The Phantom - and interest check

[HaveANiceDay]

"Who was that shape in the shadows? Whose is that face in the mask?"

Ladies and Gentlemen!
I am happy to finally announce a project of mine in co-operation with PrinsValium of the Symmetric Stagger Board fame.

For a long time I have lusted after the Korean custom keyboards, jealous of the ability to use a full set of Cherry double shot and dye sub keycaps without substitutes!
You see, I never cared about their CNC carved Alumin(i)um bodies and I spoke about that on a few occasion. The holy grail, for me, are the keycaps.


I reached out to PrinsValium, told him my story and asked if he was interested. Luckily, he shares my views on this and he agreed to [strike]help me out[/strike] do all the work for me.

Now, before you fall asleep I'll go ahead and tell you what you probably have already guessed from the story above:
We are making a PCB with a programmable controller and a mounting plate, which will enable every Filco tenkeyless user to use a full set of good old Cherry keycaps!

Wait, what? Just for the Filco tenkeyless? Why?
It's practically impossible to make one PCB compatible with all the keyboard bodies out there, so we went with this one for a few reasons:
1. The Filco is probably the most popular tenkeyless brand around here.
2. The keyboard body on the Filco is in my opinion beautiful, I actually think it looks better than the Korean custom Alumin(i)um bodies.
3. It costs a lot to make low volumes of keyboard bodies, way more than a whole Filco tenkeyless.
4. I already own one! Yes, the privilege of being project lead.

If you still don't have a good idea what it would look like, it's basically the 86U layout!

We would need 1-sized windows keycaps for in between CTRL and ALT, but luckily there are cheap Cherry boards with just the right keycaps available.

Great! So what?!
Glad you asked! In this thread I will answer your questions and see how many of you are interested in buying your very own Phantom!
Later, when all the technical and logistical details are sorted out, I will open a group buy thread.

For the record, we are working on this for a month already and it's nearly complete. Expect the group buy thread soon!

I want to know MOAR!
Ask away in the thread! Please don't send PM's unless you are a really really fine looking young lady, I will check for that!

Also, there is a FAQ coming which I will post below this one. Stay tuned!


Interest list:
HaveANiceDay
PrinsValium
litster
mtl
Supergleep
Waterdr1nker
chongyixiong
reaper
N8N
hoggy
jayfinger
dux
lyk503
laden3
002

If I overlooked you or included you on mistake, please say so.

[HaveANiceDay]

This FAQ will be kept up to date. Changes will also be announced each time with a new post.


Why "Phantom"?
It's a Phantom behind the Filco mask!

What IS the Phantom?
A "unisex" PCB (fits ANSI and ISO), the Teensy controller and a matching mounting plate.
It fits the Filco tenkeyless and most likely the PLU ML-87(the insides of the case are identical to the Filco).

Why the Filco tenkeyless/PLU ML-87 and not another brand?
1. Filco are probably the most popular around geekhack of all the tenkeyless keyboards.
2. Both of those are compatible with each other, thus increasing the market size.
3. I already own one

Is this compatible with the Filco tenkeyless gen1 AND gen2?
Yes.

Can I use ALL of the Cherry doubleshots/dye-subs with the Phantom? Meaning the entire bottom row with the 7-sized spacebar and the off-center capslock?
YES! This is the main reason we are doing this.

But I really like the modern layout my Filco has, can I keep it the way it was?
Sure, PCB is fully compatible with both choices.

What layouts are supported by the PCB?
ANSI and ISO in standard Filco or oldschool Cherry layout.
Also there is support for the shorter shift + FN key, like on the HHKB!
Another option that is available is the UNIX layout.

Can I use it to convert my ANSI Filco tenkeyless to ISO?
Yes, and from ISO to ANSI as well!

Can I re-use my old Filco mounting plate if I just want PCB with the reprogrammable controller?
Yes.

Do I have to buy the switches myself?
Not if you reuse the old ones from the Filco.

