[IC] Båge - AEK Curved O-ring mount 60 - Vendor Updated, New Prototype

[nachie]

I'd like to present

Båge



No longer have vendor, this has been put on hold indefinitely, most likely cancelled.


Who am I?
TL;DR A long time lurker


Båge?
The name stands for a circular arc or bow-shaped bend. Matches the Keycaps that this board supports, so yeah, there's that.

Inspiration
TL;DR My fascination with the AEK60 form factor, GSKT-00 and kkatano's Bakeneko

More

I signed up on GH to join a group buy for ALPS60 plate. It has always been my favorite 60%. I got an AEK64 and even learned PCB design to make an underglow pcb for it but the integrated plate wasn't for me either. The first case I designed from scratch was the AHKB, a split AEK64 in HHKB layout. But again, integrated plate, and first time designer errors like extra gaps on the side and case being too hollow. So I've been at this for a while, prototyping and learning the craft. I have other design in the works as well but this is the one I feel most confident about going full steam ahead with.

The main inspiration for this case though along with the AEK fascination was the GSKT-00 for understanding o-ring mounts and kkatano's Bakeneko for the single piece construction. This is not a Bekeneko with a modified bottom, it is a board designed from scratch using the same internal design style but applying things I have learned so far on my design journey, also taking into factor the construction differences between ALPS and MX builds.

Specifications

• Single Piece case
• AEK Curve for use with AEK caps
• Angle: 6 degree
• Weight: Internal, optional. Materials TBD
• Material: Aluminum and possibly Polycarbonate
• Mount: O-Ring mount, friction fit
• Uses Universal Daughter Board for USB C
• PCB: Custom ALPS pcb with flex cuts and underglow. Existing MX pcbs will work as well.
• Plate Materials: Aluminum, FR4, Stainless Steel, Standard BYO 60 plate support
• QMK and VIA compatible ^{Not merged yet}

Current Plan

• Design
• Initial Prototype
• Interest Check
• Prototype the final weight design in brass
• Another Prototype round with changes from IC?
• Interest Check II
• GB Prep
• Group Buy
• Cancelled
  

Color Options

Cases will be offered in a single color, most likely Space Grey, and also Polycarbonate.

• Space Grey
• Polycarbonate

Pricing

TBD. Trying to keep it as low as possible. We do have a vendor backing this, so more pricing information to come as we get close.

Layout Options

Following layouts will be supported by the ALPS PCB offered. Plate files will also be released after the buy. Case was modified to work with existing MX PCBs are well, so that is also an option.




Group Buy Vendor

I am pleased to announce that CannonKeys will be the official vendor for this group buy. Actual dates and prices etc. will be updated soon.

Prototype

 - Aluminum Album
 - Poly v1 Album
 - Aluminum v2 with GMK and MT3 caps instead of AEK
 - GB Unit Renders - Still Prototyping
 - GB Unit Prototype

Prototypes shows Mirror finished PVD Brass for weight for v1 and sandblasted raw brass weight for v2. Neither of these will be offered, the GB units will have internal weight.


Cancelled

Full update on discord if y’all are interested. TL;DR; is the design doesn’t make sense for 2023, the curve makes it more expensive than a bakeneko which it is compared to. CK pulled out, I don’t think we have a shot of MOQ without a vendor. As such this is cancelled, perhaps redesign someday. I sincerely apologize to everyone who was interested in this and waited this long. Thank you for the support y’all have shown, I really appreciate it.

[darthcapn]

Let's gooo! How come we didn't talk about this the other day! Count me in!!

[LightningXI]

Down to support a nachie project. I have confidence it'll be good.

[nevin]

looks great! good luck with the project!
any alps love is more than welcome!
... (personally, i think these type of boards should be alps only, but that would severely decrease your numbers, so i get it. i felt the same way about the "modern m0110" & "molly")

any way to do a halfplate? not familiar enough with the GSKT-00 style mounting.... do the bands go around the pcb or the plate?

i remember talking to you at one point somewhere online. (was probably about the paladin pad)

[robotictomato]

Yes - very excited about this. Totally in - anything that uses classic Alps sets like AEK is a win in my book.

