Tried a cheap sandwich plate vs a custom CNC one for my build. Night and day.

I was swapping out the plate on my TKL last weekend and grabbed a $12 generic aluminum plate off Amazon. Thought it would be fine. But the switch fit was so loose that some keys wiggled like crazy when I typed. Then I spent $45 on a custom CNC plate from a local guy in Austin and every switch snapped in perfectly. No more rattling or crooked spacebar. Has anyone else had that happen with cheap plates?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_coleman612d ago

Blame the anodizing or lack thereof on those cheap plates. The loose fit isn't a tolerance issue as much as it's a coating thickness issue. Most generic plates have a thin anodized layer (if any at all) so the switch holes end up slightly oversized. Custom CNC plates usually have a proper anodizing process that adds a few microns and tightens everything up. Your $45 plate probably has a nice thick matte finish that fills in those gaps perfectly. It's not always about the milling quality, sometimes it's the finishing process that makes or breaks the fit.

-1

reese_perry62d ago

Wait, wouldn't a thicker coating actually make the holes smaller, making the fit tighter, not looser? I feel like most cheap plates I've messed with just have bad tolerances from the start, not a finishing issue lol.