[GB] Stainless steel universal TKL plates (ANSI 125)

[skcheng]

Invoice received and paid.   Thx,

skc

[Reckthor]

Paid.
 Can't wait to finish my phantom.

[lightsout714]

Is this over? Still taking orders?

[LechnerDE]

Is this over? Still taking orders?

I don't think he will place an order before everyone has paid the invoice, so just send him a PM.

In other news I also paid mine

[JaccoW]

Paid! Looking forward to getting my hands on this.
Now, do I order another board for that second plate?...

[strict]

Is this over? Still taking orders?

I'm hesitant to take on any new orders since I've already sent out the invoices and all but 4 orders are paid for so we're probably a day or two at most away from starting production of the plates. My preference would be to have anyone who missed out on this to wait for round 2 which I'm hoping to start sometime in April.

[HendyZone]

Paid strict

Thanks

[strict]

All invoices have been paid except two. I went ahead and told the metal shop to get started on production. If you haven't paid your invoice yet please do so.

[gh_pp]

All invoices have been paid except two. I went ahead and told the metal shop to get started on production. If you haven't paid your invoice yet please do so.

Is this over? Still taking orders?

Just got the invoice but I'm in a keyboard depression right now...   
I bought a few parts just need this plate and a phantom pcb to start my build.

However since sheraton / originative still won't ship my GMK keyset after 6 months I really hate looking at my mx boards/parts. I don't even browse this forum that often nowadays.

If any of you want to take my orders it's yours (2 plates).

Strict, I'll still pay my invoice if this creates hassles for you, and I apologize in advance.

[GeorgeK]

I went ahead and told the metal shop to get started on production. If you haven't paid your invoice yet please do so.

Oooh exciting

[strict]

All invoices have been paid except two. I went ahead and told the metal shop to get started on production. If you haven't paid your invoice yet please do so.

Is this over? Still taking orders?

Just got the invoice but I'm in a keyboard depression right now...   
I bought a few parts just need this plate and a phantom pcb to start my build.

However since sheraton / originative still won't ship my GMK keyset after 6 months I really hate looking at my mx boards/parts. I don't even browse this forum that often nowadays.

If any of you want to take my orders it's yours (2 plates).

Strict, I'll still pay my invoice if this creates hassles for you, and I apologize in advance.

That's no problem. I went ahead and cancelled your invoice. One of the two plates from your order has already been requested so I still have one more if someone wants it (lightsout714?).

[lightsout714]

Hey thanks man. I think I'll hold off for now.

[motoyuki]

Please ignore.

[strict]

Just received an update today that if all goes well I should be able to go pickup the plates sometime this coming week. 

Also, we had another order cancellation so I now have 3 unclaimed plates. If you want one (or all) of them get in contact with me and I'll get you on the list.

[GeorgeK]

Awesome turnaround on these - well done good sir

[stancato9]

Just received an update today that if all goes well I should be able to go pickup the plates sometime this coming week. 

Also, we had another order cancellation so I now have 3 unclaimed plates. If you want one (or all) of them get in contact with me and I'll get you on the list.

I'm sort of interested, but is there no cheaper method of shipping to Canada?

[jdcarpe]

Just received an update today that if all goes well I should be able to go pickup the plates sometime this coming week. 

Also, we had another order cancellation so I now have 3 unclaimed plates. If you want one (or all) of them get in contact with me and I'll get you on the list.

I'm sort of interested, but is there no cheaper method of shipping to Canada?

International shipping doesn't get much cheaper than that, unless it's something like a keycap in a small bubble mailer. I believe the price quoted is for Priority Mail International. You might save a few dollars by using First Class Mail, but in my experience that has a much higher risk of getting lost, damaged, or taking half a year to arrive.

Large commercial vendors can charge less for international shipping because they have special volume rates with the shipping companies, and because they can eat some of the international shipping costs by overcharging a small percentage on domestic order shipping, due to the economies of scale.

[strict]

The final 3 plates were just claimed which means all orders have now been paid. Thank you everyone! I will keep you updated.

[Techno Trousers]

Awesome! Thanks for running this, strict. The best group buys are the ones that go quickly and everyone comes out happy.

