Have been eyeing this forum over the years and I finally got my first OP-Z (secondhand).
The OP-Z I got is a bit bent and I can see that it has some double triggering happening with the center keys. I was thinking if a custom aluminum or a steel case could be made to remedy this. I have already made some measuring and drawing in CAD, but it still needs more work before actually making a prototype.
I am looking for a broken, faulty or otherwise not fully functional OP-Z to help me get some detailed measurements for my reverse engineering process. I have teared down my own OP-Z a bit, but going further would make it not functional and I would rather find a second specimen that would not decrease the pool of the working ones that we have.
I am a machinist with some background in industrial design so I have a mindset and access to tools to try to make a new outer case for the OP-Z.
No promises for a drop-in replacement yet, but I will do my best.
Hi,
Excellent initiative — lovely!
I’d be very tempted to dismantle mine to help and finally get my hands dirty.
The problem is that the keyboard is held in place by many plastic pins, melted at their ends to lock the component in place. These need to be drilled, melted, or cut to access the bare case.
But if you have double triggers, you’ll have to do that anyway to reach the contact points that need cleaning.
So… maybe it’s a bit early — you haven’t yet fully enjoyed the OP-Z.
Let’s see… I might suddenly feel the urge, as I also have some double triggers…
Yeah. I am at the crossroads with the melted plastic pins. If I would remove them on my OP-Z I could not secure the keyboard back to use it again.
That’s one of the reasons that I am looking for some help with this.
Down the road I would need at least a keyboard module for a test fit. I’m not willing to tear my own down just yet. I just like the one I have and would be a bummer to be without one.
I bought a second unit!
This second unit has some water damage that makes some keys miss or not register at all.
I disassembled the second one further and was able to remove the keyboard. It wasn’t an easy task but somehow managed to do it. Have to be really careful because the flex pcb traces are in some cases right next to the plastic pins.
This is awesome, I was curious about the Line Module as well. What are you planning to do once you reverse engineer the case, I know tons of people wish there was a metal housing.
A lot of people are waiting for someone to do this, I think people won’t be ready for the price, machining a metal case won’t be cheap. I am sure some people will be willing to pay whatever it cost though. Good luck, I’ll be following this and may be up for buying a case if you ever sell them.
Yeah. The price will not be for everyone. If mimicking the original case layout the machining will be very complex and very time consuming. So not cheap at all.
It does not help that this has been originally designed for injection moulding. It is different type of process to design for but a obvious choice when looking at the price point this was sold for.
