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Step 5Make a Hole
Where were we? Oh, right; making a hole for the cable to go through.
Maybe it wasn't the best choice, but I decided to simply widen the existing cable slot by joining it with the neighboring hole. That hole turns out to be where the hook-shaped pegs under the touchpad latch on, so following my example may leave your touchpad area slightly bowed (see last photo).
Out comes the Dremel tool, and at 15k RPM, the cuts are made fast. Did you remember your safety glasses? You might want a face mask, too, if you like your lungs. Either way, keep things like your eyeballs out of the way of the sparks; if the disk breaks or it kicks out something more than pretty lights, you really don't want to risk your sight.
You'll also need to make the ribbon cable a little less bulky; cut away the excess clear plastic behind the bend in the conductors. Don't cut through any of the shiny wires! After you give the cable a better elbow shape, you might want to reinforce the deepest part of the cut with some cellophane tape to keep it from tearing. Even your dog will laugh if you have to buy another $30 keyboard because you tore a few conductors in the ribbon cable.
Finally, switch to your burr bit on your Dremel and nibble away at the post that was supposed to go through that hole where your ribbon cable is now. Otherwise, bad things could happen when you put the case back together. You really don't need to reinvent punched tape as part of this project. You'll also want to get rid of the black plastic loop at the top of the keyboard, to allow the white plastic post above the keyboard to fit into its assigned hole.
Maybe it wasn't the best choice, but I decided to simply widen the existing cable slot by joining it with the neighboring hole. That hole turns out to be where the hook-shaped pegs under the touchpad latch on, so following my example may leave your touchpad area slightly bowed (see last photo).
Out comes the Dremel tool, and at 15k RPM, the cuts are made fast. Did you remember your safety glasses? You might want a face mask, too, if you like your lungs. Either way, keep things like your eyeballs out of the way of the sparks; if the disk breaks or it kicks out something more than pretty lights, you really don't want to risk your sight.
You'll also need to make the ribbon cable a little less bulky; cut away the excess clear plastic behind the bend in the conductors. Don't cut through any of the shiny wires! After you give the cable a better elbow shape, you might want to reinforce the deepest part of the cut with some cellophane tape to keep it from tearing. Even your dog will laugh if you have to buy another $30 keyboard because you tore a few conductors in the ribbon cable.
Finally, switch to your burr bit on your Dremel and nibble away at the post that was supposed to go through that hole where your ribbon cable is now. Otherwise, bad things could happen when you put the case back together. You really don't need to reinvent punched tape as part of this project. You'll also want to get rid of the black plastic loop at the top of the keyboard, to allow the white plastic post above the keyboard to fit into its assigned hole.
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