Hi all, first post here. I’d usually head over to r/OLKB but… ya know.
I bought the 1UpKeyboard Pi50 PCB when it came out. It’s a raspi powered preonic kind of board but I’m not a fan of the laser cut acrylic case they were punting. I’ve made a steel sandwich case for my Iris keyboard and it worked out okay’ish. A little rust and I screwed up the screw hole so they’re not all aligned.
I’ve got a quote from laserboost and it;ll be around $120 for a single case from them. It drops to $90 per unit for 2+ and $70 for 10+. The Iris case cost me about $40 for a single unit from a fab shop in my old town but unfortunately I moved to the USA and can’t access them anymore. Does the laserboost pricing seem a little high to anyone else or is this standard? Does anyone have any suggestions for other service providers?
Laserboost is definitely one of the more expensive options, but they are convenient. Ponoko is good and typically cheaper. If you live in a large city, there’s for sure someone local that will do it for much cheaper than any of the online places, but it takes some leg work.
Back when I was desiging my own parts, I landed on ponoko and sendcutsend for having the best pricing and quality.
Also, smart move with the Iris. I love the layout but having metal parts would make a huge difference.