Hi all, welcome back to another ClickClack Groupbuy! From one of the studios who we’ve worked with before, Vertex, we’re pleased to present their next project Arc60 – a stylish 60% designed around another Geometry concept as always. We hope you’ll enjoy this as much as we do! Without further ado, we would like to introduce Lolo, Vertex's co-founder, to tell you more about Arc60.

Design

At the beginning of Arc60 project, the ideology was to create a more elegant and fluid keyboard design, compare to Angle, and yet something that would have a simplistic look to it as well.

We believe the concept that: The construction of all complex shapes can be achieved by the underlying basic geometry.

So, was it possible to achieve arcs and curves using the underlying geometry?



▲ We got the inspiration from the Iris Folding Origami Technique.

In Iris Folding, one can create an arc by transforming a triangle. This can be related to the structural lines of the surface drawn in the design modelling.




Of course, to apply this idea to a keyboard is not as easy to do as to say, so we broke it down into three main foci: fluid, lightweight and introverted.




We endeavoured to make the keyboard fluid curves to be visible on different angle, which provides more dynamically connected appearance, instead of restricting those in single plane.

The "waistline" of the bottom-case gives the keyboard a lighter feel.

Less is more. During the design process, we were afraid that the curved elements would be used too frequently on the board, so after finalizing the overall shape, we optimized the curvature, spacing, parameters and some other details of the design, and also circumvented some difficulties in production processes. And like the Angle TKL design philosophy, we chose to leave many of the finishing touches on the inside of the keyboard.





▼ In this design, we still have the internal badges, but instead of “Play the Arc, Know the Arc”, we’ve put a number on each one, unique to the keyboard, each laser-engraved by us.



▼ Weight-wise, we have experimented with different double-anodizing treatment to produce a high-gloss on the curve trim. Considering the balance between appearance and machining complexity, the final version selected is #3.



Structure Design



▲ Arc60 utilizes a Gasket Mount to mount the internal build.

It may sound a little basic. But with experience from Angle’s internal structure design, We redid a lot of our thinking about mounting options.

We felt we are more confident to stick to the tried and tested Gasket Mount, in other words to stay pure and simple with daily typing experience in mind, instead of using other fancy radical attempt.

One keyboard, two ways: Plate or PCB Mount

Arc60 comes standard with 1 Aluminum Plate and 2 PCBs – one Hotswap PCB for assembling with plate to use regular plate mount, and the other is a soldered PCB for a plateless PCB Mount.

This means you have 2 different possible builds you can do with this board, more to experiment with.

With the plate-supported hotswap build, it has a firmer feel and provides more support for a more stable typing experience, and thus increases the feedback on keypresses (good for tactiles or those who prefer stronger bottom out feeling).



A plateless feel, in contrast, will be a lot softer and more flexible, which is very comfortable, for a more cushioned typing experience.



There are further differences due to it being a different mounting structure as well, something to experiment with yourself!

Typing Sound



The design was tested and experimented to optimize the structure such that case ping would be mitigated without having to resort to mods which may introduce other issues. While exploring options, we chose not to go for flex cuts on the plate or PCB for two reasons:

1. Flex cuts would kill the bottom-out sounds of keypresses for those without using foam and make more thin sound.


2. Plateless PCB Mount can provide similar flexibility and cushioning without using foam to mitigate impact on typing sound come with flex cuts.

iFoam PRO MAX

We still provide an additional foam kit – plate foam, case foam and under-switch PE foam, for those who want it. Since not everyone wants use foam, we chose not to include it in the base kit. However, we did optimize the price to be quite cheap so it wouldn’t dent much in your wallet!



N.B. This foam kit is compatible with most standard 60% layout, with no split left shift or split spacebar.

Groupbuy Information

Colorways and Pricing

The following pictures are taken in a studio environment, white balance will be affected by lighting, saturation, exposure, etc. These are for reference only; the final product colors may vary.

All weights have been double anodized to produce the glossy trim.

