Author Topic: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)  (Read 25810 times)

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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (advice/ help welcome)
« Reply #50 on: Tue, 22 July 2014, 12:33:17 »
I think I'm going to need to increase the size of the walls of each key, does anyone know any simple ways to do so in Sketch up? They're currently .5 mm in length and the minimum size is .7 mm by shapeways.
petcock
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Offline suka

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (advice/ help welcome)
« Reply #51 on: Tue, 22 July 2014, 15:03:46 »
Less than 1.0mm wall width will feel flimsy in PA even for something as small as a keycap, 1.5mm is pretty solid. I'd suggest to test a few variations of height, thickness and bevel, these caps won't most likely be satisfying in their current form.

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (advice/ help welcome)
« Reply #52 on: Tue, 22 July 2014, 15:17:13 »
Less than 1.0mm wall width will feel flimsy in PA even for something as small as a keycap, 1.5mm is pretty solid. I'd suggest to test a few variations of height, thickness and bevel, these caps won't most likely be satisfying in their current form.

What do you mean in PA? I'm trying to keep costs below 100 USD for a colored and polished set. Most standard keyboard caps are relatively thin aren't they? I understand it's always going to feel better the thicker the key caps are but they will add significantly to the price.

The ducky keycaps seem to use 1 mm wide walls, according to a friend, so I'll stick with that for now. Keys are being reworked right now and store will be updated soon with the newer models.

Edit: Filco apparently uses a thickness of .7 mm. Cherry even thinner, anyone else have an opinion on thickness of keycaps?
« Last Edit: Tue, 22 July 2014, 15:47:12 by P3TC0CK »
petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (advice/ help welcome)
« Reply #53 on: Tue, 22 July 2014, 16:39:37 »
Less than 1.0mm wall width will feel flimsy in PA even for something as small as a keycap, 1.5mm is pretty solid. I'd suggest to test a few variations of height, thickness and bevel, these caps won't most likely be satisfying in their current form.

What do you mean in PA? I'm trying to keep costs below 100 USD for a colored and polished set. Most standard keyboard caps are relatively thin aren't they? I understand it's always going to feel better the thicker the key caps are but they will add significantly to the price.

The ducky keycaps seem to use 1 mm wide walls, according to a friend, so I'll stick with that for now. Keys are being reworked right now and store will be updated soon with the newer models.

Edit: Filco apparently uses a thickness of .7 mm. Cherry even thinner, anyone else have an opinion on thickness of keycaps?

I think that 1mm thick walls will give us a balance of good price with a good feeling. Not sure if 3D printing has any differences with the rigidity of whatever it makes compared to molds, so I can't make a judgement on what would be the best.
Quote from: elton5354
I don't need anymore keyboards

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (advice/ help welcome)
« Reply #54 on: Tue, 22 July 2014, 16:45:32 »

I think that 1mm thick walls will give us a balance of good price with a good feeling. Not sure if 3D printing has any differences with the rigidity of whatever it makes compared to molds, so I can't make a judgement on what would be the best.

I think it just depends on the material. Shapeways uses a Nylon material for their most basic plastics, so if you're familiar with any nylon keycaps (I have heard zowie keyboards use them) then you'll be familiar with it to some degree.
petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline suka

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (advice/ help welcome)
« Reply #55 on: Wed, 23 July 2014, 00:50:44 »
PA (= polyamide) is what shapeways offers as a cheap material and all my cases and caps are made of. All I am saying is you should get some parts built yourself in different sizes before talking others into ordering.
And from personal experience: flat caps may look nice but don't work at all with row staggered layouts,  especially when designed like yours.

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (advice/ help welcome)
« Reply #56 on: Wed, 23 July 2014, 05:43:51 »
Updated models coming in a bit! .7 mm wall thickness and the spacebar may be 1 mm to prevent any warping.
petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (advice/ help welcome)
« Reply #57 on: Wed, 23 July 2014, 12:49:28 »
The keys have been reuploaded. I decided to make to the space bar with a wall thickness of 1 mm to help maintain the shape in printing and polishing such a large key.

