The LCD and steel tubes arrived yesterday. I forgot that I ordered those tubes, and this was before I decided to cut the load cell (which more or less eliminated the need for the tube).

These tubes are advertised for use with jewelry, but they're unreasonably precise for the price and quantity I paid for:

Maybe this specific tube was just a lucky pick. I didn't try any of the other 29.

The LCD looks small yet advanced. 

This changes my perspective a bit on how technologically advanced this input device probably is. I probably shouldn't expect anything less considering that the button-pressing keyboard has been mostly undisputed for over 40 years, giving engineers plenty of time to have obtained a faster solution.