[treypop]

I love the big ass enter support. What style of BAE will it support?

[nachie]

Down to support a nachie project. I have confidence it'll be good.

Wew! I appreciate the vote of confidence fam, you will find out soon enough 

I love the big ass enter support. What style of BAE will it support?

The PCB is essentially a modified paladin64 layout wise. So it supports 3 different locations for ALPS BAE, but does not support the M0116 enter. However, I'd like to re-iterate that this is specifically designed for AEK caps, so normal OEM profile caps, or DSA caps will look funky on it. I just added the full pcb layout support on here for completeness.

looks great! good luck with the project!
any alps love is more than welcome!
... (personally, i think these type of boards should be alps only, but that would severely decrease your numbers, so i get it. i felt the same way about the "modern m0110" & "molly")

any way to do a halfplate? not familiar enough with the GSKT-00 style mounting.... do the bands go around the pcb or the plate?

i remember talking to you at one point somewhere online. (was probably about the paladin pad)

Thank you This is that ALPS only board. I won't be offering any MX plates with it. PCB supports MX Screw-ins, but that's again so that multiple projects can use the same PCB.
For the mounting, this does not use a two piece case like the GSKT-00, it uses a single piece construction like the Bakeneko. The o-ring sits around the switches between the pcb and the plate and that's how this friction fits into the case.
A half-plate could technically be made, but then you'd be limited to using SKCL greens with leds (ALPS switches don't pcb mount without them), so even though its possible, its not very useful
Ah, the paladinpad, could be, those are still stocked by RNDKBD btw  

Let's gooo! How come we didn't talk about this the other day! Count me in!!

We did, but not in full detail  )

Yes - very excited about this. Totally in - anything that uses classic Alps sets like AEK is a win in my book.

AEK FTW always! Lets goo!

[Kokaloo]

aww yiss great alternative since Lunar has been hard to get a hold of. Bottom row support for Tai Hao caps (regular ansi) would be nice if you're able to include that!

[ankit]

This is very cool. Absolutely love the side profile.

[linell]

this is sick

[sloth.]

I love it, IC filled and looking forward it!

[nevin]

thanks for the info on the mounting.

a while ago i ran across Delirious's wonderful TX84 build log and he uses a neat "comb" to help with alps alignment. (hit link and scroll down quite a bit. in the 3rd post of the thread titled "build log" wonderfully detailed & lots of pics)
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=99552
i had a friend of mine print me one on a 3d printer.

[el_lento]

IC form response sent! Very interested in this.

[beelzking]

This is really cool, love that people are starting to give alps customs more love.
GLWIC

[Chippy]

Hell yeah. Would love to see steel plate.

[toniwonkanobi]

Bage > Lunar > AEK64

[treeleaf64]

Apples are from a tree and the leaf is curved like a keyborad  Welcome into my house
See our reflection in the water

[granola bar enthusiast]

this is really nice, i have always wanted a gummy o-ring mounted topre board but i think that may be impossible, this is just one step closer to it!

[ogp3]

keeping an eye on this for sure!

[Inftex15]

Very nice, I'll be lurking on discord 

[Diggidy]

,

[nachie]

Wow! I hadn't expected these many responses in the first 24 hours honestly. I glanced through them so will like to address a few things in a group. Will check in detail if I missed something and respond to it tonight.

1. SS Plates - Yes, will add these to the offered plate materials. Will also order one to try out with the weight proto.
2. Weight/Logo - The logo on the weight was just to test out how far I can stretch the manu. It is indeed difficult to machine, easier to engrave, but looks out of place regardless. This will get replaced by the Båge text shown on the inside of the weight. The inside weight surface probably will be kept plain. Again, open to feedback here so do fill out the IC if you haven't already.
3. Vendors - Regional vendors would definitely be a no (our numbers would be very low compared to GMK), if any, there could be one single vendor. My preference is a self-fulfilled buy if the interest is within numbers I can safely commit to, and judging by the responses, most folks are okay with that. Again, this could change, so do fill out the IC if you haven't but intent to.
4. PCB Flex Cuts - Ill upload a picture of the PCB. The flex cuts are not crazy like some of the owlabs boards, but similar to what the GSKT-00/ 356 mini has. The main reason I added them is they felt nice with my ALPS builds in these boards.
5. Case Only - We could definitely offer just the case by itself, bring your own plate. I'll be making plate files available as soon as the GB closes. You'd still need the PCB though since it's customized for the gasket pillars in this case.

aww yiss great alternative since Lunar has been hard to get a hold of. Bottom row support for Tai Hao caps (regular ansi) would be nice if you're able to include that!

