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KN-86 Deckline

GOLEM — Custom keyboard plate design & manufacturing

  • Source: https://golem.hu/guide/keyboard-plate-manufacturing/
  • Category: research — background knowledge, archived per keyboard-decision.md
  • Role for KN-86: reference only. The Ferris Sweep ships with plates from holykeebs; we are not designing our own. Retained as fallback knowledge in case a custom plate iteration ever becomes necessary (it shouldn’t).
  • License / caveats: GOLEM site content; treat as reference reading.

What it is

Section titled “What it is”

GOLEM’s guide to designing and ordering a custom mechanical-keyboard plate. The pipeline it documents: design the plate geometry in a tool (Keyboard Layout Editor → kbplate.ai03.com or builder.swillkb.com; or Inkscape from scratch), export to DXF (laser-cut services generally want DXF; SVG often works too), submit to a fab service, receive cut plates, assemble.

For KN-86 this is archived background. The Sweep ships with plates from holykeebs as part of the kit; we do not author or fab our own.

Key facts to retain

Section titled “Key facts to retain”

These are the load-bearing facts worth keeping accessible even though we’re not actioning the pipeline. If a future need arises (a custom KN-86 sub-product, a bezel-as-keyplate hybrid, an after-market replacement), this is what we need to remember:

  • Laser-cut services prefer DXF. SVG sometimes works depending on the shop. DXF is the safer export format.
  • Design tools, common pipeline: Keyboard Layout Editor (KLE) for the logical key layout → kbplate.ai03.com or builder.swillkb.com to convert KLE JSON to plate DXF. Inkscape from scratch is the from-zero path.
  • Key dimensions to know:
    • 14×14mm switch cutout (the actual hole in the plate the switch passes through)
    • 19.05mm key-center spacing (MX-spec) — Choc is 18×17mm, which matches the Ferris Sweep commitment
    • M2 or 3mm screw holes for plate-to-PCB fastening
  • Materials, ranked from prototype to production:
    • Cardboard — yes, really, for a no-cost geometry-validation pass
    • FR4 1.6mm — the standard PCB-fab material; cheap, holds tolerance
    • Steel 1.5mm — stiff, slightly more weight
    • Acrylic ≥3mm — the typical thickness for acrylic to hold up; thinner cracks at switch latches
    • Aluminum — premium feel, more expensive to cut, the cyberdeck-aesthetic favorite
    • Brass — heavy, premium, expensive
    • PLA / 3D-printed — viable if printed at high infill; less stiff than the others
  • Switches are designed for 1.5mm plates. The MX (and Choc) switch latches assume that thickness. Plates significantly thicker may require routing the inside edge of the switch cutout to keep the latches engaging; thinner plates may not hold the switch firmly. The 1.5mm number is the canonical sanity reference for any future custom plate work.

Why this is archived, not actioned

Section titled “Why this is archived, not actioned”

Per keyboard-decision.md:

The Ferris Sweep … gives us a proven 34-key split layout and a pre-designed, manufacturable PCB, removing the risk and time cost of designing our own matrix/plate/PCB. The custom-keyboard research below is retained as background knowledge … not as the build path.

The plate manufacturing pipeline is the largest single chunk of custom-keyboard work the Ferris Sweep decision removes. Plates are non-trivial to get right: tolerances matter, switch-latch engagement is sensitive to thickness, and a botched cut wastes material and waiting time. By ordering plates as part of the holykeebs kit, we avoid all of that.

When this entry might re-emerge as actionable

Section titled “When this entry might re-emerge as actionable”
  • A custom KN-86 bezel-as-keyplate hybrid — if the bezel design that mounts the Sweep into the Pelican-1170 inset evolves into something that itself presents as part of the keyboard surface (e.g., a wraparound plate that integrates the switch openings with surrounding device chrome), some of this material gets pulled forward.
  • A KN-9x sister product that wants a custom layout (the KN-90T Toneline is the most plausible candidate — a music-workstation-oriented sibling would benefit from a custom layout). Not v0.1 KN-86.
  • Replacement / repair / after-market plates for a Sweep that’s been damaged. The plate-cut pipeline is the right reference if we ever need to fab a one-off replacement.

Image

Section titled “Image”

No image downloaded. The pipeline is technique reference; the GOLEM hub image covers the source visually.

Notes

Section titled “Notes”