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Phantom casing question

Posted: 20 May 2013, 11:02
by Gilgam
Hi !

I plan to finally build my phantom (i'm waiting for the keycaps) and i want to fix the plate under a wood or steel plate.

Do i need to hold the pcb too or the plate is enough ?

Thanks for you help.

Here is a small design :-)

Posted: 20 May 2013, 11:10
by matt3o
the PCB is held by 80-something switches. That's more than 160 solder points. I feel unnecessary to add extra support for that if the plate is held firmly. The only thing that might change is the strokes sound (just guessing), not stability.

Posted: 20 May 2013, 11:58
by Gilgam
matt3o wrote:The only thing that might change is the strokes sound (just guessing).
I thougt of this too :-)
I just wonder about the pressure on the keycaps.
It goes to the plate, not the pcb ?
Excuse my bad english. :)

Posted: 20 May 2013, 12:02
by matt3o
how do you plan to tight the plate? it's not clear from your schema. pressure on plate mounted keyboards is 99% on the plate anyway.

Posted: 20 May 2013, 12:11
by Gilgam
Fast, and i'm not very good at ...

blue plate
red pcb

Posted: 20 May 2013, 12:14
by matt3o
I see no reason to add support for the PCB. what's the material/thickness of the plate? Does it bend in the middle?

Posted: 20 May 2013, 12:22
by Gilgam
basic phantom plate so quite solid...it bends a little.
I still have to think about the choice beetween horizontal or vertical...

edit

stupid i am. horizontal of course ... Or i won't be able to insert the pcb plate...

Posted: 20 May 2013, 13:04
by matt3o
hold the plate tight on the support and forget about the PCB :)

Posted: 20 May 2013, 14:19
by Findecanor
I would not just let the plate just rest on brackets. I think that it needs to be tightened against the holders with bolts somehow.

Or, you could build a shelf that holds just the PCB, with bolts through the PCB and plate from below to keep it from moving sideways ... which is kind of how the Filco case works.

Posted: 20 May 2013, 14:28
by Gilgam
Yes my design skills are so poor. But indeed the plate will be tightened against the holders.

Thanks.

Posted: 23 May 2013, 22:00
by photekq
The PCB does not need to be reinforced if you are using plate mount. The switches will suspend the PCB securely.