Cat Bread's 2HE Mod Log

[scarlet elbow]

hi chat this is where i will document my progress on modding a custom case for the 2HE since no aftermarket case exists
once i am done i will publish all of the files and everything i have used for the build
Brainstorming/CAD Designing - COMPLETE

• Deciding what I exactly want for the new case ✅
  -- FR4 plate, bottom mounted
  -- Polycarbonate case to deepen pitch
• Designing a case and the plate in CAD after figuring out all the restrictions I need to work around ✅
  Prototyping
• Print out the plate design to see if it fits the switches ✅
• Commission a plate print, buy everything else I need ✅
• When everything is just about to arrive, begin 3-D printing the case ✅
• Assemble everything, see if it works ✅
  Finalization
• Commission a manu to CNC mill me a case, have them send it over to me
• Assemble it
• Rebrand my 2HE to 2HE+ Complete!

@light chasm @echo shuttle

[light chasm]

Looking forward to seeing it come together. Nice progress so far

[scarlet elbow]

oh yeah i made fantastic progress today

tomorrow i'm getting the plate milled by tom

[meager shale]

This looks fantastic, will you keep the 2he style case? Or have the keys ‘enclosed’ etc…?

[scarlet elbow]

enclosed

however i tried keeping everything else about the case about the same

the typing angle is still 4 degrees

[meager shale]

I like

[meager shale]

Looks great!

What material can you have it milled in?

And what color etc?

I had my 80he sandblasted and cerakoted

[scarlet elbow]

i plan to mill it out of PC and then have it dyed black

i still want it relatively translucent though

[meager shale]

Excited to see the results

My squadmate has a 2he because he uses the arrow keys instead of WASD lol will show him this when done

[scarlet elbow]

i mocked this up in like 10 minutes but here's what art im gonna have them engrave will look like

or i ditch 2he+ and just do 2he catbread edition

[west flame]

Nice progress, looks great—kinda makes me want one. Just curious, did the Blender files I provided help at all?

[scarlet elbow]

not really

[west flame]

ahh drat

[scarlet elbow]

i needed the PCB to make any real progress and figured out they had that in the step file

[scarlet elbow]

about to order the plate and all of the parts i need

expect another update in about 2-ish weeks

[livid vapor]

Good luck

[polar pebble]

are you posting / have you posted the files for the case

[scarlet elbow]

once im done with the project

[polar pebble]

nice!

[scarlet elbow]

im probably gonna release 2 versions

• an easy to mill version optimized for cost
• my 1/1 without my particular customizations

[scarlet elbow]

how does this grounding work

[west flame]

the metal on the end of the wire makes contact with the steel Switch plate

this grounds the switch plate to ground

[scarlet elbow]

oh so if i change plate mat to fr4 i dont need this

[west flame]

in that case yea you are fine (if the case base is metal may to have some contact to the wire just incase

[scarlet elbow]

pc

i'll probably keep the post anyways if i ever want to order a plate made out of a different material

[scarlet elbow]

ordered all the other parts i need

[scarlet elbow]

ok

now i need to find some good PLA spool to print the case out

what do you guys recommend

[scarlet elbow]

oh interesting

is the white ring an insulator?

if that's the case i might not need a washer at the top of the pcb ngl

@echo shuttle

[echo shuttle]

no its a pcb print to know where holes are if i recall right

i have no idea how much space there is between the holes and the traces

[scarlet elbow]

oh ok

[scarlet elbow]

ok now uhh

sandwich layer

should i go with poron or silicone

[echo shuttle]

depends on sound profile

if you go real fancy you go with a split like we did for 60hev2

[scarlet elbow]

what does the split do lol

[echo shuttle]

well the main reaosn its split on the v2 is to get friction mount but also the high pitch dampening of poron

i sort of forgot you dont wanna do gasket mount

so you could just go full poron

[scarlet elbow]

ok

full poron it is

now the main problem is manufacturing

idk if i can laser cut poron

[echo shuttle]

afaik thats how most companies do it

[scarlet elbow]

huh ok

so i just need to find some good, ultra dense 3.5mm poron foam and then have it laser cut

[scarlet elbow]

how thick is the sandwich foam

the same distance between pcb and plate, 3.5mm?

[echo shuttle]

yes

[scarlet elbow]

ok i think i can get PET film cut

what thickness should i try

mm

[livid vapor]

wait let me fact check something rq

[livid vapor]

oh wait i think its 0.25mm-0.5mm

thinner the better basically
jsut to be safe

[scarlet elbow]

mm

would i benefit from it is the question

[livid vapor]

wdym

[livid vapor]

It's really an option to be honest. Whatever you desire on how you want your board to sound at this point, If you understand what PET film does to sound and frequency it should help you decide if you would benefit from it or not.

[scarlet elbow]

i am ordering the filament soon for da case

[scarlet elbow]

ya think printing out of PLA is fine?