Unfortunately the price of the keys has significantly increased because of the changes so they may end up costing 125 not including shipping (at least from shapeways) once everything is done.

Having some weird problem with the shapeways site so I'll let you guys know when they're available.

Edit: Found a website called 3D Hubs which points me to some reasonably priced 3D printers locally, so I may actually be able to get them for much cheaper here in Dubai.  :-\ So I'll be looking into that while my uploads are fixed on shapeways.
« Last Edit: Wed, 23 July 2014, 13:45:05 by P3TC0CK »
petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (advice/ help welcome)
« Reply #58 on: Fri, 25 July 2014, 06:57:05 »
I received my keyboard and all the measurements seem to be correct. I will be ordering the keys in the next few days, if you'd like to see me choose a specific color my thoughts are either Red or White with blue a distant third. Let me know what you guys would like me to pick.



Picture from this album by who I assume is RaVNzCRoFT.



petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #59 on: Fri, 25 July 2014, 07:33:30 »
Personally, I would just want to go with whatever is closest to white as possible.
Quote from: elton5354
I don't need anymore keyboards

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #60 on: Fri, 25 July 2014, 07:38:30 »
Personally, I would just want to go with whatever is closest to white as possible.

Here's an image of their white and polished:

petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #61 on: Fri, 25 July 2014, 08:01:33 »
Oh, if there are any key sets you'd like to see (87, modifiers, etc) I can do that so just let me know. I know not everyone will want a full 104 key set.
petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline FrostyToast

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #62 on: Fri, 25 July 2014, 08:16:05 »
Oh, if there are any key sets you'd like to see (87, modifiers, etc) I can do that so just let me know. I know not everyone will want a full 104 key set.

Most people here I don't think use full keyboards as their daily drivers, I think that giving us an 87 key pack would be the most beneficial for everyone. Also, if you want to add modifiers, there are a few people floating around who would need tsangan sets and 7x spacebars. You could possibly do an oddpack that includes all the weird keys that some people may need.
Quote from: elton5354
I don't need anymore keyboards

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #63 on: Fri, 25 July 2014, 19:42:15 »
Oh, if there are any key sets you'd like to see (87, modifiers, etc) I can do that so just let me know. I know not everyone will want a full 104 key set.

Most people here I don't think use full keyboards as their daily drivers, I think that giving us an 87 key pack would be the most beneficial for everyone. Also, if you want to add modifiers, there are a few people floating around who would need tsangan sets and 7x spacebars. You could possibly do an oddpack that includes all the weird keys that some people may need.

Sure that makes sense.

As for odd keys/non-ansi keys, if there are any that people want in particular just send me the standard measurements of the base of the key and stem locations and I can get the rest sorted out if there is enough demand for them.

petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline QWERTim

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #64 on: Sun, 27 July 2014, 09:38:09 »
Just a heads up, but the detailed frost material will yellow over time, so I'd advise not to use that unless you are just testing the strength or the level of detail you can achieve.

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #65 on: Sun, 27 July 2014, 12:09:48 »
Just a heads up, but the detailed frost material will yellow over time, so I'd advise not to use that unless you are just testing the strength or the level of detail you can achieve.

Thanks for the tip, I plan to buy the white flexible plastic, probably dyed so that shouldn't be as big an issue.
petcock
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Offline Lastpilot

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #66 on: Mon, 28 July 2014, 15:38:15 »
Just thought you might be interested in this blog post since it shows a new keyboard with flat keys: http://watchmonoblog.blog71.fc2.com/blog-entry-4464.html

The official manufacturer site is rapoo.com
http://www.rapoo.com/ProductShow.aspx?PType=8fQpYH%2b%2b7i8%3d&PID=uCupl3PJuVw%3d

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #67 on: Mon, 28 July 2014, 16:42:51 »
Just thought you might be interested in this blog post since it shows a new keyboard with flat keys: http://watchmonoblog.blog71.fc2.com/blog-entry-4464.html

The official manufacturer site is rapoo.com
http://www.rapoo.com/ProductShow.aspx?PType=8fQpYH%2b%2b7i8%3d&PID=uCupl3PJuVw%3d

I considered buying this when I was looking at keyboards because of that feature. However the cheaper price and cherry MX switches of my Morphling KB-87 won out.'

