[IC] PH60 - Polycarbonate HHKB with POM plate (Rev.2 Renders Posted)

[anonymous]

Hi guys, I just want to share with you another design that I made. I never owned a pc board or a pom plate so I am curious about the sound and feel of this keyboard. I think many people are also curious since there a only a few boards that have this kind of combination. I decided to make it a 60% since pcbs for these are accessible. There will be only one layout for now and it will be HHKB.

Features:

• 6.5 degree typing angle
• Seamless design
• HHKB blockers
• 3 star and a sun cutout on the weight
• Top mount white POM plate. Possible brass and PC plate as add-on
• Wedge bottom cover with weight
• Compatible with GH60 pcbs (DZ60, YD60MQ, etc)

Tentative Price: $250 for case, bottom cover, and plate

Discord server: https://discord.gg/dApSWW5

Latest IC Form: https://forms.gle/ktJ9Pa2mYUzqgQAK6

Prototype Album 1: https://imgur.com/a/AIGvncQ

Prototype Album 2: https://imgur.com/a/ebPMph1

Rev2 Render Album (Final Design): https://imgur.com/a/YZJwlrE

Outdated Renders

More

Renders (Outdated):

Additional Renders (Outdated):

Side bezel is a little less thicker and added an angled bottom cover with internal brass weight

Prototype photos:

The quality of the prototype is satisfactory. This is my first PC board so I do not have a point of comparison. In terms of machining, the prototype was made according to the design files that I sent to the factory. All pieces fit and there are no tolerance issues.

However, there is slight bowing on the bottom cover due to the absence of center point screws (https://imgur.com/VpeYkjS). The bottom cover is attached to the top piece only on the four corners. I didn't put screws in the middle to achieve uniformity on the plate. The bowing is only .2-.3mm and does not affect the typing experience at all. Adding the height of the bump-ons, the bottom will not touch the surface of your table.

To mitigate the issue, I added an extrusion to the lower part of the bottom cover (https://i.imgur.com/4ACq7i1.jpg). (More design changes can be found at the bottom of this post)

Rev2 Renders:

Some design improvements were done after acquiring the prototype. Below is a summary of these changes. (This will be the final design when the groupbuy launches.

• Decreased the bezels
• made the plate screws m2 instead of m3 (same mounting points)
• removed the curve on the front part
• removed the 3 star and a sun engraving on the back
• added a 3-star and a sun cutout on the weight
• added an extrusion that will make the lower part of the bottom cover stiffer (please refer to the renders to see what I meant)

Typing Test with Gateron Milky Blacks:

Typing Test with T1 Switches:

[Rafa_n]

Very interested 

[self]

Interested!

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[joshuarubin]

Looks great! Sign me up. Great price too. How theoretical is this? I mean, are you just throwing this up against the wall or are you closer to GB stage? Any idea on what the production time for something like this would be? If you can't tell, I need something like this, like, yesterday.

[ddnomad]

This looks interesting. Wondering how bad would be a price increase with an angled bottom (cause empty space may murder a sound signature).

[cijanzen]

It’s like a flatter Leaf60.


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[anonymous]

Looks great! Sign me up. Great price too. How theoretical is this? I mean, are you just throwing this up against the wall or are you closer to GB stage? Any idea on what the production time for something like this would be? If you can't tell, I need something like this, like, yesterday.

I'll probably run a GB but not sure when. Depending on feedback and when I will get a prototype

[arcaen]

looks clean, i'm interested

[anonymous]

(cause empty space may murder a sound signature).

This may be true with metal cases. With plastic cases like this or acrylic, IMO the effect would not be bad

[Vyndem]

Interesting! What hotswap PCBs would work with the keyboard?

[Fredington]

Definitely interested.

[anonymous]

Interesting! What hotswap PCBs would work with the keyboard?

As long as the port is in the same position it would work. The only pcb I know that can work is the kbd6x. Not sure if there are other hhkb/tsangan hotswap pcbs

[holocene]

It would be great to have a sneek peak of the engraving at the back! The PH stands for the Philippines, right? Hello kababayan!

Is there any chance you could do an alu case as well?

Very nice price point, though! Fingers crossed for this one.

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[anonymous]

It would be great to have a sneek peak of the engraving at the back! The PH stands for the Philippines, right? Hello kababayan!

Is there any chance you could do an alu case as well?

Very nice price point, though! Fingers crossed for this one.

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Yup that's right haha

It can be seen on the 3rd render. But it's very subtle. It's just .3mm deep

For now alu is not an option. I'll decide after the GB for this.

[holocene]

It would be great to have a sneek peak of the engraving at the back! The PH stands for the Philippines, right? Hello kababayan!

Is there any chance you could do an alu case as well?

