[GB] The Monarch: Alps 60%+LHTK (Shipped)

[njbair]

I just wanted to tell you all that I love you and the Monarch, and if doing so bumps this thread back up to the top of the unread list, then so be it!

[koalapear]

I just wanted to tell you all that I love you and the Monarch, and if doing so bumps this thread back up to the top of the unread list, then so be it!

<3

[koalapear]

Alright guys, there's a week left and we're still very short on orders. Unless something magical happens things aren't looking  good for us hitting MOQ by next Saturday. My mother was talking to my uncle earlier in the week and says that he has talked to the laser cutting place and that the original quote was incorrect at that we may be able to shave some off of the final price, exactly how much I'm not sure yet. I will be in contact with him shorty. Although I don't think it will result in enough of a price drop to significantly effect order amounts. I wish there were a way for me to make this happen for you guys 

[E3E]

Oh no! Will a secret investor sweep down to save the day like they have with Alpine Winter? I'm not part of this buy (I can't afford it right now with the other project I have going on), but I very much want to see this happen!

I feel like there will be someone who will save this when we get down to the wire.

[Sockets]

Alright guys, there's a week left and we're still very short on orders. Unless something magical happens things aren't looking  good for us hitting MOQ by next Saturday. My mother was talking to my uncle earlier in the week and says that he has talked to the laser cutting place and that the original quote was incorrect at that we may be able to shave some off of the final price, exactly how much I'm not sure yet. I will be in contact with him shorty. Although I don't think it will result in enough of a price drop to significantly effect order amounts. I wish there were a way for me to make this happen for you guys 

Oh no! I would be devastated if this doesn't happen.

I wonder if the one of the things keeping people from jumping on this is that they need to get an AEKII. I'm pretty new to all this so my first thought was to look on ebay but the current prices of AEKIIs on ebay are a little discouraging.  eg. The only listing I found in Australia right now is for an unused AEKII for AUD$200. Looking internationally isn't much better. I saw one listing in the UK for GBP120 not including the lead or shipping.  There are cheaper ones out there (still not cheap) but then shipping is completely ridiculous.  I could only find one US listing for <US$50 but with shipping it was still around US$100. 
Then I started to look locally. After a few phone calls I managed to find a couple of them at a computer recycler for AUD$35 each.  Looking through the classified ads here, thats only a couple of dollars more than the last one I saw sell on  there went for.  Quite reasonable.
If you're on the fence about this because you can't find a reasonably priced AEKII, do a quick search (maybe not on ebay), make a few phone calls. I'm sure there are a lot more of these out there but they might require a tiny bit of work to find them. 

tl;dr AEKII on ebay = $$$$, local computer recycler = $.  Make a few phone calls and order The Monarch! 

[koalapear]

Alright guys, there's a week left and we're still very short on orders. Unless something magical happens things aren't looking  good for us hitting MOQ by next Saturday. My mother was talking to my uncle earlier in the week and says that he has talked to the laser cutting place and that the original quote was incorrect at that we may be able to shave some off of the final price, exactly how much I'm not sure yet. I will be in contact with him shorty. Although I don't think it will result in enough of a price drop to significantly effect order amounts. I wish there were a way for me to make this happen for you guys 

Oh no! I would be devastated if this doesn't happen.

I wonder if the one of the things keeping people from jumping on this is that they need to get an AEKII. I'm pretty new to all this so my first thought was to look on ebay but the current prices of AEKIIs on ebay are a little discouraging.  eg. The only listing I found in Australia right now is for an unused AEKII for AUD$200. Looking internationally isn't much better. I saw one listing in the UK for GBP120 not including the lead or shipping.  There are cheaper ones out there (still not cheap) but then shipping is completely ridiculous.  I could only find one US listing for <US$50 but with shipping it was still around US$100. 
Then I started to look locally. After a few phone calls I managed to find a couple of them at a computer recycler for AUD$35 each.  Looking through the classified ads here, thats only a couple of dollars more than the last one I saw sell on  there went for.  Quite reasonable.
If you're on the fence about this because you can't find a reasonably priced AEKII, do a quick search (maybe not on ebay), make a few phone calls. I'm sure there are a lot more of these out there but they might require a tiny bit of work to find them. 

tl;dr AEKII on ebay = $$$$, local computer recycler = $.  Make a few phone calls and order The Monarch! 

