Sorry for the late update guys.
At around half of the GB period, Elemento submitted the design to the factory for a prototype.
Due to the intricacy of the structural design, a rather small MOQ and the backlog of CNY orders the factory fails to deliver the proto in time.
While Elemento and we are waiting for the factory to get us a proto:
- Revised PCB design has also been submitted to a different factory.
- Plate samples have been CNCed in house and checked for the mountings / alignment.
- Battery housing sample has been 3d printed and checked.
- Wooden material samples has arrived and will be CNCed in house.
To all those who have joined this GB, we promise we will deliver one of the best customs to you and will not fail your trust.
To everyone who is interested in this project, we apologize for the lack of updates and we will open up a pre-order after we receive the final proto.
Early Prototype ↓
This is a prototype of the very initial design.
With this proto, we discovered the following issues:
- the surface finish was underwhelming
- the structure was kept as simple as possible to hide all the screw holes on the surface, so it was basically a 2 piece case with an integrated plate on top and bottom mounted
- lack layout support
- lack switch top removal support
- not sleek enough
RGB ↓
As you can see the screw holes are on the integrated plate and are all hidden when keycaps are installed. But an integrated plate is neither ideal for customizability (layout support / color combinations / different materials) nor typing experience.
Therefore, drastic structural changes have been made to the design:
Screws are hidden in the rubber bump on, top mounted plate, switch-top removal, weight moved towards the back.
3D printed battery housing ↓