Wish I could own both :(
petcock
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Offline Lastpilot

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #68 on: Mon, 28 July 2014, 16:44:49 »
Ah, okay cool, glad you already know of it :] I only know about it because I was looking for square keys myself a while back, and these were the only ones I could find...So I am very excited about how your project turns out!

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #69 on: Mon, 28 July 2014, 16:56:45 »
Ah, okay cool, glad you already know of it :] I only know about it because I was looking for square keys myself a while back, and these were the only ones I could find...So I am very excited about how your project turns out!

I will be ordering them as soon as I can get my passport back (my employer is making my work Visa) and refill my prepaid credit card since shapeways won't take an out of country form of payment...  So hopefully in the next few days I can move on to the testing stage.
petcock
[pet-kok] 
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Offline Melvang

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #70 on: Fri, 01 August 2014, 12:01:12 »
While the frosted might yellow over time iirc some people who have had shapeways make caps in the past have mentioned fit issues with the stems using other plastics due to lack of achievable tolerances with those plastics.  The plastic being used actually has a fairly large impact on the tolerances that can be held and the detail that can be achieved.  This fit issue can be alleviated with some plastic from a sandwich baggie as a shim between the stem of the cap and the stem of the switch.  Though if the fit is to tight that won't help.

The acceptable tolerance for the stem on the cap between not being able to go on the switch and falling off is pretty small.  I don't recall hearing any specific numbers but I wouldn't be surprised if it is less than .005".
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #71 on: Tue, 12 August 2014, 08:15:39 »
Just a status update for anyone following this so you don't think I've abandoned the project.

I don't have the money to order a full set of keys to test them out at the moment (issues with work) so I'm waiting on that. Hope I can start working soon so I can get this project rolling again.
petcock
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Offline nameistaken1

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #72 on: Fri, 15 August 2014, 22:14:45 »
I came across a pretty interesting keyboard on reddit today. Check it out.

Be sure to click to view the full album on the bottom, and look at the last 2-3 pictures. Thought you might be interested in comparing the design of the keycaps.

Offline RED-404

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Offline nameistaken1

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #74 on: Sat, 16 August 2014, 00:39:06 »
I wonder if the lip on the bottom of the keycaps is a structural thing (that maybe allows them to use thinner material), or just an artifact from the mold.

Offline TotalChaos

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #75 on: Sat, 16 August 2014, 06:48:06 »
I came across a pretty interesting keyboard on reddit today. Check it out.

Be sure to click to view the full album on the bottom, and look at the last 2-3 pictures. Thought you might be interested in comparing the design of the keycaps.
I love those keycaps!
Rosewill RK-9000RE #1 (Broke on day 26, fixed with Scotch Tape on day 42, barely holding together)
Rosewill RK-9000RE #2 (Lubed, still in the box.  I am afraid to use it because it will break like the first one)

Offline Oobly

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Buying more keycaps,
it really hacks my wallet,
but I must have them.

Offline jacobolus

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #77 on: Mon, 18 August 2014, 03:27:52 »
y, Kaihua / Kailh PG1511 switches... no thanks. Interesting caps, though.
Have you tried those switches?

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #78 on: Mon, 18 August 2014, 04:09:19 »
I'm sure the switches aren't that bad, especially for something like a media keyboard which the rapoo KX is intended to be I think. The keycaps are also held in the metal faceplate, so there's no room for them to wiggle and case stress to the stems. That keyboard isn't one you're going to be swapping caps off all the time with.