Yeah, I think it's a combination of it being Alps, the left-hand numpad, the keycap requirements, and the cost. It's just overall too niche and expensive of a product 

[Jersern]

I already had an old aek that wasn't in too good shape for a restoration so I'm set on that front. I really hope this buy goes through!

[Delirious]

The Monarch will triumph, I believe!

[Sockets]

I already had an old aek that wasn't in too good shape for a restoration so I'm set on that front. I really hope this buy goes through!

Would the AEK (I, not II) also work for this project? I read on the DT wiki that they had two different types of stabalisers.

[Jersern]

It's an aek2 (my bad for not clarifying)

[Muffinbottoms]

Fuuuuuudge :'C I feel extremely bad that I can't hop in on this buy and get us that one more closer. Have you tried Reddit and DT? I don't know any other mechboard communities other than these three that you could try posting to. Maybe foreign communities? :/ I really hopes this goes through! This was a beautiful custom from the beginning and I figured with all the Alps hype it was gonna go swimmingly! If it doesn't go through this first time, would you consider regrouping and attempting this at another time?

[romevi]

Fuuuuuudge :'C I feel extremely bad that I can't hop in on this buy and get us that one more closer. Have you tried Reddit and DT? I don't know any other mechboard communities other than these three that you could try posting to. Maybe foreign communities? :/ I really hopes this goes through! This was a beautiful custom from the beginning and I figured with all the Alps hype it was gonna go swimmingly! If it doesn't go through this first time, would you consider regrouping and attempting this at another time?

It's definitely on Reddit.

I'm sad I can't join. November is a heavy month, and I really tried to stretch my budget to fit this, but alas I can't.

[koalapear]

Fuuuuuudge :'C I feel extremely bad that I can't hop in on this buy and get us that one more closer. Have you tried Reddit and DT? I don't know any other mechboard communities other than these three that you could try posting to. Maybe foreign communities? :/ I really hopes this goes through! This was a beautiful custom from the beginning and I figured with all the Alps hype it was gonna go swimmingly! If it doesn't go through this first time, would you consider regrouping and attempting this at another time?

I've posted on both Reddit and DT. I didn't get any replies at all on DT so I have not updated it in some time. On Reddit I've been posting regular updates but every time I do they get very little to no response and are downvoted pretty heavily which has been pretty discouraging. I'm not saying a possible regroup and rerun is out of the question but at this point the amount of interest overall has been so low I'm just not sure it's worth it.

[romevi]

Fuuuuuudge :'C I feel extremely bad that I can't hop in on this buy and get us that one more closer. Have you tried Reddit and DT? I don't know any other mechboard communities other than these three that you could try posting to. Maybe foreign communities? :/ I really hopes this goes through! This was a beautiful custom from the beginning and I figured with all the Alps hype it was gonna go swimmingly! If it doesn't go through this first time, would you consider regrouping and attempting this at another time?

I've posted on both Reddit and DT. I didn't get any replies at all on DT so I have not updated it in some time. On Reddit I've been posting regular updates but every time I do they get very little to no response and are downvoted pretty heavily which has been pretty discouraging. I'm not saying a possible regroup and rerun is out of the question but at this point the amount of interest overall has been so low I'm just not sure it's worth it.

I can't believe it's been down voted. It's a beautiful board and should be snatched up.

For me, I've got Troubled Minds, Skidata+, the rest of my Round 5a order, the Ellipse Model F, and my Christmas shopping. Maybe start it again early next year when people have caught up and the holidays are over?

[Jersern]

I wonder if we can proceed with the current order count?

[koalapear]

I wonder if we can proceed with the current order count?

I don't think that will be possible at the current (and already high) price point unfortunately.

[Delirious]

That's a real bummer if this thing didn't go through. Koalapear would your uncle be interested in making the plate and frame? I might just handwire this.

[Jersern]

That's a real bummer if this thing didn't go through. Koalapear would your uncle be interested in making the plate and frame? I might just handwire this.

I wouldn't mind doing some hand wiring myself. Though obviously a pcb would be amazing.

Isn't there going to be a price reduction on the case? We could forgo the lower price to cover the lower order quantity.

[koalapear]

That's a real bummer if this thing didn't go through. Koalapear would your uncle be interested in making the plate and frame? I might just handwire this.

