[IC] Cloudline - 88% F13 TKL | GB on Saturday, October 9th

[Ustinj]

Thanks everyone for the support and interest - it is truly a driving factor in keeping things moving!

Is there an eta for the gb?

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

I have a full vendor list lined up, however am waiting on the next prototype to arrive to verify quality and functionality. On that note, the prototype has just shipped to me and should be in hand soon. There will probably be minor / nonfunctional tweaks in a final pre-production round of prototyping with GB colors, and I should also be able confirm with my vendors details such as pricing, quantity, dates, etc.

[Mr_BeastQuake]

I am interested.

[thornkin]

This looks great. I hope there is sufficient supply so I might be able to get one.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

[thebreadsaver]

oh god this is perfect. something about the whole design philosophy of this board is just elegant and symmetrical. im definitely in <3

[Fatty-Do-Do]

Absolutely love the board.
I am not against branding on the top of the board as long as it is done tastefully.
If you have not fully thrown away the idea of the steel cloud above the arrows i would love to see it's return for the final model.
It's a minute detail that makes the board recognizable even without picking it up or seeing the internal detailing.

Hope you're all doing well.

[alternisciel]

Absolutely love the board.
I am not against branding on the top of the board as long as it is done tastefully.
If you have not fully thrown away the idea of the steel cloud above the arrows i would love to see it's return for the final model.
It's a minute detail that makes the board recognizable even without picking it up or seeing the internal detailing.

Hope you're all doing well.

I think so too! Having something between the space would be a really neat touch to it, personally prefer it.

[Ustinj]

Update: April 23rd, 2021

Prototype 2 has arrived. So far with some quick inspection, some worries I had of the keyboard's functionality are alleviated. I don't think there will be many issues with the build, but the only way to really find out is to build it! Going to be building this tonight around ~9 PM PDT with a possible stream for any questions that people may want to ask live. Short notice, but the sooner I can build and verify it the quicker we can move with the group buy. I will probably ping Discord (https://discord.gg/XPEFcn8) for a live update of when that happens, so feel free to join if you'd like to follow closely (Geekhack alone will have all important updates though, so if not it's totally dandy).

Since some case concerns have been addressed, I think the sentiment is pretty good in this project making it to group buy. I'd like to really thank the team of vendors that will be supporting this project!


Vendors:

• CannonKeys
• Deskhero
• mykeyboard.eu
• Proto[Typist]
• ILUMKB
• Daily Clack

More details, such as groupbuy date, pricing, unit count, will be confirmed later!

For the build, I will try to upload a separate VOD with the typing sounds and whatnot. But anyway, I'll probably also do this to take any Q's, comments, inspect / build to verify the prototype, consider final tweaks, and share a super-secret engraving change proposal.

[OmniSzron]

Very sexy. Can't wait to see the full build. Hope it all comes together correctly.

[DERBS]

Cannon keys NA vendor there goes my chances  ,unless fcfs

[Ustinj]

Cloudline Prototype Build Stream, Assembly, Summary

I think the stream was an unexpected success last night, the interest and turnout surprised me. If you showed up thanks for supporting. Unfortunately chat was not working on the overlay properly, so I wasn't able to download a very useful / interesting VOD. If you watch the VOD directly on twitch, you'll be able to see questions / comments in the chat. I've re-recorded a summary video of how the board is assembled, as well as typing tests in both top-(flex)-mount and gummy worm o-ring mount.

Here is a link to the full build stream VOD(s), along with chat questions and whatnot.

https://www.twitch.tv/jjw_kb/videos

Quick Assembly Demo / Typing Tests

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59XXwQnM484

Build with Cherry MX Blacks (Retooled), 205g0, TX Films, TX 62g 16mm springs on an aluminum half-plate, Mechlovin' Infinity88 PCB. Spacebar stabs do need a bit of extra lube, but you can still imagine what the board would sound like minus the rattle.

Here are some noteworthy timestamps, also in the description of the Youtube video.

Timestamps:
0:00​ - Bottom Case Assembly / Look
3:20​ - [Top / Spring Mount] Assembly
7:00​ - Completed Keyboard Look / Side Profile / Butt
8:15​ - [Top / Spring Mount] Typing
9:10​ - [Top / Spring Mount] Modifiers
9:45​ - [Top / Spring Mount] Flex
10:20​ - Disassembly
12:45​ - [O-ring / Gummy Worm Mount] Assembly
15:20​ - Completed Keyboard Look / Side Profiles
16:20​ - [O-ring / Gummy Worm Mount] Typing
17:15​ - [O-ring / Gummy Worm Mount] Modifiers
17:45​ - [O-ring / Gummy Worm Mount] Flex
18:17​ - Close Up Side Profile / Engravings

[cyyz]

Looks great, eagerly waiting for group buy.

