SagradaPlateless, PCB-mounted leaf-spring 60%
INTRODUCTION Skip if you don't care
Hello Geekhack,
In 2020 during the pandemic I was stuck at home during lockdown and I began tinkering and slowly learning how to apply the things I knew as an Aerospace Engineer to the keyboard hobby. Now, after more than a year of work, it is time to finally unveil Sagrada. I have worked on countless projects for many Group buys that have happened over the past year as well as personal commissions for friends. Now, with the unwavering support of the crew at Mykeyboard.eu I am excited to present Sagrada.
Sagrada is a keyboard that was inspired by a trip I took to Barcelona. When you are inside the Sagrada Familia cathedral no matter where you look, things are spectacular. I knew I wanted to do something similar with my designs and after studying the architecture, and Antoni Gaudi's work I eventually arrived at the concept that became the board. A little bit more is explained in the design section but no matter what angle you look at Sagrada from, something different can be observed.
This is Sagrada.
IC FORM
0. CONTENTS
- DETAILS
- DESIGN
- RENDERS
- PHOTOS
- SOUND TESTS
- IMPORTANT INFORMATION
- SALE INFORMATION
- CONTACT
- SPECIAL THANKS
1. DETAILS - Full brass bottom case, aluminum or PC top case
- Mounting style: Plateless, leaf-spring gasket
- Typing angle: 7 degrees
- 305x115x32 dimensions
- Front height: 18 mm
- Weight: 2.5 kg for alu top, 2.25 kg for PC top
- PC top is frosted, alu top colors: red, and Greige
- Case top layout options: WKL, HHKB and FULL
- M3x10 front screws, M3x20 back screws
- Standard, easily replaceable 5/16'' rubber bump-ons
- PCB based on plain-60
Third color has been decidedI initially wanted to do beige, but making a custom color for a low-yield production would've made it incredibly expensive and so, my manufacturer worked with me to get to the color shown in the renders below, which is a bit more of a gray-ish beige. I still love it and it looks more like the colors of the cathedral, which is good! Please reference the image below of the approximated pantone. As always, once I have samples in hand I will update the post so that the color can be seen IRL.
Keep in mind the below pantone was color-matched by our manufacturer, but there can always be inconsistencies:
MECHANICAL DESIGN DECISIONS This is an edit I have done post-submission. I have been asked to clarify some design decisions and so I am going to try my best to explain my process and most importantly answer a lot of the questions that lots of very wonderful people have asked me. If you are not interested in reading through this, I have hid it inside the "more" button, to keep things less cluttered.
More
What are leaf springs, and why are these "real" leaf springs? Leaf springs are mechanisms that allow for a material or assembly to flex. From a scientific point of view, flex is just elastic deformation of a material. This means that the material can deform, but not to the point that the cannot return to its original shape (see
this article for the difference between elastic and plastic deformation). Leaf springs on a keyboard take two different styles: double-supported and slit leaf springs (I have just coined these terms, no clue if they are the right words). In this design, because it's a 60% I decided to use slit leaf springs. If people want more information (and science
) on the other kind of leaf springs I can make another post explaining those as well.
These leaf springs are actual leaf springs because when the board is built, the part that is supported by the gaskets is the outside of the leaf. As long as the gasket is to the outside of the slit, then the leaf spring is a "real" leaf spring and things will indeed flex. The amount of flex that the leaf has will depend on the geometry of the slit (distance from pivot point to the edge of the slit) as well as the material. Aluminum will be stiffer than FR4, for example. Below is a photo of what I mean by supported in the right place.
You can see how the slit of the leaf (horizontal cut, long vertical one on second photo) is placed about a mm away from the gasket. This allows for the entire assembly to deflect and move down when force is applied when you type on the board. This is why this is a "real" leaf spring.The mechanism has 1 degree of freedom only. Vertically it can move up and down when force is applied. If the leaf spring slit was covered with poron, then that degree of freedom would not exist and it would not flex. I could show a couple of examples of leaf springs that are wrong, but I don't want to throw shade or tell people what they do is wrong.
Why is there no spacebar tab?This is a question that I can see why it's confusing, since common sense would say that this would be horrible to type on and quite frankly, it does look janky as ****. But bear with me for a second. Top mount and gasket mount boards are different in many ways, one of them is that with top mount, the mounting post is what you would call a pin support. This means that the area that is supported is very small. Think of trying to hold a square of metal in your hand from the very edge. If you only grab the corner, it will be MUCH harder than if you grab the entire length of the side and grasp it with your hand. The same principle applies here. Because the amount of PCB (or plate, same applies) that is supported is MUCH higher in a gasket board than top mount, you can remove the spacebar tab and still have an even experience. The gif below shows how much the board flexes under plateless conditions (polycarbonate) and aluminum plate (red). I am showing this because those who think that the flex is too much, they can simply grab ANY 60% plate they have laying around and use it to tune the flex to their liking. With plastic plates and other materials falling in the middle between the two videos I posted. Plateless will be very flexible and aluminum will be stiffer.