Very nice price point, though! Fingers crossed for this one.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Yup that's right haha

It can be seen on the 3rd render. But it's very subtle. It's just .3mm deep

For now alu is not an option. I'll decide after the GB for this.

Oh it's right there! Very subtle but very nice touch.

Exciting.. was looking for an HKKB and a poly board, never thought I'd find both in one but here it is haha.

Will definitely jump on this one

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[Fredington]

Would it be possible for the plate to come in different colors?

[Kabonkers]

Hope this comes to GB. I've got holy pandas coming that'd work perfectly in this type of case.

[ilikerustoo]

Interested

[lush_bunny]

oh hey you're introducing this to geekhack? Must have gotten amazing feedback locally, but I'm not surprised! The sun and stars look much better as an engraving btw 

[kaisn]

as a mx HHKB lover I want to join the GB

[Rob27shred]

I dig it, definitely something I'd consider buying! Although any chance of a weight option? I see these being extermely light boards without a weight.

[ddnomad]

(cause empty space may murder a sound signature).

This may be true with metal cases. With plastic cases like this or acrylic, IMO the effect would not be bad

Well, I mean it may be okay, though sound test will show (obv requires a prototype).

[skrunk]

It would be great to have a sneek peak of the engraving at the back! The PH stands for the Philippines, right? Hello kababayan!

oh wow, i just saw the back's engraving. it's really great to see Filipino designers in the keyboard space!

definitely interested in this project

[The Equals D]

Well ****, hard to find anything wrong with this one. Nice price and I like the design. I imagine this will do very well

[treeleaf64]

Def interested, will watch out for this one. 

[befbef]

I would buy it 
Option for half-plate would be nice.

[Merked]

how much would it add to the cost at the very least an optional internal brass plate to fill the space and add weight?

[anonymous]

how much would it add to the cost at the very least an optional internal brass plate to fill the space and add weight?

I am not sure but I think around 50-70$? Here's a render of the angled bottom cover with weight that I made. This is a separate design and is not just an upgrade to the flat bottom

[rkarp]

Very nice - interested in this.

[CustomerSupport]

Very interested as well. Would this fit the PCB that ships with the tokyo60 by any chance?

[Vadurr]

how much would it add to the cost at the very least an optional internal brass plate to fill the space and add weight?

I am not sure but I think around 50-70$? Here's a render of the angled bottom cover with weight that I made. This is a separate design and is not just an upgrade to the flat bottom

Show Image

I'd be interested in this...

[nathanchere]

Interested but hesitant at that low price point. PC boards tend to have high issue rates from other GBs I've seen even from well established and proven GB runners. If you don't account for this in the price I would be worried about ending up with another Teseletron situation. Other than for that concern though, it's very appealing.

[joonia]

interested 

[anonymous]

Interested but hesitant at that low price point. PC boards tend to have high issue rates from other GBs I've seen even from well established and proven GB runners. If you don't account for this in the price I would be worried about ending up with another Teseletron situation. Other than for that concern though, it's very appealing.

Thanks for the heads-up. The price is just my estimate. I'll know the final pricing once I get quotes from a manufacturer and successfully get a prototype

[NoxNoxNox]

Keep in mind that there isn't a PCB included in this one, which does keep the price down.

[ArchDill]

I tend to like more blocky keyboards but I am interested in this. I had a poly leaf60 and was not a huge fan of the way it looked so I sold it. I have been wanting another PC hhbk so bad.

[StreakInTheSky]

Very interested in this, could be my ideal board. Never been a big fan of heavy, metal keyboards. Would actually prefer it with the extra internal space, especially if sound isn’t compromised. Since it’s completely plastic, would be the perfect case for a BT board like the BIOI G60 pcb. Though I suppose the space used for the weight could work if that’s where you decide to take this.

[Baron]

keep the thinner bezels, that looks great

i'm not sure about the curve on the bottom front though

[anonymous]

Placed an order for a prototype. ETA is 3-4 weeks

[anonymous]

Prototype is finished! The manu will send it to me within the week. Video: https://imgur.com/a/75iZZOo

[CrazyAssMonkey]

Prototype is finished! The manu will send it to me within the week. Video: https://imgur.com/a/75iZZOo

Show Image

Oh snap that looks nice!
Do you have an estimate for the price? Because If you manage the initial one that’s nuts.


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[delvix]

Proto looks incredible man, I'm super interested in this. Any idea of a timeline?

[econeuler]

That looks great  would be nice with an eu proxy for the gb!

[mikeduran]

Looks gucci, would really consider this if there were a EU proxy 

[nathanchere]

If that prototype is an indication you're going to have a hit on your hands here

[konstantin]

Ngl, $200–$250 is a pretty good price for something like this. I hope you'll manage to hit that target. The prototype also looks good.

