[GB] SLK Dessau Light and Dark (Replacement keys shipped to vendors)

[kema]

SLKDessau.com↗

https://fkcaps.com/keycaps/slk/dessau↗










Vendors and Pricing

Cannon Keys (US)↗
Deskhero (CA)↗
zFrontier (CN)↗
zFrontier (AS)↗
Yushakobo (JP)↗
Aiglatson Studio (TH)↗
Candykeys (EU)↗
ProtoTypist (UK)↗
SwitchKeys (AU)↗

Kit	USD	CAD	CNY	JPY	THB	EUR	GBP	AUD
Base Kit	$99	$144	¥749	¥15,290	฿3,550	€112	£99	$160
Compact Kit	$40	$58	¥299	¥6,160	฿1,450	€44	£40	$65
Int'l & Misc	$40	$58	299	¥6,160	฿1,450	€44	£40	$65

Group Buy from May 1st, 2023 to June 1st, 2023
Delivery to vendors in December 2023






About SLK profile

SLK is a new uniform profile designed by Synth Labs, with the goal of making an aesthetically modern, low-profile option for MX-style switches.

• Round top keycaps with capsule-shaped dish cutaways and tapered base
• 1.5mm PBT plastic with dye-sub and reverse dye-sub legends
• Supports ISO enter and stepped caps lock
• Produced by FK Caps








Design and Kits

The legends feature a modern monoline typeface with a number of base glyphs modified for a more cohesive look and feel.
Rather than keeping the original monospacing, each legend has been carefully kerned to read better in this context.
Edge modifier legends are also edge aligned both for aesthetics and so the legends can still be read when partially obscured by your hands.




Choose between Light and Dark colorways.
Colors represented are approximations of physical samples.
Lighting will affect final appearance.




Base Kits








Compact Kits








International & Misc Kits










Renders

Renders by @its.hymn↗




















Collaborations




Turbulent Labs

A collection of handmade full-grain Italian napa leather desk accessories. Available in matching light and dark colors.








HIBI Lens Keycap










Protozoa Knob

Fits common encoders with 6mm shaft, 18.2mm diameter









Links

Follow kema on IG @kev.nma↗
Follow Synth Labs on IG @synthlabsmk↗
Follow FK Caps on IG  @fk.caps↗

Join the Synth Labs Discord: https://discord.gg/FCmrQ75rny

[HoffmanMyster]

Approved

[phxrbn]

none of the vendor links seem to be working.

[kema]

Linked the vendors that are currently live !
Deskhero, CandyKeys, Prototypist, and SwitchKeys will be up soon and I'll link those when live

All vendors live now!

[patcoll]

What's the measurement of the outer diameter of the knobs? Can't find their specs anywhere.

[Nostril]

What's the measurement of the outer diameter of the knobs? Can't find their specs anywhere.

Hey! The outer diameter of the Protozoa knob is 18.2mm.

[dvorcol]

Edit: revised x axis scale to match final

[Gimbal]

Very interesting.

Do we know if they work with Kailh Choc V2 low profile switches?
It would be a sweet combination for a low profile keyboard. But some keycaps are slightly to narrow inside and sort of rubs on the case of the switches.

[Nostril]

Very interesting.

Do we know if they work with Kailh Choc V2 low profile switches?
It would be a sweet combination for a low profile keyboard. But some keycaps are slightly to narrow inside and sort of rubs on the case of the switches.

So the SLK profile is designed with MX-style switches (regular profile/height) in mind, but I've also tested SLK out with Kailh Choc V2s, as well as several other low-profile switches.

Kailh Choc V2s, GTMX Mids, and Gateron KS-27s all had no interference with the switch, but it would collide with the plate. So it could be used in plateless builds with these switches.

Tecsee Mediums were the only switch I encountered which had interference with the switch itself.

And of course, I've tested it with a wide variety of regular-profile MX-style switches from pretty much all the major manufacturers. Any of these switches should be perfectly compatible with SLK in any build, plate or plateless, any stabs, etc.

[Gimbal]

Great.
 I'm in.

[kema]

Update on the HIBI Lens keycap, prototypes of the clear resin infill didn't work out as intended so we'll be removing the clear infill (keeping the small black infill at the center of the lens). I think this will still look great and the dish/cup with the texture will be really nice!

Vendors will send out comms about the change at the end of the GB and allow those who dislike the change to cancel 🙏

[Nuap]

Is there an MOQ for the caps?

[kema]

Is there an MOQ for the caps?

No hard MOQs on the keycaps

[kema]

Typing test with SLK production blanks from Nostril !

[Gimbal]

So is everything moving forward as planned, or what is happening? 

[kema]

So is everything moving forward as planned, or what is happening?

Yes, orders are being placed and production samples are being iterated on! I received the first set of them couple of weeks ago and the colors look great, but legend alignment needs to be improved.

[Gimbal]

 

[dvorcol]

[kema]

Hey all, quick update – after 5-6 rounds of just the light grey color, color matching for the whole set has been completed.



The "ESC" key is the grey that more closely matches the renders but IRL seems a tad darker than I'd like. The "ENTER" example has a slightly lighter grey mix that I think matches up more nicely to the white and is the one I've chosen to move forward with. I'll also be sending these samples to Cannon Keys to get their thoughts on them.   