 I wanted to get the keyboard but the touch keys were a no go for me. Really great design other than that.
petcock
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Offline Oobly

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #79 on: Mon, 18 August 2014, 04:21:28 »
y, Kaihua / Kailh PG1511 switches... no thanks. Interesting caps, though.
Have you tried those switches?

I don't actually really care if the switches are really any good or not. I just don't want to support Kailh as a company. I don't think they have been ethical in their blatant copying of Cherry's product and now they are taking over market share from Cherry. I know Cherry is partly to blame by not having better supply and pricing to some board makers, but I still don't want to support Kailh.
Buying more keycaps,
it really hacks my wallet,
but I must have them.

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #80 on: Mon, 18 August 2014, 04:52:44 »

I don't actually really care if the switches are really any good or not. I just don't want to support Kailh as a company. I don't think they have been ethical in their blatant copying of Cherry's product and now they are taking over market share from Cherry. I know Cherry is partly to blame by not having better supply and pricing to some board makers, but I still don't want to support Kailh.

The patent expired. I know there were companies copying Cherry MX switches before that happened, there's nothing morally questionable about using things that have fallen out of patent, copyright, etc.
petcock
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Offline Oobly

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #81 on: Mon, 18 August 2014, 05:35:14 »

I don't actually really care if the switches are really any good or not. I just don't want to support Kailh as a company. I don't think they have been ethical in their blatant copying of Cherry's product and now they are taking over market share from Cherry. I know Cherry is partly to blame by not having better supply and pricing to some board makers, but I still don't want to support Kailh.

The patent expired. I know there were companies copying Cherry MX switches before that happened, there's nothing morally questionable about using things that have fallen out of patent, copyright, etc.

That's debatable...

"Hmmm this company has been making these switches for many years and people are still buying them. Let's make some exactly the same, even using the same colours so we can fool people into thinking they're the same and make us some money! Oh yeah..."

"Oh hey, there's this company that makes poor quality keyboards and sells them to unsuspecting gamers through marketing BS... Let's partner with them to make an 'improved' version of our switch which is actually just the same as before so we can take advantage of their BS marketing and make even MORE money... Oh yeah!"

I mean if you're developing a new mechanical switch why make it exactly the same as the competition unless it's to get overflow sales through customer ignorance.

I admit that the lack of supply from Cherry has helped Kaihua's case, but it's still not what I would consider "ethical", just because it's "legal".
Buying more keycaps,
it really hacks my wallet,
but I must have them.

Offline TotalChaos

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #82 on: Mon, 18 August 2014, 14:06:28 »
If people did not copy other people's good ideas then we would still be living in trees.  We would not have even progressed to living in caves.  And only 1 person would have fire, me.  Everyone else would be all "I'm not copying his fire invention because that would be morally wrong and unethical.  I would rather freeze to death and eat spoiled raw meat than copy his wonderful Fire invention."
Rosewill RK-9000RE #1 (Broke on day 26, fixed with Scotch Tape on day 42, barely holding together)
Rosewill RK-9000RE #2 (Lubed, still in the box.  I am afraid to use it because it will break like the first one)

Offline jacobolus

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #83 on: Mon, 18 August 2014, 19:51:14 »
That's debatable...

"Hmmm this company has been making these switches for many years and people are still buying them. Let's make some exactly the same, even using the same colours so we can fool people into thinking they're the same and make us some money! Oh yeah..."

"Oh hey, there's this company that makes poor quality keyboards and sells them to unsuspecting gamers through marketing BS... Let's partner with them to make an 'improved' version of our switch which is actually just the same as before so we can take advantage of their BS marketing and make even MORE money... Oh yeah!"

I mean if you're developing a new mechanical switch why make it exactly the same as the competition unless it's to get overflow sales through customer ignorance.

I admit that the lack of supply from Cherry has helped Kaihua's case, but it's still not what I would consider "ethical", just because it's "legal".
Have you ever interacted directly with Kaihua? You seem to have inferred quite a bit about their motivations, but I’m not sure your inferences are justified.