I could add 6.25u bottom row, but would someone realistically use this with non-AEK caps?

thanks for the info on the mounting.

a while ago i ran across Delirious's wonderful TX84 build log and he uses a neat "comb" to help with alps alignment. (hit link and scroll down quite a bit. in the 3rd post of the thread titled "build log" wonderfully detailed & lots of pics)
https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=99552
i had a friend of mine print me one on a 3d printer.

I had most definitely seen this thread, had forgotten it exists. It could be a neat thing to try. I'll probably not offer half-plates though, but can make half-plate files available with the other plate files if someone wanted to go that route.

Hell yeah. Would love to see steel plate.

Still going through all the feedback, but steel plates seems to be the most commonly requested option. So will definitely be adding those to the list.

Bage > Lunar > AEK64

I still wish I had kept the AEK64, it was beautiful. 

Absolutely amazing. Filled out IC. When can I purchase this?

A few more things to iron out but judging by the response, probably soon.


I really appreciate everyone who responded to the IC, thread or discord. Great feedback, keep it coming. Ill try to incorporate most stuff I can without modifying the original idea too much.

[infinitum]

that curve is shmexy

[Rob27shred]

Count me in if I can get a spot! Been drooling over the Lunar for years & need a higher end case for my AEK60 builds!

[sirieous]

we love curves

[Applet]

I got a few questions regarding this IC/GB, so I thought I'd mention it, so there is no talk/drama. I have a very similar open sourced project (https://github.com/4pplet/Unextended) with no relation to this one. I don't have any plans to run my project as IC/GB at this point. I don't mind and wish you the best of luck with this IC and GB I love to see more AEK projects.

One thing I encountered when prototyping my case is that there can be issues with the posts below spacebar with the unikorn/ck bakeneko mounting post positions. Since there is no PCB-mount stabs to keep it in place, the oring can get pushed in and not rest on the two posts below the spacebar. I switched to the bakeneko V3 mounting posts, and it's no issue with them. Since the positions of the posts is then always close to a switch, the oring is kept in place. Your experience may vary in this design, but I thought I'd mention it.

[nachie]

I got a few questions regarding this IC/GB, so I thought I'd mention it, so there is no talk/drama. I have a very similar open sourced project (https://github.com/4pplet/Unextended) with no relation to this one. I don't have any plans to run my project as IC/GB at this point. I don't mind and wish you the best of luck with this IC and GB I love to see more AEK projects.

One thing I encountered when prototyping my case is that there can be issues with the posts below spacebar with the unikorn/ck bakeneko mounting post positions. Since there is no PCB-mount stabs to keep it in place, the oring can get pushed in and not rest on the two posts below the spacebar. I switched to the bakeneko V3 mounting posts, and it's no issue with them. Since the positions of the posts is then always close to a switch, the oring is kept in place. Your experience may vary in this design, but I thought I'd mention it.

Not the post I was hoping to see in the morning 
I appreciate the understanding and not coming out guns blazing on this one. I had no clue this existed. I did a little digging and I think the repo tagged the upload on 3/31/2022 for the case file and my Instagram has the render posted on 3/29/2022. But the repo shows a finished prototype so you probably had this in the works for sometime just as I did, it would have been cooler if we bumped into each other at that time. But I assure you, there is no drama here, and I appreciate you being as cool about this as I am.   

Now, one might wonder how these look side-by-side, so I I tried doing that and putting it in an album (I hope that is okay). It highlights some differences, the curve is similar but everything else including usb placement etc has its differences.

