Case for a Wireless Redox Rev1 Keyboard

Case for a Redox keyboard with Wristrest and Tenting, built from scratch but inspired by Original Mattdibi Case, Neodox Case and Ergodox Keyboard.

This case is built for a Wireless Rev1 with use of Nice!Nano V2 MCU (Or its alternatives. In my case - ProMicro NRF52840).

TL;DR: Assembly Guide

Table of Contents

• Bill of Materials
• PCB Prerequisites
  • Differences & Requirements
• Assembly
  • Bottom
  • Top
  • Tenting
  • Wrist Rest
  • Final Touches
• Contributions
• To Be Done

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Warning

+2mm if using bottom_8mm (which is preferred, because of right half's USB position. See Assembly Guide for more info)

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Bill of Materials

Item	Image	Quantity	Description
LiPol 3.7V Battery 403040 or thinner (500 mAh). Might be thicker if using bottom_8mm		2
JST-XH PH 1,25 2-pin connectors		2 pairs	Used to connect batteries to a PCBs Part of a PCB Prerequisites
Micro Slide Switch Spdt SS12F15		2	AliExpress Part of a PCB Prerequisites
MCU Hot-Swap Female connector		48 pins	Amazon Part of a PCB Prerequisites
RGB 4-pin Male connector		24 pins	AliExpress Remove plastic holder, cut each pin in two halves Part of a PCB Prerequisites
M3x8 Screw		12	Used in a tight space. Use Hex or Phillips screws. Do not use screws made for a wrench.
M3x2.5 Nut		12 (14 with Wrist Rest)
M3x16 Screw		0 (2 with Wrist Rest)	Used only in a Wrist Rest
M2 Nut		2	Used to fix Power Switch
M2x4 Screw		2	Used to fix Power Switch. Can be longer.
Hot Glue		-	Need a few places, to fix some elements. Can be done without it, but not recommended.
Silicon pads 9x1.5 (Or thicker if you want)		8 (12 with Wrist Rest)

PCB Prerequisites

Warning

Guide below assumes you have assembled PCB. This section describes how my PCB looked like when I did assemble the case. Minor differences should be fine, but case was only tested with described PCB.

Original PCB assembly guide: https://github.com/mattdibi/redox-keyboard/tree/master/redox#assembly-guide

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Differences & Requirements:

• PCB must have Hot-Swappable switches (see https://github.com/mattdibi/redox-keyboard/tree/master/redox#hot-swappable-switches) - required by Top part of the case. You can workaround this requirement by extending "switch holes" on a Top part

• I also made a Nice!Nano MCU hot-swappable.

• Solder 2-pin battery connector with power switch, breaking a + wire.

  • - wire should be soldered to a ground (or Battery- if you prefer). I choose this convenient place:
  • + wire should be soldered to a Raw (or Battery+ if you prefer) pin of MCU:

• Solder 2-pin connector to a batteries:

Assembly

Note

Following instructions describes assembly of one half. Since Redox halves are symmetric, these instructions are applied to another half as well, with only one requirement - printed models should be mirrored.

Total printed parts to assemble one half:

• Bottom.stl - 1 pcs;
• Top.stl - 1 pcs;
• Wristrest.stl - 1 pcs;
• Reset_button.stl - 1pcs;
• Tent_leg.stl - 2 pcs (1 + 1 mirrored);
• Tent_knob.stl - 2 pcs.

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Bottom

Tip

You can build the case WITHOUT a Wristrest. For that, you need to hide Bottom -> Bodies -> 'Wristrest base' body in a source project (.f3z - Fusion 360 project).

Warning

Asymmetric USB port problem. Expand to see more

Asymmetric USB port problem

Nice!Nano was asymmetrical USB port. Because of that, RIGHT half might not fit into the case. Possible solutions:

• Print RIGHT Bottom.stl 2.5 mm thicker;
• Heat bottom, where USB port will be located and deform it a little (See pics below).

• Print one Bottom.stl.

• Print one Reset_button.stl.

• Use drop of a Hot Glue to fix the battery in place. Position is not important, I just prefer it at the outer side.

• Put M3 Screws in a tenting base. Fill remaining space with a hot glue. Using hot glue is highly recommended - otherwise you'll have hard times putting knobs on that screw.

• Put Reset button in according slot.

• Put the Power Switch, which is a part of the PCB, in according slot. Fix it using two M2 screws and two M2 nuts.

• Connect battery to a PCB.

• Place the PCB.

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Top

• Print one Top.stl.

• Place Top on top of a PCB, closing the case.

• Screw the case using four M3 screws and four M3 nuts. I suggest to put M3 nuts in a Top holes.

Now you can finish the keyboard by adding Switches and Keycaps.

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Tenting

• Print two Tent_leg.stl: one - as is, another - optionally mirrored.
• Print two Tent_knob.stl.

• Take two M3 Nuts and place them into the Tent_knobs. Optionally, glue them (Usually not required - it depends on a printer tolerance).

• Take Tent_legs and place them accordingly. Fix them using Tent_knobs.

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Wrist Rest

• Print one Wristrest.stl. See the picture below for a suggested slicing. Tree support is highly recommended - with Normal Support it is almost impossible to clean a nut slot.

• Put one M3 Nut in a nut slot.

• Take one Long M3 Screw and screw it.

• Slide Wristrest into the Wristrest base. To fix the Wristrest, twist the screw to the end.

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Final touches

• Glue silicon pads in according slots

Contributions

I am just a guy, who is quite far from a professional CAD user, so I appreciate any advice/contribution/remix.

I tried to introduce some parameters in model, but there is a big chance they are not working properly (See To Be Done section).

To Be Done

• Test and fix the model parameters - IDK if changing current parameters won't break whole model;
• Less thickness between M3 screw & nut, which are fixing top & bottom parts (-1mm - -2mm)
• Check the possibility to use M3 instead of M2 for a Power Switch;
• Make case thinner: move battery into the wristrest + check how to make a thinner hot-swappable MCU. Approx. thickness reduction: 2.5-3mm;
• Adapt model to a **Wired** Redox.