Note that Cherry MX switches have been almost impossible for some keyboard vendors to acquire at reasonable prices in the last few years, because Cherry either can’t keep up with demand or has a broken distribution system. (To the point that some companies were buying up old Cherry keyboards and desoldering all the switches to put in their own keyboards.)

From the perspective of a mechanical keyboard vendor, would you rather use an alternative source of switches, or just give up altogether on making your product?

It seems to me that Cherry has entirely failed to innovate on keyboard switches in the past 20 years, and their (IMO somewhat mediocre product) only hangs on because all the other keyswitch vendors got entirely out of the business when rubber domes took over. Cherry itself mostly markets rubber dome and scissor switch keyboards, with mechanical keyboards as an afterthought. The common prices of MX switches are absurdly high relative to production costs (though I hear some chinese OEMs can get Cherry switches for much cheaper, <20 cents/switch).

I personally think it’s great that Kaihua is breathing some new life into a stale market, and even trying to make some tweaks to improve the design. I wish they’d picked a better source switch (like SMK switches or Hi-Tek “space invaders” maybe), but I’ll take what we can get. Maybe some competition will force Cherry to improve their game.

Offline Oobly

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #84 on: Tue, 19 August 2014, 02:30:22 »
That's debatable...

"Hmmm this company has been making these switches for many years and people are still buying them. Let's make some exactly the same, even using the same colours so we can fool people into thinking they're the same and make us some money! Oh yeah..."

"Oh hey, there's this company that makes poor quality keyboards and sells them to unsuspecting gamers through marketing BS... Let's partner with them to make an 'improved' version of our switch which is actually just the same as before so we can take advantage of their BS marketing and make even MORE money... Oh yeah!"

I mean if you're developing a new mechanical switch why make it exactly the same as the competition unless it's to get overflow sales through customer ignorance.

I admit that the lack of supply from Cherry has helped Kaihua's case, but it's still not what I would consider "ethical", just because it's "legal".
Have you ever interacted directly with Kaihua? You seem to have inferred quite a bit about their motivations, but I’m not sure your inferences are justified.

Note that Cherry MX switches have been almost impossible for some keyboard vendors to acquire at reasonable prices in the last few years, because Cherry either can’t keep up with demand or has a broken distribution system. (To the point that some companies were buying up old Cherry keyboards and desoldering all the switches to put in their own keyboards.)

From the perspective of a mechanical keyboard vendor, would you rather use an alternative source of switches, or just give up altogether on making your product?

It seems to me that Cherry has entirely failed to innovate on keyboard switches in the past 20 years, and their (IMO somewhat mediocre product) only hangs on because all the other keyswitch vendors got entirely out of the business when rubber domes took over. Cherry itself mostly markets rubber dome and scissor switch keyboards, with mechanical keyboards as an afterthought. The common prices of MX switches are absurdly high relative to production costs (though I hear some chinese OEMs can get Cherry switches for much cheaper, <20 cents/switch).

I personally think it’s great that Kaihua is breathing some new life into a stale market, and even trying to make some tweaks to improve the design. I wish they’d picked a better source switch (like SMK switches or Hi-Tek “space invaders” maybe), but I’ll take what we can get. Maybe some competition will force Cherry to improve their game.

Okay, point taken... I guess I should be a little slower to make judgements.

If they are smoother than the latest MX switches, I could actually see that as a useful "innovation". It takes a frustratingly long time to wear in new MX switches. It may just be that the "Razer" orange switches are Browns done properly (slightly larger bump) and apparently they Greens don't feel quite as wobbly as MX Blues...

If they wanted to improve their brand perception, they really should have chosen a different keyboard manufacturer to partner with, though.

It is possible to buy bulk orders of MX switches at low prices, but it seems the supply really is erratic at best.
Buying more keycaps,
it really hacks my wallet,
but I must have them.

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #85 on: Fri, 22 August 2014, 09:55:53 »
Just a somewhat unrelated update: I contacted Rapoo and they do not sell the keycaps available on their KX keyboard.
petcock
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #86 on: Sun, 05 October 2014, 08:59:21 »
Small update: Because Shapeways only sells to countries your credit card's payment address is in, I haven't been able to make the purchase. But I've been able to get one and will be making the purchase soon!