[SeeThruHead]

Any vendors buy some for resell? I'm got into the mechanical keyboard modding just slightly too late for this GB.

[strict]

Any vendors buy some for resell? I'm got into the mechanical keyboard modding just slightly too late for this GB.

Nope, I thought we would have at least one vendor purchase some but my biggest order was GeorgeK's 4 plates.

[SeeThruHead]

Ok whelp, I suppose I'll watch this thread for the inevitable round 2!

[CommonCurt]

Any vendors buy some for resell? I'm got into the mechanical keyboard modding just slightly too late for this GB.

Nope, I thought we would have at least one vendor purchase some but my biggest order was GeorgeK's 4 plates.

Once  people see how these turn out I would think you should get more orders for R2.

[strict]

I picked up the plates from the fabricators today and I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is that the plates all turned out very nicely. They all have clean cut outs and they have nice, smooth edges around the perimeter. The stainless steel is substantially heavier and much more rigid than the aluminum prototype. They all have some scuffing and scratching on the front face to some degree but nothing too serious. I'll be keeping the two worst looking plates for myself and shipping the the best ones to all of you.

The bad is that, due to a miscommunication on my part, the plates are all the v1 design. This means the caps lock and space bar switch holes are not cut to allow for offsets. This is the only design difference between v1 and v2. I think for most people this will make very little difference (if at all). Maybe someone who is more knowledgeable than I can weigh in with more info about what specific keyboards would be affected by this.

I am very sorry for this mistake and if this is a deal breaker for anyone please get in contact with me ASAP and I will refund your entire purchase without hesitation. I'm going to work on getting everything ready to ship over the weekend so if I haven't heard from you by Monday or Tuesday I'm going to assume you're okay with the v1 design and go ahead and ship out your order.

There was some sort of sticker residue on some of the plates that can be seen in the photo below. I went through and cleaned it off all the affected plates with rubbing alcohol.

[Techno Trousers]

Well, the two I ordered were for QFRs. Can anybody tell me if this means the plates are now incompatible?

[jdcarpe]

The only people who would be affected by the offset cuts not being present are those who wanted to use the plate for a Phantom build, and really wanted to use an offset caps lock and/or spacebar. And someone would only really want to do that if they planned to use a set of keycaps from a vintage Cherry Corp keyboard, such as a G80-8113.

Glad to hear they came out nicely, strict. They look amazing!

Also, good guy strict offering refunds if people can't use the plate as made.

[whiskytango]

The mistake doesn't matter to me. Should be just fine for QFR like jd said.

Jd, I've been meaning to ask you what are the extra Stab holes for on space bar? There must be a board that uses a shorter Stab. Leopold?

[jdcarpe]

The mistake doesn't matter to me. Should be just fine for QFR like jd said.

Jd, I've been meaning to ask you what are the extra Stab holes for on space bar? There must be a board that uses a shorter Stab. Leopold?

Heh, yeah they were included in the original Phantom plates, so they migrated into this one. Yes, I believe they are for compatibility with Leopold FC200R spacebars, but I haven't tested that theory. Why anyone would desire compatibility for those is a mystery to me. But it kinda looks cool there with so much space available in the spacebar area.

[Techno Trousers]

Cool, glad to hear everything is still good to go. They look great! I'm looking forward to some modding in the near future.

[CommonCurt]

I picked up the plates from the fabricators today and I've got good news and bad news.

The good news is that the plates all turned out very nicely. They all have clean cut outs and they have nice, smooth edges around the perimeter. The stainless steel is substantially heavier and much more rigid than the aluminum prototype. They all have some scuffing and scratching on the front face to some degree but nothing too serious. I'll be keeping the two worst looking plates for myself and shipping the the best ones to all of you.

The bad is that, due to a miscommunication on my part, the plates are all the v1 design. This means the caps lock and space bar switch holes are not cut to allow for offsets. This is the only design difference between v1 and v2. I think for most people this will make very little difference (if at all). Maybe someone who is more knowledgeable than I can weigh in with more info about what specific keyboards would be affected by this.

I am very sorry for this mistake and if this is a deal breaker for anyone please get in contact with me ASAP and I will refund your entire purchase without hesitation. I'm going to work on getting everything ready to ship over the weekend so if I haven't heard from you by Monday or Tuesday I'm going to assume you're okay with the v1 design and go ahead and ship out your order.

