[IC] BLANK.01 - Minimal 60% board with dual mounting option

[Suiscythe]

BLΛNK.01
A minimal looking 60% keyboard with dual mounting option.

Introduction
This board was heavily inspired by the look of RAMA M60-a and the feel of Thermal with a bit of challenge I made for myself to incorporate PCB gasket mount into the design.

I designed a new leafspring plate based on Thermal plate design, focusing on even more bouncy typing feel and the minimal look of the RAMA M60-a.
As the leafspring plate required more space to operate effectively, thicker chin is unavoidable. However, it does look nice for the winkey and winkeyless variant in my opinion.

Moving on to the PCB gasket mount, I also a fan of the unique typing feel and sound of PCB gasket mount keyboards.
So I decided to incorporate it into BLANK.01, allowing an option for users to choose between bouncy typing feel of the leafspring aluminium plate
or a softer, more dampened typing feel of the PCB gasket mount along with selection of plates for you to further customizing the sound and feel of your board.

Minimal design is considered into this board, featuring polished stainless steel badge, seamless, screwless design and a low USB connector that sits parallel to the desk.





Specs:

• Form factor: 60% screwless, seamless design
• Layouts: WK, WKL, HHKB w/ fixed 7u spacebar, stepped/full capslock, split/full backspace
• Typing angle: 8 degress
• Case Material: Aluminium & Brass (weight around 3kg.)
• Mounting: Dual mounting - leafspring plate OR PCB gasket mount
• Plate Material:
  - Leafspring - only aluminium
  - PCB gasket mount - possibly Alu, PC, POM, and plateless
• Colors: Two tone - Black & Silver, Other colors TBC
• PCB:
  - Solder only
  - QMK / VIA Support
  - USB Type C daughterboard
  - Custom design in Thailand and manufactured by JLCPCB
• Price: TBC, but estimated to be around $750
• IC Form: https://forms.gle/6Sy27Ss2RXiKbtuA6

More Info & Updates
Discord invitation link: https://discord.gg/SpVg7PWVXa
Please feel free to join and ask me any questions that you may have.

Supported layout


Exploded view

- Leafspring plate mount -


- PCB gasket mount -

Prototype #1





To do list:

• IC Form
• Minor revision & prototype #2
• Soundtest
• Packaging
• GB

[Suiscythe]

Reserved

[$W4GK!NG]

Hi, ne MOQ avail? I would like to see the MOQ for this pricing

[ee]

tofucult

[Rafa_n]

account created in 2021, $750 for a 60%, haha nice

[ddnomad]

account created in 2021, $750 for a 60%, haha nice

At least it cometh with bumpons

[Suiscythe]

Hi, ne MOQ avail? I would like to see the MOQ for this pricing

Ahh, thanks for reminding me on the MOQ. As it will be my first GB, I am thinking for 50 units maximum but depends on interests as well.

tofucult

Once you mentioned it, it looks a bit like that actually  )

account created in 2021, $750 for a 60%, haha nice

I've been lurking for a long time before deciding to design my own board and run a GB, so account was just created. 
Also, $750 is only just my estimated price and not yet final. I'll have to consolidate all the things again before finalizing it.

[Baka Bot]

The Duality of Keyboards

[santela]

I'm a big fan of anything seamless and screwless, but $750 is way too much.

[wahfuhls]

$750 60%.

[rainkeebs]

nice tofu

[Suiscythe]

I'm a big fan of anything seamless and screwless, but $750 is way too much.

$750 60%.

Thanks for your feedback, many people suggested me to work this out with factory or get another quote before finalizing the price (which is only estimate at the moment).
And I also plan to redesign the case a bit (internally) to reduce the machining cost. I'll make sure that the price will be as low as possible without sacrificing the quality of this board. 

[Nonnegaard]

people are ****ting on you for the design being simple. honestly, i like the easy look, and the badge adds just enough contrast, but the pricing is ****ed. even for that assembly, this is major league ****ing. I suggest you go with a non seamless design and find a cheaper manu. that way you can actually get this board out there and have people want to buy it. for 750, i can name many options from well regarded, trusted runners. good luck, man. love the board, and i hope you can use the feedback

[Nonnegaard]

I'm a big fan of anything seamless and screwless, but $750 is way too much.

$750 60%.

Thanks for your feedback, many people suggested me to work this out with factory or get another quote before finalizing the price (which is only estimate at the moment).
And I also plan to redesign the case a bit (internally) to reduce the machining cost. I'll make sure that the price will be as low as possible without sacrificing the quality of this board. 

I'm afraid that it will be hard to reduce the cost without "sacrificing the quality". making the board cheaper will also attract more buyers which means you can get a larger order quantity and thus a better quote. that's the only way to get the ball rolling. i know it sucks to run a simple board when you have the skills to make insane boards, but for a first-time project from an unknown source, it doesn't work. remember, if you run a simple board and all goes well, there will be another time for this. maybe bag this board completely and pull it out as your second gb. you'll have the base design on hand for when that time comes, and once you've built a rep, more people will be interested in it meaning that you can bring the price down for this exact board.

[Suiscythe]

I'm a big fan of anything seamless and screwless, but $750 is way too much.

$750 60%.

Thanks for your feedback, many people suggested me to work this out with factory or get another quote before finalizing the price (which is only estimate at the moment).
And I also plan to redesign the case a bit (internally) to reduce the machining cost. I'll make sure that the price will be as low as possible without sacrificing the quality of this board. 

I'm afraid that it will be hard to reduce the cost without "sacrificing the quality". making the board cheaper will also attract more buyers which means you can get a larger order quantity and thus a better quote. that's the only way to get the ball rolling. i know it sucks to run a simple board when you have the skills to make insane boards, but for a first-time project from an unknown source, it doesn't work. remember, if you run a simple board and all goes well, there will be another time for this. maybe bag this board completely and pull it out as your second gb. you'll have the base design on hand for when that time comes, and once you've built a rep, more people will be interested in it meaning that you can bring the price down for this exact board.

I totally agree with all your points that the price is way too high and I'm still lacking reputation to attract more buyers.
At this point, I'll at least try my best to get the final price down as much as possible before considering to go forward or bag this up and maybe run it in the future.

Thank you very much for your constructive criticism 

[luke2fr]

You could point that you’re not totally new, being known as kibodo.studio, right ?
If that’s really you, you could mention the GBs you’ve done, even if it’s only acrylic artisans boxes, that’s still something.
I personnally got one of your artisan boxes and quality is top notch and I am glad I got one !
Then, no matter how good this project looks, price is clearly an issue.

[Suiscythe]

You could point that you’re not totally new, being known as kibodo.studio, right ?
If that’s really you, you could mention the GBs you’ve done, even if it’s only acrylic artisans boxes, that’s still something.
I personnally got one of your artisan boxes and quality is top notch and I am glad I got one !
Then, no matter how good this project looks, price is clearly an issue.

Yep, Kibodo.studio is my IG account that previously run acrylic artisan box and cases for arisu/alice layout. However, most of my works are commission basis. Thanks for participating in the Cross GB!

Regarding the estimated price, I am aware of the issue and currently redesigining the case before requesting another quote from the factory.

I'll update on the price once again 

Thanks!

[Space_Case88]

I am interested

[TheTriggeredPony]

lol, where in the world are you getting that pricing, are you planning on producing 5?