I am also trying to contact a local 3D printer to see if he is still interested, but I think I will be going with shapeways.
petcock
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Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #87 on: Fri, 10 October 2014, 08:23:04 »
Another roadbump,  Shapeways made this project extremely costly with their new pricing. Rather than the project costing about 100 USD for all 104 keys it is now about 260.

Time to look for another manufacturer :(
petcock
[pet-kok] 
noun
1. a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Offline vvp

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #88 on: Fri, 10 October 2014, 12:08:15 »
Interesting. I made some tests with a keywell part of my Katy keyboard and the new process makes it a bit cheaper. The price went down from $92 to $62 (notice this is only for a part of the full case).
http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/c-64-keyboard-reboot-t8851-30.html#p186407

I would like to know how they compute the price.

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #89 on: Fri, 10 October 2014, 14:34:14 »
Interesting. I made some tests with a keywell part of my Katy keyboard and the new process makes it a bit cheaper. The price went down from $92 to $62 (notice this is only for a part of the full case).
http://deskthority.net/workshop-f7/c-64-keyboard-reboot-t8851-30.html#p186407

I would like to know how they compute the price.

If you can find their blog there is a post about it. Rather than charge for handling of a project, they now charge for handling of a piece. If there are any free floating pieces within your project, you will be charged for each individual piece.

Some people are experimenting with cost saving by using cages and shapeways has said they are experimenting with an auto sprueing program, but that really defeats the entire purpose of 3D printing and makes it no longer useful for this project. Their new policy is reward those who use more space, rather than those who create 'airy' or 'whispy' designs that took advantage of their old calculations. 

All the explanations they gave in the forum post regarding the price hike were mostly non-answers and disregard for customer concerns. On top of the way they handle their payments, I won't be using shapeways in the future and will pick up my own printer soon.

I met someone who may be able to help me with the project, so I will be attempting to get some of them printed out soon although this will be through a extruder 3d printer. Hopefully the tolerances are reasonable.

« Last Edit: Fri, 10 October 2014, 14:38:22 by P3TC0CK »
petcock
[pet-kok] 
noun
1. a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Offline P3TC0CK

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #90 on: Wed, 19 April 2017, 23:18:07 »
Sorry for the necro-bump, but I thought I'd give an update for anyone interested in flat key caps! I was able to have some printed and the concept more or less turned out how I wanted it too.

I'm in the process of building my own 3D printer so hopefully I'll be able to print a whole set of these at some point. I'll try to get a picture of them posted on here.

Picture:

« Last Edit: Wed, 19 April 2017, 23:23:50 by P3TC0CK »
petcock
[pet-kok] 
noun
1. a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Offline iLLucionist

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #91 on: Sat, 29 April 2017, 16:38:55 »
Sorry for the necro-bump, but I thought I'd give an update for anyone interested in flat key caps! I was able to have some printed and the concept more or less turned out how I wanted it too.

I'm in the process of building my own 3D printer so hopefully I'll be able to print a whole set of these at some point. I'll try to get a picture of them posted on here.

Picture:

Show Image


That looks promising. How is the consistency for the stem mounts across the keys? Can you get it with low variation?
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Offline Tiramisuu

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Re: Flat key cap set progress thread. (Help me choose a color!)
« Reply #92 on: Sat, 04 November 2017, 15:15:23 »
Bumping this one as I am in need of exactly this sort of solution.
Working on a few stenography keyboard prototypes and I need cherry mx keycaps with exactly this profile.

The spacing needs to be tighter than is common in qwerty keyboards as steno typists chord and type on the cracks.

Additionally I am prototyping with 16mm switch spacing.

Did you put your design model in to open source / are they available somewhere that I can download and modify them to my need?

Thanks,
T.

I've been looking for this kind of starting point for a few months and haven't felt like starting from scratch.
Keyboard error F1 to continue.

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