Plato
Learn more about your Plato
In this guide I aim to provide an overview of the steps, materials and parts needed for your Plato. Depending on your choice of materials, you need different screws to mount the PCB and the plate.
In this guide I aim to provide an overview of the steps, materials and parts needed for your Plato. Depending on your choice of materials, you need different screws to mount the PCB and the plate.
When dealing with non-metals, it is recommended to utilize through-holes on the plate, along with threaded standoffs for the mounting screws. In the case of commonly used flexible materials, it is acceptable for the standoffs to be shorter than the desirable height of 4.7 mm. It is important to exercise caution when tightening the screws, to avoid over-tightening.
For rigid and dense materials like metals, it is optimal to thread the mounting holes on the plate. The screw holes in the file are 1.6 mm in diameter, which suits threading for M2 screws. It is recommended to ascertain with your laser cutting or CNC service whether they provide threading and any associated charges. If you are experienced or daring, you can also perform the threading by yourself.
The illustrations depicted above exhibit the required components corresponding to the chosen plate material.
The majority of services that provide laser cutting or CNC milling services accept files in DXF or EPS format, both of which are available here. If you require a different format, please do not hesitate to contact me.
It is essential that the plate is of a thickness of precisely 1.2 mm. The diameter of the mounting holes is 1.6 mm and they may either be used as through-holes or threaded with an M2 tapping bit.
Typically, switch plates are created through laser cutting, although certain services may utilize CNC milling. It is recommended to conduct a search for local services. As an example on how to order a plate online, you may refer to
SendCutSend, Laserboost, Xometry or Hubs.
Soon™ — The following video will demonstrate the tapping process of the screw hole threads on a steel plate.
If you discover any missing information, please do not hesitate to contact me on Discord, and I will append it to this page. Thank you.