[Ustinj]

Oh yes, completely forgot to add this here as well. Here's an idea of the alternate engraving I had in mind. The board is pretty extravagant internally, and I wanted to bring some pizazz to the exterior as well so it wouldn't look so plain with caps mounted. I was looking at the silver board on my desk and felt something a bit more filling of the space (i.e. similar dimensions to TGR Jane / OTD 360 top engravings). My hope was to get a sense of "looking out of a window and at a field of clouds". The curled corners give me a dreamy, sleepy, curtain / drapes vibe. Probably going to play a bit with sizing / cloud shapes before confirming.

[//gainsborough]

Cannon keys NA vendor there goes my chances  ,unless fcfs

*pushes up glasses*
WELL ACTUALLY, CK IS FCFS

...partly anyway.

I'm right there with you though, man.  Haven't conquored the CK queue boss yet either.  Maybe this is the one for us!

[noorejji]

Your best front engraving yet,

[Whale_algorithm]

This is looking quite nice. A few questions / suggestions from me:

1. Could you please include the option for PCB foam with this?
2. I beg you to please not do a center USB port. Offset to the right would be much preferred.
3. Have color options been confirmed or discussed? It looks like potentially blue and black?

Thanks

[UGunaLOSE]

Lovely! Well done, clean looking board. GLWIC

[Cloudbank]

I personally really liked the previous understated engraving a bit more, but that's still quite nice. For sizing, perhaps consider having the outer edge of the engraving be flush with the key cutouts? Looks just a smidgen smaller in the renders but I think having it line up would be really nice if you end up using that engraving instead.

[Ustinj]

This is looking quite nice. A few questions / suggestions from me:

1. Could you please include the option for PCB foam with this?
2. I beg you to please not do a center USB port. Offset to the right would be much preferred.
3. Have color options been confirmed or discussed? It looks like potentially blue and black?

Thanks

1. No foam included with the board, it doesn't need it.
2. The board's already been built upon too far to make this change at this point!
3. There will likely be a silver or e-white, dark blue-gray, and a third undisclosed color.

[Fatty-Do-Do]

Oh yes, completely forgot to add this here as well. Here's an idea of the alternate engraving I had in mind. The board is pretty extravagant internally, and I wanted to bring some pizazz to the exterior as well so it wouldn't look so plain with caps mounted. I was looking at the silver board on my desk and felt something a bit more filling of the space (i.e. similar dimensions to TGR Jane / OTD 360 top engravings). My hope was to get a sense of "looking out of a window and at a field of clouds". The curled corners give me a dreamy, sleepy, curtain / drapes vibe. Probably going to play a bit with sizing / cloud shapes before confirming.

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Amazing! I love the new engraving Idea.
The new render colour looks absolutely amazing. Please make the 3rd colour option something like space-gray.
If here will be an ISO Option available this is going to be an instant pickup for me.

[seasalt11]

Board looks great. Love the new engraving!

[Scoscobola]

The new engraving looks nice, but I'm partial to the more simple design you had on the latest prototype.

[Sicras]

This new engraving is great! My favourite one so far, to be honest.

[Ustinj]

Alright! I've made some engraving changes from feedback, and slight design changes based on prototypes.

There is a round of pre-production boards to be made in GB colors. Then we will be ready to confirm more details

- Top bezel slightly reduced
- Front engraving changed (experimental)
- Typing angle 6° > 6.5° (for aesthetic purposes - anything under 8° is fine for me)
- Front height reduced 18.5mm > 17.9mm (EKH < 22.5mm)

That is probably it for this round of major updates... will likely have more details when we're working on finalizing GB details!!

I also found that the previous video I had uploaded had a +6 db post volume boost on the microphone that I had added for my voice. I re-recorded some typing tests:



Retooled Blacks (Half Plate):

Durock Lavenders (Full Plate):

[Devastator]

Awesome design, really love how it has taken shape from everyone's feedback.  Highly interested in this one!

[loopaddiction]

Personally, I'd prefer no logo on the top surface but if I had to choose, the smaller/more minimal one looks cleaner.

[Peko]

The cloud emblem looks clean. Its better than engravings IMO. The old small cloud engraving looks good too.