There was some sort of sticker residue on some of the plates that can be seen in the photo below. I went through and cleaned it off all the affected plates with rubbing alcohol.

Show Image

They look good from what I can see in the picture. 

As long as the V1 version will work fine in my MJ2 it doesn't bother me.

[nickr]

Glad to hear it weighs more.  I want people to work up a sweat when they move my boards.

[geniekid]

Glad to hear it weighs more.  I want people to work up a sweat when they move my boards.

I like heft on my electronics as well.  Can't wait for this plate to get delivered 

[cultofjosh]

I'm certainly OK with the v1 design. Can't wait! Now I just need a board and switches for my first custom TKL build because I certainly have enough TKL plates and springs now

Edit: Apparently 4am EST makes it too difficult for me to spell "TKL" correctly...

[JayKthnx]

Looks good to me!

[strict]

Glad to hear it weighs more.  I want people to work up a sweat when they move my boards.

I like heft on my electronics as well.  Can't wait for this plate to get delivered 

The difference between the stainless and aluminum plates is remarkable. After comparing the two I don't think I would ever run a GB for aluminum plates, they feel so flimsy and frail while the stainless is very heavy and is almost entirely inflexible. IMO the stainless plate *feels* so much nicer as well, it's hard to describe but they have an almost surgical instrument type feel to them. In comparison, the aluminum just kind of feels like metal.

Be forewarned that making any modifications to these will not be an easy task, they are exceptionally tough. I started working on filing down the stabilizer cutout sections on my two personal plates so I could use costar stabs. I could easily use sandpaper to do this to the aluminum prototype but I ended up using my dremel tool on the stainless.

I'll try to get a few better pictures of the plates tonight while I'm working on getting some packed up.

[skcheng]

Awesome!!   Really looking forward to getting mine!!    This is the LAST piece of the puzzle for me!!   

[geniekid]

Glad to hear it weighs more.  I want people to work up a sweat when they move my boards.

I like heft on my electronics as well.  Can't wait for this plate to get delivered 

The difference between the stainless and aluminum plates is remarkable. After comparing the two I don't think I would ever run a GB for aluminum plates, they feel so flimsy and frail while the stainless is very heavy and is almost entirely inflexible. IMO the stainless plate *feels* so much nicer as well, it's hard to describe but they have an almost surgical instrument type feel to them. In comparison, the aluminum just kind of feels like metal.

Be forewarned that making any modifications to these will not be an easy task, they are exceptionally tough. I started working on filing down the stabilizer cutout sections on my two personal plates so I could use costar stabs. I could easily use sandpaper to do this to the aluminum prototype but I ended up using my dremel tool on the stainless.

I'll try to get a few better pictures of the plates tonight while I'm working on getting some packed up.

If you haven't already considered this, for R2 you could offer to file down the costar stab areas for a service fee.  If you have, that's cool

EDIT:  Changed my comment above to apply to R2 - don't want to pressure strict into any more work than he's already done for this round.

[Techno Trousers]

Be forewarned that making any modifications to these will not be an easy task, they are exceptionally tough. I started working on filing down the stabilizer cutout sections on my two personal plates so I could use costar stabs. I could easily use sandpaper to do this to the aluminum prototype but I ended up using my dremel tool on the stainless.

I'll try to get a few better pictures of the plates tonight while I'm working on getting some packed up.

Can you include some shots showing where you ground the plates for your stabilizers? I guess this will be the project that finally makes me buy my own Dremel.

[geniekid]

Be forewarned that making any modifications to these will not be an easy task, they are exceptionally tough. I started working on filing down the stabilizer cutout sections on my two personal plates so I could use costar stabs. I could easily use sandpaper to do this to the aluminum prototype but I ended up using my dremel tool on the stainless.

I'll try to get a few better pictures of the plates tonight while I'm working on getting some packed up.

Can you include some shots showing where you ground the plates for your stabilizers? I guess this will be the project that finally makes me buy my own Dremel.