I wouldn't mind doing some hand wiring myself. Though obviously a pcb would be amazing.

Isn't there going to be a price reduction on the case? We could forgo the lower price to cover the lower order quantity.

The majority of the issue with the lower order quantity is the PCB costs since that cost are very highly dependent on amount ordered. I would need to rework the quotes for everything else at this order quantity since most of the quotes I got were for around twice the current order number. I would expect a pretty significant price jump for each part of production as a result. The drop in price due to the quoting error would only be around $10-$15 I believe, maybe a bit more but nothing really major unfortunately. 

As far as just getting cases done that would still be quite expensive. Due to the low order number I'd guesstimate that just a case done for handwiring would be $250-$275 at least which is just too much for a case.

[Jersern]

Hmm, honestly 250 for a case isn't too bad, there are quite a few customs where the cases cost quite a hefty amount.

[KaminKevCrew]

There's a place near me where I can use their laser cutter for very, very cheap. I'm not sure if it is capable of cutting metals, but I cam ask when I go in next. That might make it a more feasible project.

[koalapear]

Hmm, honestly 250 for a case isn't too bad, there are quite a few customs where the cases cost quite a hefty amount.

I suppose, but I think people are less inclined to pay that kind of premium when the case doesn't have a name like GON, LZ, Duck, or KMAC backing it. Granted this case is not on the same level as some of the cases those guys churn out either. That and this case isn't exactly versatile with it's keycap restrictions and Alps only compatibility. I also doubt that all those who currently have an order submitted are as willing to pay around the same amount as they originally planned to for a board that they then have to handwire.

There's a place near me where I can use their laser cutter for very, very cheap. I'm not sure if it is capable of cutting metals, but I cam ask when I go in next. That might make it a more feasible project.

I appreciate the offer! I'd be worried though that after shipping the amount saved would eat into any cost savings. As it stands for an order number of 25 the aluminum (supplied by the laser place) and the cutting is only around $25 per board. The majority of the cost lies in the CNC time, finishing, and PCB. Although, now that I think about it with the lower order number getting the plates lasered by you may result in a decent price drop.

[njbair]

Just chiming in. You all know I really want this board to happen. But if you start talking about no PCB or anything like that I'm a lot less interested. I'd rather consider paying more to make up for the low order quantity.

[KaminKevCrew]

Hmm, honestly 250 for a case isn't too bad, there are quite a few customs where the cases cost quite a hefty amount.

I suppose, but I think people are less inclined to pay that kind of premium when the case doesn't have a name like GON, LZ, Duck, or KMAC backing it. Granted this case is not on the same level as some of the cases those guys churn out either. That and this case isn't exactly versatile with it's keycap restrictions and Alps only compatibility. I also doubt that all those who currently have an order submitted are as willing to pay around the same amount as they originally planned to for a board that they then have to handwire.

There's a place near me where I can use their laser cutter for very, very cheap. I'm not sure if it is capable of cutting metals, but I cam ask when I go in next. That might make it a more feasible project.

I appreciate the offer! I'd be worried though that after shipping the amount saved would eat into any cost savings. As it stands for an order number of 25 the aluminum (supplied by the laser place) and the cutting is only around $25 per board. The majority of the cost lies in the CNC time, finishing, and PCB. Although, now that I think about it with the lower order number getting the plates lasered by you may result in a decent price drop.

Yeah, also, I was looking into it, and it looks like steel is much easier to laser cut than aluminum, so that may be something to consider. If it were being lasered and we were doing hand wiring only, I could pretty easily make the plate with the cutouts that support cherry and alps (I think that's a thing, right?), and it wouldn't add significantly to the cost. I don't know how much people would want to do steel instead of alu though, if aluminum weren't possible. Steel can still be coated, as far as I'm aware, so that would just mean a more solid feeling keyboard...

[KaminKevCrew]

Oh, there's also a water jet place near me, and I could see what they say for pricing. I would think that water jet or laser might be a cheaper option since it's faster, I think...

[koalapear]

While both different metals and different cutting methods are available I'm not sure that they really help lower the price a significant amount. Keep in mind that the cases still need to be CNC'd after laser/waterjet cutting.

Also, as far as cherry+alps compatibility goes the real issue there is stabilizer cutouts in the the plate to support both.