When testing, the board initially had a spacebar tab, but I built both, and having a spacebar tab for those who wanted a less flexible experience essentially took the flex and moved it from 100 to 0. By letting the user choose a plate that they want, they can instead vary the flex simply by changing the plate material. This gives much more flexibility to the costumer, which is what I want. Overall the way the board sounds and feels both with a plate and without it is quite unique, and to me, amazing.
And that is about it, all the questions I hope people had about the mounting, and just general QOL questions have been answered. If someone still has any questions, please hop on my server and I would be MORE than happy to chat about keyboards, it's what we are all here for right! I hope this was not too much, and my apologies for the lack of information to begin with.
2. DESIGN The design philosophy of this board is simplicity. When designing Sagrada, my ultimate goal was to come up with an ingenious mounting system that offered a soft and fun typing experience. The internals are simple and easy to machine, the board is designed to work plateless, but those who want a less nude experience can use any 60% plate they have laying around. There is not much more to say, I hope you enjoy the IC!
Quick note: for those who do not want such a soft experience, an FR4 plate will be offered. From my testing this makes the board feel more like a standard gasket design. The removal of the spacebar tab made it so that with one pcb both sides can work simply by adding or removing the FR4 (or any material, for that matter) plate.
3. V1 PROTOTYPE PHOTOS The following photos have been taken by NickTheLard. All credits go to him! I will include the old photos from the original IC in a drop-down so that those who want, they can see them.
ADDTIONAL PICTURES BELOWMore
4. RENDERS These renders were done by the wonderful Proph! <3
Do note that the colors portrayed are not representative of the colors that will be offered, for that refer to the prototype photos section.
5. SOUND TESTS 6. INCLUSION Each kit will come with the following components:
- Clear-coated brass bottom case
- Aluminum or frosted polycarbonate top case
- PCB, daughterboard and JST
- 5x M3x10 screws
- 5x M3x20 screws
- 4 rubber bump-ons
- 12 gaskets + 2 spares
- Microfiber cloth
7. IMPORTANT INFORMATION - The Stream with alexotos will happen June 20th. The group buy will happen about 10 days after that. Final details coming soon.
- The kit will be compatible with any 60% plate, so that if someone wants, they can try different materials
- PCBs will be in stock constantly at Mykeyboard.eu, this way replacements can be obtained easily
- Brass bottoms will be clear-coated to prevent oxidation of the part.
- Communication is something I take very seriously. Updates will be posted on a bi-weekly basis both on my discord, as well as Mykeyboard.eu's and Geekhack
8. SALE INFORMATION - 30-40 units, final count TBD
- The raffle will happen July 3rd!
- In lieu of a single large sale, several small-scale drops will happen one after the other to make sure fulfillment is quick. Each drop will have different colors and they will not be repeated
- Vendor: Mykeyboard.eu <3
I have chosen to only have mykeyboard because this allows us to:
- Control the QC'ing of the boards to the standard both me and David deem acceptable, thus increasing the quality
- Make the unit cheaper because no vendor costs will incur
- Make sure EU buyers do not get the short end of the stick when it comes to taxes
PRICE INFO Keyboard kit: 656 EUR (incl 21% VAT) 542,15 EUR without VAT
Aluminum Plate: 32 EUR (incl 21% VAT) 26,45 EUR without VAT
FR Plate: 24 EUR (incl 21% VAT) 19,83 EUR without VAT
PCB: 45 EUR (incl 21% VAT) 37,19 EUR without VAT
I am aware that the pricing for European buyers is very high. This is partly due to the exchange of the USD-Euro being royally ****ed. Typically the exchange is quite good and it counters the addition of VAT but in the current state it just makes it worse. Future runs will be better, I hope.
Raffle link:
http://calendar.mykeyboard.eu/raffles/sagrada/#formNow, I have gotten a few questions about shipping prices and to be clear, Mykeyboard has a very good partnership with DHL. I have received the prototypes here in the US in less than 2 days, and the shipping should not be more than 25 or 30 euro. Overall this will make the board cheaper and the quality higher, so it's a win win for everyone.
9. CONTACT My discord:
https://discord.gg/nWXrcdX8uNMykeyboard's discord:
https://discord.gg/45cuh5jw6dMost updates will be posted on my server, and published on Mykeyboard's. As well as geekhack.
10. TO-DO - Finish pricing information
- Get my **** together
- Get projects website up and running
- Finalize packaging, art and stickers
SPECIAL THANKSLeeks gang, those who know, know. Thank you for the constant support
David, without you this project would not have happened
Jeff, you helped me hone down the aesthetics and for that I am incredibly grateful
The entirety of the Mykeyboard community, you guys rock!
Proph#7007 for the amazing renders
Ali, Peppy and Mangas for their help graphic design
Fran, **** you Fran
