Hello!
Welcome to my IC – this is a very surreal moment for me. This board has been in the works on and off for two years and after many requests I’m finally kicking this off. I am so happy to share it with you all and hope you enjoy it.
Here are links to my IG and Discord so you can follow the project and track updates. Please fill out the IC form to provide feedback and allow me to send updates!
1. DETAILS
The most notable feature and a key aspect of the design language of the board are the weights. Yes, there are two! There is a large bottom weight wearing the serpent engraving that the board draws the name from. Equally as prominent is the rear weight. One of my favorite aspects of the board is how the weight can be seen from top down when viewing and using the keyboard. The hint of brass or anodized aluminum wrapping over from the bottom all the way to the top really gives a unique look I feel hasn’t been used often in custom keyboards.
The layout is another piece where I spent a lot of time before finalizing the end design. Many 65% keyboards have offset arrow keys now, but a sticking point for me has always been that the gap they are offset does not remain an equal 0.25u or 0.5u. Most boards will have the arrows offset 0.25u and the extra function keys 0.5u to accommodate a blocker or some other piece. With the Serpent65 - making this gap consistent and lending visual symmetry all the way around the function row and arrows was extremely important to me and I hope you enjoy the result! The board also supports ANSI bottom row, WKL bottom row with 7u and split BS.
Typing feel and sound are achieved by a carefully designed plate and gasket mounting system. I personally manufactured then tested numerous iterations of gasket materials, densities and sizes to find the perfect combination. The board feels great with multiple keycap profiles and sits at a 6.5° angle. A lot of care was taken in tuning the inside of the board to achieve optimal sound as well. A direct quote from MrPetrov himself “Greatest sounding tactile board ever made!” Trust me you’ll love how it feels and sounds. Typing tests, build guides, streams, etc etc etc will come before the GB so you have plenty of material to preview the board with.
That’s a lot about the board – a little tiny bit about me.
My name is Rik! You might have seen me on Discord I like to hangout in coffeecult and spend all my money in SRAF. When I’m not spending my own money, I love to help my friends spend theirs on my favorite hobbies. (or just meme on friends - my second favorite past time) If you see me around say hi! I have been working on the Serpent65 for over 2 years now from concept to drawings to prototype and now to this IC. I am heavily interested in coffee, keebs, audio, cars, photography – if it’s expensive I got sucked in at some point. That’s why I started Caffeinated Studio. A place where I can come up with keyboards or other hobby adjacent ideas and fun things to work on.
2. CURRENT STATUS
The current iteration of the board will be ordered in a small quantity (25 units) in January. After those have been received the GB will open. Optimistically in Q1 but this may push to the beginning of Q2.
I have completed two successful rounds of prototyping. It’s very important to me that I minimize all risk associated with the GB. I pay for all prototyping costs, PCBs, etc out of pocket and won’t accept funds for a board that isn’t able to be realized.
I understand that not all board can function this way and that sometimes the designer cannot afford this route, but it’s a personal belief of mine that ICs should have prototypes long before moving to GB. I have versions of the black, green and brass designs on hand and they all look amazing and you can see photos of them here before ever committing any money so you know exactly what you're getting!
No design will ever be sold without first being prototyped and having it on hand.
Which leads me to - actual photos of the board!
4. FAQ What's included?Top and Bottom Case: Anodized Aluminum (Black or Green available)
Weights: Brass, Anodized Aluminum (Black) and Limited Stainless Steel
Plate: One Plate (Aluminum, Carbon Fiber, Brass, POM, FR4)
PCB: Custom PCB by BlindAssassin with Unified Daughterboard
Price: $600 (starting+shipping)
Timeline: Q1 or Early Q2 GB
Split BS Support? Yes!
Tsangan? ANSI? Yes! The board supports the layout that is pictured above in the prototype - a bottom row of (1.5/1.5/7/1.5/1.5)
Additionally - for my winkey folks - it supports (1.25/1.25/1.25/6.25/1.5/1.5) Layout
Hotswap? Not at this time, but if it's commonly requested in the IC form I am happy to revisit this.
PC? Again - not at this time.
VIA? Yes! And QMK of course. Open-source options are also being tested/ported.
5. SPECIAL THANKS
This list could be impossibly long, but I absolutely have to give recognition to these select people who helped me along the way and without which I wouldn't have stuck it out 2 years bringing this board into the world.
My wife! She puts up with me spending hours at the computer designing and then building keyboards
Flatwhite. My pocket engineer. Always providing flawless feedback.
Koi. Puts up with FW and I always hijacking coffee conversations and is a rock solid friend always.
All of the Holers. Couldn’t have done it without your constant feedback.
Moon. You bastard.
Vox and LBaron who make up an incredibly gifted and diverse team. They’ve both helped in their own very different ways.
Ninjapirate for his AMAZING photos!
Bobby for help with everything <3
Both Zach and Jorge for being so nice and always answering DMs plus living the dream and providing an example to the rest of us looking to get into keeb design.
Petrov for being… well you know.