The OP has a link to another thread that has a nice picture.  For your convenience, here it is 

[GeorgeK]

PM'd you bud about the plates - unfortunately I'll have to reduce my order to just 2 as only 2 of the 4 were destined for Filco (or Filco-esque) boards

Thanks

George

[Flyersfan1]

I'm so excited for these, went ahead and ordered a 100 pack of mx clears from mechanicalkeyboards.com and a thick lube kit.  I'll need to trim the PCB pins in order to mount switches on this plate, right? First time for me doing a mod of this kind.

[strict]

If you haven't already considered this, for R2 you could offer to file down the costar stab areas for a service fee.  If you have, that's cool

EDIT:  Changed my comment above to apply to R2 - don't want to pressure strict into any more work than he's already done for this round.

To be honest, I dont think its even necessary. I started filing down my first plate thinking it would be, but out of curiousity I tried the costar stabs on an unmodified plate and they worked just fine. All I had to do was fiddle with the black plate clips a little to get them to fully seat and then they worked just fine. I guess the stainless steel this shop uses is just the right size to work without modification. I didn't try this on all the plates so YMMV but I think they will be okay.

PM'd you bud about the plates - unfortunately I'll have to reduce my order to just 2 as only 2 of the 4 were destined for Filco (or Filco-esque) boards

Thanks

George

You should see a refund for those two plate shortly. Sorry about any inconvenience!

I'm so excited for these, went ahead and ordered a 100 pack of mx clears from mechanicalkeyboards.com and a thick lube kit.  I'll need to trim the PCB pins in order to mount switches on this plate, right? First time for me doing a mod of this kind.

Depending upon your PCB you will need to a flush cutter to make those switches work. I think some of the A87 PCBs have holes to allow for PCB or plate mount switches but if your going with a Filco/Phantom/QFR type keyboard you will very likely need to trim the legs off the switch housing.

I dont have any more pictures of the plates yet, something unexpected came up last night and I didn't get back home until pretty late. After I eat some lunch and maybe watch an episode or two of GoT I'm going to start working on getting everyones stuff packaged up so its ready to be shipped on Monday or Tuesday.

[jdcarpe]

If you haven't already considered this, for R2 you could offer to file down the costar stab areas for a service fee.  If you have, that's cool

EDIT:  Changed my comment above to apply to R2 - don't want to pressure strict into any more work than he's already done for this round.

To be honest, I dont think its even necessary. I started filing down my first plate thinking it would be, but out of curiousity I tried the costar stabs on an unmodified plate and they worked just fine. All I had to do was fiddle with the black plate clips a little to get them to fully seat and then they worked just fine. I guess the stainless steel this shop uses is just the right size to work without modification. I didn't try this on all the plates so YMMV but I think they will be okay.

Yeah, I was going to say, sometimes filing is not even necessary. It really just depends on the thickness of the steel, and how stubborn you are in trying to get the Costar inserts to fit.

[GeorgeK]

You should see a refund for those two plate shortly. Sorry about any inconvenience!

All received my friend - thank you very much!  Glad to say that I'm still going to be having one of these as they look awesome - my Filco is looking forward to being stickered, lubed and plated (well as I'm going to have to desolder the thing to put the plate on it seems rude to not do the rest at the same time  

Pics will be supplied!

GK

[LechnerDE]

I just caught up on this thread.

I indeed wanted to use these plates for my 2 Phantom PCBs. So I have until tomorrow until I decide right?

Is a Round 2 with V2 plates and more options (e.g. 1.5 Mods) confirmed? If not, I will definitely stick to my order

[CommonCurt]

If you haven't already considered this, for R2 you could offer to file down the costar stab areas for a service fee.  If you have, that's cool

EDIT:  Changed my comment above to apply to R2 - don't want to pressure strict into any more work than he's already done for this round.

To be honest, I dont think its even necessary. I started filing down my first plate thinking it would be, but out of curiousity I tried the costar stabs on an unmodified plate and they worked just fine. All I had to do was fiddle with the black plate clips a little to get them to fully seat and then they worked just fine. I guess the stainless steel this shop uses is just the right size to work without modification. I didn't try this on all the plates so YMMV but I think they will be okay.

Yeah, I was going to say, sometimes filing is not even necessary. It really just depends on the thickness of the steel, and how stubborn you are in trying to get the Costar inserts to fit.

