I’ve searched though the GitHub and can’t find any docs on the specs for the touchpad spaces.
Has anyone heard if Framework is planning on releasing a reference design file for it?
I have a FW16 in hand, so I can start taking measurements myself but it would be nice to have a ref for more accurate measurements.
I want to try and either 3d print one to see how it comes out or source a place that could do transparent plastics to get that late 90’s early 00’s look.
That’s a pretty cool idea. I could see some nice orange ones matching the bezel, for instance. Underneath these spaces, there isn’t much to look at but the plate, right? Maybe some stickers on the plate could jazz it up a bit (if it doesn’t affect heat, etc.).
I already asked for those months ago. Sadly, to my knowledge, there hasn’t been any progress in that area. I guess we’ll need to wait 'til all the issues regarding the FL16 rollout have been solved, before this is going to get addressed, if that’s gonna happen at all…
I’d be grateful if you could do that, otherwise this is going to get stalled for months to go…
I tried searching for posts on this and didn’t find yours.
Unless I missed something when putting my parts in, I didn’t see anything using the mid plate as a heat sync under the spacers our touch pad. They seem to be simple enough, I don’t have a decent caliper, if I find one I’ll attach measurements when I get a set.
It seems that if we can get a decent design drawing for them, it might be possible to get a bit tighter fit for touch pad and spacers as well.
I’ve attached a couple of reference pics in case anyone wants them.
It might be fun to whip up a spacer in Blender or a CAD software and mess around with spacing fit. Others have said the gap measures about .5mm between the spacer and the trackpad plate. Not exact, but a data point at least. I’ve got a FW 16 built semi to scale in Blender with input slots pulled off the FW github, but I don’t have a 3d printer :-/
I actually made my own 3D model of the touchpad spacers a few days ago. I just uploaded it here: Printables
I did make a few slight modifications just to reduce the gaps that they have (I made the top 0.1 mm wider, locking mechanism has slightly less extra space). It could be a good starting point.
I used translucent PETG, which took a few tries to get the hang of. I think that some smoothing could help a little, but the main thing stopping it from being clearer is tiny gaps between each line it printed. It made a sort of 3D moire effect internally which I think looks pretty cool, but it doesn’t convey on camera very well.
I made the spacing in the locking mechanism tighter so it doesn’t slide up and down, sideways I tried to make it a bit wider but there’s still just a hair of movement
I would say they fit much better than the originals, except there’s a small amount of space underneath the spacer that I will fix in my next revision, which I’ll test and upload to the printables page this weekend.