[scarlet elbow]

ok im getting the case printed at the city library where my university is

counting the queue + 15-30hr print time, itll be about a week

[scarlet elbow]

ik brass is conductive

would the blue part being brass mess up anything/shock me

[scarlet elbow]

will i get shot by the wooting lawyers for this

[scarlet elbow]

ok just to make sure ion have to worry about grounding the pcb

because its already gonna be grounded through daughterboard

[scarlet elbow]

case is most likely being printed by this weekend

[meager shale]

I love seeing stuff like this

Pure modifications, it is art

Following this

[scarlet elbow]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1460485737362493563/1468461352942043341/togif-14.gif

i think it'll be done in a week

[scarlet elbow]

chat this looks really ugl

[scarlet elbow]

he will forever be cherished

[scarlet elbow]

our GLORIOUS KING TOM has finished the platw

[scarlet elbow]

also the case is being 3d printed it is gonna be done by wednesday

[scarlet elbow]

chat

[next spear]

[scarlet elbow]

i got a quote from the manu back

$500
(OUCH!!!!!!!!!)

im deciding between brass and SS for the weights

[next spear]

[scarlet elbow]

im thinking stainless steel because it fits my general aesthetic

[next spear]

Hmm, if SS fits your aesthetic more, I would say go for the looks

[scarlet elbow]

i was thinking about like

density wise brass is slightly higher

because rn my kb looks like this

i think a black-white-silver-navy looks better than black-white-brass-navy

[next spear]

Well SS would def fit better aestheticly wise

At least imo

Depends on you what you value more, I would say

[scarlet elbow]

yeah im going with SS

[scarlet elbow]

tom has shipped the plate

[next spear]

W tom

[scarlet elbow]

first prototype most likely by this wednesday.

[scarlet elbow]

there's a problem with fitment but that's because the 3d printer supports didnt remove clean off

[scarlet elbow]

nevermind

the printer jammed and they have to restart a print lol

[scarlet elbow]

anyways while this is being made i'm gonna look into making a conversion kit that turns this into high profile

should be much cheaper

my current idea is to create an object that clips onto this side

but it probably won't work because it lacks good stability though

oh nvm this is free

idk if anyone will want a high profile converter though

[scarlet elbow]

i mocked this one up in like 5 minutes but this doesnt look like it'll work considering there's NOTHING to anchor it down to the case

ig like u can glue it onto the plate but then it's a permanent change

[scarlet elbow]

yeah ok hopefully the printing works this time

i asked the guys to 3d print the bottom of the case first so i can at least test fitment

[scarlet elbow]

this is genuinely awesome

[next spear]

[scarlet elbow]

@light chasm @echo shuttle it's almost real

@livid vapor

[livid vapor]

Oh shet one more piece

[scarlet elbow]

i found an error i would've never forgave myself with this assembly

[livid vapor]

Are you able to print it as one whole?

[scarlet elbow]

the leftmost part was in 0.25mm too much instead of going out 0.25mm

[livid vapor]

[scarlet elbow]

no, but i will commission the case out of polycarbonate which it will come out as a whole

3d printer here too small to print by piece

[light chasm]

Go cat bread! 🎉

[livid vapor]

Oh right so this is the proto

[scarlet elbow]

i had to dremmel the SHIT out of this rightmost part

[light chasm]

Happy to see it coming along

[scarlet elbow]

took like 30+ minutes of filing/dremmeling

thank fuck i found this error here

[livid vapor]

Good work

[light chasm]

Your dremel what you love

[scarlet elbow]

ive said "this week" a few times but i think it's fr happening this week now

[scarlet elbow]

final update for prototype case is TOMORROW

ITS HAPPENING (wait for the epoxy to dry)

[scarlet elbow]

and so the first part of the modding saga ends

[next spear]

when will you show us the final product?

[scarlet elbow]

sometime around march-april

but i can show you this.

yes, it works.

[next spear]

I am a really big fan of those keycaps

[scarlet elbow]

@light chasm

@livid vapor

@echo shuttle

@west flame

@meager shale

[west flame]

looks nice 🙂

[scarlet elbow]

genuinely baffled that i actually made this work

never expected this project to go anywhere but now that its basically done i can't believe it

[next spear]

I think you did really well

[scarlet elbow]

now i also have like

really good cable support too

rn the build is like

[west flame]

did you change the Port locaiton?

[scarlet elbow]

i moved the port forwards

[light chasm]

Nice fuckin' job my dude! Way to see it through

[meager shale]

Great job!

[scarlet elbow]

the top case is being printed

commission is almost ready to go

life is good.

[scarlet elbow]

oh yeah.

[scarlet elbow]

and the saga concludes

[polar pebble]

Release the files

Also it looks insanely good 👏 👏

[scarlet elbow]

im on it

let me make a couple adjustments because i'm not allowed to publish the file the way it is

(mainly the wooting logo)

[scarlet elbow]

ok im releasing it

@echo shuttle i cant drop the .step file what

[echo shuttle]

idk should work

we have nothing stopping file uploads

[echo shuttle]

you can also use github if you want lol

[scarlet elbow]

ok it worked

[scarlet elbow]

NOTES IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO USE MY DESIGN!!!!

• I have had to make many modifications from the commissioned parts to the final design to work, mainly that I had to sand the plate down to fit the case. I cannot guarantee that the case will work from just the design alone.
• I've also made a couple modifications from my design to this file, mainly removing my customization elements. I've made sure that nothing changed when I removed these customization aspects, but I'd double check with the original 2HE .step file provided by Wooting to see if all of the design still lines up with the plate and the PCB.
• You are using these files at your own risk. If something goes wrong, I can provide pointers, but I am not responsible for any financial damage/damage to your 2HE.