Can I use PCB mounting (without the mounting plate)?
No, there are no holes on the PCB that are needed for PCB mounting. There were good design reasons to leave them out, sorry.

What stabilizers are supported by the mounting plate?
Costar(Filco) and Cherry stabilizers.
We still have to look if we can cram both of them on one mounting plate.

Will there be just one mounting plate?
No. Every layout will probably get a matching mounting plate.

What will the PCB look like?
It will have an awesome black finish on both sides with white silkscreen markings for easier switch mounting. The Phantom logo and text will be embedded on the copper layer like on the Filco gen2.

What will the mounting plate look like?
Still undecided on this. For now, I'm thinking bare metal which you can spray-paint as you want and if you want

When can I buy this?
There will be an actual group buy thread as soon as every technical and logistical detail is figured out.

How much is done already?
Over 90%, easily. It's always the details that take long.

How much will all this cost?
You will know it as soon as I do.



Update history:
Update 1
Added the PLU ML-87 compatibility info

[herfalerf]

i have no heard of these korean custom alumin(i)um keyboards, could you please provide linkage so that i may have a gander?

[HaveANiceDay]

i have no heard of these korean custom alumin(i)um keyboards, could you please provide linkage so that i may have a gander?

Sure, there is a great post at deskthority: http://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=255

[sordna]

Great concept, but why 86 key and not 87 key layout? According to this poll:
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?20156-Realforce-OLD-vs-NEW
most folks prefer the 87 keys. Also, if it's programmable, extra keys are always handy! My Kinesis has 86 keys, and I often find myself wishing it had 1 or 2 extras, to allow 2 Alts AND an AltGr for instance.

[HaveANiceDay]

Great concept, but why 86 key and not 87 key layout? According to this poll:
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?20156-Realforce-OLD-vs-NEW
most folks prefer the 87 keys. Also, if it's programmable, extra keys are always handy! My Kinesis has 86 keys, and I often find myself wishing it had 1 or 2 extras, to allow 2 Alts AND an AltGr for instance.

The reason is, pretty much all the Cherry double shot sets sold here and on deskthority are from old 101 keys Cherry boards.
I don't think that poll is accurate when applied to just the 86 vs 87 keys debate. It has more to do with "new" vs "old" and "no leds" vs "leds".
As you noticed, the controller (Teensy) will be programmable, so you can easily make the menu key (the one between ALT and CTRL on the right side) and make it an altgr while keeping the normal alt.

So in a nutshell you take the guts of a Filco and place it in this case?

Sounds good to me. Takes care of a yellowing white case.

I think you misunderstood it slightly
I take the guts out of the Filco and throw it away! Then I place the new PCB and the mounting plate in the Filco case.

[sordna]

Recently, some nice cherry doubleshots with 2 windows keys have become available:
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?20113-Official-Cherry-Double-Shot-Keycap-Set

[HaveANiceDay]

Recently, some nice cherry doubleshots with 2 windows keys have become available:
http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?20113-Official-Cherry-Double-Shot-Keycap-Set

Sorry, I forgot that I didn't post the FAQ yet. In the FAQ I explain that the Phantom PCB is fully compatible with the standard Filco layout AND the vintage Cherry layout. Centered capslock, off-center capslock, no problem!
Did I mention it supports ISO and ANSI too?

[litster]

definitely interested.  so you will have PCB, mounting plate, and controller.  Would buyers need to source their own Cherry switches and diodes, plus soldering them together?  Sounds like a very fun project!

[BiNiaRiS]

Any ballpark on price?

Sent from my EVO

[HaveANiceDay]

definitely interested.  so you will have PCB, mounting plate, and controller.  Would buyers need to source their own Cherry switches and diodes, plus soldering them together?  Sounds like a very fun project!

The switches will be salvaged from the Filco. I'm not sure about diodes distribution yet, but they are so cheap it hardly matters anyways. And yes, this will require desoldering the old switches and soldering everything together again

Any ballpark on price?