[KaminKevCrew]

While both different metals and different cutting methods are available I'm not sure that they really help lower the price a significant amount. Keep in mind that the cases still need to be CNC'd after laser/waterjet cutting.

Also, as far as cherry+alps compatibility goes the real issue there is stabilizer cutouts in the the plate to support both.

Ah. Why would they need to be cnc cut after water jet? I would have thought that it would be accurate enough to allow for immediate use. (same thing with laser, if I'm completely honest.)

[koalapear]

While both different metals and different cutting methods are available I'm not sure that they really help lower the price a significant amount. Keep in mind that the cases still need to be CNC'd after laser/waterjet cutting.

Also, as far as cherry+alps compatibility goes the real issue there is stabilizer cutouts in the the plate to support both.

Ah. Why would they need to be cnc cut after water jet? I would have thought that it would be accurate enough to allow for immediate use. (same thing with laser, if I'm completely honest.)

The CNC cuts the recesses in the plate to allow the switches and the stabilizers to snap in properly, along with the outer edge of both plates to give them a really smooth finish, and the center polycarb piece is fully CNC cut.

[Jersern]

Just chiming in. You all know I really want this board to happen. But if you start talking about no PCB or anything like that I'm a lot less interested. I'd rather consider paying more to make up for the low order quantity.

I agree with njbair, though hand wiring isn't a big deal for me but a pcb will be nice but I wouldn't mind paying a bit extra.

[KaminKevCrew]

While both different metals and different cutting methods are available I'm not sure that they really help lower the price a significant amount. Keep in mind that the cases still need to be CNC'd after laser/waterjet cutting.

Also, as far as cherry+alps compatibility goes the real issue there is stabilizer cutouts in the the plate to support both.

Ah. Why would they need to be cnc cut after water jet? I would have thought that it would be accurate enough to allow for immediate use. (same thing with laser, if I'm completely honest.)

The CNC cuts the recesses in the plate to allow the switches and the stabilizers to snap in properly, along with the outer edge of both plates to give them a really smooth finish, and the center polycarb piece is fully CNC cut.

Ah. That makes sense. Too bad too... :/ if I could afford to snatch em all up to meet MOQ I totally would.

[njbair]

Assuming an Alps angel doesn't swoop in at the last minute and clear MOQ, I like the idea of trying again in the new year. I have a few ideas that might help this meet MOQ without substantially changing the design. I'll PM koala about that.

[Jersern]

Btw koala, didn't you have a few prototypes? I personally wouldn't mind having one of those and doing hand wiring. 

[stoic-lemon]

I would rather see this board come to life without too many compromises to Koalapear's original idea. Might be worth waiting until the new year.

[Delirious]

The de

Assuming an Alps angel doesn't swoop in at the last minute and clear MOQ, I like the idea of trying again in the new year. I have a few ideas that might help this meet MOQ without substantially changing the design. I'll PM koala about that.

Whatever the redesign might be please keep the left hand numpad, it might be niche but it's very unique in design and useful for mouse-on-right-hand users

[koalapear]

Btw koala, didn't you have a few prototypes? I personally wouldn't mind having one of those and doing hand wiring.

I only really have one complete proto case left which I'm thinking about building with SKCM blues, cobalt cerakote, and Alpine Winter. If people get to see that built maybe it will get more interested in it if I rerun it.

[Jersern]

I certainly hope there will be more interest in such an awesome board!

[deductivemonkee]

It'll be too bad if this doesn't happen this year, I was looking forward to seeing everyones builds.
Sadly, I'm toasted for the $$ bills so I can't get in. Maybe if it gets re-run in the new year I'll get in.

Gl with this.

[Muffinbottoms]

Fuuuuuudge :'C I feel extremely bad that I can't hop in on this buy and get us that one more closer. Have you tried Reddit and DT? I don't know any other mechboard communities other than these three that you could try posting to. Maybe foreign communities? :/ I really hopes this goes through! This was a beautiful custom from the beginning and I figured with all the Alps hype it was gonna go swimmingly! If it doesn't go through this first time, would you consider regrouping and attempting this at another time?