[ChiKaSama]

I would prefer a simple engraving font, maybe just a moon and 2 to 3 stars above arrow keys？

[Whale_algorithm]

I would prefer a simple engraving font, maybe just a moon and 2 to 3 stars above arrow keys？

That would be my preference as well.

Do we know when this is expected to move to GB stage?

[Ustinj]

Hi all

To answer the question regarding GB date - no dates are confirmed yet. Currently waiting to test a plate variant, once that's done then there will likely be a pre-production batch of boards that would be sent to content creators to build / review I believe. Then GB would run after that. 

As for the engraving, I've found that sharing decisions / taking input for non-functional changes leads to more conflict and disappointment, so I'll stick to my gut and my original goal - to make the board into something that I find aesthetically ideal. No matter what direction it goes, there will be people who prefer one thing over another, and unfortunately there's no way everyone will have their ideas incorporated.

Here's Dystopia Red ..!

[zedbraxmen]

Hi all

To answer the question regarding GB date - no dates are confirmed yet. Currently waiting to test a plate variant, once that's done then there will likely be a pre-production batch of boards that would be sent to content creators to build / review I believe. Then GB would run after that. 

As for the engraving, I've found that sharing decisions / taking input for non-functional changes leads to more conflict and disappointment, so I'll stick to my gut and my original goal - to make the board into something that I find aesthetically ideal. No matter what direction it goes, there will be people who prefer one thing over another, and unfortunately there's no way everyone will have their ideas incorporated.

Here's Dystopia Red ..!

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Hot. Very very hot.

[Dotnick]

This is elegant board design at it's finest. Love it.

[//gainsborough]

my God...that red is amazing.

[ligongduck]

I hope the red will be included. This board looks amazing!

[vi0till]

Man oh man, I really like that red.

[RoyalOak88]

Gorgeous in that red 

[Whale_algorithm]

Red would look great with stargaze

[RoyalOak88]

Red would look great with stargaze

Just reading my thoughts

[Puncus]

That engraving is looking really clean.

[sirpeebs]

It's smart and more than fair to go with your gut and preference on the non-functional changes, the board looks great and that's because of you. That said, your current engraving appears to resemble a battery to my eye at first and second glace at minor distance. All other engravings and even your original 3D logo that you had before all these opinions came flooding in have been fantastic no matter the versioning or changes, but this is such a drastic departure from all of them I just don't understand it.

I personally trust your eye and if it looks like a battery to me and you say no it's what it needs then I will still be a buyer as you clearly know what you are doing. I recognize the selfishness of mentioning this at all but as someone who's been tracking this board and only this board since your initial post I feel somehow invested in the concept and like a dog in the backyard I felt like barking was something I had to do.

Btw those internal engravings seen with no plate from the top down angle are just stunning and brilliant.  I've never seen that before. And agree with everyone else that shade of red is beautiful.

[brunosan_.]

This is fire, looking forward to this 

[QuaintSafe]

Very excited for this. One of the nicest looking boards I have seen

[Engedi_]

Wow, this is the board for me.

[bukowski]

I really really want one of those.

Preferably including the logo.

[Ustinj]

Thanks for the kind comments.

IC has been updated / revamped.

It's smart and more than fair to go with your gut and preference on the non-functional changes, the board looks great and that's because of you. That said, your current engraving appears to resemble a battery to my eye at first and second glace at minor distance. All other engravings and even your original 3D logo that you had before all these opinions came flooding in have been fantastic no matter the versioning or changes, but this is such a drastic departure from all of them I just don't understand it.

I personally trust your eye and if it looks like a battery to me and you say no it's what it needs then I will still be a buyer as you clearly know what you are doing. I recognize the selfishness of mentioning this at all but as someone who's been tracking this board and only this board since your initial post I feel somehow invested in the concept and like a dog in the backyard I felt like barking was something I had to do.

Btw those internal engravings seen with no plate from the top down angle are just stunning and brilliant.  I've never seen that before. And agree with everyone else that shade of red is beautiful.

Thank you for feedback.

[Xerra]

Thank you for adding winkey option! Definitely interested now

[darthcapn]

I love the board and how it looks! Looking forward to it.

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

[morty19]

interested!

[Yukinon]

Love the external engravings. Was just wondering will there be a black colorway?

[wencan008]

Love the external engravings. Was just wondering will there be a black colorway?

This has been asked a few times in the discord server. Black is very unlikely, but Justin is considering adding a dark gray

[MyManMart]

Bummer about the engraving. Makes it a pass for me. But it's your design and all aesthetic choices are yours so props for putting your foot down and going with it.