Now to the actual question, I've been using it daily for the past few days. I haven't noticed the assembly shifting, the post placement I have perhaps is accommodating for that. The placement is different from the v3 Bakeneko, and also different from Unikorn/CK (atleast from the pics, dont have a pcb to verify). But I'll definitely keep an eye out for this happening in the coming weeks of use. I do like the split spacebar support you went for among the options, and bluetooth, maybe one day I will have enough time to dig into ZMK.

Count me in if I can get a spot! Been drooling over the Lunar for years & need a higher end case for my AEK60 builds!

Absolutely! I recognize your name from my first group buy a few years ago. I hope to not keep this restricted, but will have to soft-cap it at some point if it blows up beyond what I can fulfill myself 

[HappyB0T]

What a cool IC - I want in.

[aeryxz]

Wb nachie. Keen

[KeyBros_]

Clean

[Applet]

I assure you, there is no drama here, and I appreciate you being as cool about this as I am.   

Great, it's all good I totally don't mind the album

[infinitum]

nice to see some new things
also curve so clean

[nachie]

So I finally got a chance to go through all the previous responses from the IC and also the newer ones, so here's a summary of where we are at.

1. Matching Numpad: A few folks asked about this, it's definitely possible. I have the files, got to love parametric design. I'll get them quoted and we can see if they are worth it based on numbers.
2. The PCB has screw in stabilizer support for MX stabs so that SP ALPS caps can be used. Not sure how they would look on the higher rows though.
3. Folks asked to see how this case might look with Cherry MX Cap profiles. I don't have any MX plates, but I'll order one and take pictures with MT3 and GMK. Don't have SA.
4. Flex Cuts: Here is the PCB. As you can see the flex cuts are minimal and match the tried and tested locations.
5. I do have a poly prototype that I'll be sending to get built. Once that is done, I will absolutely do a side by side Aluminum vs Poly sound test.
6. Weight graphics are being re-designed, so I'll share renders once that's completed.
7. AEK ISO: Cannot be supported since ISO AEKs are not the standard layout size. So this one is a definite no, sorry.
8. A lot of people asking for Green, which I find very surprising for an AEK, but two different folks shared the same Pantone and its beautiful, so I'll add that to the list of color samples to order.
9. Matching Artisan: A few folks asked about this, I forgot about it on the original IC. I did create a poll on discord for it though and there seems to be some interest. We'll probably do a small raffle for participants depending on me being able to source the AEK logos.



So, for an actual update. I tried recording a typing test with the prototype. This was shot on an iPhone, so ymmv. Also, first time recording a typing test so hopefully its quiet enough. Also recorded a flex test with FR4 plate, this may seem like a lot of flex, but when typing it not "bumpy", just nice and soft.

Prototype Typing sounds - Linear SKCM Blacks, Krytox oiled 40cn springs, FR4 Plate.
Flex Test


Again, a lot of good feedback, keep it coming 


P.S. Posting everything as links in the hope it keeps the thread clean and loading on smaller screens, hope that's okay.

[treeleaf64]

How do you pronounce this one    Like  Bagel ?  or Rage   Rayayayay Ayayayaya Yayayayayaayya!!!!!!

[nachie]

How do you pronounce this one    Like  Bagel ?  or Rage   Rayayayay Ayayayaya Yayayayayaayya!!!!!!

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/båge


But I just call it Beige like the English word  )

[Sandy]

Looks like ai03 rebooted his curved O-Ring project https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=108657.0

[chat and team]

lol this scared ai03 to start moving his project again

[Nonnegaard]

THIS is why the bakeneko was made public. after all of the unikorn clones that people have made these past weeks, this sure is a diamond in the rough.

[nachie]

Ordered the second prototype based on some feedback from the IC, from a second factory. They don’t anodize in-house so won’t get color samples yet but since most colors are standard we should be good. Weight win new design also ordered with raw brass finish similar to what will be offered.

Lastly, ordered POM and SS plates along with one mx plate (yeah somehow few folks really want to see what GMK looks like on this so might as well)

Everything should be here in a few weeks. Will update as things progress.

