Tomy Tutor keyboard group buy interest

[+dhe]

Would you be interested in a group order of Jefimatt's keyboard pcb?

[+arcadeshopper]

I'd be happy to coordinate this through arcadeshopper.com if you all like

 

[Omega-TI]

I wonder if the results would be different for an assembled & tested unit ready to plug & play?

[+arcadeshopper]

Please edit your topic to say Tomy tutor keyboard

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk

[+dhe]

Hi Arcadeshopper, I see no way to edit topic!

[+arcadeshopper]

Hi Arcadeshopper, I see no way to edit topic!

Are you a paid member of aa? You may have to be to edit your own posts

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk

[+jedimatt42]

15 minutes ago, arcadeshopper said:

Are you a paid member of aa? You may have to be to edit your own posts

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
 

Paid members get the big 'Subscriber' logo over their left column joystick ranking.. 

 

I'm sure in context, people can tell he is talking about the tomy tutor keyboard pcb, instead of the 99/4A USB keyboard adapter. 

[+dhe]

Hi ArcadeShopper, are you interested in doing a group order? Or are the numbers to low?

Thanks,

Dan

 

[+jedimatt42]

Have the people saying 'yes' actually looked at the cost and effort of building one of these? The PCB is the cheap part.

 

and effort.. 3d printed parts, paint, finishing. if you don't have a 3d printer, people charge a ton to do that for you cause it is amazingly fiddly... can fail 90% through a 2 day print. 

 

finding appropriate key-caps, time for relabeling key-caps cause you can't find appropriate ones.  cost of the key-caps, switches... 

 

And then the part where there is almost no reason to use more than a handful of keys on the keyboard...  

 

Just saying, as this thread is extremely light on substance. 

 

But... if you are Tomy Tutoring, you have disposable income. So.. whatever... 

 

Some substance... at JCLPCB.com, I paid about $25 dollars for a set of 5 pcbs. And about $30 to ship them DHL.  It is basically the same price for a reorder of 10 pcbs. 

 

The manufacturing details:

Gerber file: TutorKeyboard_Y2

Build Time: 2-3 days
Layers: 2
Dimension: 297 mm* 127 mm
PCB Qty: 5
Different Design: 1
Delivery Fomat: Single PCB
PCB Thickness: 1.6
Impedance:
PCB Color: Green
Surface Finish: HASL(with lead)
Copper Weight: 1
Gold Fingers: No

( Yep, with lead. You can pay more to be poison free ) 

[wierd_w]

I am really quite surprised that for things without moving parts, people in the tech community do not use silicone pour molds with resin.

 

I mean, COSPlay kids use the darn things, and get real elaborate with them-- for one-off pieces.  A proper pour mold will give you reliable reproduction and durable end result, with multiple pulls before the mold degrades.

 

 

 

[+jedimatt42]

2 hours ago, wierd_w said:

I am really quite surprised that for things without moving parts, people in the tech community do not use silicone pour molds with resin.

 

I mean, COSPlay kids use the darn things, and get real elaborate with them-- for one-off pieces.  A proper pour mold will give you reliable reproduction and durable end result, with multiple pulls before the mold degrades.

 

 

 

 

I'm a software guy, I don't know how to program a silicone pour mold... and things like resin or silicone sound like getting your hands dirty... 

 

But... go for it! show us how it is done!

[wierd_w]

*sigh*

 

I may end up doing that, but I get the feeling that if I do, I will just end up being "The guy that can do that!", rather than being what I set out to be, "The guy showing how easy it is, to spread ability, and improve the community."

 

Really, the materials involved have a lot of overlap with many tech-heads.

 

Lego bricks, Fun rubbery substances, and making neat shit.

 

 

You can get all the needed kit from Amazon (or any number of other retailers)-- The most expensive bit is a vacuum pump to make sure the resin cures without bubbles in it. 

 

 

 

[+jedimatt42]

I don't really understand how playing with chemicals overlaps with electronics design, or software. I generate my STL files in OpenSCAD from code. I can't make 3D mouse driven modellings tools work. many tech-heads making PCBs have never etched one, myself included. Instead we through money at someone.

 

Could you be lumping too many diverse types of hobbies into the group of people you refer to as 'tech-heads'? 

 

Your cause seems like a good use of a youtube channel.

[wierd_w]

Chemistry *IS* technology bruh. O.o  If we ever get programmable matter, it will come from chemists.

 

The idea here though, is to demonstrate how the leap from "3d printed prototype" to "quality resin" is really just a few hours of work.  (assuming you have a good workspace.)

The cool factor of a 3D printer is being able to design digitally, and produce a real object fast.  Once you have the real object, you can mass replicate it easily. That's the point here.

 

Making cool stuff for your computer hobby also overlaps with sexy enclosures and such.  It feels real good to make something that looks as good as it works.  I want to share that feeling.