I've posted on both Reddit and DT. I didn't get any replies at all on DT so I have not updated it in some time. On Reddit I've been posting regular updates but every time I do they get very little to no response and are downvoted pretty heavily which has been pretty discouraging. I'm not saying a possible regroup and rerun is out of the question but at this point the amount of interest overall has been so low I'm just not sure it's worth it.

Wow I can't believe you didn't get any replies on DT :O I personally don't use it that much, let alone have an account, but I've always pegged it as more of the "modder-ish"/"custom" community out of all three. That's pretty damn rude >:l I can understand if you're not interested not commenting or passing it by, but the only time a post should ever be downvoted in my opinion is when it doesn't offer anything remotely keyboard related. Well if the 13 (if I remember right) are still committed by the New Year and the other five or so who are strapped with cash (me included) throw in that's only about 5 short! Especially with minimum wage going to $10 . I'm sure we could find ~5 more buyers!

Edit: I can't math

[KaminKevCrew]

Fuuuuuudge :'C I feel extremely bad that I can't hop in on this buy and get us that one more closer. Have you tried Reddit and DT? I don't know any other mechboard communities other than these three that you could try posting to. Maybe foreign communities? :/ I really hopes this goes through! This was a beautiful custom from the beginning and I figured with all the Alps hype it was gonna go swimmingly! If it doesn't go through this first time, would you consider regrouping and attempting this at another time?

I've posted on both Reddit and DT. I didn't get any replies at all on DT so I have not updated it in some time. On Reddit I've been posting regular updates but every time I do they get very little to no response and are downvoted pretty heavily which has been pretty discouraging. I'm not saying a possible regroup and rerun is out of the question but at this point the amount of interest overall has been so low I'm just not sure it's worth it.

Wow I can't believe you didn't get any replies on DT :O I personally don't use it that much, let alone have an account, but I've always pegged it as more of the "modder-ish"/"custom" community out of all three. That's pretty damn rude >:l I can understand if you're not interested not commenting or passing it by, but the only time a post should ever be downvoted in my opinion is when it doesn't offer anything remotely keyboard related. Well if the 13 (if I remember right) are still committed by the New Year and the other five or so who are strapped with cash (me included) throw in that's only about 5 short! Especially with minimum wage going to $10 . I'm sure we could find ~5 more buyers!

Edit: I can't math

I'll definitely still be in if this comes back. Q

[romevi]

Fuuuuuudge :'C I feel extremely bad that I can't hop in on this buy and get us that one more closer. Have you tried Reddit and DT? I don't know any other mechboard communities other than these three that you could try posting to. Maybe foreign communities? :/ I really hopes this goes through! This was a beautiful custom from the beginning and I figured with all the Alps hype it was gonna go swimmingly! If it doesn't go through this first time, would you consider regrouping and attempting this at another time?

I've posted on both Reddit and DT. I didn't get any replies at all on DT so I have not updated it in some time. On Reddit I've been posting regular updates but every time I do they get very little to no response and are downvoted pretty heavily which has been pretty discouraging. I'm not saying a possible regroup and rerun is out of the question but at this point the amount of interest overall has been so low I'm just not sure it's worth it.

Wow I can't believe you didn't get any replies on DT :O I personally don't use it that much, let alone have an account, but I've always pegged it as more of the "modder-ish"/"custom" community out of all three. That's pretty damn rude >:l I can understand if you're not interested not commenting or passing it by, but the only time a post should ever be downvoted in my opinion is when it doesn't offer anything remotely keyboard related. Well if the 13 (if I remember right) are still committed by the New Year and the other five or so who are strapped with cash (me included) throw in that's only about 5 short! Especially with minimum wage going to $10 . I'm sure we could find ~5 more buyers!

Edit: I can't math

DT is more for vintage and European keyboards. They scoff at modding, unless it's for making old keyboards compatible with modern hardware.

I'm actually not surprised it didn't get much attention there. The only custom keyboards I've seen them excited by is one or two Korean ones (which surprised me, too, as I thought they weren't big on them), and Ellipse's Model F.
The only custom caps they seem to go crazy after is 7bit's, which are basically replicas of old caps anyway.

I love their wealth of info on older boards, and their wiki site is fantastic.

[Muffinbottoms]

Fuuuuuudge :'C I feel extremely bad that I can't hop in on this buy and get us that one more closer. Have you tried Reddit and DT? I don't know any other mechboard communities other than these three that you could try posting to. Maybe foreign communities? :/ I really hopes this goes through! This was a beautiful custom from the beginning and I figured with all the Alps hype it was gonna go swimmingly! If it doesn't go through this first time, would you consider regrouping and attempting this at another time?