Next steps will be working on full kits of master samples and making sure alignment and dyesub quality are there.

Making progress!

[kema]

Light theme kits are production complete, dark theme kits should be at about 90% completion with the remainder being done post-Chinese New Year holiday and everything shipped to vendors at the start of March.
The delay is due to some keys not meeting our QC guidelines and thus being remade, but we stressed to the manufacturer that quality should absolutely come before speed so this is nice to see from my perspective.

[kema]

Re: Dyesub issues and replacement keys

Hey all, the keysets are now shipping to buyers and this is disappointing to say the least, but despite the many rounds of sampling/feedback, strict QC documentation that the manufacturer agreed to (which precisely details the alignments we require), and even having a member of our team on-site for a week to oversee the production, many of the dark production samples and some of the light ones shipped with unacceptable legend alignments. I'm not sure if they were rushing or chose to forego the QC guidelines they agreed to, but I know myself and FK Caps want to make things right. So please reach out to your vendors with a list of flawed keys you'd like replaced. They'll pass on those details to FK Caps and the manufacturer to get new keys remade and sent out to ya'll.

[vhaarr]

Re: Dyesub issues and replacement keys

Very nice post, I hope all goes well and that we see more of SLK soon :-) Can't wait for extras!

If anyone wants to see the misaligned keys, there's a post here https://old.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/1bpjick/diy_board_with_slk_dessau_keycaps/ with some photos.

[lastkey]

What a disaster. Numerous keycaps in my base sets with horrible legend alignment.

[Narcolepsy]

What a disaster. Numerous keycaps in my base sets with horrible legend alignment.

Which vendor did you buy from? The manu will be remaking misaligned keys free of charge. The vendor should have sent communication out to you so you can let them know which of your keycaps are affected to get replaced.

[lastkey]

What a disaster. Numerous keycaps in my base sets with horrible legend alignment.

Which vendor did you buy from? The manu will be remaking misaligned keys free of charge. The vendor should have sent communication out to you so you can let them know which of your keycaps are affected to get replaced.

Already submitted to CK. Timeline and whole process wasn’t worth the money to me even with the free replacements. Shouldn’t have been shipped.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jedmund]

The problem that I have is that there are so many misaligned legends that I legitimately can't tell what is the normal, intended alignment.

I bought Light, Dark, and the Int'l variants of each and Dark seems to have way more misaligned legends. I currently have a note of 40+ keys across my sets that need replacement but I have to go through and take pictures for the replacement process, which is not going to be fun.

[ItIsWritten]

Since the keys will be misaligned for everybody the same, can't they just make replacements for all sets? Do we really all have to find the separate keys ourselves?

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G986B met Tapatalk

[kema]

Afaik keycaps are dyesubbed in batches so not every set will have the same alignment issues.

FK Caps and vendors have been QCing the sets they've received and compiling buyer reports and production on the replacement keys has been started, estimated to ship to vendors late June.
A member of the FK team will also be at the factory towards the end of production to QC the sets and make sure we don't send out wonky keys again.

[ItIsWritten]

That's great, but like the person above I'm probably looking at getting 40+ keys replaced, and I even haven't received my sets yet. Hopefully I won't miss any.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G986B met Tapatalk

[Gimbal]

I just received my order, light base + international and they look great.

Very nice design, nice texture and even nice packaging, the alignment is pretty good as well. (Perhaps one or two that could have been adjusted very slightly, but not so much that it bothers me). And it seems to work nicely with Kailh choc v2 low profile switches. I'm happy.

So 

[BraunEsc]

What about the Protozoa Knobs?
I’ve still not received anything due to the missing knob.

[lastkey]

Still waiting on replacement keycaps with no ETA in sight...

[BraunEsc]

Yeah pretty big **** show tbh.
Communication has been really bad for month no sign of nothingness. No date for the knob. Reputation for this and future jobs: 0
Earned the red flag sign!

[kema]

Received my replacement keycaps direct from the manufacturer and the light kits are virtually errorless (the few accented keys in the Int'l + Misc kit I have are oddly aligned), very happy with these ones now.
The dark kits are much improved but still has some keys here and there that are still slightly off alignment, but overall more usable (don't see any alignment issues with the alphas aside from the accented keys again). I highly recommend double-checking your dark kit replacement keys and reach out once again to your vendors if there's anything wonky to get another replacement. However, vendors seem to be QCing all the replacements by hand, so you may be receiving better examples than myself. :fingers_crossed: :fingers_crossed:

If FK Caps ever reruns the Dessau design in the future, I can't imagine going with this same manufacturer with all the errors and headache.

Re: Protozoa knobs, I've requested another update to see what's going on, I was told they just needed to tap the knobs for the screw but I'm unsure why I haven't heard anything in the past month.

[ANTICATER]

good

[kema]

Heard back from Protozoa last week that the knobs were completed and all packed up, I assume they've been shipped out to vendors by now

edit 9/19: seems like they haven't shipped yet and Protozoa has been unresponsive, will update once I know more

[BraunEsc]

Another nearly 2 month since last update. Any news?