Keyboard Repair From TechShop

Purpose: repair common, plastic household items

Tools: digital calipers, Rhino, 3D printer
Materials: Spool of ABS or PLA plastic

An occasional issue among gamers is the nerd rage where headsets, keyboard, and mice bear the brunt of your wrath.  But to be fair, those little feets under your keyboard are flimsy!

The first real step is to regain your composure and chill the eff out.  Also, don't worry about buying a new keyboard (and good luck trying to get just a single component from the manufacturer).  All you really need are digital calipers.   Measure out your broken buddy, or better, remove the intact one depending on damage inflicted.

I personally prefer Rhino, but any 3D modeling software should be fine as you need an STL file at the end.  You can also use our 3D scanner or AutoDesk Catch if you aren't as comfortable with modeling software, but it won't be quite as precise.

3D printers are easy to come by these days: MakerBot, Up!, RepRap, Cubify, whatever you want to use.  For my small print at 100% fill it only took four minutes and about 18¢ of plastic, so I decided to print a matching pair.  As a bonus, the digital file is always available if I need another print.

That's it, you're done!  Next time though, go easy on your equipment...

For more resources, tools, and training, head over to TechShop!


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