▼ Colorways are as below:

└ Bianco $275: E-white case, Ano dark gold weight and DB cover


└ Navy $269: Ano navy blue case, Ano dark gold weight and DB cover


└ Champagne $269:   - Ano champagne gold case, Ano gold weight and DB cover


└ Crow $269: Ano black case, weight and DB cover


└ Arcane $269: Ano purple case, Ano lilac weight and DB cover


└ Unique $269: Ano dark gold case, Ano gold weight and DB cover


└ Aloe $269: Ano aloe green case, Ano silver weight and DB cover


All colorways will have the option to choose layout: HHKB/WK/WKL. However, some layouts may be more demanded than others, so you may have to be fast!

Global Vendor



Sale format

Limited in-stock sale, ships in around 1 week

Sale time

10:00AM EST, December, 10th, 2022

Addons

► iFoam PRO MAX $15: includes poron plate foam, under-switch PE foam and case foam, compatible with most 60% layouts.

Other Addon Groupbuy

To make Arc60 more personalized to your own tastes, the following addons can be made when MOQ of 20 is reached. Pricing is for reference only. Lead time is around 1-2 months estimated.

Fill in Addon Groupbuy Form:


► Brass matte PVD plate - ~$54
► Stainless Steel matte PVD plate - ~$53
► ISO hotswap PCB - ~$38 (N.B. Standard aluminum plate supports ISO already)
► Left-shifted 64-key Plate-mount Soldered PCB - ~$33
► Left-shifted 64-key Plate-less Soldered PCB - ~$33
► Brass matte PVD plate (left-shift 64-key) - ~$54
► Stainless Steel matte PVD plate (left-shift 64-key) - ~$53
► Aluminum Plate (left-shift 64-key) - ~$33

Specification
 
► Materials: Aluminum
► Surface Treatments:
- Case: anodized or electrophoresis
- Weight: double anodized
- Daughterboard cover: anodized
► Keyboard Form Factor: 60%
► Dimensions: 302.15mm x 115.95mm x 31.30mm
► Mount: Gasket Mount (plate-mounted and plateless pcb-mounted available)

► PCB Layouts: QMK-based, VIA-compatible
- Plate-mount hotswap


- Plateless soldered


► PCB thickness: 1.6mm

► Typing angle: 7°

► Front Height: max 19.40mm, min 15.40mm (including the exposed part of the foot pad which is 1.00mm).

► Plate material: Aluminum
► Standard plate:
Ano black aluminum plate (for e-white, arcane and crow)


Ano grey aluminum plate (for gold, navy, aloe and champagne)


Kitting

► 1 x Top Case
► 1 x Bottom Case
► 1 x Middle Frame
► 1 x DB Cover
► 1 x Weight
► 1 x JST Cable
► 1 x Daughterboard
► 1 x Hotswap PCB
► 1 x Soldered PCB
► 1 x Aluminum Plate
► 1 x Plate Mount Foam Gasket Set
► 1 x PCB Mount Foam Gasket Set
► 1 x Bottom Feet Set
► 1 x Silicone Corner Piece Set
► 1 x T5 screwdriver
► 8 x M2*8
► 11 x M2*6
► 7 x M2*4
► 2 x M2*3
► 1 x M2.5*4.5

Q&A
 
Why is this a limited sale?

Because this is an in-stock sale, we only have a limited number available in our inventory. In order to ensure ClickClack can make the sale more accessible for people, we will be releasing Arc60 in batches.

Will there be other colorways available?

Yes, there will be other colorways and they will be available in near future. Please join our Discord for latest news.

Behind the scenes

The project of ARC60 was established in April 2021, and the exterior design was produced in June. In November last year, while prototyping, an author released a work, Ojou, with similar shape as the bottom of ARC60 on Geekhack. In respect for the original design and to avoid misunderstanding and unnecessary trouble, we took the initiative to find the author to clear things out. In the end, we all believe it was a beautiful coincidence, and we would like to thank "Esheu2 (Ojou author)" for his endorsement and good wishes.

ARC60 was originally named Iris, but before its release, the name was renamed to ARC because of the overlap with another project.

The screenshots below show: ARC60 drawing design output time and some communication between Clickclack's bento and Ojou team members.



Finally, thank you all for your continued company and attention.

Where to find us

Join ClickClack’s Discord for latest update, discussion, questions:


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