I've posted on both Reddit and DT. I didn't get any replies at all on DT so I have not updated it in some time. On Reddit I've been posting regular updates but every time I do they get very little to no response and are downvoted pretty heavily which has been pretty discouraging. I'm not saying a possible regroup and rerun is out of the question but at this point the amount of interest overall has been so low I'm just not sure it's worth it.

Wow I can't believe you didn't get any replies on DT :O I personally don't use it that much, let alone have an account, but I've always pegged it as more of the "modder-ish"/"custom" community out of all three. That's pretty damn rude >:l I can understand if you're not interested not commenting or passing it by, but the only time a post should ever be downvoted in my opinion is when it doesn't offer anything remotely keyboard related. Well if the 13 (if I remember right) are still committed by the New Year and the other five or so who are strapped with cash (me included) throw in that's only about 5 short! Especially with minimum wage going to $10 . I'm sure we could find ~5 more buyers!

Edit: I can't math

DT is more for vintage and European keyboards. They scoff at modding, unless it's for making old keyboards compatible with modern hardware.

I'm actually not surprised it didn't get much attention there. The only custom keyboards I've seen them excited by is one or two Korean ones (which surprised me, too, as I thought they weren't big on them), and Ellipse's Model F.
The only custom caps they seem to go crazy after is 7bit's, which are basically replicas of old caps anyway.

I love their wealth of info on older boards, and their wiki site is fantastic.

Ahhh that's where I pegged them wrong. With their wealth of knowledge on older boards and how to fix them up to work with modern computers I assumed they were into modding and the like, so a custom Alps board using old Alps switches and caps would've been right up their alley :/

Man it's really interesting to see the quirks in each community haha.

[theginginator]

Really hope this goes through as I have already received an aekII for the caps and ordered switches and stabs for this 

[Muffinbottoms]

Really hope this goes through as I have already received an aekII for the caps and ordered switches and stabs for this 

If anything you got a sweet new AEK II that you can dust off and use

[tofgerl]

Or strip. The caps and switches will probably sell for more than you gave.

[theginginator]

Really hope this goes through as I have already received an aekII for the caps and ordered switches and stabs for this 

If anything you got a sweet new AEK II that you can dust off and use

Or strip. The caps and switches will probably sell for more than you gave.

But... But... MONARCH keyboard?!?

[theanyday]

Oh man I would LOVE to get in on this but sadly I don't even remotely have the funds for it. Maybe a round or version 2 in the future. Looks amazing tho! 

[NoblesseOblige]

I plan to join this GB but I'm unsure which color plate I want - well I want them all, but sadly I'm not Bill Gates, so I have to choose one. Sometimes having so many choices sucks! I recently joined the Alpine Winters so I want one to go with those caps. What color do others feel match it the best? (I'm thinking Blue Titanium).

[Delirious]

I plan to join this GB but I'm unsure which color plate I want - well I want them all, but sadly I'm not Bill Gates, so I have to choose one. Sometimes having so many choices sucks! I recently joined the Alpine Winters so I want one to go with those caps. What color do others feel match it the best?

The Alpine Winters has surrounding blue modifiers so I think an off-white color plate would really make the whole thing pops, white plate -> blue modifiers -> white inner caps.
Regardless of what you choose I really hope you join to make this project a reality. Every order counts

[NoblesseOblige]

I plan to join this GB but I'm unsure which color plate I want - well I want them all, but sadly I'm not Bill Gates, so I have to choose one. Sometimes having so many choices sucks! I recently joined the Alpine Winters so I want one to go with those caps. What color do others feel match it the best?

The Alpine Winters has surrounding blue modifiers so I think an off-white color plate would really make the whole thing pops, white plate -> blue modifiers -> white inner caps.
Regardless of what you choose I really hope you join to make this project a reality. Every order counts

I plan on joining by Friday, just as soon as I decide which color I like best. Bit of an embarrassment of riches with all these great choices. I was considering a white option as well, so thanks for your input.

[petrock]

I'm just hoping this buy goes through, otherwise I might have to learn how to hand wire a matrix.