Keyboard Holders, Generation 1

Summary

I have a collection of mechanical keyboards. Since I’m only using one keyboard at a time, I wanted a way to store and display the rest. I was inspired by some laser-cut holders which we’ve had for many years. After wrapping up my clock project, I got trained up on the library’s laser cutter and some CAD software, and made these: The Cuttle Generation I started designing in Cuttle, under the influence of Hannah. Cuttle proved to be a great tool for prototyping and iterating: the JavaScript-based syntax was easy to pick up, and the visual editor for the node tree, transformations, etc. made it easy to understand the composition. Design parameters To fit the variety of keyboards I have, I created a parameterized design with 4 or 6 parts: A back plate, which mounts to the wall A bottom plate, which provides horizontal stability for the fins Two outer fins, which hold the keyboard Optionally, two inner fins, which hold the inner edges of a split keyboard The back and bottom plates (center) have two columns of rectangular cutouts to accept the tabs on the inner fins (left). The outer fins (right) have cutouts to accept the tabs from the back and bottom plates. The upper three shapes are the “back”, and lower three are “bottom”. The fins on the lower row are rotated to show how the tabs match. The hook shape of the inner and outer fins hold the bottom edge of the keyboard. I opted for “slots”, spaced in from the edge of the edge, rather than finger joints. The weight of the keyboard transfers from the fins to the back plate, and I was worried that this could pull apart finger joinst. Width, height, and depth are the main parameters for the design. Taller keyboards also require deeper shelves, so the keyboard rests at an appropriate angle. The fins have another set of parameters: fin depth, how far the fin’s top extends from the back plate fin height, how high the lowest point of the fin rises above the bottom plate trough, how far forward to place the lowest point of the h...