I'm going to mirror everyone else's thoughts and suggest that you bring an EU proxy on board for this

[Rafa_n]

yeah + 1 for EU proxy

[befbef]

+1
Will definitely join if there is EU proxy

[anonymous]

May I know what's the advantage of having an EU proxy vs. shipping directly from me to EU joiners?

[nathanchere]

Tax / import duties. The EU is savagely protectionist about imports.

[ddnomad]

May I know what's the advantage of having an EU proxy vs. shipping directly from me to EU joiners?

From EU buyers standpoint it’s much easier to get EU proxy to handle importing all units (incl. declaring them and paying import taxes). Then all EU buyers can receive their units without any extra hustle because shipping would be inside of EU.

All in all it just offloads all import bureaucracy to the proxy, which saves tons of time to all EU buyers.

[anitsirk]

Very interested! 

[artemishasfallen]

looks great, will you ever make colored ones? if you make purple, smoke, or green, count me in.

[anonymous]

Prototype pictures: https://imgur.com/a/AIGvncQ

Sorry for the crap quality. I just shot them using my phone. I will post nicer pictures.

[rpiguy9907]

Prototype pictures: https://imgur.com/a/AIGvncQ

Sorry for the crap quality. I just shot them using my phone. I will post nicer pictures.

Looks great. Could there be an option for a 2U backspace plate? I like HHKB but could never adapt to the placement of backspace.

[ycanales]

Prototype pictures: https://imgur.com/a/AIGvncQ

Sorry for the crap quality. I just shot them using my phone. I will post nicer pictures.

Looks beautiful with lights! What PCB are you using in the prototype?

[jubei]

Looking good. Wouldn’t mind being my first 60. Can’t wait for some engraving designs and/or brand badge improvement. Have you tried shifting the back mark to the left to balance the USB port? Possibly scaling it down too for more framing effect near the top and bottom of the case(?)

[jubei]

Prototype pictures: https://imgur.com/a/AIGvncQ

Sorry for the crap quality. I just shot them using my phone. I will post nicer pictures.

Looks great. Could there be an option for a 2U backspace plate? I like HHKB but could never adapt to the placement of backspace.

+1 can always use Fn to get tilde/back tick eh

[El_Jackador]

It looks pretty in the renders but from the prototype photos I think the front and side bezels are too large for my design tastes

[anonymous]

Prototype pictures: https://imgur.com/a/AIGvncQ

Sorry for the crap quality. I just shot them using my phone. I will post nicer pictures.

Looks great. Could there be an option for a 2U backspace plate? I like HHKB but could never adapt to the placement of backspace.

+1 can always use Fn to get tilde/back tick eh

GB plate will have full backspace and right shift support

[hiddensong]

Looking for that IC

[PhantomLeadr]

Im so hyped for this. Def Interedted for this. I assume the HTE PCB from 1Up would also work with this?

[anonymous]

Here are some typing tests.

Typing Test with Gateron Milky Blacks:

Typing Test with T1 Switches:

GB will launch soon! Updates are posted on the start of the thread,

What to expect from the GB:
 - Target Date: End of July or August
 - Pricing: Target is 250$ for case, weight, and plate (I still need to get updated quotes due to the changes)
 - Brass and PC plate as add-on (Tentative)
 - 20-25 slots raffle style (Tentative)

[ninjacore]

Not a huge fan of the new weight design, but :shrug:

Also, 20-25 slots are going to go REALLY quick :grimacing:

[DJSwayde]

Would you provide plate files if we go in on the GB?

[audax989]

Mabuhay!

[Dunne]

This looks great! On the fence to reserve or contemplate my bank account balance 

[nathanchere]

Typing Test with T1 Switches:

Daaaaaamn that is nice!

[delvix]

Rev 2 renders look perfect man, I am all over this. Been on the lookout for a PC board for a while.

Like some other posters have mentioned, 20-25 spaces is really tight. Please consider upping the amount of units, especially if your target price point is met I think this will be a very popular product and a lot of people could end up missing out and being disappointed.

[audax989]

Rev 2 renders look perfect man, I am all over this. Been on the lookout for a PC board for a while.

Like some other posters have mentioned, 20-25 spaces is really tight. Please consider upping the amount of units, especially if your target price point is met I think this will be a very popular product and a lot of people could end up missing out and being disappointed.

R1 finished a couple months ago. He upped the amount to 40 units.

[NotFirstTimeSoldering]

is it still open to add orders??

[1corazon]

HI, Is it too late to join the group buy ?

PLEASE i want the Top and bottom polycarbonate one PLEASE!! email me

[ThickJimmy]

Love the design. We need more board designs built around using readily available pcbs