Great news  

Now if it only works that way on mine.

[strict]

I just caught up on this thread.

I indeed wanted to use these plates for my 2 Phantom PCBs. So I have until tomorrow until I decide right?

Is a Round 2 with V2 plates and more options (e.g. 1.5 Mods) confirmed? If not, I will definitely stick to my order

I'm still not positive whats in store for round 2 or if it will even happen. This process has been appreciably more tedious and laborious than I had imagined. Considering the effort and time I have invested, shipping materials, fees, etc I'm not convinced round 2 will be worth all the effort. This has really given my a new appreciation for people like Ivan, I have no idea how any one person could run that many GB's one after another all shipping hundreds of products to hundreds of people.

On a more positive note, I have everyones order packaged. I just need to fill out the customs forms for the international orders and I'll be ready to take this 50lb box of steel plates to the poor lady at the shipping dept. where I work  )

Also, here is the imgur album with more pictures as promised - http://imgur.com/a/WLaM9

[CommonCurt]

I just caught up on this thread.

I indeed wanted to use these plates for my 2 Phantom PCBs. So I have until tomorrow until I decide right?

Is a Round 2 with V2 plates and more options (e.g. 1.5 Mods) confirmed? If not, I will definitely stick to my order

I'm still not positive whats in store for round 2 or if it will even happen. This process has been appreciably more tedious and laborious than I had imagined. Considering the effort and time I have invested, shipping materials, fees, etc I'm not convinced round 2 will be worth all the effort. This has really given my a new appreciation for people like Ivan, I have no idea how any one person could run that many GB's one after another all shipping hundreds of products to hundreds of people.

On a more positive note, I have everyones order packaged. I just need to fill out the customs forms for the international orders and I'll be ready to take this 50lb box of steel plates to the poor lady at the shipping dept. where I work  )

Also, here is the imgur album with more pictures as promised - http://imgur.com/a/WLaM9

Pictures look good.  Thanks for running this GB.  I hope you change your mind about R2.  It would be awesome to get some V2 plates made.

[dorkvader]

The only people who would be affected by the offset cuts not being present are those who wanted to use the plate for a Phantom build, and really wanted to use an offset caps lock and/or spacebar. And someone would only really want to do that if they planned to use a set of keycaps from a vintage Cherry Corp keyboard, such as a G80-8113.

Glad to hear they came out nicely, strict. They look amazing!

Also, good guy strict offering refunds if people can't use the plate as made.

To be clear, the 8113 and 8200 have center stem capslock.

This issue really affects people who wanted to use it with their phantom (or sprit or whatever) and wanted cherry keycaps on it. I like to put POM spacebars on my KBs, but it's not a big deal for me (I'll just grab another aluminium spacebar)

On the plus side, they stabilize the spacebar switch from both sides, which may have a minimal effect on sound/feel.

Stainless plates are the only way to go. Aluminium ones need to be shipped on a hardboard so they don't bend: stainless don't really need that. They are much more durable and pretty much better in every way. Plus the sound of a metal spacebar bottoming out one is music to my ears (and my roommate's when I'm playing a platformer)

[LechnerDE]

I just caught up on this thread.

I indeed wanted to use these plates for my 2 Phantom PCBs. So I have until tomorrow until I decide right?

Is a Round 2 with V2 plates and more options (e.g. 1.5 Mods) confirmed? If not, I will definitely stick to my order

I'm still not positive whats in store for round 2 or if it will even happen. This process has been appreciably more tedious and laborious than I had imagined. Considering the effort and time I have invested, shipping materials, fees, etc I'm not convinced round 2 will be worth all the effort. This has really given my a new appreciation for people like Ivan, I have no idea how any one person could run that many GB's one after another all shipping hundreds of products to hundreds of people.

On a more positive note, I have everyones order packaged. I just need to fill out the customs forms for the international orders and I'll be ready to take this 50lb box of steel plates to the poor lady at the shipping dept. where I work  )

Also, here is the imgur album with more pictures as promised - http://imgur.com/a/WLaM9

Thanks for your reply!

I'll keep my Round 1 order then and hope there will be a Round 2