[plag]

this looks awesome. would love to see a green unit like the other too lads in here mentioned as well, other than that, im super hyped for this

[nachie]

this looks awesome. would love to see a green unit like the other too lads in here mentioned as well, other than that, im super hyped for this

I think a sample green proto might not happen (I tried), since custom colors on a small batch are expensive and won’t match the next batch exactly. But I’ll offer green in the next IC and if there is enough interest I’m definitely open to offering it in the buy.

[ibankais]

Excitedly waiting for this, and just wanted to chime in with a +1 for a green version.

GLWIC!

[ManoliVisuals]

id be very in for this! need to find some alps lol

[Homiezoned]

The curve omg

[nachie]

Okay, here is a long overdue update.

- Updated the OP with changes, posted a new IC Form: https://forms.gle/Byywk22ws5YFDStEA. Please fill out even if you filled out the first one
- I have the proto v2 kit in hand, planning to send it out for review, just waiting to iron out a few things. (Point below)
- Based on the feedback from the first Interest Check, I am working with a Vendor to see if they'd be on board. Making progress slowly, will have details in a week or two.
- Depending on how things progress, we may switch to an internal, optional weight. This is to try to keep the base price down as much as possible with material price increases. I think it is a good tradeoff between those that want a weight and those who want the case to be absolutely as cheap as possible. Again, its a maybe, hence please fill the IC.
- I will post an update as soon as I have news about vendor and/or proto v3.

Please do fill out the IC, that will help me plan this in the coming weeks/months.

If I missed something, do let me know. Thank you for all the great responses so far, and the support you have shown 

[nachie]

It's been a minute. If you are on my discord or instagram, you probably have seen a few updates go by. I wanted to wait to update here till everything was a bit more official.

We have a vendor who is willing to back this. Based on the feedback from them and the IC, changes were made to the case. Main ones are
- Weight changed to internal
- Bottom Engraving
- Will now support existing MX PCBs (and plates), so only a custom ALPS only PCB will be offered with ALPS Plates.

Prototype PCBs are ordered. Case prototypes will be ordered soon. I updated the OP with the current plan and details and also added albums for the various builds so far.

 - Aluminum Album
 - Poly v1 Album
 - Aluminum v2 with GMK and MT3 caps instead of AEK
 - GB Unit Renders - Still Prototyping

As always, do fill out the IC is this is something that interests you. I know some questions in there might be redundant now, but just a show of interest also helps to get the final number.

[ylothar]

Is it possible to consider an ALPS plate that supports SP stabilizers? (MX compatible)
It would pair with this GB in progress: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=118246.0

[toniwonkanobi]

Why can't everyone just let this be an AEK case for AEK keycaps? lol

[nachie]

Is it possible to consider an ALPS plate that supports SP stabilizers? (MX compatible)
It would pair with this GB in progress: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=118246.0

Yup, that’s not that hard. Infact there are already plates out there that support SP DCS 60, I’ll take some pictures with DCS pingmaster next. The PCB supports MX stabs even though it’s ALPS only, I have that covered.

Why can't everyone just let this be an AEK case for AEK keycaps? lol

That is what this is, by design. Just that if AEK isn’t your thing then it works well with other configs as well.
I suppose getting switches and caps might be an entry barrier but that’s what we want to address with this, make it as easy and budget friendly as possible for folks to get into the alps world and then offer premium upgrades for that little something extra.

[toniwonkanobi]

Is it possible to consider an ALPS plate that supports SP stabilizers? (MX compatible)
It would pair with this GB in progress: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=118246.0

Yup, that’s not that hard. Infact there are already plates out there that support SP DCS 60, I’ll take some pictures with DCS pingmaster next.

Why can't everyone just let this be an AEK case for AEK keycaps? lol

That is what this is, by design. Just that if AEK isn’t your thing then it works well with other configs as well.
I suppose getting switches and caps might be an entry barrier but that’s what we want to address with this, make it as easy and budget friendly as possible for folks to get into the alps world and then offer premium upgrades for that little something extra.

👍🏿