deskthority

Hello,

I had what could be a revelation today in a shop, It is a photo shop. They where cutting acrylic with a Roland plotter to make metal-like stickers:

This is what I saw:
Two questions came to my mind: (1) is the acrylic foil conductive ? (2) would be possible to do membranes and/or F PCB (like) with it ?

The guy offered some left overs from the tape. It is not conductive. But searching the web I found that my revelation may be a good one. Look at this How to make circuits with a Roland CAMM sign cutter

--> The following image is extracted from the instructables above:
Has anyone already thought about this idea ?
I do not have access to a plotter and to test it we will need to get our hands in the conductive tape: this one ?

What do you think ? Could it be that it a real revelation ?

I have used these guys for membranes - back when they were InkJetFlex. The print quality was excellent and it works, but is a bit pricey. Less so for you guys in UK and the EU.
http://cittechnology.com/flexible-circu ... yping.html

wcass wrote: ↑I have used these guys for membranes - back when they were InkJetFlex. The print quality was excellent and it works, but is a bit pricey. Less so for you guys in UK and the EU.
http://cittechnology.com/flexible-circu ... yping.html

My idea was a different one. I guess that we will all benefit from having a DIY solution for these problems.
The controller part is already solved in most cases due to the nice work of Hasu, Xwhatsit, Soarer and others.
The matrix is more complicated.

• In the case of the IBM-Ms it is expensive to custom make one. Repairing a broken one is possible in some cases depending on the length of the section to recover (I did it).
  
  In the case of the IBM-Fs the XTant (wcass) proved the concept of using individual barrels to design a new keyboard. He confirmed that it is possible to design a new capacitive PCB. An impressive job that together with the Xwhatsit controller open a completely the possibilities.
  Again here, my understanding is that he found most of the problems with the PCB.
  
  The Cherry switches are also under control.

I have seen this Schneideplotter ROLAND CAMM 1 in ebay.
110 eurs, 11 bids and 1 day to go. It is a parallel printer. It will need an USB converter. Just for a test is pricey. I do not know if other members are interested in testing my idea. If some of show interest, it will be cheaper to check the concept. If the solution works, I guess that it will quickly pay back.

Alternatively, I could find a place around my place to cut a couple of tests.

I ask my question above again: what do you think ? If you are shy or hesitant to post publicly, you may send me a PM

So your goal is to print membranes for Model Ms, right?

Nuum wrote: ↑So your goal is to print membranes for Model Ms, right?

More than "printing" I mean "cutting" copper tape. From what I have seen. I guess that it should be possible.
One could create a matrix with diodes as suggested by Mu here "Plan for NKRO in a Model M". If all the contact points of the matrix are routed to an outside board the diodes could be added. Again, this is just an idea.

But what I consider even more interesting and perhaps more complex, is to cut the copper to create capacitive boards for Fs.

EUR 157,89 [ 23 Bids ] - To much for a test
I will look for a local company that has a similar tool for my test.

you can also do them with negative dry film photoresist, you would need uv exposure box, pyralux, and film + devoleper for membranes and for F's just clad laminate instead of pyralux, i wanted to do that but i can't get my hands on pyralux....
You can also print on pyralux using solid in printer.

I need to take a look a this, indeed. The problem is the size of the membranes and PCBs