Absolutely true, lot_lizard and friends of Deskthority!!