Sent from my EVO

It depends heavily on the quantity. We don't have final quotes yet, especially for the mounting plates.
The PCB will most likely be below $30 USD.

[mtl]

interested

[RiGS]

Were is the geekgirl approved logo?

[Supergleep]

Also interested

[Waterdr1nker]

Interested.

[HaveANiceDay]

Added the FAQ :)

[calavera]

Cool. Will the capslock switch be located at the center like Filcos or will it be on the side like Cherry corps keyboards?

It should be the latter since we can use the stepped cherry corps capslock without modding them. That'd be cool

[cactux]

Are you considering swappable CTRL/CAPS LOCKS keycaps?

[chongyixiong]

Are you considering swappable CTRL/CAPS LOCKS keycaps?

Amen to that and I'm placing interest.

No FR-4 PCB and all the marketing buzzwords?

[cactux]

There are some guys trying to make an Aluminum FILCO Majestouch 10 Keys less housing. Once both projects become more mature we can merge the 2 projects and have a unique GH keyboard :rockon:

[mtl]

Thanks for organizing this, HaveANiceDay.  What color for the [strike]bike shed[/strike] mounting plate?

[reaper]

Interested depending on the price.

[HaveANiceDay]

@calavera Both capslock options are supported by the PCB, centered and off-center.

@cactux Since the controller is programmable, it's easy to make a CTRL out of a capslock.

@chongyixiong The PCB will be FR-4, and probably even better quality than the stock Filco. Our manufacturer does not offer non FR-4 options :)

@mtl The color of the mounting plates is not yet decided, we might make a poll for that.

[N8N]

might be interested as well, depending on price.  Am already thinking of doing a clear/doubleshot Filco so this is definitely appealing to me.

[hoggy]

Interested.

[bpiphany]

This is the PCB at the moment.


It has support for ISO or ANSI return, as well as the shorter ISO left shift and extra key.

The caps lock switch can be placed either centered, or off center (as a 1.25X key would have sat) like the stepped caps lock keys. Both switch locations supports switch mounted LEDs.

There are two LED "channels" (caps lock and scroll lock [or whatever you feel like using them for]) LEDs can be placed in the caps lock and scroll lock switches and/or like on the Filco tenkeyless. Both LED channels are connected to Teensy pins with PWM (pulse width modulation) which makes it possible to "dim" them through the firmware. Both channels also have resistor locations in series to support non-5V LEDs.

The spacebar row supports the following setups
1.50X-1.00X-1.50X-7.00X-1.50X-1.00X-1.50X
1.25X-1.25X-1.25X-6.25X-1.25X-1.25X-1.25X-1.25X
The rightmost space bar switch location (centered on the alphanumeric section for the 7X space bar) should coincide with the off center 6.25X stem variant. Seemed logical after crunching the numbers...

Is there any desire to add support for replacing the 2.00X back space key with two 1.00X keys?

The Teensy will be mounted on the backside of the PCB, it is a pretty tight fit but there is room there. It will require some care when soldering but this should be no big problem.

Questions are welcome - Suggestions might be considered =)

[Pylon]

@mtl The color of the mounting plates is not yet decided, we might make a poll for that.

Why don't you just deliver it as unpainted metal and let people painted it whatever they want? Metal isn't exactly hard to spray paint.

Plus bare metal would look cool.

[HaveANiceDay]

Why don't you just deliver it as unpainted metal and let people painted it whatever they want? Metal isn't exactly hard to spray paint.

Plus bare metal would look cool.

Of course, those that want bare metal will get it

[mtl]

The Teensy will be mounted on the backside of the PCB, it is a pretty tight fit but there is room there. It will require some care when soldering but this should be no big problem.

Is the Teensy included with purchase of the PCB+Mounting plate?

[sordna]

Looking at the PCB it supports 87 key after all, right ?