[+jedimatt42]

39 minutes ago, wierd_w said:

Chemistry *IS* technology bruh. O.o  If we ever get programmable matter, it will come from chemists.

First, what is 'bruh. O.o' ? 

 

Second, you missed my point, but I don't care. 

 

I don't know what "quality resin" looks like, and why it is worth the extra couple hours. Maybe that's where you can start...

 

[wierd_w]

"O.o"  is an emoticon, for a person giving a boggle eyed look, out of confusion. Think "Spock eyebrow raised", but less "curious, captain", and more "Whaaat?"

 

 

For the second, programming is cool, because you put something into a computer, and it performs an action for you.  Chemistry is similar, once you understand it.  Molecular self-assembly is damned awesome; It's a damned superpower.  That's exactly what 2 part resins are doing, and all you have to do is mix them together.  It's amazing shit, every bit as much as getting a crafted bit of logic to do complicated computations for you.  The "I dont find chemicals interesting" is the same kind of pedestrianism that most end users have vs programmers.  Once you get past the "But it's totally different things!" bias, you see it really is not different things at all.  It's fundamentally the same thing:  Understanding how something works, sufficiently to control and then affect a desired outcome, from a simple set of initial conditions.  It's the same "Drive".

 

 

Most people approach computers the same way you are approaching "the chemicals".  They know it's a thing, and that some people are into that, but they dont really have any interest or drive.  That's why they are content to use a McPackaged computing platform, like an iPhone, where somebody else has done all that interesting and fun stuff for them.  They have no interest in making things for themselves or others, or showing other people how to make or do fun things.

 

The computer technology crowd however, is very much into those kinds of things.  Given that the two are fundamentally just different manifestations of the same kind of drive, I often wonder why there is not more overlap.

 

 

And lastly--  Resin is harder, stronger, and does not split/crack the same ways that 3D prints do, AND you get the benefit of being able to mass produce things on the cheap, with minimal investment in kit.  A good understanding of the chemistry of the medium will let you make parts in an assortment of materials, textures, and degrees of rigidity/toughness to suit your intended application, by controlling what additives you mix in.

 

 

Basically, Fabrication is cool-- Be it software fabrication, or hardware fabrication.  The same buzz exists for both.

 

[+Ksarul]

I think I would need a larger tank to do a keyboard frame--and I'd still need a good printed one to use to make some molds. I've been digging in my basement and came across my molding tank this weekend. . .

[+acadiel]

13 hours ago, wierd_w said:

Chemistry *IS* technology bruh. O.o  If we ever get programmable matter, it will come from chemists.

 

The idea here though, is to demonstrate how the leap from "3d printed prototype" to "quality resin" is really just a few hours of work.  (assuming you have a good workspace.)

The cool factor of a 3D printer is being able to design digitally, and produce a real object fast.  Once you have the real object, you can mass replicate it easily. That's the point here.

 

Making cool stuff for your computer hobby also overlaps with sexy enclosures and such.  It feels real good to make something that looks as good as it works.  I want to share that feeling.

Resin based molds fascinate me - I've seen probably a half dozen of the videos on Facebook and YouTube that friends have shared.  Don't ask me why, but someone just did one of a hot dog for some reason.

 

Molds are picky - and 3D printing is well.  I haven't gone beyond investing in 3D printing past my 2014 era Micro 3D+ printer (which my daughter still messes with).  Stuff has improved in the past six years, but I'm still considering doing something like this:

 

 

 

[+dhe]

I've not heard back from Gregory, he's probably busy making TIPI's after his awesome demo Saturday at the 38th Annual Chicago Fair.

(I went to the very first one at Triton College)

I think I have an account created and the files loaded. It looks like it will be less then a hundred dollars to roll the dice on this one.

If I don't hear back from Gregory, I will place and order and put a note up on this thread when they are in.

 

[+arcadeshopper]

Go ahead and order I'm down with a cold we can use my store to sell them when you get them if you want..

Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk

[+dhe]

Best wishes for your quick return to health, and thanks for the great demo!

I'll hit the order button tomorrow night.

[+dhe]

ok you all, order placed, I'll let you know when something happens.

[Mobsie]

How Great! 

i just saw it, i need 3...

[+acadiel]

I need one too, I don’t think I can deal with this membrane keyboard.  Lol

[+dhe]

I received a shipment of 10 boards, I'll pull the package open this weekend, and try to eye ball them for being "right" - since I don't have one, I'll just have to see if the keys are in the right place. Boarding house rules - everyone gets firsts before anyone gets seconds.

If you interested, message me your address, if they seem right, I'll mail you a board. It will probably be in the 12-15 dollar range. When / If I mail you a board I'll let you know, if it meets you need your needs, once you get it, you can send me some money...

Probably be at least next weekend before any boards go out.