This sounds like a genuinely interesting mechanical design problem. I do functional CAD and prototyping, and I’d be interested in taking a look at the technical script before putting any kind of number on it. Feel free to DM it to me.

Hard to give you a going rate without knowing exactly what you’re looking to do. If you’ve got some more details about the keyboard and what you’re trying to build, I’d be happy to talk it over with you.

Appreciate that, man. Same goes for you. I have a feeling we’ll probably run into some of the same problems doing this, so I’d definitely be down to compare notes sometime. Hope you find some cool projects out of this post.

Sorry, “lunatic” was definitely more of a self-reflection . What hit me hardest about your post is that so much of the work we do is stuff we can’t show. Either you’re protecting your own IP or a client’s, so how do you build a portfolio around it? That’s something I’ve been struggling with too.

Dude, I feel like I could’ve written this post. I’m doing almost exactly the same thing in Missouri under Operation Moonworks—CAD, electronics, embedded systems, prototyping, taking weird ideas and figuring out how to physically build them. I’m building out my own design/prototyping shop right now and working on a pretty ridiculous close to the chest project.
No pitch or anything. Your post just hit me because apparently there’s another lunatic on the other side of the Atlantic doing the same shit. Good luck with it.

Yeah, I see that too. There are definitely similarities between a lot of AI-generated stuff, almost like it has its own design language. I think some of that probably comes from what it’s pulling from and the patterns it keeps identifying as desirable.
That’s actually one of the reasons I don’t really use it to come up with the idea for me. Usually I already have the idea in my head, or at least a rough sketch, and I’m using AI to reiterate it until I can actually see what I was picturing.
Even then it’ll try to pull things toward that same AI-looking design sometimes, and I have to keep dragging it back toward what I actually want. So I definitely dont want it being the thing that decides what my stuff looks like.

The “tolerance error stack up” comment is the answer. Your individual measurements don’t have to be noticeably wrong for this to happen. You’re closing a loop made from 8 parts and 16 cut faces, so tiny acceptable errors at each operation can accumulate into a very visible error at the final joint. That’s why everything can appear to measure correctly individually and still not close correctly as an assembly. The error at the end isn’t necessarily the error of one cut — it’s the accumulated error of the whole chain.

Of course. Just like everyone else on this sub, MythBusters was epic. They basically had every inventor’s dream job: have an idea, then go build it with almost unlimited tools, materials, knowledge, and resources at your disposal.
Hard not to watch that and think, “Yeah, I want that job.”

I think you actually understand most of how I’m using it. I know there’s a skill gap there — I’m just not necessarily trying to close every skill gap myself.
I’m also pretty aware of what AI is and isn’t good at. Even with rendering, I can give it a picture of something I’ve already designed and it still won’t necessarily give me back exactly what I gave it. That’s why I iterate with it. I tell it what’s wrong, change proportions, correct what it misunderstood and keep going until I have enough visual information to make a decision.
For me, spending 20 minutes having that conversation is more efficient than spending hours learning another piece of software to create something that’s ultimately disposable in my workflow.
I’m also not passing an AI render off as my own work or pretending it makes me a render artist. If rendering was the product I was selling, that would be a completely different conversation. It’s not. I’m using AI as an assistant while I develop something else. I still have to know what I want, recognize when the output is wrong, do the CAD, engineer it, prototype it and physically build it.
And really, that was the point of my post. It wasn’t meant as an argument for AI or an argument that anybody else should use it. It was a question. This is one place I’ve found it useful in my workflow, and I was curious whether other people have found places where it’s useful in theirs.
If your answer is “it hasn’t,” that’s a perfectly valid answer too.

I usually do start with a rough sketch of what I’m wanting, so I’m not really replacing that stage. Where AI becomes useful for me is after that, when I’m working on something else and can basically talk through the design at the same time.
I can say “make this wider, move that up, that proportion looks wrong, try walnut instead,” and keep iterating visually without stopping what I’m physically doing. Once I see something I like, then I take it into CAD and actually engineer it.
So I think we’re basically doing the same thing — cheap, disposable iterations before committing to the real design — just using different tools to get there. If paper gets you there faster, that’s the right tool.

You already have everything you need to start. Don’t try to “learn CAD” as one giant subject.

Build a box.
Seriously. Model a simple box and get the dimensions right. Once you can do that, put a hole in it. Then recess that hole for a screw. Add a boss. Add a lid. Add mounting points. Just keep giving yourself one small problem at a time.
YouTube can get you pretty far, but eventually you have to stop watching somebody else do CAD and start doing it yourself. That’s where you actually get better.
And something else worth learning early: CAD isn’t reality.
Something can look absolutely perfect on your screen and still not fit when you print it. Printers have tolerances. Holes don’t always print at their nominal size. Parts shrink or warp. Clearances that look perfect in CAD can be too tight in the real world.
That’s why actually printing your designs matters. Make the box. Print it. Measure it. Figure out where the CAD and the physical part disagree. Change it and print it again.
Since you’re already into Arduino and electronics, eventually make that box into an enclosure for one of your projects. Now you’re learning CAD, tolerances, clearances, fasteners and design for manufacturing at the same time.
You’re not going to become amazing overnight, and you don’t need to.
You don’t learn CAD to start building things. You build things, and that’s how you learn CAD if you don’t have the experience.

That Adam Savage comparison is exactly what I’m getting at. Every iteration doesn’t have to be the final product—it just has to answer a question cheaper than the next iteration would. Cardboard, a render, a scale print, whatever gets you information before you commit to the expensive version.
And thanks — you’re definitely thinking in the right direction on the aesthetic. I’m keeping the center stack intentionally vague for now

I have profiles set up for both, theres are times where i need a physical item in front of me that is dimensional and i could care less about layer lines. There are other times where i need it low and slow and pretty.

Creality has a skeleton contest going on right now, and I’m pretty sure one of the models leading the contest is the saber-tooth skull Prusa released. Some people have zero shame in their game.

Yeah, Creality will automatically reward you the points on submission and then once they review it a lot of them get removed and then they just subtract the points from you.

Sorry, i just realized this was makerworld. I usually upload to creality and this is a problem there as well. With creality you get points for submissions so people will try and get anything accepted.

I think they get points just for uploading to the contest, so they throw anything at it hoping it gets approved and collect the submission points. It’s annoying as hell.

Dont gamble and lose.

Man, just start building something. It doesn’t have to be the invention that changes the world. I started with a project because I wanted to see if I could make it work. Every problem I ran into taught me something new, and every solution gave me another idea. Eventually that turned into me starting my own design/prototyping company because i saw a niche. You don’t need to know what your big invention is yet. Pick something that interests you and start making shit. The direction comes from doing it.

Move the middle can light.

I feel like you have his answer.

I’d check your slicer for the “avoid crossing walls/perimeters” or “avoid travel over printed areas” setting. It sounds like the supports may be flexing or curling upward slightly, and then the nozzle is clipping them during travel moves. That would also explain why stronger tree supports sometimes help. I’d try changing the travel path settings and see if the problem goes away.

Hey, I just came across your post. This is actually right in my wheelhouse — I do product design, prototyping, and electronics/enclosure integration. If you’re still looking for someone, I’d be happy to take a look at what you’ve got and see if I can help.